Latest Interviews
Showing 5311–5325 of 5,331 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute9 min
The Euro Zone and the Danger Zone- Next Steps for Solving the Euro Crisis
European Union leaders will convene to address an escalating financial crisis involving five struggling member states, evaluating a binary choice between allowing exits or establishing a comprehensive fiscal and political union. The debate centers on overcoming deep political frictions, particularly Germany's reluctance to enforce collective bailouts and France's fears of dominance, which mirror historical precedents regarding shared financial liability. The outcome of this summit will determine whether the Eurozone transitions toward a centralized banking and fiscal authority or fractures under a domino effect triggered by potential departures.
- Milken Institute13 min
Inside Apple with Adam Lashinsky- Studio Session at Milken Institute
Apple's enduring success stems from Steve Jobs' strategic focus on high-impact innovations and a culture of disciplined secrecy, which competitors now struggle to emulate despite their attempts to integrate hardware and software. Under Tim Cook, the company has adapted its operational model by optimizing global supply chains and addressing labor standards, while shifting capital allocation toward dividends to satisfy shareholders without compromising core product focus. As the enterprise matures into a massive, publicly scrutinized entity, analysts anticipate a transition to a more stable, albeit less explosive, growth phase reminiscent of legacy corporations like Disney.
- Milken Institute1h 19m
MI Forum with Adam Lashinsky
Following a near-bankruptcy crisis in 1997, Steve Jobs and Tim Cook restructured Apple by eliminating excess products and managers to establish a product-centric model driven by extreme secrecy and micromanagement. This approach prioritizes design supremacy and seamless hardware-software integration over traditional market research, creating a unique organizational culture where individual responsibility and strict information control replace standard corporate divisional structures. Although the company has evolved from a high-margin niche player into a high-volume global leader, its future success remains uncertain as it transitions from singular visionary leadership to a collective executive team facing intense competitive scrutiny.
- Milken Institute52 min
Dinner Panel: Mike Milken Interviews Eike Batista and T. Boone Pickens
Mike Milken, Eike Batista, T. Boone Pickens, Michael Milken
Nobel laureates and energy advocates Boone Pickens and Ike Batista identified energy and education as the two primary drivers of global societal challenges, contrasting U.S. legislative gridlock over natural gas solutions with Brazil's stable "unleveraged economy." While Pickens advocates for replacing imported diesel with domestic natural gas to reduce reliance on OPEC, Batista highlights Brazil's massive offshore oil discoveries and strategic investments as a key frontier for global energy needs. The panel further outlined specific economic strategies, including U.S. job creation through fuel conversion and Brazil's $15.5 billion EBX Group expansion, positioning both nations as critical players in the future resource landscape.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
Lunch Panel - Global Overview: Shifting Fortunes
Eike Batista, Xi-Qing Gao, Scott Minerd, Barry Sternlicht, Chris Viehbacher, Michael Klowden
Leading global financiers and industrialists, including Eike Batista, Gao Xixing, Scott Minard, Barry Sternlicht, and Chris Wiebacher, convened to analyze divergent monetary policies and the structural transition of emerging markets away from export dependence. The panelists debated the risks of U.S. and European debt cycles while highlighting Brazil's expanding middle class and China's strategic shift toward domestic consumption and currency flexibility. Ultimately, the discussion concluded that sustainable future growth requires a pivot from resource extraction to innovation and that global economic stability depends on coordinated leadership to prevent a systemic financial rupture.
- Milken Institute59 min
Dinner Panel - The Defining Issues Facing America
Evan Bayh, Bob Casey, Bob Corker, Mitch Daniels, Jessica Yellin
Prominent policymakers including Senators Bob Corker, Evan Bayh, and Bob Casey, alongside Governor Mitch Daniels, convened to address the looming $1.2 trillion sequestration and the urgent need for a structural "grand bargain" involving tax reform and entitlement changes. The panelists identified extreme political polarization and the upcoming Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act as primary barriers to fiscal stability, while simultaneously analyzing the negative impact of Super PACs on the current election cycle. Despite skepticism regarding immediate legislative success in the "lame duck" session, the group agreed that sustained economic pressure and public frustration will likely compel a bipartisan solution within the next two years.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Lunch Panel - What's Happened to the American Dream?
