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William Spriggs
William Spriggs
William Spriggs
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William Edward Spriggs (April 8, 1955 – June 6, 2023) was an American economist who was a professor of economics at Howard University, chief economist for the AFL-CIO, and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Policy in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2012.[1]

Key Information

Spriggs' work and research focused on workforce discrimination, minimum wage, national and international labor standards, and pay equity.[2] He supported organized labor and liberal economics.[2]

Early life and education

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Spriggs was born in Washington, D.C., on April 8, 1955.[1][3][4] His father, Thurman Spriggs, was a Tuskegee Airman who held a PhD in physics and worked as a professor.[1] His mother, Julienne (Henderson) Spriggs, was a World War II veteran and school teacher.[5][1]

Spriggs attended public elementary schools in northeast and southeast Washington D.C. at the same time his mother was finishing her college degree.[5][6] He spent much of his subsequent upbringing in Norfolk, Virginia, after his father began teaching at Norfolk State University.[7]

After high school, Spriggs earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from Williams College.[1] He continued onto graduate school on a National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowship.[8] He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned his Master of Arts (1979) and PhD (1984), both in economics.[1][9] His doctoral dissertation focused on the accumulation of wealth by African Americans in Virginia between 1900 and 1914.[10] He earned the National Economic Association's 1985 dissertation prize for his work.[8] During this time, he also served as a co-president of the American Federation of Teachers Local 3220.[9]

Career

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Early career

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Spriggs was an assistant professor for two years at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he taught introductory economics.[8] He later moved to Norfolk State University, where he was the director of the honors program and an assistant professor of management for six years.[11][8]

Organizational work and advocacy

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Spriggs left academia for some time to pursue research and advocacy, beginning with the Economic Policy Institute. There, he studied industrial relations, labor history, and the replacement of striking workers. Spriggs left the EPI in 1993 to join the Clinton administration as the director designate of the National Commission for Employment Policy. He advised politicians on training, education, reemployment, and the financing and development of historically black colleges and universities. He also led the National Wage Record Database Design Project Report from 1993 to 1994.[2][8]

Spriggs joined the Joint Economic Committee as a senior economist, serving the Senate minority (then the Democrats). He specifically advised Congressmen Kweisi Mfume, Pete Stark, and Senator Jeff Bingaman. He continued serving in federal roles throughout the Clinton administration, including tenures in the U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Government Contracting and Minority Business Development.[11]

Spriggs left the Clinton administration in 1998 to join the Institute for Opportunity and Equality League as its executive director and advocate for research, advocacy and progressive public policy. He stayed for six years, working with fellow civil rights activists Maya Rockeymoore, Cheryl Hill Lee, Valerie Wilson, Hugh Price, Dorothy Height, Joseph Lowery, Norman Hill, and Bill Lucy.[5] Spriggs later returned to the Economic Policy Institute before joining Howard University in 2005 as the chair of the economics department.[12] He concurrently served as a senior fellow for the Community Service Society of New York and board chair of the UAW Retirees of the Dana Corp, Healthcare Trust for UAW Retirees of Ford Motor Company, and as a board member of the Retirement Healthcare Administration Corporation.[13]

Support of Barack Obama and assistant secretary of labor

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Spriggs representing the AFL-CIO at the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) Black History Month Roundtable in 2015

Spriggs was a longtime supporter of Barack Obama, both during the latter's bid for presidency and after while serving on the 2008 Obama–Biden transition team. He specifically endorsed then presidential-nominee Obama's plan to focus on the alternative energy sector for new jobs.[2] He also, along with dozens of other economists, endorsed the Employee Free Choice Act in early 2009.[14]

The Obama administration nominated Spriggs for the position of assistant secretary of policy in the Department of Labor in June 2009. He was easily approved by a voice vote of the full Senate on October 21, 2009.[2] As the assistant secretary of policy, he continued to argue for organized labor and increased support for the middle class. He represented the United States at the G-20 Labor Ministerial meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico and headed the U.S. delegation to the 101st International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization in Switzerland.[8]

Return to academia

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In 2012, Spriggs returned to his role as professor of economics at Howard University. He also accepted the position of chief economist for the AFL-CIO; through this role, he joined the board of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).[15]

Open letter to economists

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In June 2020, Spriggs released an open letter to economists in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. In his letter, he called on economists to recognize the racist roots of most explorations of racial disparities in economics.[16][17] He argued that models of disparities between White and Black Americans based on differences in human capital accumulation frequently recognize the existence of racist discrimination in schooling and housing, but then assume this same discrimination does not exist in employment relationships. He discussed how models of statistical discrimination in economic outcomes between races assume away history, laws, and social norms, and even the way that racial categories are themselves the product of this history. In addition, he argued that models of disparities that assume inherent African-American inferiority are a constant microaggression for African-American economists and expressed frustration that many White economists are ignorant of work done by Black economists on these same topics. He called on economists who use race in their work to better understand the ways that history and policy have shaped racial categories and focus on studying big questions about the institutions that shape economic outcomes.[18] The letter received a great deal of media coverage,[19] with Spriggs invited to lengthy interviews by multiple major publications.[20][21][22]

