Latest Interviews
Showing 1936–1950 of 1,991 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute1h 12m
U.S. Overview: First Recovery, Then Takeoff?
Abby Joseph Cohen, Gary Loveman, Raymond McGuire, Jim Moffatt, Maggie Wilderotter, Ross DeVol, Ross Duvall, Abby Cohen
A March 2013 panel of Milken Institute analysts evaluated the U.S. economic recovery, noting a 2.5% Q1 growth rate that masks a sluggish labor market and a divergence where corporations hoard cash for buybacks rather than investing in small businesses or R&D. The discussion highlighted how European recession, regulatory uncertainty, and a global tax code incentivizing overseas profits have suppressed domestic expansion despite strong corporate profits and a housing market turning point. Experts concluded that achieving 4% growth requires resolving political gridlock, reforming the corporate tax system, and implementing structural investments in innovation and broadband to convert current financial slack into sustained job creation.
- Milken Institute1h 12m
Alternative Investments
Andrew Whitaker, Josh Harris, Vinay Choudhary, Julia Lawler, Andrew Serwer, Eric Schmidt, Brevin Howard, Arvind
Leading alternative investment managers Josh Harris, Wilbur Ross, and Vinay Choudhary detail a strategic market pivot driven by the unattractiveness of traditional fixed income and the need to escape equity volatility, with private equity demonstrating a historical 26% net return against the S&P 500's 9%. Panelists identify specific high-yield opportunities in energy, distressed European banking, and marine transport while warning of an impending credit cycle caused by a massive debt bubble and a $500 billion annual refinancing wall between 2018 and 2020. This consensus positions institutional capital toward direct co-investments and value creation in distressed assets as the Federal Reserve prepares to normalize rates and end quantitative easing.
- Milken Institute1h 16m
The Future of Higher Education in America
William Bennett, Steven Knapp, Daphne Koller, Patricia McWade, Anthony Miller, John Nelson, Bill Bennett, Tony Miller, Megan Smith, John Graff
Amidst eroding public confidence and a trillion-dollar student debt crisis, the U.S. higher education sector faces significant pressure to modernize through legislative mandates for outcome transparency and disruptive online learning models. Prominent institutions and experts like George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Udacity are testing alternative strategies ranging from fixed-tuition policies and global competency credentials to robust need-based aid programs. These responses aim to address the widening gap between academic credentials and economic reality while preparing for a future where regulations tie financial aid to institutional performance and survival.
- Milken Institute1h 5m
Emerging Markets: New Affluence and Influence
Francesco Guerrero, John Coombe, Thomas Flohr, Chris Hung, Sarah Service, Jay Pieloski
Emerging markets panelists forecast a structural shift toward domestic demand and regional trade blocs, highlighting cyclical divergences among BRIC nations and rising opportunities in Africa's frontier markets. The discussion details specific investment vehicles like local currency debt and Dim Sum bonds while warning of stagflation risks, credit bubbles, and currency volatility amidst global quantitative easing. Final outlooks project a four-polar world by 2025, with optimism focused on Chinese equities and consumer sectors balanced against skepticism regarding European stability and Middle Eastern geopolitics.
