Jeff Green

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.