Podcasts about Overseas Private Investment Corporation

About a month ago, the United States International Development Finance Corporation's (DFC) Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Nisha Biswal, attended a ceremony in Freetown to launch the “construction of an electricity infrastructure” in Freetown's Kissy Dockyard, 4km east of the city center.  US Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Bryan David Hunt and DFC executives described the launching ceremony as “a seminal development for Sierra Leone and an unprecedented one for the US government.” They stated that the proposed energy power plant is going to be the “largest increase in energy capacity in a single country of any prior DFC project.”  DFC is a US-government run “development finance institution,” established in 2019 as part of the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development Act (BUILD) 2018, which combined the Development Credit Authority Agency with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, both formerly part of the US State Department Agency for International Development (USAID). DFC reports directly to the US Congress.  Several months ahead of Freetown launching ceremony, DFC executives and US Embassy staff in Sierra Leone have been repeating that up to $412 million in loans and risk insurance have been approved by the US government to provide finance and risk insurance for the project. Two foreign companies, Milele Energy and TCQ Power Limited are listed as co-sponsors and joint recipients of the $412 million loan (including $120m in risk insurance) for the construction of the said electricity infrastructure project. TCQ Power's controversial presence and involvement in Sierra Leone's energy sector dates to the early 2010s, but Milele Energy is a newcomer, arriving in Sierra Leone after the election of Julius Maada Bio in 2018.  In public communication documents, the DFC and the US Embassy in Sierra Leone present Milele Energy as an independent Kenyan-based power generation company, failing to reveal complete details of the company's profile and real ownership; details that are required to enable public scrutiny of Milele Energy's track record and whether it has a proven capacity to deliver on its contractual responsibilities. Corporate records reviewed by Africanist Press shows that Milele Energy's corporate shareholders include Gemcorp Fund (GP) Limited, a company registered in George Town, Cayman Islands, holding the majority 80% shares in Milele Energy; Verkanda LLC registered in Delaware, US, also holding 10% shares in Milele Energy; JWI III LLC also registered in Delaware, US, holding 5% shares in Milele Energy; and Empower Africa Consulting Limited registered in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, holding 5% shares in Milele Energy. There is no record of any competitive bidding and public tender process that Milele Energy and DFC went through to take over the Western Area Power Generation Project. Worse, Sierra Leoneans are also unaware of the loan conditions, including the interest rates attached to DFC's development finance loans. DFC is yet to disclose the process used to issue the $412 million debt to the US owned company Milele Energy for the alleged purpose of building an electricity infrastructure in Sierra Leone.  In this episode, we examine Milele Energy's corporate ownership and the DFC's takeover of the Western Area Power Generation Project.  We ask whether the DFC's operations in Sierra Leone complies with the provisions of the US BUILD Act of 2018? We also highlighted the need for oversight agencies of the US government (Congress and Senate Foreign Affairs Committee) to institute an independent investigation to help determine how Milele Energy and DFC took over the Western Area Power Generation Project, and the role played by the United States Embassy in Freetown in these corporate developments in Sierra Leone. This episode is part of the VOICE FROM EXILE commentary series of the Africanist Press.

