Government

Speakers: Dan Biederman, President, Bryant Park Corp.; President, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures Rick Caruso, Founder and CEO, Caruso Affiliated Richard Daley, Executive Chairman, Tur Partners LLC; Of Counsel, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Scott Smith, Mayor, City of Mesa, Ariz. Meredith Whitney, CEO, Meredith Whitney Advisory Group Moderator: Peter Scher, Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Responsibility, JPMorgan Chase. At this juncture, we have good notion of what a 21st century city should look like. In many ways, though, our cities don't match that picture. Among those concerns is the effect of declining municipal finances on urban infrastructure that's in great need of renewal. What adaptations are required for cities to deal with the demographic, economic and resource challenges they face? What are the smarter cities doing right in finance, energy, transportation? How can public-private partnerships contribute to solutions? Are the best approaches to be found overseas or within the U.S.?

Speakers: Eric Cantor, U.S. Congressman and Majority Leader Harry Reid, U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Moderator: Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute. Although the media often focus on their policy differences, Democrat Reid and Republican Cantor share areas of agreement and experience. Skilled legislators and compassionate individuals, each has seen a close relative suffer from serious disease, and each is an outspoken supporter of medical research. The grandsons of immigrants, each worked his way up to high office with less-exalted jobs along the way - one as a member of the Capitol Police and the other as a driver for a congressman. Both served as their party's minority whip before election to majority leadership. And leadership is the focus of this panel: What qualities, besides intelligence and drive, inspire the trust and respect of their colleagues? Institute Chairman Mike Milken will explore where they agree and disagree on a range of issues - taxes, debt, entitlements, immigration, education, energy and defense - but will also search for the common thread of leadership that has propelled two remarkable men to national prominence.

Speakers: Joel Benenson, President and CEO, Benenson Strategy Group; Lead Pollster, Obama Campaign Harold Ford Jr., Former Congressman; Managing Director, Morgan Stanley; Professor, NYU Wagner School of Public Policy Frank Luntz, Chairman and CEO, Luntz Global; Contributor, Fox News Dan Schnur, Director, Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, University of Southern California Moderator: Matt Miller, Columnist, The Washington Post; Host, "Left, Right & Center". Latinos, African-Americans, young people and unmarried women are wielding more power than they used to. Indeed, they are determining election outcomes and driving the nation's legislative agenda. On the other hand, organized labor has lost much of its pull, and many analysts and activists are wondering whether the NRA will exert as much influence in the future as it has in the past. More Americans are speaking up for gay rights and illegal immigrants' aspirations for citizenship. What other groups are on the rise? How are the takeaways from the 2012 vote shaping party strategies for the midterms and 2016? How will these newly empowered constituencies exercise their widening influence? Our panel of veteran political observers will analyze the new electorate and ponder who's gaining clout and who's losing it.

Upgrading and maintaining America's infrastructure is critical to its economic future. Public investments, particularly given government budget constraints, can’t fully satisfy this need. Pension plans are struggling to meet their long-term obligations in an environment of heightened market volatility and historically low interest rates. Traditional pension investments, a mix of equities and fixed-income assets, do not provide the stable, long-term cashflows that investments in infrastructure can offer that would help pensions meet their long-term obligations. The Milken Institute convened a high-level roundtable in December 2012 to develop solutions to both these major public policy challenges. Specifically, roundtable participants – including pension fund officers, private-equity investors, and senior administration members – sought a greater understanding of pension plan investment objectives, how plans' chief investment officers and trustees view infrastructure as an asset class, and the reasons for the current modest levels of investment in infrastructure. The roundtable explored whether any new or innovative approaches to investing in the asset class could attract more pension fund capital. Roundtable participants then discussed the strengths, weaknesses, and scalability of multiple infrastructure investment approaches. In particular, the roundtable examined strategies used or being considered in non-U.S. markets to ascertain whether these or similar models are adaptable to the U.S. market.