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Wharton Economic Summit
Brings World Business Leaders
to Sold-Out Event in New York
"We are talking about what's happening in real time on the real frontiers,"
said Wharton real estate professor Peter Linneman at Wharton's
first-ever Economic Summit, held in front of a sold-out audience on
February 1 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. Linneman was moderating
an impressive real estate panel that included Bill Mack, W'61, senior
principal of Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP and president of the corporate general partners
of the Apollo Real Estate Funds; Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments; and Mort
Zuckerman, WG'61, chairman of Boston Properties, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World
Report, and publisher of the New York Daily News.
  
The Economic Summit represented the U.S. kick-off to Wharton's
125th anniversary celebration. The day-long event included panel
discussions on the futures of real estate, corporate governance, and
energy investing; presentations from renowned Wharton finance
professor Jeremy Siegel and alumnus Michael Milken, WG'70; and
a concluding speech by shareholder activist Carl Icahn.
The summit's speakers included Jan Eliasson, president of the
United Nations General Assembly, who delivered the opening keynote
speech; and host Maria Bartiromo, from "Wall Street Journal
Report with Maria Bartiromo" and CNBC's "Closing Bell." Media
covering the event included CNBC, Bloomberg TV, BusinessWeek,
The Economist, Forbes, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal.
In the first panel discussion, Martin Lipton, W'52, founding
partner of the corporate law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz,
made the case against hedge funds, who he says are "pressuring
companies to act for short-term performance." Lipton spoke on
a panel titled, "After the Corporate Governance Revolution: The
Imperial Board of Directors" with fellow alumnus Arthur Collins,
WG'73, chairman and CEO of Medtronic.
The day's last three panelists addressed renewable energy, arguing
that only high energy prices will drive enough demand to fund
the development of renewable fuels. "We'll be a hydrocarbon-based
economy for a long time," concluded Aubrey McClendon, chairman
and CEO of Chesapeake Energy, who sat on the panel with
William Macaulay, WG'68, chairman and CEO of First Reserve,
and David Crane, president and CEO of NRG Energy.
In his much-anticipated session, Jeremy Siegel assessed "the
most critical long-term economic issue facing the developed world"—the economic
effects of aging populations.
According to Siegel's predictions, the developed world will have
an increasingly smaller slice of the world's GDP, while the comparatively
young populations of India and China will contribute a
projected 77% share of the world's GDP by 2050.
—Susan Scerbo
Wharton faculty also work with local and national governments across the world, helping
to draft economic policy, advising on policy implementation
and training top leaders.
Recent faculty projects have included work with the United Nations, China,
South Africa, India, Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Poland, Indonesia, Turkmenistan and Turkey.
Wharton’s research is supported by the world’s leading companies.
This academic-industry partnership combines scholarship and best
practice analysis to promote and advance small business development
and entrepreneurial ventures; ethics and corporate governance; the
financial services industry; health care; insurance, risk management,
and pension and retirement plans; the real estate industry; retailing;
and the development and commercialization in new technologies, ranging
from information management tools to biotechnology applications.
    
Join us in global conversations with the world's thought leaders. Meet us in a city near you, in Philadelphia for Alumni
Reunion Weekend, and in Istanbul and Rio de Janeiro for Global Alumni Forums. Contact Nicole Rayer at Rayern@wharton.upenn.edu or call
215.898.0919 for more information. Please note that all event dates are subject to change.
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