- Milken Institute58 min
In Tech We Trust? A Debate with Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen
Peter Thiel argues that technological innovation has significantly decelerated since 1970, pointing to stagnant wages, declining biotechnology patents, and a "rust belt" of legacy hardware firms as evidence of cultural risk aversion and over-regulation. In contrast, Mark Andreessen contends that innovation is accelerating by citing surging global engineering talent, new transportation and communication platforms like Twitter and Tesla, and argues that clean energy stalls are due to fossil fuel subsidies rather than technical failure. While both speakers agree that deregulation is essential for future growth, they fundamentally disagree on whether current economic stagnation reflects a structural breakdown in the physical world or a historical lag in recognizing transformative digital tools.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Immigration Strategy for the Borderless Economy
Ron Brownstein, Antonio Villaraigosa, Laureen Powell Jobs, Michael Bennett, Carlos Gutierrez, Rupert Murdoch, Vivek Wadhwa
Driven by profound demographic shifts and urgent labor shortages, a bipartisan Senate effort led by the "Gang of Eight" proposes a 13-year pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants, a move supported by business leaders like Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and tech innovator Vivek Wadhwa for its potential to boost GDP and innovation. While the legislation includes increased H-1B caps and agricultural visas, it faces significant hurdles in the House due to the Hastert Rule and fears of primary challenges, even as polling indicates 70% of the public favors a citizenship track. Key figures warn that without this comprehensive reform or a viable "Plan B" focused on the DREAM Act and startup visas, the U.S. risks economic stagnation, social division, and the Republican Party's long-term political alienation from growing Hispanic and Asian American voter bases.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Investing in Our Future: Best Cities for Successful Aging
Joe Coughlin, Mark Friedman, Nancy Lamond, Henry Cisneros, Laura Karstensen
Projected to transform the U.S. population into a 410-million-strong demographic by 2050, the aging baby boomer generation is dismantling the traditional three-stage life model while creating a critical mismatch with urban infrastructure designed for younger cohorts. In response, experts advocate for a paradigm shift toward the "Longevity Economy," leveraging $2.5 billion economic potential from late-career entrepreneurship and retrofitting existing homes to support the 89% of seniors who prefer aging in place. Without accelerating institutional readiness to meet these urgent needs, society faces a widening gap between current infrastructure and the 2.8 million annual retirees demanding continuous engagement and intergenerational connectivity.
- Milken Institute1h 3m
Energy Infrastructure: Getting New Supply to Market Faster
Mark Florian, Rick Grafton, Charlotte Phillips, Gerd Vandevoe, Conrad, Gary, Jordan Sherry, Ambassador, Mark Kahn
Mark Florian, Rick Grafton, Charlotte Phillips, and Gerd Vandevoe convened to analyze the $37 trillion global energy investment gap projected through 2035, emphasizing the critical intersection of rapid renewable deployment, infrastructure bottlenecks, and demographic demand shifts. The panel highlighted how regulatory fragmentation in North America and geopolitical friction in Eurasia currently constrain midstream development, forcing reliance on rail transport and LNG while utilities face margin erosion from distributed generation. Experts concluded that achieving long-term energy security by 2050 requires a hybrid strategy where hydrocarbons and renewables coexist, though high break-even costs for unconventional oil and unstable subsidy regimes remain significant barriers to immediate scaling.
- Milken Institute55 min
The Awesome Responsibility of Leadership: A Conversation with Harry Reid and Eric Cantor
Harry Reid, Eric Cantor, Michael Milken
Senators Harry Reid and Eric Cantor discussed urgent challenges to federal biomedical funding, public health, and education while outlining a bipartisan strategy for comprehensive immigration reform ahead of the July 4th recess. Reid emphasized the severe impact of sequestration on research institutions and nutrition programs, whereas Cantor advocated for technology-driven wellness initiatives and proposed an "ag worker" immigration measure alongside STEM visa retention. The leaders concluded by pledging continued collaboration through a joint trip to the NIH, future joint fundraising in their home states, and the pursuit of an immigration bill that offers a pathway to citizenship while maintaining the rule of law.
- Milken Institute52 min
A Conversation with Thorsten Heins: The Future of BlackBerry and Mobile Computing
Under CEO Torsten Heinz, BlackBerry executed a drastic 75% workforce reduction and complete management overhaul to halt financial insolvency and transition from crisis-mode governance to a culture of decentralized innovation. The company relaunched as a unified brand with the Z10 and Q10 devices powered by the secure QNX-based BlackBerry 10 operating system, which uniquely combines enterprise-grade security with a distinct separation of personal and business environments on a single endpoint. Targeting the "third player" market for carriers and enterprises, BlackBerry leverages its private global data network to dominate the mobile computing sector by integrating automotive telematics and emerging market financial infrastructure while positioning itself as the leader in secure, unified user experiences.
