Conference Presentation, Keynote
Institute Chairman Michael Milken on Building Meaningful Lives
- Education yields the highest returns in early child care, followed by elementary and middle school, with sector-dependent prioritization of either high school or college.
- Future job creation is expected to expand beyond North America, Europe, Latin America, and Africa to make developing Asia a core focus area.
- United States median income is projected to remain stagnant in real terms absent specific economic growth.
- Unaddressed challenges regarding the working poor and the construction of meaningful lives are predicted to result in significant global changes for the country.
- Failure by pension funds, endowments, and insurance companies to achieve assumed annual rates of return between 5% and 7% is expected to cause significant economic and national disruptions in Western Europe and the United States.
- Private equity firms are projected to remain among the largest US employers, with eight of the top entities identified as private equity companies following Walmart.
- The United States is currently identified as the world's most obese nation with a significant population.
- The cost of microbiome sequencing is predicted to reach $100 in 2019.
- Pakistan's population is forecast to grow from 30 million to nearly 220 million.
- Pakistan's birth rate is expected to decline from a peak of eight children per woman to current levels, driving a significant increase in per capita income.
- Sub-Saharan Africa's population is projected to increase by one to two billion people by the end of the century, accounting for nearly the entire global net population increase.
- Africa is expected to surpass Asia as the continent with the largest population if current birth rates persist.
- The "First Thousand" program targeting financial experts in Africa and southern Asia is anticipated to generate tens of millions of jobs.
- The probability of HIV transmission from high-risk individuals to children in sub-Saharan Africa has decreased from 95% to 2% over the past 10 to 15 years.
- Housing and transportation costs will continue to dominate American family expenditures, leaving only 2% of spending for children's education under the current model.
- Unusual financing and subsidies for housing in the United States are predicted to contribute to a declining median net worth for families.
- The goal of 90% of the world's population reporting "today was the best day of my life" is expected to be achieved in the future.
- Future generations are expected to encounter cancer and other life-threatening diseases only in historical contexts.
- The concluding panel of the 2017 Global Conference is scheduled to feature a financier of the mission to the next solar system.