Mayor Michael Bloomberg addresses a Georgetown audience on the state of the American economic crisis, the steps that should be taken and the steps that have not yet been taken. He characterizes federal responses to date as being akin to "buying an alcoholic a drink."
Bio
Michael Bloomberg
Michael R. Bloomberg is the 108th Mayor of the City of New York. He was first elected in November 2001, two months after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, a
time when many believed that crime would return, businesses would flee, and New York might never recover. Instead, through hundreds of innovative new policies and initiatives, Mayor Bloomberg has made New York City safer, stronger, and greener than ever.
Today, compared to 2001, crime is down
35 percent. The welfare rolls are down 25 percent. High School graduation rates are up 27 percent. Ambulance response times are at record lows. Teen smoking is down more than 50 percent. More than 600 acres of new parkland have been added. And the City has weathered the national recession in much better shape than most places, far outpacing the nation in job growth in 2010.
Born on February 14, 1942 in Boston and raised in a middle class home in Medford, Massachusetts, Michael Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University, where he paid his tuition by taking loans and working as a parking lot attendant. After college, he went on to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1966, he was hired by a Wall Street firm, Salomon Brothers, for an entry-level job.
He quickly rose through the ranks at Salomon, overseeing equity trading and sales before heading up the firm’s information systems. When Salomon was acquired in 1981, he was let go from the firm. With a vision of an information company that would use emerging technology to bring transparency and efficiency to the buyers and sellers of financial securities, he launched a small startup company called Bloomberg LP. Today, Bloomberg LP has over 300,000 subscribers to its financial news and information service in over 160 countries around the globe. Headquartered in New York City, the company has about 13,000 employees worldwide. As his company grew, Michael Bloomberg started directing more of his attention to philanthropy, donating his time and resources to many different causes. He has sat on the boards of numerous charitable, cultural, and educational institutions, including Johns Hopkins University, where, as chairman of the board, he helped build the Bloomberg School of Public Health into one of the world’s leading institutions of public health research and training. Already deeply involved in civic afairs, he officially entered public life in 2001, when he entered the race for Mayor of the City of New York. After entering City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg won control of New York City’s broken public school system and turned it around by raising standards, promoting innovation, and holding schools accountable for success. He spurred economic growth and job creation by revitalizing old industrial areas and strengthening key industries, including new media, film and television, bio-science, technology, and higher education. The Mayor’s Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan helped bring the City through the national recession as quickly as possible and helped avoid the level of job losses that many experts had forecast and that other cities experienced. He has also launched programs that encourage entrepreneurship, combat poverty, and help people acquire the skills they need to build careers.
His passion for public health has led to ambitious new health strategies that have become national models, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as parks and beaches. Today, life expectancy is 19 months longer than it was before Mayor Bloomberg took office. His belief that America’s mayors and business leaders can help effect change in Washington has led him to launch national bi-partisan coalitions to combat illegal guns, reform immigration, and invest in infrastructure. He also created a far-reaching plan allowing New York City to fight climate change and promote sustainable development on an unprecedented scale. In acknowledgement of his leadership on these issues, Bloomberg was recently named Chair of the C40 Cities Global Climate Initiative. And he has been an equally strong champion of the City’s arts and cultural institutions, expanding support for them and helping to bring more than 80 public art projects to all five boroughs.
Mayor Bloomberg is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina.
John J. DeGioia
Since graduating from Georgetown University in 1979, John J. DeGioia has served both as a senior administrator and as a faculty member at the school. On July 1, 2001, he became Georgetown's 48th president.
Dr. DeGioia is a professorial lecturer in the Department of Philosophy. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown University in 1979 and his PhD in Philosophy from the University in 1995. He has most recently taught "Ethics and Global Development," "Human Rights: A Culture in Crisis," and a seminar on "Ways of Knowing."
Prior to his appointment as president, Dr. DeGioia held a variety of senior administrative positions at Georgetown, including senior vice president, responsible for university-wide operations, and dean of student affairs. In 2004, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Academia from the Sons of Italy.
Statistic used to determine the state of general economic activity or to predict it in the future. A leading indicator is one that tends to turn up or down before the general economy does (e.g., building permits, common stock prices, and business inventories). Coincident indicators move in line with the economy; lagging indicators change direction after the economy does.
It seems absolutely incredible to me that Michael Bloomberg is not being assigned to be the major consultant appointed by the President to cure the ailments of Wall Street. It seems to me he has the best handle on this subject. He is the natural leader we so urgently need for this purpose. Am I alone in this belief? I think he makes more sense than anybody else. He is fully qualified to be appointed to function at the Federal Level in this capacity, if he would willing to accept the position. I would like to see him as the President's Economic Chief of Staff, fully delegated to make the recommendations he deems appropriate. Wake up, America. I think he holds the key to our economic recovery. Am I the only one who hears the alarm going off? Who is more qualified to be our nation's leader in identifying and resolving Wall Street's deleterious practices to do this monumental job? He should he should be placed in charge of a Blue Ribbon Committee to prepare the Plan of Action and subsequently implement all steps necessary to make Wall Street free of all of its deleterious excesses that have caused America's worst economic crisis of our times. Those who would serve on his Committee should be screened by Congress to ensure their competence and credentials are totally in the public interest, not Wall Street's interest. If anybody can heal the Stock Market and come up with the best ways for recovering from this unprecented financial mess that has been festering for much too long, it would be Michael Bloomberg. I suspect he would gladly work for a fee $1 per year, plus essential expenses, for as long as it takes. I hope this suggestion will find its way into the national limelight.
