Josh Barro
Showing 1–12 of 12 transcripts.
- Milken Institute51 min
Bending the Cost Curve: Understanding the GLP-1 Era | Global Conference 2025
Josh Barro, Michael Ferro, Simon Johnson, Lisa Stevens
A panel of industry leaders and medical experts analyzed GLP-1 drugs as a transformative treatment that significantly improves cardiovascular health and reduces long-term healthcare costs, provided patients adhere to therapy. The discussion highlighted a critical adherence gap where global discontinuation rates reach 50%, contrasting with a UK pilot program that achieved 98% retention through AI-driven telehealth and mandatory screening. While facing challenges like high initial costs, supply chain fraud, and societal stigma, successful employer-led programs are emerging as essential mechanisms to manage access, ensure safety, and align financial incentives for sustained workforce productivity.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Leading the Democratic Party into the Future | Global Conference 2025
Josh Barro, Jon Cowan, Jason Furman, Sarah Longwell, Chuck Rocha, Neera Tanden
Post-2024 election strategists including Neera Tanden, Jason Furman, and Sarah Longwell analyze the Democratic Party's defeat by highlighting a disconnect between popular policy platforms and voter perceptions of economic insecurity and cultural identity. The panel identifies critical failures in messaging regarding inflation and immigration, noting that the party's heavy spending on abortion rights and reliance on a "consultant class" alienated the white working-class coalition essential for winning swing states. To secure future victories, experts recommend a strategic pivot toward authentic working-class narratives, an "all-of-the-above" energy approach, and a departure from activist-driven constraints to re-engage moderate voters on issues of cost of living and national security.
- Milken Institute58 min
Balance Sheet: The US Government Budget and National Debt | Global Conference 2025
Josh Barro, Maya MacGuineas, Steven T. Mnuchin, Paul Ryan, Alan Schwartz, Phillip Swagel, David Malani
A panel of economic experts and former officials projected that U.S. deficits will reach 8% of GDP within four years, driven by expiring tax provisions, rising interest costs, and an inflexible entitlement system facing insolvency by 2033. While policy proposals ranging from Value Added Taxes to sovereign wealth funds were debated, participants warned that political gridlock and current IRS reductions will likely delay necessary structural reform until a market crisis forces action. The discussion highlighted a potential erosion of dollar hegemony due to rising borrowing costs and foreign diversification, urging the creation of a bipartisan fiscal commission with enforcement powers to prevent a long-term debt spiral.
- Milken Institute59 min
Journalism Today: New Voices, New Models, New Methods | Global Conference 2024
Josh Barro, Carlissia Graham, Nicholas Johnston, Jon Kelly, Janice Min, Kimi Yoshino
Industry leaders and investors convened to analyze sustainable business models capable of reversing the journalism sector's decade-long revenue decline, featuring case studies from The Ankler, Puck, and the Baltimore Banner. The discussion emphasized that while philanthropic capital and AI efficiency offer operational relief, viability ultimately requires immediate profitability or a clear path to diversifying revenue beyond traditional advertising. Panelists further warned that billionaire ownership does not guarantee stability and argued against relying on government subsidies that might compromise editorial independence.
- Milken Institute38 min
Countering Warning Signs | Global Conference 2024
Josh Barro, Mark Lindbloom, Raymond McGuire, Asutosh Padhi, Seema Shah, Jeffrey Solomon, Ray McGuire
Panelists led by Jeffrey Solomon and Ray McGuire conclude that structural shifts such as deglobalization and domestic infrastructure spending will sustain a "higher for longer" rate environment with nominal yields stabilizing between 4.25% and 4.75%. While consumer spending remains bifurcated with resilient high-income earners and distressed lower-income households, the economy continues to absorb higher costs due to robust corporate balance sheets and productivity gains driven by technology. Ultimately, investors must recalibrate valuations to account for persistent inflation and tail risks, recognizing that the labor market serves as the primary indicator before a potential systemic downturn or prolonged expansion occurs.
- Milken Institute33 min
A Conversation with Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President and CEO James Bullard
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard explains that the U.S. economy is adapting to pandemic risks through endogenous behavioral changes rather than broad lockdowns, projecting output recovery to 90% of normal levels despite historical quarterly declines. Bullard contrasts his view of a new steady state with host Josh Barrow's concern over permanently lower living standards, while addressing the dual policy challenge of balancing business preservation with market dynamism. Furthermore, Bullard highlights the strategic necessity of preventing a secondary financial crisis and identifies eliminating racial unemployment gaps as a critical metric for ideal monetary policy outcomes.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Can America Afford to Retire?
