 Manning has a BA from Duke University, a master's degree from Northern Illinois University, Economic History and Latin American Studies (1981) and a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University, Program in Comparative International Development (1989).He also specializes in U.S. and global banking deregulation, consumer debt, macro-economic trends in consumer economy, and U.S. labor market trends.He is also an authority on U.S. social inequality, Mexican economic development, immigration to the U.S., small business entrepreneurship, urban development issues, race and ethnic relations, and higher education financing.