Tore på ferie i frankrike med sin familie. Amund har fått besøk av Federico Santi som er ekspert på Sør Europa og Spania i Eurasiagroup som er et globalt analyse og konsulentbyrå med fokus på politikk og politisk risiko. Samtalen foregår på engelsk og dekker situasjonen i Spania fram mot valget, viktige saker og regionale konsekvenser av ulike utfall av valget i Spania.Federico er senior analytiker Eurasia Group. Han fokuserer på sørlige Europa, EU og økonomisk styring i Eurosonen, samt europeiske energispørsmål.Tidligere i karrieren jobbet Federico som policy officer i Europakommisjonen og som forskningsassistent i et prosjekt for National Bureau of Economic Research i Washington, DC. Han har også arbeidet ved Overseas Private Investment Corporation (nå US International Development Finance Corporation), EU-delegasjonen til USA og US Senate. Federico har en mastergrad i internasjonale relasjoner og økonomi fra George Washington University og en bachelorgrad i statsvitenskap og internasjonale relasjoner fra Universitetet i Bologna. Follow at https://plus.acast.com/s/politickr. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Eric Scheiner is the Director of MRCTV and Culture, and has over 20 years experience in broadcasting and video production. Beginning his career in the First-In-The-Nation Primary state of New Hampshire, politics, government spending and constitutional issues have been a major thread through his work. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Retired Senior Special Agent of the former INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) and a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, New York. GUEST 3 OVERVIEW: Collister Johnson has spent the last four decades working in the public and private sectors in Virginia, primarily in the fields of project finance and maritime transportation. He began his career in public service as Chairman of the Board of the Virginia Port Authority. He was appointed by President George W. Bush, and confirmed by the Senate, as a member of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and most recently, as Administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. In that capacity, he became knowledgeable in the field of climate and its impact on the Great Lakes. Johnson holds a B.A. degree from Yale University, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), now the DFC, was a U.S. development finance institution. This government agency assisted private businesses that wanted to invest abroad. OPIC also offers political risk insurance for private businesses and equity funds, such as Hunter Biden's Rosemont Seneca, to pursue a business interest in countries that have turmoil like Ukraine. Insurance is a widely used tool for money laundering, and insuring businesses for losses due to political factors, in countries that already have political conflicts, is an easy way to guarantee revenue, avoid taxes, and hide the connections a business may have to U.S elected officials. We also discuss the hypocrisy of wealthy people saying they need to pay more in taxes. Why not pay the full amount of taxes on your income instead of taking any deductions? Below are links for information on OPIC, OPIC funding, and OPIC insurance. It is easy to see how this is abused by politicians and their friends and family. #HunterBiden #JoeBiden #OPIC #RosemontSeneca #Ukraine #Russia #WWIII #China  OPIC Explained: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/overseas-private-investment-corporation.asp OPIC in-depth along with senate conversations: https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QafKPNz4k4tHQFNfIP4otH8grXgcHJ0JyXX8Pi9JytaLPF2bwdIKt3YvTFdFt45suTWUIZ0av7anHU2flTA3Bmj44D2GgtbomprADcvotiaaxVXXAlv1upk2mADQwLHTkdPO4qFjZDPFVhsxVS7hH6kksNQphL6-smLofXJkf296oKaGJShMlSjiP7BVyLZEXX25ZCTUi4VqH3AD9o_a8CFnf-yqHo_46vYSv7XNuIHzYhRfcLIE9w0kKjhtV0VaJXbC1mIl91y1ciXZh_Jj797RBWNReQ Rosemont Seneca Statements for Devon Archer showing OPIC conflicts and involvement with Hunter Biden: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6003585-Rosemont-Seneca-Bohai-Bank-Records-Listing.html    

