Krugman, Rendell, Miller Join Other Economic Experts to Discuss Current Economic Crisis And How We Must Change The Economy

New York and Washington--Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman, Governor Ed Rendell (PA), and Congressman George Miller (CA) will headline an array of economic experts and progressive leaders at a February 11 conference in Washington on how to rebuild a new and more sustainable economy out of the current economic crisis.

The conference will call for a new economic plan to break the recent destructive cycle of asset bubbles and build a new economy, instead, grounded in responsible, jobs-based growth that creates broadly shared prosperity. Reaching these goals will require the sustained commitment of resources at the level laid out in the President's economic recovery package well into the future.

More than 800 people have registered for the "Thinking Big, Thinking Forward" conference, sponsored by The American Prospect, Demos, the Institute for America's Future and the Economic Policy Institute. It will take place at the Capital Hilton (1001 16th Street NW, Washington DC) from 9:00am - 4:30pm.

The conference will be streamed online at: https://www.thinkingbigconference.org.

The organizers of the day long conference said in a joint statement, "This will require far more than a short-term stimulus. The current recovery plan must be understood as a down-payment on a sustained expansion of public investment vital to building this new economy. It is time to discard the scorn for effective government that contributed to our current travails, and commit to making the investments critical for our future as a centerpiece of a new economics of shared prosperity."

The conference will address several major areas where social investment can rebuild a new and more productive economy not dependent on asset bubbles - infrastructure, education at all levels, and labor market policies to create high-wage jobs.

Full schedule for the conference is below. If you are interested in covering the conference and/or RSVPing to attend or tune into the webcast, contact Tim Rusch at Demos: (212) 389-1407, trusch@demos.org.

Conference Program:

8:30-9:30 am: Press Breakfast

9:30-9:45 am: Welcome and Introductory Remarks Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect and Demos

9:45-10:00 am: The New Deal Moment: Alan Brinkley, Columbia University

10:00-11:15 am: Infrastructure, Renewable Energy, and Housing

Moderator: Robert Borosage, Institute for America's Future

Speakers: *Ed Rendell, Governor of Pennsylvania Michelle Collins, Senior Vice President, ShoreBank

11:15 am - 12:30 am: Investing in People

Moderator: Tamara Draut, Demos

Speakers: Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers Jacob Hacker, University of California, Berkeley Karen Kornbluh, New America Foundation Ellen Bravo, University of Wisconsin

12:30 - 1:50 pm: Lunch program:

12:50 pm: Lunch Served

1:30 - 1:50 pm: Keynote: *Vice President Joseph Biden

2:00-3:15 pm: High-Wage America

Moderator: Larry Mishel, President Economic Policy Institute

Speakers: *Rep. George Miller, Chairman House Committee on Education and Labor Janet Gornick, City University of New York Manuel Pastor, University of Southern California

3:15-4:30 pm: Putting It All Together, Economically, Fiscally, Politically

Moderator: Miles Rapoport, President, Demos

Speakers: Jeff Madrick, Challenge Magazine and The New School Theda Skocpol, Harvard University Mark Schmitt, Executive Editor, The American Prospect Deepak Bhargava, President, Center for Community Change

*invited

For more information and to RSVP, please click here.