Conference Presentation, Statement
Remarks by Senator Marco Rubio
Goldman SachsMarco Rubio, John F.W. Rogers, Kevin McCarthy, Tyler Perry, Danny Meyer, Sarah Kauss, Wilbur L. Ross, Sara Blakely, Michael Bloomberg, Gina Raimondo, Rick Snyder, Lloyd Blankfein, Richard Branson, Warren Buffett
- The outlook anticipates the 21st century becoming the most prosperous and freest era in U.S. history, provided political interference in Washington is avoided, with the expectation that new economies will yield a net global gain.
- Plans involve removing specific impediments to business entry, including unnecessary regulations, tax structures, and artificial barriers, while actively creating an environment where individuals can succeed without relying on particular laws.
- Major corporations are expected to lobby for government laws that create artificial barriers to entry, protecting their current market positions and preventing competition.
- Millions are predicted to face difficult adjustments and may spend their entire lives in industries eliminated by globalization or automation, requiring a fundamental shift in the education system away from obsolete skills toward readiness for a new economy.
- Significant gaps in workforce development are expected, specifically a major skills shortage where job openings remain unfilled because the system is ill-equipped to help mid-life workers (e.g., 45-year-olds) transition to new skills.
- Economic growth is projected to emerge from ground-up innovation by small businesses and entrepreneurs identifying unmet needs, rather than from government programs alone, which are deemed insufficient to create enough jobs or smooth the transition.
- The strategy includes investing in job training, high school graduation rates, and safety net programs designed to empower people to take risks again, ensuring the safety net functions as a bridge rather than a permanent lifestyle.
- New industries and jobs that do not yet exist will emerge to solve currently unrecognized problems, requiring flexibility and dynamism sourced from the ground level of the community to fill the divide between the old and new economies.
- Synergy between local community demands and educational institutions is planned, with schools in areas of strategic industry strength expected to drive programs equipping workers with 21st-century skills.
- Anti-poverty initiatives are expected to include tools to cure poverty rather than merely providing funds for basic needs, specifically targeting those whose industries have been wiped out.
- The speaker intends to build a "new American century" for future generations by doing everything possible to remove barriers to innovation, such as access to capital, and then getting out of the way to allow the private sector to thrive.