Harold Ford, Jr., Neil Ferguson, Jeff Green, Charles Murray, Steve Ratner
Moderated by Harold Ford, Jr., a panel of four experts including Charles Murray, Steve Ratner, Neil Ferguson, and Jeff Green examined the erosion of the American Dream through distinct lenses of cultural decay, fiscal unsustainability, historical divergence, and globalization. While the panelists agreed on the urgency of addressing a structural deficit and a collapsing middle class, they diverged on solutions, with Murray and Ferguson advocating for civil society and cultural reform over government intervention, whereas Ratner and Green called for shifting from a transfer state to an investment state via infrastructure and education. Ultimately, the group warned that without a "Simpson-Bowles" style compromise to fix entitlements and stabilize the tax code, the United States risks European-style economic stagnation and significant social unrest.
- Milken Institute55 min
Lunch Panel - Europe at a Crossroads
Jason Cummins, Raymond McDaniel Jr., Nouriel Roubini, Josef Stadler, Christopher Ailman, Chris Ailman
Moderated by CalSTRS CIO Chris Ailman, a panel of global economists and financial leaders analyzed the Eurozone's structural fractures, identifying a high probability of a "slow-motion train wreck" driven by unsustainable debt, banking-sovereign loops, and a widening core-periphery divide. Dr. Nouriel Roubini projected Greece's exit by late next year as a precursor to a potential 2-to-4-year period of debt restructurings, while experts highlighted Spain and France as immediate solvency risks that could force the European Central Bank beyond its current inflation-focused mandate. In response to these geopolitical pressures, investors are shifting capital from financial to tangible real assets to hedge against currency devaluation, even as political fragmentation in Berlin and Paris prevents a unified fiscal solution or orderly disintegration.
- Milken Institute1h 15m
India: In the Eye of the Tiger Economy
Andrew Morse, Sanjay Patel, Raghuram Rajan, Ryan Pinto, Gaurav, Eddy Moretti, John McCutchan, David Levinson, Rodney, Amit Singhal
Experts including Sanjay Patel and Raghuram Rajan warn that India's economic growth has stalled between 5% and 7% due to government complacency, infrastructure deficits, and institutional gaps that prevent the realization of its demographic dividend. While the Reserve Bank of India has cut rates and valuations have fallen to 8x EBITDA following a credit downgrade, high inflation and a severe skills gap continue to constrain the labor market and deter private capital investment. Despite geopolitical tensions and high corporate leverage, the long-term outlook remains positive, prompting investors to adopt a patient strategy focused on domestic demand and reforms in sectors like retail, aviation, and the Goods and Services Tax.
- Milken Institute1h 6m
Milken Institute/Google -- Innovation
Aneesh Chopra, Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Tony Fratto, Pablo Chavez, Brad Belk, Tony Prado, Shalina, Alayna Nolan, Tim Jarbo
Google and the Milken Institute co-hosted the maiden restart of "DC Talks," featuring a panel of experts including former U.S. CTO Anish Chopra and journalist Vijay Vaitheeswaran to dissect the role of government in fostering an innovation-driven economy. The discussion highlighted policy strategies such as open data initiatives, technology-neutral prizes, and infrastructure investment that have successfully accelerated adoption in sectors like health IT and renewable energy while emphasizing a shift from invention to value-creating fresh thinking. Looking forward, the speakers advocated for tolerance of failure, lifelong learning systems, and new accounting standards to recognize intangible assets as essential drivers for solving complex global challenges in the 21st century.
