Skip to main content

Economic Recovery or a Vanishing American Dream?

PAST EVENT VIDEO
Panel
Experts discuss economic realities facing lower and middle-income Americans and consider the solutions needed to rebuild a more inclusive American dream.
Speakers
Heather Gerken
Eugene Ludwig
Ameya Pawar
Michael H. Moskow
Evelyn J. Diaz
Event Date

About This Event

The American dream has always been rooted in ideals of prosperity, opportunity, and the freedom to build a better life. But in 2020, the most vulnerable in the US economy have experienced nothing but consistent shocks. From the ongoing threat of COVID-19, nationwide uprisings over systemic racism, and a Wall Street detached from main street, these universally shared events have played out amidst pre-existing inequalities in wealth, health, and work in the United States. A 2019 symposium organized by Eugene Ludwig, President Clinton’s comptroller of the currency, convened a bipartisan group of the nation’s forward thinkers to identify and remedy socioeconomic ailments that plague America’s lower and middle classes. As the country struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a panel of experts examined the past and current economic realities facing lower and middle-income Americans and how to design solutions to rebuild a more inclusive, long-term American dream. 

Copies of Eugene Ludwig’s book, The Vanishing American Dream, is available to purchase through the Council's local book partner, The Book Cellar.

About the Speakers
Heather Gerken
Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, Yale University
Eugene Ludwig
Founder and CEO, Promontory Financial Group
Ameya Pawar
Former Alderman, Chicago’s 47th Ward
Vice Chair and Distinguished Fellow, Global Economy
Council expert Michael H. Moskow
Michael H. Moskow is the vice chair and distinguished fellow, global economy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. From 1994-2007, he served as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In that capacity, he was a member of the Federal Open Market Committee, the Federal Reserve System's most important monetary policymaking body.
Council expert Michael H. Moskow
Evelyn J. Diaz
President, Heartland Alliance
Black and white headshot of Evelyn Diaz
As President of Heartland Alliance, Evelyn Diaz—a member of the Council's Emerging Leader Program class of 2011—is responsible for directing domestic and global strategy for Heartland Alliance's five nonprofit corporate entities. Previously, she was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to lead the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services.
Black and white headshot of Evelyn Diaz