Aspen Ideas Festival 2011

Moderator Jimmy Henry (R) and panelists (R to L) Alan Greenspan, David Rubenstein, and Robert Steel

Booz Allen Executive Vice President Francis J. (Jimmy) Henry moderated a panel titled “What Is the Role of Economic Institutions in Economic Growth and Stability?” at the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Ideas Festival on July 2, 2011. Panelists included Alan Greenspan, the 13th chairman of the Federal Reserve Board; David Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of The Carlyle Group; and Robert Steel, chairman of the Aspen Institute and former undersecretary for domestic finance at the US Department of the Treasury. Henry shares his observations on the role Booz Allen plays with clients in a difficult fiscal and economic environment.

Do you have a takeaway from the panel discussion?

It was interesting that all three panelists put things back into a historical context. It’s frightening, what’s going on. But less so when you look at how things have evolved over a long period of time and realize versions of this have happened already. This is a big issue, but it’s not the end of the world.

In the context of today’s economic and budgetary realities, how is Booz Allen working with clients to adjust to the present as well as prepare for the future?

Booz Allen has the capability and experience to help our clients to look at a large number of scenarios, and then identify important central tendencies. If almost all of the scenarios suggest that two things that need to be considered, that’s good to know. In short, we work with all our clients—whether, for example, they’re in the financial sector, the healthcare industry, or the US Navy—to play out scenarios that help them make the best and most appropriate choices.

The economy and the debt ceiling was another subject Clinton discussed, and many of his comments echoed discussions that took place earlier in the week at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the two economy-focused panels moderated by Booz Allen Executive Vice President Francis J. (Jimmy) Henry: How Do We Reduce the Deficit and Still Invest in a Growth Economy? and What Is the Role of Economic Institutions in Economic Growth and Stability? In particular, Clinton passionately articulated how getting healthcare spending under control would go a long way in reducing the deficit—a view expressed in by participants in both of the Booz Allen panels.

Moderator Peter Trick (R) and panelists (R to L) Cory Booker, Antonio Villaraigosa, and Gavin Newsom

Booz Allen Senior Vice President Peter Trick moderated a discussion with three big city mayors titled “Could It Be: Reimagining the Infrastructure and Institutions of America’s Cities in the 21st Century” on July 2, 2011, at the Aspen Institute’s Aspen Ideas Festival. The panelists included Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, NJ; Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of Los Angeles; and Gavin Newsom, former mayor of San Francisco and current lieutenant governor of California. Trick shares his observations on the discussion below.

You had a panel filled with big personalities discussing some very big issues. What were your takeaways from that discussion?

One that was fascinating to me was the sense of competition between the cities to try and best each other in solving their problems. Another one that I think is very important for the country to think about is the role of “city-states.” Essentially, this was a model that was used in ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in Europe. The question we need to ask is how much power and how much economic development can be driven at the municipal level.

Do you see the culture of competition between cities playing an important role in America’s ability to reimagine its infrastructure?

Competition stimulates the best ideas in so many ways, so I’m absolutely convinced that this notion of competition between cities, drawing on best practices from each other to try and outdo each other, is going to be a real ingredient in America’s transformation.