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State roads to economic recovery: Policies, pavements, and partnerships

Friday, February 25, 2011

As the U.S. economy begins a slow climb to recovery, state and local governments are still reeling from the impact of the Great Recession. Revenues have plunged while the demand for key state and local services has soared. Meanwhile, unemployment remains stubbornly high.

The Hamilton Project and the Metropolitan Policy Program held a forum focused on state strategies that can help close budget deficits while also growing state economies and creating much-needed jobs.

Brookings Vice President Bruce Katz moderated a panel of policy experts and state leaders, including former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Mike Finney, CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, who discussed a range of fiscally responsible policy ideas to build the foundation for the next economy.

A second panel of economic experts, moderated by Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone, discussed three new policy proposals to help state and local governments invest more efficiently in infrastructure as a tool for ensuring their long-term economic competitiveness. A former Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Tyler Duvall, served as a discussant for the proposals.

Agenda

Welcome

Robert E. Rubin​
Co-Chair, Council on Foreign Relations
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary

Panel Discussion: Building the Next Economy in Today’s Fiscal Climate

Moderator: Bruce Katz
Vice President and Director
Metropolitan Policy Program
The Brookings Institution

Mike Finney
CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

Robert Puentes
Senior Fellow and Infrastructure Initiative Director
Metropolitan Policy Program
The Brookings Institution

The Honorable Ed Rendell
Former Governor of Pennsylvania

Panel Discussion: Tools for Efficient State Investment

Moderator:  Michael Greenstone
Hamilton Project Director
Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

Author: Andrew Ang
Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business
Columbia University

Author: Eduardo Engel
Professor of Economics
Yale University

Author: Matthew E. Kahn
Professor, Institute of the Environment
Department of Public Policy
Department of Economics, UCLA

Discussant: Tyler Duvall
Associate Principle, McKinsey & Co.