What do we mean by “human capital”? What is the relationship between democracy, human rights and economic prosperity? Are poor people doomed to remain poor? To answer these questions, Pedro Pinto interviews James Heckman in this episode of “It’s Not That Simple”, a podcast by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation. A Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences laureate in 2000, Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. His research has focused on such subjects as inequality, social mobility and economic opportunity; labor economics; lifecycle dynamics of skill formation; microeconometrics; and causal models rooted in economic theory. He is also the Director of the Center for the Economics of Human Development and the Co-Director of the Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group. In 1983, he won the John Bates Clark Medal. Heckman has also been a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation since 1978, a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of The Econometric Society (since 1980), and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. In this episode, Heckman explains the “set of capacities” that make up human capital and “allow us to function well in the world”. He examines how the promotion of human and civil rights in the United States in 1964 had a positive impact on the country’s economy. Heckman also examines how China’s economic success is a result not so much of its political authoritarianism, but of a much greater access of women to education and their subsequent wider and more qualified participation in the workforce. He then contrasts China with India, which might be hindering its development by putting some minorities in disadvantage. Later in the episode, Heckman addresses the impact of inequality in skill acquisition, and how poor people are often trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. On the other hand, he disputes the idea that inequality is on the rise in the United States. Finally, Heckman discusses the unintended negative outcomes of well-meaning policies like the minimum wage or rent controls, in a conversation well worth listening to.More on this topic Giving Kids a Fair Chance, James Heckman, 2013 James Heckman’s study “Inequality in America: What role for human capital policies?” James Heckman’s Nobel Prize Lecture An interview with James Heckman on the “Emerging Economic Arguments for Investing in the Health of Our Children’s Learning”  An interview with James Heckman on his “controversial approach to solving inequality” Podcast It’s Not That Simple “Moving up in life”, with John Friedman An interview with Mariana Mazzucato about “the future of capitalism” An interview with Robert Reich on how to solve the problem of inequality