Ray Washburne is the owner of the Mi Cocina restaurants, Dallas Highland Park Village, and former President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.  On this episode, Chris and Ray talk about Ray's career path in real estate and how he developed Highland Park Village in Dallas into nearly $380 million in annual sales. They also talk about Ray starting one of the most popular Tex Mex chains in Texas, his experience working under President Trump, OPIC, and much more. Enjoy!  Follow Chris on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/FortWorthChris Learn more about Chris Powers and Fort Capital: www.FortCapitalLP.com Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital (02:27) - Ray’s Background and Career (04:14) - How did you get started in real estate? (05:16) - How do you find operating platforms that you want to back? (06:58) - How do you think about getting a deal done? (08:05) - How Chris and Ray Met (08:42) - How Ray Bought Highland Park Village (11:50) - Developing the Property (13:11) - How does it work bringing in super-luxury tenants? (15:10) - What does ‘Retail is Dead’ mean to you? Why is it wrong? (16:35) - How do the personal shoppers work in your spaces? (18:51) - What has Park House done for the center? (20:55) - Why is Dallas winning so much? (22:21) - Understanding the Consumer From a Property Management Perspective (26:00) - The Story of Mi Cocina and Where it is Today (30:40) - Why do brands not travel well? (32:04) - What’s the long-term vision for the brand? (33:20) - What was it like owning a restaurant in 2020? (38:01) - Are there places where you’re now saving money due to COVID? (40:43) - How important is it for a restaurant to have a signature drink or dish that people can rally behind? (43:26) - How do restaurants make money? (44:36) - Is there anything that you’re seeing that anticipates the next roaring 20’s? (46:53) - Thinking About National Competition (48:21) - Are most retailers located in major centers to make money or is it for marketing/branding? (49:12) - What was it like working for President Trump? (53:19) - Is there a time or interaction with him that you’ll never forget? (55:31) - Was the division between Trump and top Democrats just for show or was it real? (56:31) - What is OPIC and why should private business owners be thinking about it? (59:52) - How do you determine which companiescountries have the entrepreneurs to drive capital? (1:01:03) - The Chinese Belt & Road Initiative (1:01:48) - What’s the coolest project you worked on? (1:03:19) - Where is the world growing that we in America aren’t thinking about? (1:04:54) - How are we going to be competitive against China? (1:05:35) - What’s interesting to you going forward now that you’re out of government? (1:07:44) - What’s the pitch of Downtown vs. Uptown Dallas? (1:08:39) - Do you have a childhood experience that shaped the direction of your life? (1:09:52) - What’s one thing you believe that a lot of people do not? (1:11:09) - Can we keep a clean government? (1:11:33) - What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? (1:12:02) -  If you owned the biggest billboard in DFW and you could put anything on it, what would it say? The FORT with Chris Powers is produced by Straight Up Podcasts

Description:Robin and Lester interview Congressman George "Buddy" Darden. Guest Bios:George (Buddy) Darden joined Pope McGlamry in February 2018 where he became a member of our qui tam/false claims practice. Mr. Darden focuses on the areas of significant fraud, class actions, tort cases and white-collar matters.Darden was first elected District Attorney for Cobb County in 1972 and next elected to the Georgia State House of representatives. In 1983 he was elected in a special election as a Representative to the United States Congress, where he served five additional terms.After Congress, Darden served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1996, 2000, and 2004 and was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.Mr. Darden later served as the chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission during the administration of Governor Roy Barnes and served on numerous boards, including the Board of Trustees for LaGrange College. Beginning in 2009, he chaired the judicial selection committee in Georgia for the Obama Administration.From 1995 until joining Pope McGlamry, Buddy was a partner with Long Aldridge and its successor firms, now Dentons. In 2010, he received the Tradition of Excellence Award from the State Bar of Georgia.Buddy and his wife, Lillian, live in Marietta and are celebrating their fiftieth year of marriage this year. They are the parents of two adult children and have five grandchildren. Links:To learn more about the Georgia Civil Justice Foundation, visit fairplay.org

When fiscal 2020 finally got enacted, a new agency two years in development was able to fully hatch. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) formed out of the old Overseas Private Investment Corporation and elements of the U.S. Agency for International Development. DFC's Chief Operating Officer Edward Burrier joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin for the new mission and organization.

