Rising Costs of Health Care, Retirement Threaten US Economic and National Security Interests
Inaugural policy conference shows consensus among economic thought leaders
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elizabeth Wilner / Myra Sung
212-542-9200 / ewilner@pgpf.org
NEW YORK (Dec. 12, 2008) – Even as US leaders act to overcome our immediate economic crisis, more must be done to build the public and policymakers’ will to address the serious fiscal challenges posed by the rising costs of health care and retirement and a near-zero household savings rate. These challenges will exist even if markets stabilize and the economy improves, posing a threat to US economic and national security.
These were the primary conclusions of participants in the Peter G. Peterson Foundation’s 2030 Summit, its inaugural policy roundtable held on December 10 in New York. Participants included two former chairmen of the Federal Reserve, three former secretaries of the US Treasury, Foundation leaders, prominent economists and thought leaders in the global financial community (list below).
Among the points of consensus at the conference:
- In the United States, actions to stimulate the economy and address current financial challenges will significantly increase the federal deficit and debt levels in the short term.
- Government programs to stimulate the economy and address the crisis should be designed as investments in our future economic health and global competitiveness.
- The rising costs of health care and retirement, together with our savings and trade deficits, pose a threat to US economic and national security interests and must be addressed as the economy begins to grow again.
- Failure to make the necessary policy adjustments will erode US economic and foreign policy leadership in the world.
- Without heightened public education, presidential leadership, and bipartisan government efforts to address these issues, vital reforms will be difficult to achieve.
- The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is well-positioned to play a constructive, nonpartisan and non-ideological role in educating the public and policymakers about these challenges and possible solutions.
Joseph L. Bower
Baker Foundation Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Bill Bradley
A Managing Director, Allen & Company, LLC and Former U.S. Senator
Jessica P. Einhorn
Dean, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
Martin Feldstein
George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research, President Emeritus
Alan Greenspan
Greenspan Associates LLC and Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Robert Greenstein
Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Peter S. Heller
Senior Adjunct Professor of International Economics at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and Former Deputy Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department of the International Monetary Fund
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics, Deputy Director of Studies
Paul O’Neill
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary
Rudy Penner
Senior Fellow, Urban Institute
Robert E. Rubin
Director and Senior Counselor, Citigroup Inc. and Former Secretary of the Treasury
George P. Shultz
Thomas W. and Susan B. Ford Distinguished Fellow Hoover Institution, Stanford University and former Secretary of the Treasury
George Soros
Chairman, Soros Fund Management
Paul Volcker
Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Peter G. Peterson (Host)
Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Senior Chairman, The Blackstone Group
David Walker (Host)
President and CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Former Comptroller General of the United States
C. Fred Bergsten (Presenter)
Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs
Michael Peterson
Vice Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
C. Eugene Steuerle
Vice President, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
Susan Tanaka
Director of Citizen Education and Engagement, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
William Cline
Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Catherine L. Mann
Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics and Professor, International Economics and Finance, Brandeis International Business School, Brandeis University
About the Peter G. Peterson Foundation:
Founded by the senior chairman of The Blackstone Group with a personal commitment of at least $1 billion, the Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future, and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results.
