Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) is actively working with Republicans to foster innovation and competitiveness. He is eager to enjoin Capitol Hill in policies to grow manufacturing jobs, and to equip workers with the skills they need to fill them. The senator, just recognized by the Bipartisan Policy Center for his commitment to working across the aisle, has become a strong voice for job creation and the innovation economy. He also has been ranked among the top three most productive Senators of...

A wide-ranging discussion of administration priorities for roads, bridges, and other complexities that challenge the nation’s infrastructure. Speakers: Elaine L. Chao, Joanne Lipman

How do we ensure that everyone in society benefits from economic growth? How do we narrow income disparities between the topmost earners and everyone else, such that we create wealth for more people? Some CEOs suggest that our focus needs to shift to long-termism and a more socially focused view of capitalism’s broad objectives. If inclusive capitalism at its core means bringing society and business together, what are the strategies to get us there? Speakers: Mark Weinberger, Lynn Forester de...

What are the factors that will affect economic growth? A distinguished panel of investors and business leaders are joined by a top observer of economic issues to share perspectives. What kinds of policies — planned or hoped for — will boost our economy and keep it steady? Speakers: Paul Singer, Gillian Tett, Gary Pinkus, David L. Cohen

Wharton professor Adam Grant and inspirational teacher Simon Sinek come together for a lively discussion and debate. They’ll cover what drives people at work, whether generational differences really make a difference, and the effects of the digital world on productivity and creativity. Speakers: Katie Couric, Adam Grant, Simon Sinek

Can companies determined to support solutions to some of society’s larger dilemmas make the kinds of returns that Wall Street — which judges bottom-line performance above all — happy? Yes. Take a cue from Capricorn Investment Group, born from a belief that values-based, sustainable investment practices can enhance return rates. Its mission is "to deliver extraordinary investment results by leveraging market forces to scale solutions to global problems." Bank of America, among the world’s...

Long-range forces are changing the nature of work and how jobs will be created; they are also changing what kinds of jobs will be created. With tech and automation coming so quickly, which jobs will be replaced by machines? For those of us who will be hired, what skills should we possess? In this new, highly digitized economy, what kind of training will prospective employees need, and how might everyone prepare? Speakers: Gary Pinkus, Tom Fanning, Penny Pritzker, Peter Orszag

Entrepreneurs view the world differently. Where others see challenges, they see opportunities. In an age of globalization and hyperconnectivity, a new class of visionaries is tackling the world’s challenges through disruptive innovation. In a conversation with the Aspen Institute’s Peggy Clark, Care.com founder, chairwoman, and CEO Sheila Lirio Marcelo shares how her experiences set her on a path to solve the unexpected infrastructure issue holding the key to our global economy: care. Today,...

One of the most effective ways to break the cycle of poverty is to invest in children and families in the earliest years. How do we apply groundbreaking research on children's and parents’ health and educational attainment to ensure that the next generation is poised to transform and maintain America's role in the world? Nobel Prize winner James Heckman and early childhood entrepreneur Jackie Bezos share perspectives. Speakers: James Heckman, Jackie Bezos, Anne Mosle

The promise of a better life now rings hollow to millions who find that hard work offers them no guarantee of making it in America. Here, the McKinsey Global Institute unveils research that traces what’s happened to the manufacturing sector and to incomes in recent decades. Additional surveys cast a fresh spotlight on what business executives and the broader population believe about whether the United States can still manufacture and compete. This panel explores how to forge new pathways to...

What are the drivers of economic growth and opportunity in a changing world, given tectonic shifts in the markets, political leadership and priorities, consumer spending patterns, innovation, and demographics? Speakers: Keith Banks, William E. Mayer

Since 2009, the US unemployment rate has fallen from 10 percent to 4¼ percent, underpinned by steady job gains. Yet despite this employment strength, growth in output and wages has been disappointing. Many other countries have seen even worse economic performance. Are there policy changes that could help kick-start higher growth? John Fernald, whom The Wall Street Journal touts as the Federal Reserve’s “point man on productivity,” explores the possibilities with Austan Goolsbee, Chicago Booth...

Time to start listening to the growing set of young entrepreneurs who are actually making things in America — they might be driving a renaissance in manufacturing right here at home. How is this possible? Technology makes design and production more efficient now, labor is available, and yes, governing principles stand for a lot. For many young leaders, “making it in the USA” — making it local — is a matter of principle, and, importantly, economically competitive. Young manufacturers talk with...

As the prospect of mass implementation of artificial intelligence begins to alter realistic expectations of its impacts (large and small, positive and negative), the consequences for the business community are only just beginning to be imagined. Unlike the internet, AI is not a new industry — yet its application will radically alter industry. Says one CEO, “Everything invented in the past 150 years will be reinvented using AI within the next 15 years.” But what does this really mean?...

Some suggest we are well into a fourth industrial revolution — a time of significant and fundamental shifts in the ways we create, manufacture, and consume goods and services. Serious questions abound regarding the degree to which artificial intelligence, automation, and online economies will level considerable and long-term dislocations to the global economy. Given the pace of technological adoption and change, are these shifts a threat to employment in the short term? Will companies be able...

In his remarkable book, The Third Wave, AOL founder and tech leader Steve Case describes how we are moving beyond the internet as a communications tool to an era where it will be the hub of all we do. This “internet of everything” will create a level of connectivity that will allow forward-thinking entrepreneurs to reshape every major sector in society. But, he argues, more innovators and entrepreneurs across all of America need to lead this next wave of innovation and participate in its...

America has always meant business. We’re a nation of self-starters, strivers, and entrepreneurs — with the courage to take big risks and the confidence to determine our own destiny. Entrepreneurs are seen as the beating heart of our economy, generating the jobs, wealth, and innovation that keep the American Dream alive. But what are the conditions that small businesses need now to succeed? What kinds of talents must entrepreneurs possess to forward their businesses? What advantage do women...

How can we prepare needed talent to fuel economic growth and social mobility? With the workplace rapidly changing with advances in artificial intelligence, do we even know enough about future jobs to prepare young people with the right skills and capacities? Are our education systems prepared in light of rapid demographic shifts? Leaders in industry and academia have some ideas. Speakers: Chris Womack, Carol Quillen, Joshua Wyner, Nate Bowling