- Milken Institute1h 23m
California's Stem Cell Initiative: Mapping the New Frontier of Medicine
Scheduled for April 27–29 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the upcoming global conference will feature strategic updates from CIRM leadership, including discussions on $632.5 million in awarded grants and a new billion-dollar commitment to Disease Teams. The meeting also addresses critical logistical changes, such as a 10% attendance reduction to improve quality, alongside presentations on overcoming funding gaps caused by California's budget impasse. With key figures like Chris Ailman participating in related February events, the agenda emphasizes accelerating translational breakthroughs in stem cell therapies for conditions like spinal cord injury and diabetes while navigating complex regulatory landscapes.
- Milken Institute1h 20m
Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy
In a Milken Institute panel, ACLU President Susan Herman and Chapman Law School's John Eastman debated the post-9/11 expansion of state surveillance powers under the USA Patriot Act and the shifting legal frameworks of the Fourth Amendment. While Eastman defended expanded tools like roving wiretaps and enhanced interrogations as essential wartime necessities that successfully led to Osama bin Laden's death, Herman countered that these measures constitute ineffective "security theater" and have eroded civil liberties without proportional security benefits. The discussion ultimately highlighted deep partisan divides regarding the balance between national security and constitutional due process, particularly concerning the targeted killing of citizens and the indefinite detention of alleged combatants.
- Milken Institute1h 15m
The Comeback: How Innovation Will Restore the American Dream
Gary Shapiro contends that innovation must serve as the primary national strategy to resolve the U.S. fiscal crisis, arguing that traditional spending cuts and tax hikes are insufficient to address the unsustainable trajectories of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He advocates for specific reforms including strategic immigration of high-value STEM talent, the reduction of aggressive antitrust litigation that stifles companies like Boeing and Google, and the reallocation of capital from low-return stimulus projects to a dynamic economy driven by creative destruction. Shapiro challenges the government to leverage American heterogeneity and risk tolerance by joining the "Innovation Movement" to pressure leaders into prioritizing long-term growth over political convenience.
- Milken Institute7 min
The Global Biomedical Industry: Preserving U.S. Leadership
The Milken Institute's latest report highlights the critical role of the U.S. biomedical sector, which supports over 5 million jobs but faces declining competitiveness due to outdated tax structures and shrinking domestic STEM enrollment. With the era of blockbuster drugs ending and rivals like China rapidly advancing in nanotechnology, the study argues that immediate policy reforms are essential to restore American leadership. Key recommendations include permanently enhancing the R&D tax credit by 25%, reducing the federal corporate tax rate to the advanced economy average of 23%, and increasing funding for the FDA and NIH to better accommodate personalized medicine frameworks.
- Milken Institute1h 21m
Milken Institute Forum: Todd Buchholz
Todd Buchholz, Skip, Debbie, Dick Fredericks, Henny Youngman, E.F. Schumacher, Jimmy Carter, Robert Redford, Shirley Temple, Julia Child, Jackie Robinson, George Washington, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stalin, Daniel Gilbert, Richard Frank, Mandela, Steve Jobs, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Fidel, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Mark Twain, Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Jonas Salk, Watson, Crick, Harry, Lucille Ball, Ethel, Kiyosaki, Tom Cruise, Ozzie, Harriet, Beaver, Theodore Roosevelt, Milton Berle, Joe Biden, Yao Ming, John Taylor, Al Gore, John Mackey
Todd Buchholz argues that human rushing, biological stress, and economic competition are essential drivers of happiness, freedom, and historical progress, refuting narratives that advocate for retreat into simplicity. He supports this thesis with neuroscientific evidence showing that risk-taking stimulates cognitive function, historical data proving capitalism's role in extending life expectancy, and corporate case studies like General Motors illustrating the inefficiency of suppressed competition. Buchholz concludes that removing competitive pressure leads to stagnation and tyranny, while maintaining that freedom and merit-based incentives are necessary to sustain the ongoing rise in human prosperity and longevity.