Today’s guest is Josh Bushinsky, Co-Founder & Partner at Trajectory Energy Partners. Trajectory Energy Partners brings together landowners, electricity users, and communities to develop solar energy projects with strong local support. Josh was born in Illinois, and at seven moved with his family to Rochester, New York, where he grew up backpacking. He brings to Trajectory Energy Partners a comprehensive appreciation and commitment to the environment, first working in energy as a visiting researcher at the University of Cape Town. An attorney by trade he has represented the renewable sector at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, as well as worked with the Microgrid Investment Accelerator, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the Natural Resources Defense Council in Beijing. Josh is proud to develop community solar in Illinois and remains an avid hiker — now sharing that skill with his children and family. In today’s episode, we cover: What led Josh to care about the environment, and his path before founding Trajectory Energy Partners The opportunity they saw with community solar, and specifically in the midwest, where it is lesser known Trajectory Energy approach, including how they handle community involvement Criteria that makes a land parcel a good fit Pitch to farmers and the  benefits to them Some of the biggest recurring concerns that come up from farmers and why Benefits to the town of community solar Resistance from utilities and why, and how legislation is required Sellers market - more money out there than good projects What success looks like for Trajectory Long vision, and what opportunities lie in store in the future Broader discussion about climate change and some of Josh’s ideas for the most impactful ways to help Josh’s reflections, after many years working in this problem area Links to topics discussed in this episode: Trajectory Energy Partners: https://trajectoryenergy.com/ Stephen Schneider: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Schneider Waxman-Markey: https://grist.org/article/2009-06-03-waxman-markey-bill-breakdown/ Clean Air Act: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States) White House Council on Environmental Quality: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ceq/ Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati: https://www.wsgr.com/WSGR/Default.aspx OPEC: https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/ The Paris Agreement: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement Jon Carson: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/author/jon-carson Renewable portfolio standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_portfolio_standard Green bank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_bank You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at info@myclimatejourney.co, where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests. Enjoy the show!

With everything else going on in the news, you might have missed the emergence of a new independent federal agency. It's called the United States International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC. It a combination of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and parts of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Karl Fickenscher, deputy assistant administrator for USAID's Bureau for Economic Growth, Education, and Environment, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to sort it all out.

The penalties associated with the U.S.’ move include asking the IMF to increase surveillance of China's currency practices. The United States could also deny Chinese companies access to financing from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and prohibit them from bidding on U.S. government procurement contracts. But those do not kick until after a year under the authorizing statute. However, the Commerce Department has previously proposed treating undervalued currencies as an illegal trade subsidy. If that becomes final, Treasury's designation could help open the floodgates to a number of trade remedies cases seeking countervailing duties on Chinese goods. Treasury's action "is more symbolic than anything at this point and aimed at Trump's hard core political base that he will need to shore up now that the economy is broadly decelerating in part due to the trade conflict," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. "Moreover, it marks the start of a process that my end in the Trump administration attempting to devalue the dollar." That possibility was also on the minds of other economists, given Trump's concern that the strength of the dollar hurts the United States in international trade by making its exports more expensive. "China will view this as unjustified and, therefore, is likely to retaliate, thereby signaling further tension escalation," said Mohamed A. El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz. "It signals a new step in the weaponization of economic instruments, also raising the probability of both trade and currency wars." Some feared a replay of the disastrous replay of U.S. actions under the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in the 1930s and tit-for-tat responses by other countries that many blame for prolonging the Great Depression.