Josh Barro, Andrew Biggs, Marcie Frost, Jarvis Hollingsworth, Dan Houston
A panel of public and private sector leaders, including CEOs from CalPERS and Texas Teachers Retirement System, examines the divergent financial realities of retirement affordability across defined benefit and contribution models. While current retirees enjoy record wealth, the discussion highlights critical structural vulnerabilities in public pension funding assumptions and the longevity risks facing workers in defined contribution plans. Experts propose policy interventions such as federal funding mandates, auto-enrollment mechanisms, and annuity integration to address projected solvency gaps and ensure long-term system stability.
- Milken Institute57 min
Right or Left: Who's Best for Freedom?
Josh Barro, Kenneth Hersh, Rich Lowry, Gene Sperling, Felicia Wong
In a debate contrasting FDR's positive liberties with classical negative freedoms, Felicia Wong and Gene Sperling argue that true liberty requires protection from want and fear, while Rich Lowry and Kenneth Hirsch contend that freedom is strictly defined by the absence of government coercion. The panel further explores how economic policies like the Affordable Care Act and anti-discrimination laws either expand individual agency or threaten consumer choice, while noting that shifting political narratives now force conservatives to defend liberty against a backdrop of authoritarianism and rising public demand for government intervention. Ultimately, the discussion highlights a deep ideological divide over whether freedom entails securing material security and dignity through state action or preserving it through limited government and market competition.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
How the New Tax Cuts Are Shaping the U.S. Economyand Our Fiscal Future
Josh Barro, Eric Cantor, Jason Furman, William Lee, Maya MacGuineas, David Freeman, Jr., Steve
Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor joined economists Jason Furman, Bill Lee, and Maya McGinnis to debate the new tax law's projected 0.7% annual GDP boost against concerns that rising debt will soon crowd out investment and hinder entitlement reform. While the group agreed the legislation offers short-term demand stimulus, they warned that without permanent spending cuts or revenue offsets, the resulting $1.5 trillion deficit will likely triple interest payments and force long-term interest rates higher. The panelists further noted that despite potential competitive advantages against China, the temporary nature of the cuts creates political uncertainty that may undermine the very productivity growth the law aims to stimulate.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Entitlements: A Collision Course With Fiscal Reality
Josh Barro, Jared Bernstein, Andrew Biggs, Chris Hughes, Maya MacGuineas, Eric Schmidt, Andrew McAfee, Jonathan Zittrain, Jared King, Nancy Gertner, David Rockefeller, Anne Coughlin, Eric Schwartzman
A panel of experts including Andrew Biggs and Jared Bernstein addressed the actuarial insolvency of Social Security and Medicare, evaluating revenue increases and benefit adjustments to close the projected 75-year shortfall. The discussion extended to expanding income support through a modernized Earned Income Tax Credit while contrasting these proposals with healthcare reforms aimed at reducing drug costs and leveraging public options. Panelists concluded that political constraints and intergenerational inequities currently prevent necessary fiscal adjustments, creating a gap between public demand for services and willingness to fund them.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Financial Regulation in the 21st Century: Risks, Challenges and Opportunities
Josh Barro, Patrick Cronin, Robert Lavet, Barbara Novick, Mike Sommers, Neal Wolin
A panel of industry leaders and experts from firms like BlackRock, SoFi, and the American Investment Council evaluated the viability of reforming post-crisis regulations like Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule following the 2020 election. While acknowledging that capital requirements have reduced systemic failure risks, the group criticized the current framework for excessive complexity, disproportionate burdens on small banks, and the displacement of speculative risk into unregulated sectors. The discussion concluded with a consensus that while major legislative repeal faces political hurdles, future improvements will likely rely on RegTech adoption, proportional regulation based on asset size, and the consolidation of fragmented agency oversight.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
How the Energy Transformation Will Power the Future
Josh Barro, Robert Armstrong, J. Andrew (Drew) Murphy, Mark Schwartz, Michael Smith
Industry experts project that while global oil demand will peak by 2040 driven by petrochemicals, natural gas will remain the fastest-growing fossil fuel alongside a renewable sector that is rapidly undercutting traditional baseloads. Economic forces are increasingly dictating energy transitions, with falling solar and wind costs enabling corporate adoption and grid modernization efforts, even as political uncertainty and infrastructure risks threaten to slow nuclear retirements and coal-phaseouts. Simultaneously, the sector faces critical challenges in grid stability and storage integration, while long-term technological bets on fusion and advanced batteries aim to address a persistent underinvestment in research and development.