1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036
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The Wall Street financial crisis has been followed by a surge of government spending, ownership, and control unprecedented in America's peacetime history. What consequences will these changes have for the economy and our free institutions? How can we safeguard the dynamism and creativity of the American economy? How should defenders
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of free markets respond to the ambitious initiatives advanced by the Obama administration?
On July 22, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will speak at AEI to address these critical issues.
| 9:45 a.m. | Registration | |
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| 10:00 | Introduction: | Arthur C. Brooks, AEI |
| Speaker: | Rudolph Giuliani, former New York City mayor | |
| 11:00 | Adjournment |
American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-862-4870
E-mail: sara.huneke@aei.org
American Enterprise Institute
1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-862-4870
E-mail: VRodman@aei.org
WASHINGTON, JULY 22, 2009--Former New York City mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani spoke to a full house at AEI about the importance of keeping America competitive and prosperous. In the wake of the Wall Street financial crisis, government spending, ownership, and control have become unprecedented in America's peacetime history. Giuliani addressed the implications of these changes for the economy and free institutions and offered approaches for safeguarding the dynamism and creativity of the American economy.
Arthur C. Brooks, president of AEI, introduced Giuliani by emphasizing the country's current struggle over the heart of free enterprise and declared that the American people must choose either to keep the United States unique or to follow in the path of other developed countries that have become increasingly bureaucratic.
The country is going through a transformation, and very few people understand the economics behind these challenges, Giuliani explained. He drew on his experiences as mayor to illustrate that more government control will not solve our economic problems. Simply raising taxes could not fix New York City's crime problem, he said. Sometimes leaders need to take dramatic actions as he did when he fired 12,000 employees in order to reform the city's hospital system. The problems in the hospital system were a consequence of large-scale government mismanagement, and as Giuliani said, "political realities overcame the realities of business." As long as the Obama administration allows political realities to guide decisions, it cannot hope to solve the economic problems facing the United States.
It is difficult to treat a misdiagnosed patient, and the same is true for the economy, Giuliani said. He expressed concern that the Obama administration diagnosed the economic crisis incorrectly. They are still working under the assumption that capitalism failed and government intervention offers the best solution, while Giuliani believes the actual causes of the economic crisis include misguided government intervention and the false belief in the "ever-rising economy." For example, Giuliani said the subprime mortgage crisis was created when banks were forced by the government to lend to individuals who never should have gotten mortgages. Giuliani also cited insolvent and inefficient government-run programs such as Social Security as evidence that government control is not the solution.
Giuliani believes the nation's biggest upcoming battles will involve health care and the environment, and he urged the audience to resist the temptation to view government as the solution to these problems. Noting that no other country in the world has moved more people out of poverty, he called on the Republican Party to do a better job convincing voters that they know best how to promote economic growth, free enterprise, and choice.
He concluded that safeguarding free enterprise is essential to keeping America exceptional and called on Americans to abandon the belief that government is the answer to the current economic crisis. According to Giuliani, the problem lies not in the fundamentals of free enterprise, but with an unrealistic expectation that capitalism can guarantee an ever-rising economy in which there are no consequences for reckless overreach.
Arthur C. Brooks is the president of AEI, a position he assumed on January 1, 2009. He was previously the Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a visiting scholar at AEI. Mr. Brooks researches and writes about the connections between culture, politics, and economic life in America. He is the author of several books, including Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth about Compassionate Conservatism (Basic Books, 2006), Gross National Happiness: Why Happiness Matters for America—and How We Can Get More of It (Basic Books, 2008), and Social Entrepreneurship: A Modern Approach to Social Value Creation (Prentice Hall, 2008).
Rudolph Giuliani served two terms as mayor of New York City and was credited with reducing crime and initiating improvements in the city’s quality of life. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed Mr. Giuliani associate attorney general, the third highest position in the Department of Justice. In 1983, Mr. Giuliani was appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was elected to his first term as mayor of New York City in 1993 and reelected in 1997. He gained international attention for his leadership during and after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. Mr. Giuliani was Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2001, and he received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II of England in 2002. In addition to his decades of government and public service, he is also the founder of Giuliani Partners, a security consulting business, and a partner at the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani.
