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The economic events surrounding the Global Financial Crisis have raised several significant questions. Is capitalism flawed? Does a free enterprise system engender the vices of selfishness and greed? As government decision makers stand ready to replace private citizens and free markets as the drivers of the economy, Americans must decide
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which system can best promote and ensure their values and ideals. Can we revive democratic capitalism? Should we? And, if so, how?
Answering these and other questions at this joint AEI and Centennial Institute event were AEI president Arthur C. Brooks, who provided an overview of the new culture war developing in America over free enterprise and described the choice Americans face. Joining him was Colorado Christian University president Bill Armstrong, who discussed the moral and intellectual foundations for market capitalism and free entrepreneurship. Following these presentations, panelists discussed the values of capitalism, its uses for good, and how it ultimately provides the means for genuine happiness by requiring liberty and virtue among both producers and consumers.
| 7:15 a.m. | Registration and Breakfast | |
| 7:30 | Introduction: | The Fight for Free Enterprise |
| Speaker: | Arthur C. Brooks, AEI | |
| 7:45 | Roundtable Discussion: The True Wealth of Nations Today | |
| Discussants: | Bill Armstrong, Colorado Christian University | |
| Arthur C. Brooks, AEI | ||
| 9:00 | Panel Discussion: Liberty, Virtue, and the Pursuit of Happiness | |
| Panelists: | John Andrews, Centennial Institute | |
| Kevin A. Hassett, AEI | ||
| Chuck King, Colorado Christian University | ||
| 10:00 | Adjournment |
American Enterprise Institute
Speaker biographies
John Andrews is director of the Centennial Institute, host of Backbone Radio, and a regular commentator for Colorado Public Television and the Denver Post. He served as president of the Colorado Senate from 2003 to 2005 and was the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado in 1990. Previously, he founded the Independence Institute, headed TCI Cable News, was vice president of Hillsdale College, and worked as a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon.
Bill Armstrong is the president of Colorado Christian University (CCU), a prominent businessman, and one the state's most respected political leaders. Elected to the state legislature while still in his twenties, he went on to represent Colorado in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979, and then in the U.S. Senate from 1979 to 1991. Prior to assuming the presidency of CCU in 2006, he had been the owner or director of more than twenty public and private companies.
Arthur C. Brooks became the president of AEI on January 1, 2009. Previously, he was Louis A. Bantle Professor of Business and Government Policy at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and an AEI visiting scholar. Mr. Brooks is the author of Who Really Cares (2006), which examines American charitable giving; the widely acclaimed Gross National Happiness (2008); and a textbook on social entrepreneurship. His next book on the coming culture war in America over free enterprise will be published in 2010.
Kevin A. Hassett is the director of economic policy studies and a senior fellow at AEI. His research areas include the U.S. economy, tax policy, and the stock market. Previously, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, a professor at Columbia University, and policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He also served as a top economic advisor to the George W. Bush and John McCain presidential campaigns.
Chuck King is dean of the School of Business and Leadership at Colorado Christian University (CCU), where he also serves as professor of law and ethics. Holding a J.D. from the University of Denver and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University, he was an attorney in private practice for over twenty years, a senior executive for Samsonite Corporation, and an FBI agent. He directs CCU's annual Values-Aligned Leadership Summit and has conducted seminars throughout the United States and Asia.
