Professor Steinmo recently returned to the University of Colorado after working in Florence, Italy since 2007.听听We asked him how this international experience influenced him as a teacher and a scholar.听听鈥淚 have been lucky to have lived in several countries over my lifetime,鈥� Steinmo told us.聽鈥淚 honestly believe that every one of those experiences, whether in Japan, Norway, Sweden, Britain,聽辞谤听Italy, has helped me better understand聽other societies, and also my own country, the United States.听听In many ways it was living abroad that made me want to study politics in the first place.鈥澨�
After receiving his undergrad degree at University of California Santa Cruz in 1976, Steinmo moved to Norway to work as a carpenter on an oil platform in the North Sea. While working offshore, he kept hearing complaints from company execs and managers that it was much harder to work in Norwegian waters than in Britain.听听鈥淚 began to wonder why.鈥�
His curiosity about the politics of North Sea oil led him to apply to graduate programs in the US.听听He was offered a position in the PhD program at the University of California-Berkeley with a scholarship grant which he describes as 鈥渁 one-year contract at Berkeley鈥� to study the political economy of North Sea oil.听听At the end of that year, he was invited to apply to the PhD program.听听聽
While working on his PhD, he saw a position advertised at the University of Colorado and he jumped on the chance to move to Colorado.听听鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 even close to finishing my doctorate at that time. But my wife and I always wanted to live in this amazing state,鈥� he said.听听鈥淚 never regretted it. Despite the fact that I鈥檝e lived in lot of different places since then.听听Colorado has always been, Home.鈥�
Professor Steinmo鈥檚 academic work has ranged quite broadly over the years.聽He鈥檚 studied health policy, education policy, taxation, evolutionary theory and political economy more generally.聽His most recent book,聽The Evolution of Modern States: Sweden, Japan, and the United States, explores the way globalization has affected different types of democratic capitalist countries.聽
鈥淏ack in the late 1990s it was widely argued that globalization was supposed to create a 鈥渞ace to the bottom鈥� he explained, 鈥渂ut if you looked at what was actually going on in different countries, you quickly saw that聽the so called 鈥榬ace鈥� was simply not happening.鈥�
He decided to investigate why and learned that globalization was causing pressures and change, but it had different implications and consequences for different countries. 鈥淭he argument that globalization will cause the same outcome in every country is absurd. But that was the argument I and other scholars were making at the time.鈥澛營nstead of seeing countries and their systems as inanimate objects that responded to pressures as in physics, Steinmo came to see political and economic systems in evolutionary terms.聽鈥淧olitics is not like Newtonian physics,鈥� he argues. 鈥淐hoices made today shape the choices that are available tomorrow. Political and economic systems are dynamic - and in my view, they evolve.鈥�
While in Europe, he grew increasingly interested in the relationship between political institutions and political cultures over time.听听This led him to delve into experimental research and what is sometimes called 鈥榖ehavioral economics.鈥櫶�淭hrough the experiments we conducted across Europe and the US, I came to better understand how our institutions shape and structure not only the choices citizens face, but also their beliefs and expectations about their governments and politics generally,鈥� he said.听听His most recent book聽The Leap of Faith, (Oxford University Press, 2018) elaborates this argument and explores why people in some countries are more trusting and supportive of their government than people in other countries.聽
While Italy was fabulous, Colorado was too great of a place for Steinmo to stay away permanently. 鈥淚 came back because I just love this area. The mountains, climate, and ease of living make Colorado an amazing place and it is a privilege to live here.鈥�
Now that he is back at CU, he is focusing his research and energies on the next generation.
鈥淚 am writing a book now called聽The Greediest Generation: Why the Boomers are Screwing Themselves, Their Children, and The Planet.鈥濃�淚 started studying tax and social welfare policy and I realized that my generation is squeezing the welfare state so that we get all the benefits and the younger generations pay the taxes. I wanted to know why.鈥�
The book argues that redistribution today is less about economic class and more a conflict between the generations.听听鈥淪imply put, young people are paying more in than they will ever receive back鈥� even while their parents and grandparents are cutting聽迟丑别颈谤听taxes and increasing聽迟丑别颈谤听social benefits. It鈥檚 just not fair.鈥� He argues.听听鈥淚 want young people to be as angry as I am about how my generation is pulling the rug out from underneath their own children.鈥澛�
Currently Steinmo鈥檚 favorite class to teach is PSCI 4173: Alternative World Futures.听听The course explores how technology is shaping the world today and how Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Genetic Engineering are determining the future.
鈥淚 wanted to teach students about the job market that they are about to enter which is completely different from the job market I entered,鈥� he said, observing that the United States and world are undergoing a new Industrial Revolution.聽
鈥淏e open minded, don鈥檛 just take classes in your major.听听Learn about coding, computers and Artificial Intelligence as well.聽These things will likely affect your world more than political science theories.鈥澨