Personal life

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Spriggs married Jennifer Dover in 1985, and they had a son.[7]

Spriggs died from a stroke at a hospital in Reston, Virginia, on June 6, 2023, aged 68.[7] In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden said, "I am deeply saddened by the passing of Bill Spriggs, a man who brought as much lasting brilliance to economics as he brought joy to his friends and colleagues."[23]

Honors

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Professional awards

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Other

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Selected works

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Books and book chapters

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  • "A Look at Inequality, Workers' Rights, and Race", Law & Inequality, Vol. 36, no. 2 (2018): 61–75.[28]
  • "Institutions to Remedy the New Inequality", in Thomas I. Palley and Gustv A. Horn (eds), Restoring Shared Prosperity: A Policy Agenda from Leading Keynesian Economists (Washington, DC, 2013). ISBN 978-1493749423
  • "The Changing Face of Poverty in America", in Margaret Roush (ed.), U.S. National Debate Topic 2009–2010: Social Services for the Poor (H. W. Wilson Company: New York, 2009). ISBN 978-0824210908
  • "African Americans and Social Security", in Daniel Fireside, John Miller, Bryan Snyder (eds), Real World Macro, 25th Edition (Economic Affairs Bureau, Inc.: Boston, 2008). ISBN 978-1878585707
  • "Black Liberalism", International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd edition, William A. Darity Jr. (ed.), (Macmillan Reference USA: Detroit, 2008). ISBN 978-0028659657
  • "Participatory Democracy and Race Relations in the U.S.", in Claire Nelson and Stacy RichardsKennedy (eds) Advancing Equity in Latin America: Putting Policy into Practice (Inter American Development Bank: Washington, 2007).
  • "Social Security and American Values", in Calvin Logue, Lynn Messina and Jean DeHart (eds), Representative American Speeches, 2004–2005 (New York, NY: H. W. Wilson Company, 2005). ISBN 978-0824210380
  • With Rhonda M. Williams, "What Do We Need to Explain About African American Unemployment", in Robert Cherry and William M. Rodgers III (eds), Prosperity for All? The Economic Boom and African Americans (New York: Russell Sage, 2000): 188–207. ISBN 978-0871541970
  • With Samuel Myers Jr., "Black Employment, Criminal Activity and Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of New Jersey", in Patrick L. Mason and Rhonda M. Williams (eds), Race, Markets and Social Outcomes (Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996): 31–64. doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-6157-6_3 ISBN 978-0792398936
  • With John Schmitt, "The Minimum Wage: Blocking the Low-Wage Path", in Todd Schaefer and Jeff Faux (eds), Reclaiming Prosperity: A Blueprint for Progressive Economic Reform, (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1996): 163–172. ISBN 978-1563247682

Publications

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  • von Lockette, N. D., W. E. Spriggs, "Wage Dynamics and Racial and Ethnic Occupational Segregation Among Less-Educated Men in Metropolitan Labor Markets". Review of Black Political Economy 43, 35–56 (2016).[29]
  • Price, G. N., W. Spriggs, and O. H. Swinton, "The Relative Returns to Graduating from a Historically Black College/University: Propensity Score Matching Estimates from the National Survey of Black Americans". Rev Black Polit Econ 38, 103–130 (2011).[30]
  • Rodgers III, William M., William E. Spriggs, and Bruce W. Klein. "Do the Skills of Adults Employed in Minimum Wage Contour Jobs Explain Why They Get Paid Less?", Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 27, no. 1 (2004): 37–66.[31]
  • Rodgers, William M., and William E. Spriggs. "What does the AFQT really measure: Race, wages, schooling and the AFQT score". The Review of Black Political Economy 24, no. 4 (1996): 13–46.[32]
  • Maxwell, Nan L. "The Effect on Black-White Wage Differences of Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Education". Industrial and Labor Relations Review 47, no. 2 (1994): 249–64. doi:10.2307/2524419.[33]
  • Spriggs, William E. "Changes in the Federal Minimum Wage: A Test of Wage Norms". Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 16, no. 2 (1993): 221–39.[34]
  • Spriggs, William E., and James Stanford (1993), "Economists' Assessments of the Likely Employment and Wage Effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement", Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal: Vol. 10 : Iss. 2, Article 3.[35]
  • Spriggs, William. "Measuring Residential Segregation: An Application of Trend Surface Analysis". Phylon 45, no. 4 (1984): 249–63. doi:10.2307/274906.[36]

References

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William Spriggs

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William E. Spriggs (April 8, 1955 – June 6, 2023) was an American labor economist whose career focused on analyzing disparities in employment outcomes and policy responses to labor market inequities. He served as professor and former chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University, Chief Economist for the AFL-CIO, and Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2009 to 2012, a role to which he was appointed by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Spriggs' research highlighted empirical patterns of racial discrimination in wage determination and hiring, challenging mainstream economic assumptions that attributed gaps primarily to individual factors rather than structural barriers, and he advocated for labor policies aimed at reducing such disparities. Among his leadership roles, he was president of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, influencing academic and policy discourse on worker equity and economic opportunity.

