A Morton L. Mandel Conversation
In early October 2022, one month before a midterm election, the Academy hosted a bipartisan conversation about the economy and the future of democracy. The in-person event, “Reimagining the American Economy,” featured Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) and Congressman Bryan Steil (R-WI), chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth.
The event came at the conclusion of a convening of the Academy's Commission on Reimagining Our Economy, a multi-disciplinary, nonpartisan initiative dedicated to rethinking the values, policies, narratives, and metrics that shape the nation’s political economy. Rather than focus on how the economy is doing, the Commission is focused on how Americans are doing, elevating the human stakes of our economic and political systems.
The event with Rep. Himes and Rep. Steil was an opportunity to hear how members of Congress think about economic issues—from trade wars and globalization to inflation and its impact on the day-to-day lives of their constituents. The Representatives were joined by Justice Goodwin Liu (Supreme Court of California) who serves on the Commission on Reimagining Our Economy: Academy President David Oxtoby moderated the conversation with brief remarks from Commission Cochair Ann Fudge.