Globalization, Growth, and Social Equity: American and European Perspectives

October 2, 2007, 9:00am – 10:45am

About This Event

Top advisors and current and former cabinet ministers from across Europe and the United States will join together for a morning symposium addressing how progressive politics must be responsive to the new social and economic risks associated with the Dynamism Economy. The symposium, in conjunction with the Policy Network, a premiere progressive think tank based in the United Kingdom, will address the trends of income inequality and polarization in the context of an era of increased global economic integration.

Generously sponsored by the Alfred Herrhausen Society American Participants

Karen Kornbluh, author, "Families Valued," in Democracy and Senate Policy Director, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)
Robert Rubin, Former Secretary of Treasury, and current Chairman of the Executive Committee, Citigroup
Gene Sperling, author, "Rising Tide Economics," in Democracy and CAP Senior Fellow and Former National Economic Advisor

European Participants

John Hutton (UK), Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform
Linda Lanzillotta (Italy), Italian Minister of Regional Affairs and Local Autonomy

James Purnell, (UK), Secretary of State for Media, Culture and Sport

Moderated by:

John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress

*None of the panelists will be speaking on behalf of a particular candidate or elected official

Location

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

Resources

• Read CAP's coverage of the event here.
• Complete Transcript
  

Biographies

John Hutton (UK) was appointed Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Enterprise, and Regulatory Reform in June 2007. Hutton first entered the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in May 2005 and was subsequently appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in November 2005. Hutton served on the Select Committee for Home Affairs from 1994 to 1997, and he was PPS to Margaret Beckett, both while she was President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (1997-8), and in her role as President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (1998). He was then appointed Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Health and Social Care in October 1998, served as Minister for Health in the Department of Health beginning in 1999, and finally served as Minister of State for Health beginning in 2001. Before his election to Parliament, Hutton was a Senior Law lecturer at the University of Northumbria.

Karen Kornbluh (U.S.) is the author of "Families Valued," in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. She is also Senate policy director for US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL). Previously, she founded the New America Foundation's Work and Family Program where she argued for a modernized social contract for the global economy in numerous publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and The Washington Post; columnist David Brooks cited her "Families Valued" article as one of the notable magazine articles of 2006. Kornbluh served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and as Director of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Federal Communications Commission. She began her career as a management consultant.

Linda Lanzillotta (Italy) is Italian Minister of Regional Affairs and Local Autonomy. In previous roles directing the Budget Commission and as a council member in the City of Rome, she implemented measures to contain legislative costs and increase transparency and accountability at both regional and national levels. As Secretary General of the Parliamentary Office in 2001 she was successful in slashing national and regional administration costs. Before being appointed as Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomous Provinces she spent five years as Professor of Public Management at the University of Rome.

Robert E. Rubin (U.S.) joined the Clinton Administration in 1993, serving in the White House as Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and the first Director of the National Economic Council. He served as our nation's 70th Secretary of the Treasury from January 10, 1995 until July 2, 1999. He joined Citigroup on October 26, 1999 as Director and Chairman of the Executive Committee and also serves as Chairman of the Board of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation's leading community development support organization. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Mount Sinai-NYU Health and is a member of the Harvard Corporation. In June 2007, he was named Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Gene B. Sperling (U.S.) is Senior Fellow for Economic Policy at the Center for American Progress. Previously, Mr. Sperling served as National Economic Advisor to President Clinton from 1997 to 2001 and as Deputy National Economic Advisor from 1993 to 1997. Mr. Sperling is the author of the book The Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity (Simon & Schuster) and his recent article, "Rising Tide Economics," appears in the September issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Mr. Sperling is also a Contributing Editor and Columnist for Bloomberg News, a Governor of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and for four years was a consultant and contributing writer for the television show, "The West Wing."

John Podesta is the president and CEO of the Center for American Progress and visiting professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center. Podesta served as chief of staff to President William J. Clinton from October 1998 until January 2001, where he was responsible for directing, managing, and overseeing all policy development, daily operations, Congressional relations, and staff activities of the White House. He coordinated the work of cabinet agencies with a particular emphasis on the development of federal budget and tax policy. He also served in the president's Cabinet and as a principal on the National Security Council. From 1997 to 1998 he served as both an Assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff. From January 1993 to 1995, he was Assistant to the President, Staff Secretary, and a senior policy advisor on government information, privacy, telecommunications security, and regulatory policy. Podesta previously held a number of positions on Capitol Hill including: counselor to Democratic Leader Sen. Thomas A. Daschle; chief counsel for the Senate Agriculture Committee; chief minority counsel for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks; Security and Terrorism; and Regulatory Reform; and counsel on the Majority Staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Podesta is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Knox College.

About the Policy Network:

Policy Network is Europe's leading progressive think tank, dedicated to promoting progressive policies and the renewal of social democracy. We facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences among politicians, policymakers, and experts on the center-left.

Progressive governments and parties across Europe and the world are facing similar challenges linked to globalization. The limitations of traditional policy prescriptions demand that progressives work across national boundaries to find solutions. Insecurities associated with immigration flows, terrorism, shifts in economic power, and environmental change are increasingly driving the political agenda. By working with politicians and thinkers across Europe and the world, Policy Network seeks to find innovative solutions to common problems.

Policy Network organizes regular conferences, symposia, and roundtable discussions on issues of interest to the center-left. Our research and activities have focused on the future of the European Social Model, immigration and integration, and social justice in a global era. The outcomes of our discussion and research are published in individual pamphlets and articles available online. The new interactive Policy Network website allows you to access the latest progressive ideas and analysis from across the world. To find out more, and sign up for regular updates, please visit:

www.policy-network.net

About the Alfred Herrhausen Society:

The non-profit Alfred Herrhausen Society (AHS) is the international forum of Deutsche Bank. It seeks traces of the future in the present and brings together people who are committed to the continued existence of civil society. The search for the best approaches for the future must transcend national borders; better solutions can only be found through international dialogue. For this reason, the Alfred Herrhausen Society's engagement is as global as Deutsche Bank itself, and its work makes up a valuable part of Deutsche Bank's worldwide commitment to culture and society. The Alfred Herrhausen Society is dedicated to the work of the former Spokesman of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank, Alfred Herrhausen, who was assassinated by terrorists in 1989. Over the course of his life, he was an advocate of the responsibilities that business has toward society.