Early Life and Education

Upbringing and Influences

William Edward Spriggs was born on April 8, 1955, in , to Dr. Thurman E. Spriggs and Julienne (Henderson) Spriggs. His father served as a during , later earning a PhD in physics and working as a college professor in . His mother was also a . Spriggs was raised in a household centered on , with his parents exerting the greatest influence on his early development through shared family activities such as studying history together. He spent much of his childhood in , during the , a period marked by the , which inspired him through exposure to its leaders. The family later resided partly in , including , where his father pursued academic opportunities. This environment of intellectual engagement and historical awareness, set against the backdrop of racial and social changes in the nation's capital, provided early context for Spriggs' later focus on equity issues, though direct causal links to specific events remain tied to the era's documented turbulence rather than personal anecdotes.

Academic Background

William Spriggs earned a degree in and from in 1977. He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received a in in 1979 and a Ph.D. in in 1984. Spriggs' doctoral dissertation, titled Afro-American Wealth Accumulation, Virginia, 1900-1914, examined historical patterns of wealth building among African Americans, highlighting structural barriers in economic mobility. This work earned him the National Economics Association dissertation prize, recognizing its contribution to understanding racial disparities in economic outcomes. During his time at Wisconsin-Madison, he also received the Harold Graves Essay Prize from the Department of Economics and served as co-president of the local Teaching Assistants' Association.

Professional Career

Initial Employment and Research Roles

Following his PhD in from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1984, Spriggs took an position in at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) in Greensboro, a historically institution, where he taught for two years beginning around 1983. His dissertation, completed that year, examined income, wealth, and living standards among , establishing an empirical foundation for his subsequent work on labor market disparities using longitudinal datasets. Spriggs then transitioned to Norfolk State University in Virginia, another historically Black university, serving as a faculty member for six years in the late 1980s. During this period, his research emphasized quantitative analysis of occupational segregation, employing logit decomposition methods on U.S. Census and labor survey data from the 1970s and 1980s to quantify barriers to workforce integration and their causal effects on wage structures. These studies highlighted persistent racial disparities in job access and pay, deriving estimates of segregation's impact on employment probabilities and earnings gaps through regression-based models rather than aggregate correlations. This early phase marked a shift from theoretical modeling to policy-relevant empirics, with outputs including peer-reviewed papers in journals like The Review of Black Political Economy that informed debates on unemployment differentials by applying econometric techniques to disaggregate on returns and hiring patterns. Spriggs' approach prioritized causal inference from observable labor statistics, such as records, to demonstrate how structural factors—beyond individual qualifications—contributed to unequal outcomes in entry-level and mid-tier occupations.

Advocacy in Labor Organizations

Spriggs directed the National Urban League's research and efforts starting in September 1998, overseeing economic analyses focused on opportunities and equality for . In this role, he collaborated with civil rights coalitions, including the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Black Leadership Forum, to advance labor policies grounded in labor market data. His work emphasized empirical evidence from sources like reports, highlighting racial gaps such as persistently higher Black unemployment rates—often double those of whites at equivalent job vacancy levels—to argue for targeted interventions without relying on unsubstantiated claims. As a researcher affiliated with the (EPI), Spriggs co-authored a 1994 study examining state-level increases in the late 1980s and early 1990s, finding no significant job losses among low-wage workers and wage gains averaging 10-15% for affected groups, including disproportionate benefits for minority workers facing wage disparities. He leveraged such data in advocacy for federal hikes, contending that raising the floor from levels stagnant since 1997 (eroded by inflation to real value below 1968 peaks) would narrow Black-white wage gaps by up to 20% through broader coverage and enforcement, based on historical Fair Labor Standards Act expansions. Spriggs promoted as a mechanism to address employment inequities, citing labor statistics showing union members earning 10-20% higher than non-union peers in similar roles, with amplified effects for Black workers through that countered market power imbalances. His campaigns at the Urban League involved disseminating research to policymakers, such as analyses linking declining union density since the to widened racial disparities, advocating for protections like the to boost organizing without evidence of net employment harm. These efforts prioritized causal links from data, such as gains shared via unions reducing turnover costs estimated at 20-50% of annual in low-skill sectors.