Over the past two years, the Trump administration has been grappling with how to handle the transition to the next generation of mobile broadband technology. With spending expected to run into hundreds of billions of dollars, the administration views it as an ultra-high-stakes competition between U.S. and Chinese companies, with enormous implications both for technology and for national security. Top officials from a raft of departments have been meeting to hash out the best approach.  But there’s been one person at some of the discussions who has a different background: He’s Donald Trump Jr.’s hunting buddy. Over the past two decades, the two have trained their sights on duck, pheasant and white-tailed deer on multiple continents. (An email from another Trump Jr. pal characterized one of their joint duck-hunting trips to Mexico years ago as “muy aggresivo.”)  Tommy Hicks Jr., 41, isn’t a government official; he’s a wealthy private investor. And he has been a part of discussions related to China and technology with top officials from the Treasury Department, National Security Council, Commerce Department and others, according to emails and documents obtained by ProPublica. In one email, Hicks refers to a meeting at “Langley,” an apparent reference to the CIA’s headquarters.   Hicks’ financial interests, if any, in the matters he has discussed aren’t clear. The interests are much more apparent when it comes to at least one of his associates. Hicks used his connections to arrange for a hedge fund manager friend, Kyle Bass — who has  $143 million in investments that will pay off if China’s economy tanks — to present his views on the Chinese economy to high-level government officials at an interagency meeting at the Treasury Department, according to the documents. Hicks is hardly the first private-sector power broker to emerge in a presidential administration, but he may represent a new subspecies: The Friend of the President’s Kid. In fact, Hicks’ influence and career overwhelmingly hinge on two people: Trump Jr., his friend of about two decades, and, first and foremost, Hicks’ father. In a roughly 20-year career, Hicks has spent 17 of them working for investment funds and sports teams owned by his wealthy financier dad, Thomas Hicks Sr., and the other three working for a client of his father. The generally privileged life of the younger Hicks has been speckled with occasional instances of misbehavior, one of them serious. At age 18, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault, reduced from an original charge of felony aggravated assault, after he and two others were arrested in the beating of a fellow high school student at a party. (The victim was also kicked in the face during the assault, according to people familiar with the case. He told police that one of the three assailants — he didn’t say which — asked him, “What is your name, faggot?”) The criminal conviction did not prevent Hicks from being admitted to the University of Texas, where his father was an alumnus, a member of the Board of Regents and soon thereafter the first chairman of the University of Texas Investment Management Company, which manages the school’s endowment and other assets. As an adult, friends say, Hicks’ carousing ways and occasional belligerent outbursts led some in his circle to bestow a heavily ironic nickname: “Senator Hicks.” His tenure as a director of the soccer team his father owned in Liverpool, England, a decade ago ended right after an email he sent to a heckling fan — “Blow me fuckface. Go to Hell. I’m sick of you.” — surfaced publicly. Friends say Hicks has matured, particularly since he married and had three daughters. He has risen quickly in recent years. Hicks leveraged his Dallas financial network to become a top Trump campaign fundraiser in 2016 and a vice chairman of the inaugural finance committee; in January, he was named co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. His friends say he is motivated by patriotism.  Hicks also played a behind-the-scenes role, according to two people familiar with the matter and an account by a Turkish journalist, in the freeing last year of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who was detained for two years by the Turkish government on what the U.S. government viewed as phony charges of spying and helping terrorists. Even before becoming the second highest-ranking GOP official, Hicks was a frequent White House guest. He liked to have lunch in the White House mess with his half sister, who worked for a time in the communications operation. (The family is not related to Hope Hicks, the former White House communications director.) Hicks would then stroll the halls, according to a former senior administration official, dropping in to offices for impromptu chats with various officials, including Jared Kushner. Those sorts of connections have given Hicks a convening power, the ability to call together multiple officials. “He basically opened the door for having a conversation with people who I didn’t know but needed to know,” said Robert Spalding, a former senior director for strategic planning at the National Security Council during the Trump administration.  The efforts, detailed in hundreds of pages of government emails and other documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show that Hicks had access to the highest levels of government to influence policymaking in ways that could lead to painful economic outcomes for the Chinese — and a potentially lucrative result for Hicks’ hedge fund friend, Bass. “When somebody comes in like this, a hedge fund manager who has an interest in the viability of China’s economy, you’re giving them an opportunity to influence policy,” said Virginia Canter, a former ethics lawyer at the Treasury Department who now serves as chief ethics counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group. (CREW has sued Donald Trump for accepting emoluments from foreign governments.) “The question is why?”  