CED Receives Major Grant From
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation

The Committee for Economic Development has been awarded a grant from the newly formed Peter G. Peterson Foundation to address major public policy challenges facing America. The $1 million grant will be used to address directly three of the Peterson Foundation’s top tier issue areas: health care reform, the federal budget deficit (including the savings and current economic deficits), and entitlement reform. CED’s Trustees – business leaders and university presidents – will engage corporate CEOs to participate and share their expertise in finding long-term solutions to these issues that threaten America’s economic future. The Peter G. Peterson Foundation was established in early 2008, by Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and the co-founder and senior chairman of The Blackstone Group. The president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States. CED and David Walker have been active participants in the “Fiscal Wake-Up Tour,” a series of public forums held over the past few years warning of the damage long-term federal budget deficits have on the U.S. economy. (read the entire press release)

CED Co-Chair Joseph Kasputys Testifies Before
U.S. House of Representatives

L-R: Fred Bergsten, Joseph Kasputys, Walter Williams.
On Thursday, July 24, 2008, CED Co-Chair Joseph Kasputys testified before the House Committee on Financial Services on the “Implications of a Weaker Dollar for Oil Prices and the U.S.Economy.” Kasputys discussed CED’s policy stance on global imbalances, and the implication of those imbalances on oil prices and the dollar. All witnesses agreed that the impact of the weakening dollar on oil prices only accounts for a small portion of the rise in oil costs. The discussion addressed ways in which supply and demand, conservation, tapping into the strategic petroleum preserves, and drilling in ANWAR would impact the price of oil.

The other witnesses were: Fred Bergsten, Director, Peterson Institute for International Economics; Walter J. Williams, Economist, ShadowStats.com; and Robert P. Murphy, Economist, Institute for Energy Research.

» View Joseph Kasputy’s written testimony

» View CED's report “Reducing Risks From Global Imbalances”
 

CED Gala Annual Awards Dinner

(left to right) Joseph Kasputys, Chairman, President and CEO, Global Insight, Inc.(in-coming CED Co-Chair), Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of the Board, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited, Ursula Burns, President, Xerox Corporation, W. James McNerney, Jr., Chairman, president and Chief Executive Officer, The Boeing Company, Roy Bostock, Chairman, Yahoo! Inc. and Chairman, Northwest Airlines, Robert Dugger, Managing Director, Tudor Investment Corporation, Charles Kolb, President, CED, Donald Peterson, Chairman & CEO (retired), Avaya Inc. (in-coming CED Co-Chair)
On May 28, 2008, the Committee for Economic Development held the annual CED Gala Awards Dinner in New York City. Each Year CED recognizes business leaders in America and from around the world who are also leaders in public policy.

2008 CED DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARDEES

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited
Jiang Jianqing
Chairman of the Board
Distinguished Performance Award for Global Leadership

Xerox Corporation
Ursula M. Burns
President
Distinguished Performance Award for Corporate Citizenship

W. James McNerney, Jr.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
The Boeing Company
Peter G. Peterson Award for Business Statesmanship

Roy J. Bostock
Chairman
Yahoo! Inc.
Chairman
Northwest Airlines
CED Trustee Leadership Award

Robert H. Dugger
Managing Director
Tudor Investment Corporation
CED Trustee Leadership Award

Business, Labor and Civic Leaders Convene on
Need for National Health Care Reform

Milwaukee, Wisconsin — On Friday April 25, 2008 CED, in partnership with Better Health Care Together coalition partners Manpower, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) sponsored a forum with more than 90 regional business, labor and philanthropic leaders to discuss health care reform.

At the event, the Better Health Care Together Coalition released a paper entitled, “Health-Cost Crossroad: Why American Businesses Urgently Need to Fix the Health System,” evaluating the impact of increasing health care costs on employers and the labor workforce. The Better Health Care Together Coalition identified the following problematic trends:

Health care costs are increasing more rapidly than economic growth:
Job-based health insurance premiums have risen by 98 % between 2000 and 2007, nearly five times faster than the rate of inflation.

 
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