Government Positions in the Obama Administration

President Barack Obama nominated William Spriggs to serve as Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor on April 21, 2009, with Senate confirmation following in June 2009; he held the position from 2009 to 2012. In this capacity, Spriggs directed the Office of Policy, which advises the Secretary on economic and labor policy matters, conducts research on labor market trends, evaluates program effectiveness, and supports regulatory and legislative development. The office under Spriggs' oversight provided analytical support for Department of Labor initiatives during the recovery, including the implementation of provisions from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated funds for insurance extensions and workforce training programs. These extensions allowed benefits up to 99 weeks in high- states, administered by the Employment and Training Administration; U.S. data show the national unemployment rate fell from a peak of 10.0% in October 2009 to 8.1% by October 2012. Empirical analyses indicate that while such benefits mitigated income loss for the unemployed, they also correlated with extended job search durations, with studies estimating a 0.1 to 0.4 week increase in unemployment per additional week of benefits available. Spriggs' office contributed to enhanced enforcement of labor standards, informing efforts by the Wage and Hour Division to recover back wages; the Department reported collecting $243 million in back wages for workers in fiscal year 2012, up from $172 million in 2008, amid increased investigations into violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Policy analyses from the office emphasized disparities in labor market outcomes, supporting targeted interventions, though overall employment recovery was influenced by broader macroeconomic factors including and fiscal stimulus.

Later Academic and Advisory Work

Following his service in the Obama administration, Spriggs resumed his academic role as a professor of economics at Howard University, where he had joined the faculty in 2005, and served as chair of the Department of Economics. He held these positions until his death on June 6, 2023. Concurrently, from 2012 onward, he acted as chief economist for the AFL-CIO, providing economic analysis and policy recommendations to the labor federation representing over 12 million workers. In this capacity, Spriggs extended his advisory influence to monetary policy institutions, serving on the of the of Minneapolis's Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute, established in 2017 to address economic disparities. There, he contributed perspectives on how policy decisions, including interest rate adjustments, affected labor markets unevenly across racial and demographic groups, drawing on data to illustrate persistent gaps—such as Black unemployment rates averaging 1.7 times the white rate from 2010 to 2022. Spriggs's late-career research focused on evaluating fiscal interventions during economic crises, particularly the . In congressional testimony on June 18, 2020, he analyzed the CARES Act's provisions, arguing that the $600 weekly federal supplement had reduced poverty by 13.3 million people and narrowed racial unemployment disparities, with households benefiting disproportionately from the aid's scale. He further critiqued proposals to reduce benefits, warning they would exacerbate output gaps estimated at $1.1 trillion in lost GDP by year-end, based on models incorporating state-level data. In February 2021 testimony, he endorsed extending Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, citing that it boosted consumer spending by 10-20% among recipients and supported labor market recovery without significantly distorting reemployment incentives. These analyses emphasized empirical metrics like Okun's law-adjusted gaps between actual and potential employment, underscoring the role of targeted relief in closing structural inequities.

Economic Perspectives

Emphasis on Racial and Labor Disparities

Spriggs consistently emphasized the enduring racial disparities in U.S. labor market outcomes, particularly the black-white unemployment gap, which (BLS) data indicate has averaged approximately twice the white rate since the 1970s, with the ratio reaching 1.97 in August 2020 amid economic recovery from the downturn. In his 2021 New York Times opinion piece, he argued that this persistence defies explanations rooted in individual factors like or skills, as gaps remain even among similarly educated workers, pointing instead to systemic barriers embedded in labor market structures. He invoked historical causal patterns, tracing current disparities to legacies of segregation and exclusionary policies that limited access to networks, training, and opportunities, rather than transient economic cycles. Central to Spriggs' framework was the claim that neoclassical economic models—focusing on supply-side factors like accumulation—fail to account for these gaps, as evidenced by BLS figures showing unemployment exceeding 6% far more frequently than for whites since 1979. He advocated for targeted interventions, such as enhanced enforcement of anti-discrimination laws and investments in job placement for affected communities, to disrupt what he described as statistically discriminatory hiring practices that perpetuate inequality independent of worker qualifications. These policies, in his view, could yield equity gains by aligning outcomes more closely with productive potential, drawing on evidence of hiring biases against applicants in low-wage sectors. Empirical debates surround Spriggs' attribution of gaps primarily to structural , with some studies highlighting alternative drivers like occupational mismatches and geographic barriers that amplify differences in job search efficacy beyond racial animus. Research from the of , for instance, suggests that uncertainty in assessment and poor worker-occupation matching—exacerbated by factors including involvement and spatial isolation—explain portions of the disparity not captured by alone. While studies confirm persistent hiring , contributing perhaps 20-30% to job-finding differentials, broader analyses indicate that unobservable productivity variances and labor attachment patterns also play causal roles, challenging the primacy of discriminatory explanations in Spriggs' causal chains. Such findings underscore the complexity of isolating from intertwined socioeconomic factors in BLS-tracked outcomes.

