North America's Lost Decade?
The Munk Debate on the North American Economy
As stock markets gyrate, Europe lurches from crisis to crisis, and recovery in the United States slows, the future of the North American economy is more uncertain than ever. Can individual entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, and governments create a new era of sustained economic growth? Or, will the ongoing financial crisis, political dysfunction in the United States, and the rise of emerging nations erode living standards in North America for the long term?
In this edition of the Munk Debates -- Canada's premier international debate series -- Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman and Chief Economist and Strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates David Rosenberg square off against former director of President Obama’s National Economic Council Lawrence Summers and bestselling author Ian Bremmer to tackle the resolution: Be it resolved North America faces a Japan-style era of high unemployment and slow growth.
Lawrence Summers has served as Chief Economist of the World Bank, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, President of Harvard, and most recently as President Obama’s director of the White House National Economic Council.
David Rosenberg is the Chief Economist and Strategist at Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. and the former Chief North American Economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. His economic analysis is frequently featured in Barron’s, the Globe and Mail, the Wall Street Journal, and on CNBC.
Paul Krugman is a columnist for the New York Times. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his groundbreaking work on international trade and economic geography. He has published several books, including the recent bestseller, The Return of Depression Economics.
Ian Bremmer is the founder and president of Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk analysis and consulting firm. He is the author of several books, including the national bestseller, The End of the Free Market and The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall.