Presented as part of the Hurst Lecture Series in collaboration with the Aspen Economic Strategy Group

Featuring Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy at Harvard University, and Paul Ryan, Partner at Solamere Capital and 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in conversation with Melissa S. Kearney, Director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group. The United States stands at a critical crossroads in safeguarding and advancing our nation’s prosperity at home and abroad. The Trump administration is taking an “America First” approach to global economic engagement, embracing a confrontational trade posture and stepping back from multilateral agreements. Congress has enacted sweeping legislation that extends tax cuts, creates new tax breaks, slashes funding for key programs like Medicaid and SNAP, and adds trillions to the national debt. At the same time, surging geopolitical tensions and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence are transforming the landscape for U.S. strategic competitiveness. This timely panel will explore what policymakers and business leaders should do to strengthen America’s economic edge, promote national interests, and ensure broad-based prosperity in the years ahead.
Paepcke Auditorium, doors at 1:00 pm

While attendance at the event is free and open to everyone, registration is required, and capacity is established on a first-come, first-served basis. Register here.

To view a livestream of this event online, please click here.

Parking
Parking is very limited. Please carpool, walk, bike, or ride RFTA.

Paul Ryan was the 54th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. In office from October 2015 to January 2019, he was the youngest speaker in nearly 150 years. Prior to becoming Speaker of the House, Paul served as the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He also served as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 2011-2015. In 2012, he was selected to serve as Governor Mitt Romney’s Vice-Presidential nominee. Paul was first elected to Congress at age 28 and represented Wisconsin’s First District for two decades. In 2019, he launched the American Idea Foundation, a non-partisan, not for profit organization that expands economic opportunity by partnering with local organizations and academics to advance evidence-based public policies. In 2021, Paul was named as a Partner at Solamere Capital. In 2022, he was named Vice Chairman of Teneo, a global CEO advisory firm. Paul is a member of the Board of Directors of the Fox Corporation, of SHINE Medical Technologies LLC, and of Xactus. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Robert Bosch GmbH and is a member of Paradigm’s Policy Council. Paul serves as a Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame and a visiting fellow in the practice of public policy at the American Enterprise Institute. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute and on the Board of Directors for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Paul and his wife Janna have three children: Liza, Charlie, and Sam. He holds a degree in economics and political science from Miami University in Ohio and was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University.

Jason Furman is the Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy jointly at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Furman engages in public policy through research, writing and teaching in a wide range of areas including U.S. and international macroeconomics, fiscal policy, labor markets and competition policy. Previously Furman served eight years as a top economic adviser to President Obama, including serving as the 28th Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers from August 2013 to January 2017, acting as both President Obama’s chief economist and a member of the cabinet. In addition to articles in scholarly journals and periodicals, Furman is a regular contributor to the New York Times and Project Syndicate and the editor of two books on economic policy. Furman holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University.

Melissa S. Kearney is the Gilbert F. Schaefer Professor of Economics at the University of Notre Dame. She is also director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group; a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research; and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of MDRC and on the Board of the Notre Dame Wilson-Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities. Kearney previously served as the Neil Moskowitz Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, Director of the Hamilton Project at Brookings, and co-chair of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology J-PAL State and Local Innovation Initiative. Kearney’s research focuses on US poverty, inequality, social policy, and the economics of fertility and families. She has served in editorial positions for the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy; Journal of Economic Literature; Journal of Human Resources; Demography; and Future of Children. She is the author of The Two-Parent Privilege (University of Chicago Press, 2023.) Kearney teaches Public Economics at both the undergraduate and Ph.D. level. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT.

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