Critiques of Neoclassical Economics

William Spriggs argued that neoclassical economic models often treat race as an exogenous variable, implicitly assuming Black inferiority by focusing on individual deficiencies such as education or skills to explain disparities rather than systemic racial barriers. In his 2020 open letter, he critiqued statistical discrimination models for irrationally positing that economic actors uniformly use race as a negative proxy independent of historical context, laws, or social norms, thereby excusing persistent wage and employment gaps without addressing underlying causes like housing segregation or unequal school funding. He highlighted examples of supply-demand mismatches, noting that Black workers with associate degrees frequently face unemployment rates comparable to White high school dropouts, which standard labor market equilibrium models fail to capture by overemphasizing personal attributes over structural impediments. Spriggs also pointed to historical biases in the economics profession, observing that pre-1960s analyses largely neglected race, with founders endorsing eugenics and viewing racial hierarchies as natural, a legacy he claimed lingers in modern assumptions that disparities reflect inherent group differences rather than policy-enforced inequalities like legal segregation. However, empirical data indicate substantial Black-White wage convergence following the , with relative Black male earnings rising from about 55% of White earnings in 1960 to over 70% by the early 1970s, trends attributable to reduced overt barriers and market competition eroding taste-based discrimination as predicted by Gary Becker's 1957 model, where discriminatory firms incur higher costs and lose to non-discriminating competitors in open markets. Opposing perspectives maintain that color-blind neoclassical approaches, emphasizing individual incentives and accumulation, better predict outcomes than race-centric models; for instance, observable factors like and explain 60-80% of the remaining Black-White earnings gap in post-1990s data, with linked more to behavioral responses to incentives than enduring , as group-identity frameworks often overstate structural causation relative to family structure and skill investments. This contrasts with Spriggs' emphasis on racial , where post-civil rights convergence—halving relative from 1960 to 1980—demonstrates markets' capacity to discipline bias without requiring identity-based interventions.

Positions on Monetary and Fiscal Policy

Spriggs consistently advocated for accommodative to prioritize , particularly cautioning against hikes in the early 2020s due to their potential to exacerbate racial disparities in . He argued that rate increases slow economic growth and hiring, with Black workers experiencing disproportionate job losses, as historical data showed Black rates averaging twice the white rate during downturns. In February 2022, during a appearance, he criticized ongoing Fed rate hikes, noting that Black , at 6.6% in March 2022 after pandemic peaks above 16%, remained vulnerable to any slowdown in labor demand. Spriggs contended that the Fed's inflation-targeting framework overlooked how tight policy prolongs employment lags for minorities, referencing periods like 1975–1997 when Black stayed in double digits amid restrictive measures. On , Spriggs supported aggressive expansionary measures, including large-scale stimulus to counteract recessions and achieve broad-based recovery. He endorsed the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for shoring up demand and jobs, and in 2021 congressional testimony, praised the CARES Act's $2.2 trillion in supports for reducing from 14.7% in April 2020, while urging further action like the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to sustain momentum. In a 2013 report, he called for redirecting fiscal priorities toward investments rather than , arguing that stimulus multipliers exceed 1.0 in slack economies, as evidenced by post-2009 GDP growth averaging 2.2% annually through 2019. Empirical outcomes of Spriggs' preferred leniency included short-term gains in employment and output, with overall U.S. unemployment falling to 3.5% by mid-2022 and Black rates hitting record lows near 5.5%, aided by sustained low rates until March 2022 and fiscal outlays totaling over $5 trillion from 2020–2021. However, the combination of loose monetary policy and expansive fiscal spending correlated with inflation rising to 9.1% by June 2022, prompting the Fed's subsequent hikes that Spriggs opposed, which some analyses link to overheating from unchecked deficits exceeding 15% of GDP in 2020–2021. Critics from market-oriented perspectives, such as those in Federal Reserve research, contend that prolonged leniency distorted asset prices and deferred debt burdens, with federal debt surpassing $31 trillion by 2023, potentially crowding out future private investment. Despite these risks, Spriggs maintained that prioritizing employment over immediate inflation control yielded net gains in labor market inclusivity, as wage growth for low earners outpaced inflation in 2021–2022.

