Event Overview

While the overall economy is slowly improving, too many communities across the country are falling behind. Cities like Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Sacramento, and Hartford have continued to lose high-quality jobs during the economic recovery, with a large share of the new opportunities coming from part-time and low wage openings. Labor force participation is down 6.54 percent since the early 2000s, and the median household income in 2013 was lower than it was in 1989.

On April 15 2015, the Economic Innovation Group hosted our first policy event, Rethinking Economic Renewal, alongside The Atlantic LIVE. The event brought together experts and policymakers–from opposite sides of the aisle–who agree that it’s time to drive more private investment in distressed areas of our country. The Atlantic’s Steve Clemons moderated a conversation with Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Tim Scott (R-SC), preceded by a panel featuring EIG’s Economic Advisory Board Co-chairs, Kevin Hassett and Jared Bernstein, along with Amy Liu from the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution. Economic Innovation Group Co-Founders, Steve Glickman and John Lettieri, also provided their remarks.