As part of a lecture series hosted by the Philosophy Club, John Martinez, professor of economics, finance and general business, will present a lecture on economic inequality March 5 at 7 p.m. in Shawnee Theatre.

According to Martinez, economic inequality is an issue with a past.

“Since the late 1970s, the concentration of wealth and income at the top has been a growing trend in the U.S. The growing concentration has many implications for society, but one of the most important issues relates to its significance for democracy,” Martinez said. “Money buys influence in politics which, in turn, can have a corrupting influence on the democratic process. Typically, the greater the levels of income inequality in a society, the more polarized that society tends to become.”

The lecture series, according to Philosophy Club President Jonathan Henderson, junior in philosophy, started last semester with the approval of the organization and have hosted two lecturers so far, Dr. Brinton Tench Coxe who lectured on the aesthetics of film and Dr. Nathan Jun who lectured on Anarchism.

“This semester, we will host three separate lectures” Henderson said. “Later in the semester, April 9th, we will be hosting a lecture by Dr. Kirsten Lodge of the Humanities program. Her lecture will be titled “Encounters With the Divine Sophia”. At the end of the semester, somewhere around the first of May, we will be hosting our only paid speaker of the semester; Dr. Peter Boghossian. Mr. Boghossian will speak on a topic on which he regularly lectures titled, “Jesus, The Easter Bunny, and Other Delusions.”

According to Henderson, the Philosophy Club, a student-led organization, believes philosophy  is synonymous with critical thinking of all types  and hope that students and faculty will both attend the lecture in order to stimulate a more educational environment outside of the curriculum.

“We believe that the need for a strong academic lecture series on campus which utilizes the vast wealth of knowledge that MSU professors hold, as well as that of outside sources, is important and is something that this University is sorely lacking” Henderson said. “Particularly, for students, it is important to foster critical thinking and to get out of your comfort zone once in a while and realize that there are other points of view.”