- Milken Institute57 min
Building a Global Community to Drive Social Change
Alden, Sean, Ben, Jesse, Michelle, Yancey, Patty, Xavier, Dwayne Johnson, Steven Spielberg, George Soros, Clinton, Barack, Obama
A panel discussion at a media industry event detailed how organizations like TakePart and Good magazine are pivoting from passive content consumption to decentralized, action-oriented community platforms that leverage social media for civic engagement. Key examples included a Facebook game raising $200,000 and mobilizing 700,000 players globally, alongside successful film campaigns for *Lincoln* and *Food, Inc.* that drove measurable consumer behavior changes and policy shifts. The conversation highlighted a broader industry trend where authentic, two-way digital conversations and grassroots organizing are replacing traditional top-down communication to address global challenges effectively.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Can Technology Revamp the Learning Process?
Adam Nordean, Mike Moe, Nolan Bushnell, Ron Packard, John Barber
This event details the rapid evolution of the education technology sector, where annual investments have surged to exceed $1 billion with major Silicon Valley firms and platforms like Khan Academy and Coursera delivering millions of course completions. Speakers highlight how brain science integration and adaptive algorithms are shifting education from rigid age-based cohorts to personalized, mastery-driven models that can reduce operational costs by up to 80%. Despite facing bureaucratic hurdles and the high stakes of student debt, industry leaders predict a fundamental breakdown of traditional school structures within three years, driven by global scalability and a new focus on quantifiable Return on Education.
- Milken Institute55 min
Inventing the Impossible
Nolan Bushnell, Pablos Holman, Salim Ismail, Marco Tempest, Ken Rutkowski
Hosted by Ken Rakowski, a diverse panel of experts including Salim Ismail, Nolan Bushnell, Pablo, and Marco Tempest explored strategies for "inventing the impossible" by leveraging exponential trends in energy, education, and connectivity. The discussion highlighted specific innovations such as nuclear waste recycling, immersive virtual learning, and magic-based technology prototyping to solve global challenges ranging from food security to vaccine distribution. Participants concluded that overcoming current market and regulatory constraints requires shifting from linear planning to open-source collaboration that internalizes Moore's Law and prioritizes creative problem-solving over rote knowledge.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Impact Investing: The Art of the Deal
Dave Chen, N. Lee, Sari Miller, Eitan Stibbe, Martha Minowski, Ann Coopermann, Chip, Andy Cooper
A panel of global investment leaders from Equilibrium Capital Group, Impact Investment Exchange, LeapFrog, and Vital Capital convened to define impact investing as a practice where intentional social and environmental outcomes are non-negotiable components of the investment thesis alongside market-rate or preservation returns. The discussion detailed practical execution strategies, ranging from complex financing structures like convertible notes and tax equity flips to rigorous measurement frameworks such as GEARS that rejected 40% of opportunities due to social and environmental risks. By highlighting specific case studies in micro-insurance, African agro-industrial centers, and US real estate, the panel demonstrated how practitioners mitigate mission drift and generate sustainable alpha through deep community integration and strategic capital stacking.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Building the Apps Economy
Kara Swisher, John Malloy, Diane, Mike Mandel, Ray Sharma
A 2012 analysis reveals that the U.S. app economy generated over 81 billion downloads and 500,000 jobs, a growth rate far exceeding traditional software sectors and driven primarily by enterprise adoption. The industry is rapidly shifting from simple downloads to complex "freemium" monetization models and location-based services, despite significant regulatory challenges regarding privacy and sector-specific oversight. Looking forward, market consolidation and emerging technologies like augmented reality are expected to transform mobile computing into wearable interfaces, fundamentally altering how value is measured and delivered across healthcare, transportation, and retail.