2009 EVENTS

November 4, 2009

On Wednesday, November 4th, financial and economic historian Niall Ferguson visited the Young Leaders Circle to discuss the claim of his bestselling book, The Ascent of Money, that the evolution of the finance is the foundation for all human progress. He described the “six pillars of the modern financial system” — banking, bonds, corporate stock, insurance, sophisticated investment instruments, and residential real estate, with the sequential evolution of each leading to exponential advances in a given society’s development.

Ferguson is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and a distinguished professor at Harvard. He is also a contributing editor for the Financial Times and a regular contributor to Newsweek. Four of Ferguson’s books on financial history, including The Ascent of Money, have been turned into PBS and BBC documentaries. In 2004, Time magazine named him as one of the world’s hundred most influential people.

Visit Niall Ferguson’s web site here.

October 7, 2009

On Wednesday, October 7th Vance Serchuk, foreign policy adviser to Senator Joseph Lieberman, spoke with the Young Leaders Circle about the politics of the war in Afghanistan and the path to victory. Vance argued why a properly-resourced counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan is necessary to achieve our objectives there, and the danger of alternative approaches such as counterterrorism.

Prior to joining Senator Lieberman's office, Vance was a fellow in defense and security policy at the American Enterprise Institute, where his work focused on Iraq and Afghanistan and the war on terror more broadly.

He was one of the participants in the noted 2006 AEI study group, led by Fred Kagan, that called for the surge in Iraq. His knowledge is not just in scholarship—he has traveled extensively in Afghanistan—most recently in August, when he joined Senators Lieberman and McCain on their visit there. His writings are widely published and he holds degrees from Princeton and Yale Law School, and was also a Fulbright scholar in the Russian Federation.

September 16, 2009

The 2009 Young Leaders Circle season resumed on Wednesday, September 16th with Manhattan Institute senior fellow Peter Huber discussing his provocative new report "Kill Oil with Natural Gas and Electricity: A Carbon Strategy the World Can Afford".

With Cap and Trade legislation returning to the spotlight in Washington, Huber presented an urgent exposé of today’s most widely-touted carbon-cutting schemes, which will, in fact, strengthen oil’s grip on the planet’s highways and end up increasing carbon emissions as well. To beat oil and curb carbon while we do, he argued, we need an energy policy centered on cheap, conventional fuels and practical, proven technologies.

Peter Huber’s most recent book is The Bottomless Well, which Bill Gates describes as “the only book I’ve ever seen that really explains energy, its history and what it will be like going forward.” Huber is also a regular contributor to Forbes, where he writes about science, technology, and public policy.

July 8, 2009

On Wednesday, July 8th, Guy Sorman, a City Journal contributing editor and former economics professor at the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, discussed his new book, Economics Does Not Lie: A Defense of the Free Market in a Time of Crisis.

Mr. Sorman’s book is an unapologetic defense of market capitalism. He argued that it is important to remember the unprecedented benefits free markets have brought mankind, and reminds readers that getting rid of the free market because it is imperfect would be a dangerous overreaction. Sorman explained that the crisis can be corrected with the tools of economic science far better than with ignorance or demagoguery. Based on extensive interviews with the world's leading economists, Sorman's book makes a unique and timely contribution to understanding our time.

June 3, 2009

On Wednesday, June 3rd, Betsy McCaughey, gave a presentation to the Young Leaders Circle on how the American healthcare system should be reformed and why our leaders should not create a socialist healthcare system in this country. The event was filmed by C-Span. [PART I] [PART II] [PART III]
[PART IV] [PART V]
Click here to read a recent article on the topic by Betsy McCaughey in the American Spectator.

McCaughey's 1994 analysis of the Clinton health plan, written while she was with the Manhattan Institute, was widely credited with derailing HillaryCare. Ms. McCaughey, former Lt. Governor of New York State and current chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, is the author of over one hundred scholarly and popular articles on health policy, infection, medical innovation, the economics of aging and Medicare. Her 1994 analysis of the Clinton health plan in The New Republic won a National Magazine Award for the best article in the nation on public policy. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, Policy Review, Forbes Magazine, New York Law Journal, Los Angeles Times, U.S. News & World Report, and many other national publications.

Click here to watch Betsy McCaughey discuss President Obama’s healthcare plans.

May 6, 2009

On Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 the Young Leaders heard from the Honorable Edwin Meese III who addressed the centrality of America's first principles to the future of liberty. He discussed his current work for the Heritage Foundation's First Principles Policy Studies and Research initiative, which promotes the vision of "saving America by reclaiming its truths and its promises and conserving its liberating principles for ourselves and our posterity."

Edwin Meese III served as the 75th Attorney General of the United States under Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1988, and was his chief policy adviser from January 1981 to February 1985. He also served as chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and of the National Drug Policy Board. Presently, Mr. Meese is the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy at the Heritage Foundation and Chairman of its Center for Legal and Judicial Studies.

April 1, 2009

On Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Steve Forbes came to the Young Leaders Circle to explain the current fiscal situation and how tax policy effects the national and local economy. He argued against increasing tax burdens on individuals and corporations will further depress the economy.

Steve Forbes is the editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine as well as president and chief executive officer of its publisher, Forbes Inc. He was a Republican candidate in the U.S. Presidential primaries in 1996 and 2000. He served as an Economic Adviser on Taxes, Energy and the Budget during John McCain's bid for the 2008 Presidential election.

March 4, 2009

Believe it or not, there are conservatives, libertarians, and even Republicans in Hollywood. They are uniting under the auspices of a new blog, Big Hollywood, to change the entertainment industry and return Hollywood to its patriotic roots.

On Wednesday, March 4th, Andrew Breitbart, founder of Big Hollywood and the news portals Breitbart.com and Breitbart.tv, discussed how he is working to diversify Tinseltown and change the face of pop culture in the United States. Mr. Breitbart is the co-author of the New York Times' bestseller, Hollywood Interrupted: Insanity Chic in Babylon—the Case Against Celebrity, and a columnist for the Washington Times. He was formerly an editor for the Drudge Report, and was also the primary developer for The Huffington Post.

Also in attendance was Andrew Klavan, best-selling novelist and screenwriter, and City Journal editor.

February 4, 2009

On February 4th, the Young Leaders Circle welcomed back Manhattan Institute senior and City Journal contributing editor Heather Mac Donald. She discussed a grave threat to philanthropic freedom at the hands of radical diversity advocates. These activists and politicians argue that foundations must meet "diversity targets" in their giving, or risk losing their tax exempt status. This reckless policing of philanthropy could hurt intellectual, scientific, and cultural pursuits that benefit everyone.

Heather's talk was based on her December 2008 Simon Lecture on Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship, delivered before the Manhattan Institute. The talk has also been adapted for the Winter 2009 edition of City Journal. She has long been an observer of radical efforts to politicize giving, covering the topic in numerous City Journal articles such as "The Billions of Dollars That Made Things Worse," as well as her best selling 2000 book, The Burden of Bad Ideas.

January 14, 2009

In January the Young Leaders Circle members heard from Richard Brookhiser discussing William F Buckley’s last book, The Reagan I Knew (Basic Books). No two people were more important to American conservatism in the post-war era than William F. Buckley, Jr. and Ronald Reagan. Buckley's writings and those of the people he published in National Review (including Rick Brookhiser, who first appeared in NR at the age of 15) provided the intellectual underpinnings, while Reagan brought the conservative movement out of the political wilderness and into the White House.