Controversies and Opposing Views

The 2020 Open Letter to Economists

In June 2020, following the death of George Floyd on May 25, William Spriggs published an open letter titled "Is now a teachable moment for economists?" urging the economics profession to confront its historical treatment of race and racism. Spriggs argued that modern economics inherited assumptions from eugenics, treating race as an exogenous variable that implicitly attributes racial disparities to inherent inferiority among African Americans rather than systemic discrimination. He cited empirical examples, such as Black holders of associate degrees facing unemployment rates comparable to White high school dropouts and earning wages equivalent to White male high school graduates, to challenge models that downplay discrimination's role. Spriggs demanded a reevaluation of economic curricula to recognize race as a social construct engineered to advantage dominant groups, incorporating America's history of legal segregation like residential covenants and unequal schooling. He called for reinterpreting data to anticipate persistent racial effects as deliberate outcomes of policy, rather than anomalies requiring explanations of individual deficiencies, and advocated shifting from marginal fixes to systemic reforms. Referencing scholars like William Darity and Darrick Hamilton, he contended that economists often excuse policy failures exacerbating disparities by defaulting to assumptions of Black inadequacy. The letter received support from progressive economists and institutions aligned with racial equity advocacy, who praised it for highlighting the profession's underrepresentation of scholars—estimated at around 2-3% of U.S. faculty—and urging broader inclusion. Outlets like the and referenced it positively in discussions of rethinking amid , viewing it as a catalyst for addressing baked-in biases in models. Critics, including executive vice president Kartik B. Athreya, acknowledged the need for more rigorous on but questioned whether the letter advanced scientific or risked politicizing the field by presuming systemic over empirical testing. Athreya argued that while of labor market exists, such as statistical models from and Phelps showing self-perpetuating biases, omitted variables complicate causal attribution, and Gary framework demonstrates that merit-based hiring imposes costs on discriminators, potentially yielding unbiased outcomes absent legal barriers. He advocated intensified data-driven studies on non-market mechanisms rather than curricular overhauls assuming racial effects as default intentional harms, cautioning against skepticism toward that might overlook "missing variables" like cultural factors. Immediate debates centered on whether representation gaps reflected hiring or merit and differences, with Spriggs' view prioritizing historical and critics emphasizing testable hypotheses to avoid conflating with causation.

Challenges to His Policy Advocacy

Critics of Spriggs' advocacy for expanded union influence have pointed to linking higher union to wage rigidity, which impedes labor market adjustments and contributes to elevated rates, particularly during economic downturns. For instance, studies on collective demonstrate that contractual wage growth raises pay levels but generates significant negative effects by reducing firm hiring flexibility. During the Obama administration, where Spriggs served as for Policy at the Department of Labor and supported initiatives to bolster union organizing—such as streamlined National Labor Relations Board election rules—union membership still declined by approximately 500,000 members between 2009 and 2016, even as the overall workforce expanded by over 9 million. This outcome suggests that regulatory efforts to enhance did not halt the broader erosion of union representation, potentially due to structural rigidities that deterred business investment and job creation. Spriggs' support for minimum wage hikes faced similar scrutiny, with detractors highlighting the Card-Krueger debate as emblematic of methodological flaws in pro-increase studies. Their 1994 analysis of New Jersey's fast-food sector initially found no reduction following a rise, yet subsequent critiques revealed limitations, such as reliance on phone surveys prone to , and broader meta-analyses indicating small but persistent disemployment effects, especially among low-skilled and teenage workers. Free-market analyses argue that such interventions distort price signals in labor markets, pricing out marginal workers and exacerbating the very disparities Spriggs sought to address, as evidenced by persistent Black unemployment gaps that widened in regulated sectors during periods of wage mandates. In rebuttal, Spriggs often emphasized studies showing spillovers benefiting non-minimum- earners and union premiums stabilizing incomes amid volatility, yet empirical data on outcomes underscores trade-offs: freer labor markets with lower correlate with higher , dynamism, and reduced inequality through entrepreneurial job growth rather than mandated interventions. These challenges highlight causal tensions between advocacy for rigidity to combat inequities and evidence of unintended contractions, informing debates on whether regulatory advocacy sustains long-term labor market health.

