Event Transcript 

Video Feeds:

• Welcome Address By Richard Jackson and Bob Bixby
• Introduction By David Walker, Comptroller General of the United States
• Panel Discussion 1, "The Dimensions of the Problem -- and Possible Solutions"
• Panel Discussion 2, "Fashioning a Grand Compromise"
• Keynote Address By Peter G. Peterson, "A Broader Context:  Social Security, Medicare and the Tri-Deficits"

General Event Information:

• List of Speakers 
• Biographies of Speakers
• Agenda 

Keynote Address:

• Peter Peterson:  A Broader Context:  Social Security, Medicare and the Tri-Deficits 
  Mr. Peterson is the Senior Chairman and Co-Founder of the Blackstone Group, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, founding Chairman of the Institute for International Economics, and President of the Concord Coalition.  He also served as Secretary of Commerce.

Introductory Speaker:

• David Walker:  A Look at Our Future:  Social Security and America's Long-Term Fiscal Challenges 
  Mr. Walker became the seventh Comptroller General of the United States (head of the Government Accountability Office) starting on November 9, 1998.  He has had extensive executive experience in both the government and private industry.

Individual Presentations:

• Bob Bixby:  A Framework for Social Security Reform
  Mr. Bixby is the Executive Director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to fiscal responsiblility.
• Richard Jackson:  Retirement Policy Challenges and Opportunities of our Aging Society 
  Dr. Jackson is a Senior Fellow as the Center for Strategic and International Studies where he directs the Global Aging Initiative.
• Estelle James:  A Centrists Guide to Social Security Reform 
  Dr. James is currently a consultant to the World Bank and USAID.  She has previously the Lead Economist at the World Bank and a professor of economics.
• Peter Orszag:  Social Security Reform 
  Dr. Orszag is the Joseph A. Pechman Fellow in Economic Studies for the Brookings Institute and Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.  He previously served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and as Senior Economist and Senior Adviser on the Council of Economic Advisers, during the Clinton Administration.
• Sylvester Schieber:  The Social Security Financing Problem:  A Look at First Principles 
  Dr. Schieber is vice president and Director of U.S. Benefits Consulting at Watson Wyatt Worldwide.  He was a member of the 1994-1996 Social Security Advisory Council and has served on the US Social Security Advisory Board since 1998.
• Eugene Steuerle:  Alternatives to Strengthen Social Security  
  Dr. Steuerle is a Senior Fellow at the Urban Institute and a Co-Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.  He was also the Deputy Assistant Secretary for theTreasury in Tax Analysis between 1987 - 1989.