After Neoliberalism: From Left to Right

• Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University

Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard, opened the conference with a deeply moving reflection, sharing how a personal tragedy inspired her commitment to building an economy that uplifts society’s most vulnerable. Allen grounded the conference in a simple yet powerful reminder: “the economy is always for something…and at the end of the day, it should matter for the project of human flourishing.”

• Jennifer Harris, Director, Economy and Society Initiative, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

Jennifer Harris, director of the Economy and Society Initiative at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, which sponsored the event, described the United States as standing at a pivotal historical crossroads and warned of the danger of sticking with the status quo. “As the kids might say: the vibes are bad, even if the pie keeps growing,” Harris said.

• Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America – Moderator
• Heather Boushey, Senior Fellow, Reimagining the Economy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Aaron Hedlund, Chief Economist, White House Council of Economic Advisers
• Kadeem Noray, Asst. Professor, Harvard Business School

The conference’s first panel explored the need for new frameworks to succeed neoliberalism. Drawing panelists from across the political spectrum—including members of the Council of Economic Advisers from the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations—the discussion revealed unexpected areas of consensus amidst sharply differing worldviews. Though the panelists have held positions at the apex of government and academia, they spoke candidly about how failures of academic and policy elites have contributed to a steep decline in public trust in government. The panelists agreed on the need for a new paradigm going forward, and as moderator Anne-Marie Slaughter noted, “We opened more questions than we answered—but that’s exactly what we should do.”

• Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of the London School of Economics and Political Science

Larry Kramer, president and vice chancellor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, spoke of the need to communicate a vision of the economy that can rebuild a divided society’s faith in democracy. Emerging ideas must be synthesized into a story that ordinary citizens can understand and connect with — one that “can become intuitive to them,” Kramer said.

• Kathy Cramer, Natalie C. Holton Chair of Letter & Science and Virginia Sapiro Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison – Moderator
• D. Graham Burnett, Henry Charles Lea Professor, Princeton University
• Bri Stensrud, Director, Women of Welcome
• Rob Watson, Jr., Executive Director, EdRedesign, Harvard Graduate School of Education
• Kate Woodsome, Founder & Director, Invisible Threads

The conference’s second panel, “Telling the Stories of Contemporary Crisis,” emphasized listening and storytelling as essential to imagining a new political economy. Rob Watson highlighted the role of grassroots change and his work empowering communities to confront systemic and intergenerational obstacles. Kate Woodsome drew connections between democratic erosion and declining mental health, underscoring the urgency of addressing challenges such as post-traumatic stress disorder, while D. Graham Burnett discussed his research on the commodification of human attention by technology companies in our “attention economy.” Bri Stensrud, of Women of Welcome, discussed her organization’s unique work harnessing the compassion of conservative women to support immigrants and refugees.

• Oren Cass, Chief Economist, American Compass
• Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School

Oren Cass and Rebecca Henderson sat down for an intimate fireside chat to discuss Cass’ book, The Once and Future Worker. Cass and Henderson, despite entering the conversation with their own unique worldviews and visions of a new American economy, discovered numerous areas of alignment over the course of an incredibly frank conversation. Cass outlined a series of concrete policy overhaul proposals, including subsidizing low-wage work and reimagining the role of welfare. When Cass implored attendees to focus not only on the size of the metaphorical pie, but also on how it is distributed, Henderson expressed her “violent agreement.”

• Jeremy Weinstein, Dean & Don K. Price Professor of Public Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

Kicking off the afternoon, Dean Weinstein urged participants to confront the transformative impact of AI and automation on work, opportunity, and democratic life. “I’ve been called a luddite for drawing attention to the social impacts of technological change,” he said. “I’m not against technology, but I do believe that solving for the public good means taking seriously the role of government in shaping the path of technological change. This is a posture that’s pro-democracy, not anti-tech.”

• Margaret Levi, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University – Moderator
• Manuel Pastor, Director, USC Equity Research Institute
• Dani Rodrik, Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Allison Schrager, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
• Matt Stoller, Director of Research, American Economic Liberties Project

Margaret Levi, moderating “Where Do We Go from Here: From Left to Right,” focused the conversation on the principles and priorities guiding a new political economy. The diverse group of panelists converged on the urgency of fostering inclusive growth in the context of a dynamic and rapidly changing economy. Multiple panelists emphasized the need for high quality jobs and services in an era of deep social disconnection and highly unequal returns to capital. Allison Schrager reminded participants that any effort to chart a new course must begin by recognizing those who have been failed by the current economic reality: “We all agree that this economy is not giving everyone the opportunity and security they need, and a lot of people are left out,” she said.