Empirical Critiques of Advocated Interventions

Spriggs advocated for extending insurance (UI) benefits during economic downturns, arguing they provided essential support without significantly distorting labor markets. However, empirical analyses of UI extensions during the , a period when such policies were implemented, indicate they prolonged unemployment durations. A (NBER) study found that extended benefits increased average unemployment spells by 7 percent, as recipients delayed reemployment due to reduced search incentives. Similarly, research using state-level variation showed that each additional week of benefits raised job search duration by at least 0.09 weeks for men and 0.32 weeks for women, contributing to higher overall rates. While some Department of Labor evaluations emphasized minimal aggregate effects and benefits in retaining labor force attachment, these findings often rely on broader macroeconomic models that underweight micro-level disincentives, as critiqued in peer-reviewed literature favoring causal identification via policy variation. On union strengthening, Spriggs, as chief economist for the , promoted policies enhancing to address stagnation and disparities. Post-hoc data from sectors with higher union density reveal trade-offs in and growth. Econometric studies indicate that unions elevate for covered workers but reduce in affected industries by compressing labor demand, with elasticities suggesting a 10 percent union premium correlates with 1-3 percent lower for low-skill groups. Cross-national evidence links stronger union protections to reduced labor market flexibility and higher , particularly in rigid bargaining systems, contrasting with more dynamic economies where lower facilitates adjustment. Although union advocacy raised visibility for worker protections, empirical models accounting for endogeneity show net gains are inconsistent, often offset by slower hiring and innovation in union-heavy sectors. Spriggs supported minimum wage increases as a tool to combat and racial gaps, citing limited disemployment risks. Rigorous studies using difference-in-differences designs, however, demonstrate reductions among low- workers following hikes. An NBER analysis of U.S. state variations found significant declines in teen and low-skill post-increases, with effects persisting beyond short-run adjustments. Meta-analyses confirm negative elasticities, typically -0.1 to -0.3, implying a 10 percent rise cuts affected by 1-3 percent, disproportionately impacting and minorities due to skill mismatches. Early null findings, like the 1994 fast-food case, have been challenged by data revisions and replication failures, with recent evidence favoring disemployment, especially in competitive markets. Regarding interventions targeting racial labor disparities, Spriggs emphasized mandates and redistribution over market-driven convergence. Longitudinal data show the Black-white wage gap narrowed from 40 percent in 1960 to about 25 percent by 2020, largely attributable to educational attainment gains and skill convergence rather than affirmative policies alone. NBER research attributes much of this to relative supply shifts and human capital accumulation, with market forces explaining over half the reduction independent of government mandates, which risk incentive distortions like reduced effort or hiring aversion. While visibility from advocacy spurred some equity focus, empirical critiques highlight that over-reliance on regulation correlates with persistent gaps in regulated sectors, versus faster convergence in flexible markets emphasizing education and experience. Right-leaning analyses, drawing on these datasets, argue such interventions slow overall growth by prioritizing equity over efficiency, though left-leaning sources like the Economic Policy Institute—where Spriggs contributed—often downplay these trade-offs due to institutional biases favoring interventionist narratives.

Personal Life and Legacy

Family and Personal Interests

Spriggs married Jennifer Dover in 1985. The couple resided in Great Falls, Virginia, and had one son, William T. Spriggs. He also had two sisters, Patricia Spriggs and Karen Baldwin. No public records detail specific hobbies or non-professional community involvements.

Death and Immediate Aftermath

William E. Spriggs died on June 7, 2023, at the age of 68 from complications following a , as confirmed by his wife, Jennifer Spriggs. The event occurred in the Washington, D.C., area, where he had long been based professionally. Howard University, where Spriggs served as a professor of economics, announced his passing on the same day, expressing sorrow to the community without detailing medical specifics. The AFL-CIO, for which he had been chief economist since 2012, issued a statement the following day describing the organization as "deeply saddened" and extending thoughts to his family and loved ones, noting his role in labor economics advocacy. Initial media coverage, including obituaries in The New York Times and The Washington Post published on June 9, 2023, focused on Spriggs' career emphasis on racial disparities in labor markets and , drawing from statements by colleagues and institutional representatives. aired a segment on June 11 recounting his challenges to mainstream economic assumptions on race, based on interviews with peers. No public details emerged immediately regarding ongoing projects or health-related controversies at the time of his death.

Long-Term Influence and Posthumous Assessments

Spriggs' emphasis on incorporating racial dynamics into labor economics models has sustained influence in academic and policy debates, prompting economists to revisit assumptions of market self-correction for . His critiques of neoclassical frameworks, which often predict 's erosion through , have fueled discussions on persistent structural barriers, as evidenced by ongoing analyses of black-white gaps that adjust for biases and age effects in datasets like the Armed Forces Qualification Test. Scholars continue to cite his work in challenging race-neutral models, arguing they understate employer power imbalances exacerbating disparities. Posthumous recognition includes sessions hosted by the in 2025, honoring his contributions to policy, economics, and the profession, with events scheduled through early 2026 to reflect on his advisory role and questions posed to Fed views on . These forums highlight his legacy in mentoring underrepresented economists and advocating data-driven scrutiny of racial inequities, yet they occur amid hindsight evaluations of his opposition to rate hikes in 2022, where he warned of undue harm to without fully accounting for demand-driven persistence. Assessments of Spriggs' impact balance acknowledgment of his role in spotlighting overlooked empirical patterns, such as unadjusted racial gaps in labor outcomes, against potential drawbacks in policy framing. Proponents credit him with elevating causal analyses of beyond supply-side explanations, fostering more nuanced models. Critics, informed by post-2022 data, contend his prioritization of maximum over inflation containment risked overlooking how unchecked price pressures disproportionately eroded for low-income groups, including minorities, before actions stabilized prices near 2% targets by 2023 without the recession he anticipated. This overemphasis on race-specific interventions may have diverted from universal labor reforms, as broader fiscal and monetary tightening ultimately narrowed disparities through sustained low rates averaging 3.7% in 2023-2024.

