The Atlantic Intelligence Series
The New Work Era
(A summary)

What follows is a summary of an event held by The Atlantic and in partnership with McKinsey & Company on July 19^th from 10:00am—2:30pm. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary:All panelists agreed that national economic policy needed a greater focus on job creation; however, they prioritized policy initiatives very differently. Senator Mark Warner argued that resolving the national debt and budget crisis would stimulate job creation and constitute the greatest economic stimulus plan that Congress could possibly devise. Jeff Joeress, CEO of Manpower Inc., argued that the main reason Fortune 500 companies are not hiring is because there is no demand for management to do so; instead, executives are receiving rewards for padding the bottom-line by cutting hiring costs, sustaining working business models, and only hiring when candidates are hyper specialized to the tasks a job requires. Though most panelists noted the importance of promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related fields specifically in education, Dean of NYU John Sexton argued that innovation and jobs would arise from generally encouraging students to be curious, passionate, and tenacious about something, whatever that something may be. Co-founder and former Chairman and CEO of AOL Steve Case argued that the most significant job creation comes from fast-growth companies; therefore, simplifying and making more attractive the Initial Public Offering process for companies would stimulate innovation and create jobs. 

Hewlett-Packard, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, & The Global Women’s Innovation Network
Life in the Cloud: Overview of Cloud Computing for Consumers, Businesses, and Governments

What follows is a summary of an event held at Rayburn House Office Building 2203 on May 19, 2011 from 12:00pm-1:00pm. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary: In what was basically an advertisement for distributed information networks or “cloud computing,” panelists talked up the promise of the cloud to three important consumer groups: the government, consumers and businesses. For the government, cloud computing can help centralize, organize, and secure data, resulting in smaller government budgets being allocated to maintaining outdated infrastructure, such as massive server farms. For the public, cloud computing creates a more effective and efficient use of spectrum by supporting smartphones, tablets, and other mobile-tech devices that rely on cloud-based data services. For businesses, cloud computing enables entrepreneurs and small businesses to access otherwise prohibitively expensive computational tools and infrastructure to which previously only larger companies had access. The panelists also admitted that the cloud computing industry needs to develop a set of best practices that ensure the long-term protection of user data, but urged strongly against overregulation.

Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF)
The National Purposes in the National Broadband Plan: One Year Later
(A summary)

What follows is a summary of an event held by ITIF on March 16th from 9:30am-11:30am. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary: ITIF hosted a discussion by the mostly-former FCC officials who crafted the Obama Administration’s national broadband initiative, which detailed opportunities to integrate broadband Internet technology into a wide-range of public and private goods and services. Each of the panelists supports the ability for broadband technology to individualize the consumer/citizen experience in the education, energy, transportation, public safety, and health care sectors. For example, broadband can help create educational tools that fit with unique student learning preferences and abilities, resulting in a more valuable, cost-effective, and time-flexible experience for the student. Similarly, broadband can help individualize the transportation, energy, and health care sectors, providing consumers with cheaper and mobile-technology enabled health services, more convenient public transportation networks, and a “smarter,” more efficient energy infrastructure. The FCC is now working toward developing interoperability standards that will allow citizens to connect in real-time with law enforcement and emergency care services providers.  

Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
US Trade Agenda 2011: Moving Forward?
(A summary)

What follows is a summary of an event held at CSIS on March 3rd from 10:00am-12:00pm. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary: CSIS hosted a powerhouse event in which 6 former U.S. Trade Representatives representing 30 years worth of U.S. trade policy described, critiqued, and suggested ways to move forward the U.S. trade agenda. Each former representative argued strongly in favor of immediately passing pending U.S. FTAs with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, with Ms. Schwab and Sen. Portman in particular noting that each agreement currently has sufficient Congressional support to pass. Ms. Barshefsky explained four broad trends affecting and complicating U.S. trade politics: first, global economic integration broadens the effects of otherwise local economic recessions; second, China’s reemergence as the economic hub of Asia is reshaping global business and supply-chain management practices; third, general economic weakness in the West is creating general skepticism toward trade by Western populations; and, fourth, a weakening and volatile Western economy is threatening traditionally stable industries. Mr. Yeutter explained that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations represent the possible future of major trade negotiations, potentially eclipsing the Doha Round in strategic importance and overall prospective impact. Mr. Brock described how weaknesses in education and other U.S. social policy areas are causing trade policy to be used as a scapegoat in American politics, and Ms. Hills explained that U.S. trade policy can continue to be a powerful global development tool by creating market access opportunities for the world’s poorest countries.

The Brookings Institution
China’s New Breed of State Capitalism
(A summary)

What follows is a summary of an event held at the Brookings Institution on March 1st from 10:00am-12:30pm. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary: The panelists agreed uniformly on two major points: first, China’s economic progress is significantly stunted by its limited political reforms, and second, China’s existing system of “crony-capitalism” benefits elites to such an extent that the impetus for major political reform is weakening over time. Interestingly, China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have a net trade deficit in the international system, whereas China’s trade-surplus has everything to do with the success of foreign-owned enterprises. Still, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, in addition to FDI capital flows and management expertise provided by way of private-equity and venture capital firms, have made substantial, but (potentially) unrealized progress in advancing Chinese indigenous R&D goals and innovation initiatives. Advancing China’s broad innovation agenda will require privatizing SOEs, inserting the government into the space of providing education, healthcare, and environmental remediation services, and enabling private Chinese citizens to access the wealth of capital held by SOEs. At the moment, however, these public sector gains seem unlikely, because government officials lack incentives to invest in public services as opposed to highly-tangible and well-rewarded infrastructure projects, and SOEs are run by elites that have apparently minimal interest in spreading the wealth.  

Washington International Trade Association
Zoning in on Foreign Trade Zones
(A summary)

What follows is a summary of an event held by the Washington International Trade Association on February 17th from 9:00am-10:30am. (See speaker list below.)

GIF’s five-sentence summary: The full panel agreed that Free Trade Zones (FTZs) are enormously beneficial for the U.S. economy and general state of U.S. competitiveness. FTZs encourage capital investments, create good-paying jobs that are supported by three to four other jobs, spur the growth of areas of innovation, and increase the total volume of international trade. The panelists were also careful to highlight some key private-sector criticisms of FTZs, namely that FTZs expose domestic industries to foreign competition by removing the tariffs and countervailing duties that protect and insulate them. Recent changes to FTZ regulation include occasional reductions in tariffs on textile imports and removals of countervailing duties against the “dumping” of semiconductor metals. The panelists believed that tariffs on and countervailing duties against raw material imports used as inputs for high-value goods served to displace jobs and industries from the U.S. to other countries with lower trade barriers.