New Digest – Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Right Combination for Growth?

On October 7, 2011, Wilson Center on the Hill hosted an event titled, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Right Choice for Growth?” Three panelists, Amy Wilkinson, Philip Auerswald, and Brink Lindsey, along with moderator Kent Hughes, addressed the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship in creating economic growth.

Brink Lindsey, a senior scholar at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, proposed solutions to the issue of “structural doom and gloom” often brought up by economists. Lindsey argued that unemployment and concerns regarding innovation are problems that can be solved through effective entrepreneurship. He contended that jobs come from startup firms, and from 1997-2005 these firms were the only source of net new jobs. The barriers to entry for new firms need to be eliminated, he noted, and road blocks to growth must be identified.

Lindsey summarized the proposed Start-Up Act as a path out of the recession and to renewed prosperity.  In particular, he emphasized three elements of the Act:  establishing an “entrepreneur” visa, implementing tax advantages for start-up firms, and increased access to capital markets. Immigration was an especially crucial issue, Lindsey argued, as students who come to the U.S. from abroad to study STEM subjects often find it too difficult to stay. Today’s innovative companies have a large international workforce, and immigrants are an important asset to the U.S. economy. Lindsey also encouraged a balance between regulatory costs and regulation, while noting that regulation is most efficient at the local level. He urged the United States to consider using the World Bank’s model for regulation, which focuses on states and localities. Lindsey concluded by arguing that the U.S. needs “well-structured rules that allow creative and innovate people to be creative and innovative.”

You are Invited – Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Right Combination for Growth?

The Program on America and the Global Economy and Wilson Center on the Hill present:

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The Right Combination for Growth?

Friday, October 7, 2011 

12:00-1:15 p.m.

B-338 Rayburn House Office Building

As America continues to find its footing in the post-recession globalized world, entrepreneurship and innovation remain two key facets of potential growth.  Panelists will examine the relationship between  the two and how they can   help bolster American competitiveness in the 21^st century.  They will also discuss what legislation  can foster entrepreneurship.

PHILIP AUERSWALD, Associate Professor, George Mason University

BRINK LINDSEY, Senior Scholar, Research and Policy, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

AMY WILKINSON, Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center and Senior Fellow, Center for Business and Government, Harvard University

Moderated by: KENT HUGHES, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy

Please RSVP acceptances only to onthehill@wilsoncenter.org or 202-691-4357. 

Posted by: PAGE Staff

You are Invited: Targeting Top Teachers for Superior STEM Education

Invitation to a Wilson Center on the Hill and Program on America and the Global Economy Event:

Targeting Top Teachers For Superior STEM Education

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 

9:00-10:15 a.m.

B-354 Rayburn House Office Building

  With the impending reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the issue of teacher quality is one of particular interest for the upcoming session. A panel of Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellows will discuss the characteristics and considerations that a definition for Highly Effective STEM Teachers should address. The Fellows will also address the impact of high quality professional development programs by outlining their experiences and observations.

BUFFY CUSHMAN-PATZ, Middle and High School Mathematics, Hawaii

MICHAEL INMAN, High School Physics and General Science, Washington

GERALDINE ROBBINS, High School Mathematics, Florida

KEVIN SIMMONS, High School Physics, Chemistry, and Aerospace Science, Florida

Moderated by: KENT HUGHES, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy, Woodrow Wilson Center

Please RSVP acceptances only to onthehill@wilsoncenter.org or 202-691-4357.

Posted by: PAGE Staff

Can Trade Drive Development?

On March 15^th Wilson Center on the Hill and the Program on America and the Global Economy (PAGE) hosted a discussion on the impact of trade and international markets on developing countries. With almost a third of the world’s population living on less than $2 per day, the need to reduce poverty is critical. The panel focused on the prospects for economic growth through the expansion of trade, and the related policy challenges facing United States lawmakers.  Kent Hughes, PAGE director, moderated the discussion.

Ambassador Peter Allgeier, President of C&M International and a veteran of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, opened the event by stressing the unique aspects of modern trade and placing the current policy challenges within that updated framework. Unlike in the 20^th century, most products today are involved in a complex supply chain where goods travel to several different countries before they come to market.  The modern diversified modes of production make it easier for emerging nations to “plug in to small parts of a bigger supply chain,” and increase manufacturing capability more efficiently.

Developing countries must “play by the rules,” Allgeier pointed out, by maintaining low tariffs and working to create a favorable investment climate.  Many expanding markets lack the physical and institutional capacity to support large-scale trade, which can preclude international investment; proper sanitation, rule-of-law, and a stable trade policy are all important factors in economic development, and are lacking in many small markets.

You are Invited: Can Trade Drive Development?

Invitation to a Wilson Center on the Hill Event

CAN TRADE DRIVE DEVELOPMENT?

March 15, 2011, 12:00-1:15pm

B-340 Rayburn House Office Building

With almost a third of the world’s population living on less than $2 per day, the need to reduce poverty is critical. Panelists will examine the linkages between trade and economic growth and its potential to reduce poverty. They will also discuss U.S. trade policy and its potential impact to promote economic development.

AMBASSADOR PETER ALLGEIER
President, C&M International; Former Ambassador, World Trade Organization

WILLIAM KRIST
Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative

Moderated by: KENT HUGHES
Director, Program on America and the Global Economy, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Please RSVP acceptances only to onthehill@wilsoncenter.org or 202-691-4357

Posted by: PAGE Staff

Fixing the Financial System: What’s Next?

The following is an event summary from an event held on Capitol Hill organized by Wilson Center on the Hill and co-sponsored with the Program on America and the Global Economy.

The archived video can be found here.

On October 26, 2010 the Program on America and the Global Economy along with the Wilson Center on the Hill hosted an event, “Fixing the Financial System: What’s Next” to review the recent economic recession and look towards the future of financial reform and regulation. The event centered on the recent publication of The Squam Lake Report: Fixing the Financial System which brought together fifteen leading economists to review the economic downturn and to provide recommendations for moving forward. One of the authors, Rene M. Stulz, Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics at The Ohio State University, joined the panel in discussing the recommendations and providing insight into the crisis. Joining Stulz was Mark Oesterle, Republican Chief Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Moderating the event was Kent Hughes, Director, Program on America and the Global Economy at the Wilson Center.

Stulz opened by outlining The Squam Lake Report and noted that all the recommendations made by the group were done by consensus and drew on the Squam Lake group’s extensive mix of private and public sector experience. In the report, the Squam Lake Group described the collapse in the financial system, identified many of the causes, and made a series of specific recommendations directed at governments and financial institutions around the world.