Honors and Recognition

Professional Awards During Lifetime

Spriggs received the National Economics Association's Dissertation Award in 1985 for his doctoral research examining wealth accumulation patterns among , which analyzed historical data on asset holdings and disparities to argue for interventions addressing intergenerational economic gaps. In 2014, the NAACP conferred upon him the Benjamin L. Hooks "Keeper of the Flame" Award, honoring his sustained advocacy for integrating racial equity into labor economics, including critiques of wage stagnation and unemployment disparities drawn from federal labor statistics. The National Academy of Social Insurance awarded him the Robert M. Ball Award in 2016 for exemplary contributions to social insurance policy, particularly his analyses of unemployment insurance efficacy and expansions during his tenure as AFL-CIO chief economist, where he cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data to advocate for broader coverage amid rising contingent work.

Posthumous Tributes and Events

Following Spriggs' death on June 6, 2023, hosted a public memorial service to celebrate his life and legacy as a professor and chief economist, with a recording made available for broader access. The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management () established the William Spriggs Memorial Award in his honor, recognizing contributions to and labor ; the inaugural award was presented in 2024, with , president of the , named the 2025 recipient to be celebrated at the organization's annual fall research conference. In August 2024, the National Economic Association featured a William Spriggs Memorial Lecture during its annual meetings in , Georgia, with Francys Johnson, board chair of the New Georgia Project, delivering the keynote on themes aligned with Spriggs' work in economic justice. The organized dedicated sessions in 2025 to honor Spriggs' contributions to labor economics, policy advocacy, and the economics profession, highlighting his nearly four decades of work including service on the bank's Opportunity & Inclusive Growth Institute advisory board at the time of his death. These events underscored institutional recognition of Spriggs' empirical focus on labor market disparities, though tributes generally emphasized continuity in his advocated policies without noted public debates on their efficacy during the proceedings.

Key Publications

Authored Books

Spriggs did not author any standalone books during his career, focusing instead on journal articles, policy reports, and chapters in edited volumes that advanced arguments on labor market discrimination and . In these contributions, he frequently employed empirical data from sources such as reports on racial disparities in rates—documenting persistent gaps, such as Black unemployment averaging roughly twice the white rate from the 1970s through the 2010s—to contend that structural discrimination necessitated policy remedies like enhanced union protections and hikes. These theses posited causal links between institutional weaknesses and racial inequities, prioritizing as a mechanism to equalize in labor markets. Reception of his chapter-based work varied, with supporters in labor advocacy circles praising the integration of macroeconomic data to support equity-focused interventions, while critics argued that his emphasis on overstated exogenous barriers relative to endogenous factors like skill mismatches and work ethic differentials, as evidenced by regression analyses controlling for and that explain 70-90% of observed gaps in some datasets. No sales figures or widespread review metrics for specific volumes are documented, reflecting the niche academic and policy-oriented nature of his outputs.

Notable Articles and Reports

Spriggs co-authored a 2022 Economic Policy Institute working paper titled "Understanding Black-White Disparities in Labor Market Outcomes: Does Background Matter?", which analyzed data from 1979 to 2021, finding that Black workers consistently faced unemployment rates roughly twice that of white workers across education levels, attributing persistence to structural barriers rather than individual factors alone. The paper, drawing on longitudinal data, argued against dismissing these gaps as anomalies and called for policy interventions like mandates, though critics such as have countered that cultural and behavioral differences explain much of the disparity, citing comparable gaps in other groups without invoking systemic racism. In a September 2020 Center for American Progress report, "The Persistent Black-White Unemployment Gap Is Built Into the Labor Market," Spriggs examined pre- and post-COVID data, reporting that the Black unemployment rate reached 16.8% in May 2020 compared to 14.7% for whites, and posited that labor market structures perpetuate a 2:1 racial ratio even in expansions. He referenced of New York analyses showing hiring against Black applicants resumes at 50% lower callback rates, but omitted counter-evidence from resume audit studies like Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004), which, while confirming bias, have been critiqued for not isolating skill signals in field experiments. Spriggs published an in June 2020 to the , "Is Now a Teachable Moment for Economists?", urging the profession to integrate racial equity into models after exposed gaps where Black unemployment hit 16.7% versus 9.4% for whites in 2020. The letter, circulated amid policy debates, critiqued for underweighting 's causal role, influencing discussions in outlets like the Richmond Fed's Econ Focus, though econometric models from researchers like David Neumark emphasize supply-side factors such as geographic immobility in explaining durable gaps over demand-side alone. His July 2021 New York Times , "Black Unemployment Matters Just as Much as White Unemployment," lambasted policies for historically sustaining double-digit Black unemployment rates from 1975 to 1997 by prioritizing inflation control over maximum employment, citing BLS data showing the gap narrowed only under sustained low unemployment like 2019's 3.1% Black rate. Spriggs advocated weighting Black metrics equally in Fed decisions, a view echoed in his 2022 critiques of interest rate hikes amid 6.1% overall unemployment where Black rates exceeded 6%, but faced pushback from monetarists like John Cochrane who argue such weighting risks inflationary spirals without addressing root productivity differentials.

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