• E. Glen Weyl, Research Lead, Microsoft – Moderator
• Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor of Economics, MIT
• Zoë Kettler Hitzig, Research Scientist, OpenAI
• Emma Waters, Policy Analyst, The Heritage Foundation

In “Applications of a New Paradigm: Technology Development,” panelists discussed how today’s rapidly emerging technological advances can be harnessed for the good of society. E. Glen Weyl, moderating the conversation, implored participants to imagine a world in which innovation is not motivated solely by the incentives of, for example, a venture capital firm. The panel addressed the changes workers are already watching play out in real-time, ranging from the promise and peril of automation to the dangers of information centralization and the concentration of power.

• Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University – Moderator
• Alisha Holland, Gates Professor of Developing Societies, Harvard University
• Bradford Littlejohn, Director of Programs & Education, American Compass
• Luma Simms, Fellow, Ethics & Public Policy Center
• Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America

In “Applications of a New Paradigm: Family, Migration, and Demographic Transformation,” panelists explored how family and migration policy shape the social fabric of American society. Danielle Allen, moderating the conversation, focused on the interconnected roles of markets, civil society, and public institutions in supporting flourishing communities. Panelists emphasized the critical role families play in everything from serving as “gatekeepers of information” in an era of omnipresent technology to shaping the fast-expanding care economy, focusing on the need for economic policies that allow for family members to care for one another. Panelists also offered new frameworks for immigration policy, sharing visions for short-term and community-driven migration to address worker shortages in the care economy. Over the course of a deeply personal discussion, panelists shared how their own families’ experiences have shaped their views on cultural cohesion, assimilation, and American identity.

• Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, Harvard Law School

Yochai Benkler closed Day One by reflecting on the need for a “new theory of capitalism” attentive to work, power, and dignity. Benkler stressed that rethinking the political economy requires not displacing markets, but reshaping them. Benkler challenged participants to challenge exploitation while still promoting innovation.

• Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School

Rebecca Henderson opened the day by declaring, “I have 10 minutes, and I’m going to talk about love.” Drawing on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s warning that “power without love is reckless and abusive,” she argued for a reimagining of the economy and American society beginning at the community level. The best-designed policies, she cautioned, will fail if they cannot be translated into values and stories that people can relate to. We need “the union of power and love” to strengthen social bonds and institutions, she argued, in order for democracy to survive and thrive.

• Brandon Terry, John L. Loeb Assoc. Professor of the Social Sciences, Harvard University – Moderator
• Gordon Hanson, Peter Wertheim Professor in Urban Policy, Harvard Kennedy School
• Gerard Robinson, Professor of Practice in Public Policy & Law, University of Virginia
• Erica Smiley, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice
• Felicia Wong, Principal, Roosevelt Institute

Moderated by Brandon Terry, “Applications of a New Paradigm: Housing, Health, Education, and Jobs,” examined the core crises facing all too many working class Americans. Terry framed housing, health, education, and jobs as areas of “experimentation and contestation,” each conducive to new economic models capable of reshaping the American economy. Felicia Wong warned that too many progressives still lack a coherent “vision of the good life … and, even harder, the good society.” On a similar note, Gordon Hanson argued that recent administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have failed to tackle the structural barriers standing between many Americans and high quality jobs. Yet panelists also looked at areas for opportunity, with education and organized labor emerging as two frontline sites of democratic struggle.

• Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University – Moderator
• Jedediah Britton-Purdy, Raphael Lemkin Professor of Law, Duke Law School
• Jack Goldsmith, Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
• Julius Krein, Editor, American Affairs
• Jennifer Pahlka, Board Chair, Recoding America Fund
• Rashad Robinson, Social Justice Leader, Strategist & Author

The conference’s final panel, “Applications of a New Paradigm: Democracy, Effective Governance, and State Capacity,” explored how institutions can successfully govern a new political economy that supports collective prosperity and well-being. “At the end of the day, questions of governance are fundamental to what kind of economy we have, how it operates, how we steer it,” she explained. Jack Goldsmith called for renewed focus on the separation of powers, warning of the danger in concentrating power in the executive branch, rather than the halls of Congress. The erosion of political trust and belief in the role of government as a force for good emerged as a persistent area of concern, together with what Jennifer Pahlka called “a crisis of state capacity.” Panelists emphasized that in order to both rebuild that trust and stimulate the economy, governments must begin delivering tangible policy outcomes within politically relevant timeframes.

• Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University

Danielle Allen closed the conference by returning to Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy as “of the people, by the people, for the people.” State capacity, democratic participation, and substantive outcomes, she argued, each demand unique attention and action. In inviting participants to reflect on the past two days, Allen urged participants to think of “a burning question you’ll be leaving with,” be it skepticism of artificial intelligence, the new tools shaping today’s political economy, or any other topic of their choosing. Allen finished by expressing hope that attendees had found “points of connection and … rich nourishment” that would carry their work forward. With table-topic breakouts extending the conversation over lunch, the conference came to a conclusion.