Hicks’ unusual role as a nongovernment employee who opened doors on behalf of both industry and others, Canter said, put him in a gray zone of ethics and lobbying regulations. “He’s acting in a lobbyist role when he may fall outside the lobbyist disclosure rules, and it’s not clear how he benefits financially,” she said. “So the question is: What’s he getting out of it? What are his friends getting out of it? And is the government processing it in a way that ensures the public benefits?” Bass presented his views on China’s banking system in the office of Heath Tarbert, an assistant secretary at Treasury in charge of international markets and investment policy and a powerful intergovernmental committee that reviews foreign investments in the U.S. for national security concerns. Among the officials at the meeting with Tarbert were Bill Hinman, the director of the division of corporation finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Ray Washburne, a wealthy Dallas restaurant owner and family friend of Hicks’ who was nominated by Trump to head the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Hicks and Bass, both Dallas residents and longtime denizens of the financial community there, have invested together since at least 2011, according to securities filings and court records. They’ve owned shares of a publicly traded communications-technology manufacturer. And they were among the biggest creditors to the bankrupt law enforcement contracting company run by Chris Kyle, the ex-Navy SEAL portrayed by Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper.” The managing director of a new investment fund started by Hicks had previously advised Bass on the successful stock-shorting of a Texas real estate lender, according to corporate filings and court papers from a lawsuit in state court in Dallas. But it’s not clear if Hicks or his family have an investment in Bass’ China-related funds. Reached twice on his cellphone, Hicks declined to be interviewed by ProPublica. In the second call, in June, Hicks didn’t dispute that he and his family have invested in Bass’ funds. But when asked to detail their business relationship, he cut the conversation short. “I’ve got to run. Let me see if I can get back to you,” Hicks said before hanging up. He didn’t call back. Weeks later, after ProPublica followed up with questions to the RNC, a spokesman responded by emailing a “statement attributed to Tommy Hicks.” It read: “As a businessman, I passionately supported causes I believed in and, if appropriate, would sometimes meet with government officials to promote them. There is nothing wrong with that. I have taken every precaution during my time as Co-Chair of the RNC to ensure there is no conflict of interest between my job here and any personal businesses.” (The spokesperson also emailed a statement on behalf of the RNC: “Tommy has done an outstanding job working on behalf of President Trump and his agenda.”) Bass, who made his name and fortune by betting against subprime mortgages before the crash and is known for large bets that economies or certain macro trends will turn downward, declined to comment. “I’m not interested in talking with you about my friends or any meetings I have or haven’t had privately with anyone,” he wrote in an email. In a subsequent message, Bass wrote that any suggestion “that we had corrupt intentions in meeting with Treasury officials... is categorically false and defamatory and could negatively affect our business.”  An administration official briefed on the Bass meeting at the Treasury downplayed it as “strictly a listening session.” He said Bass did not ask the attendees to take any actions, nor did the attendees divulge anything about U.S.-China policy. Government ethics officers vetted the federal employees for any conflicts and found none, the official said. He acknowledged that the review didn’t include an examination of any financial relationship between Hicks and Bass. Spalding said the conversation centered primarily on Bass’ analysis of publicly available records on the Chinese financial system. “I think the thing that I’ve discovered over the past years is that the information in the private sector is better than anything we have in government,” Spalding said of Bass’ presentation. “You have to reach out to where the expertise is. In our country, that’s where the talent is.” An SEC spokeswoman declined to comment. Washburne, now out of government, didn’t respond to emails seeking comment. Bass has become a vocal advocate for an aggressive U.S. policy toward China. On Twitter and on cable business channels he’s denounced everything from the country’s Communist Party government to its business practices. Securities filings show Bass raised $143 million from about 81 investors in two funds — investments that would benefit if China’s currency were devalued or the country faced credit or banking crises. In April, in a letter to his investors, Bass wrote that his company, Hayman Capital Management, was positioned for coming problems in Hong Kong and was set up to “maintain a massive asymmetry to a negative outcome in Hong Kong and/or China.” Hicks’ work on the 5G initiative was extensive. Over just a few months in late 2017 and 2018,  records show, he was part of an informal group led by then NSC official Spalding, that advocated for a strategy in which the federal government would plan out a national policy for 5G. One memo described their goal as the “equivalent of the Eisenhower National Highway System — a single, inherently protected, information transportation superhighway.”  The group conducted multiple meetings and briefings. For example, Hicks, Spalding and others traveled to Samsung Electronics’ Dallas-area offices for one meeting in January 2018. That same month Hicks attended a 5G meeting that he’d arranged with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Commerce plays a key role in the future of 5G since a division within the agency manages government spectrum and another maintains a list of companies the government believes are, or will become, national security threats. Companies that end up on that list can be effectively shut out from global deal-making. The meeting with Ross focused heavily on the threat of China, said Ira Greenstein, who served as a White House aide and was part of Spalding’s 5G crew. Hicks was one of a dozen nongovernment employees, including executives from Wells Fargo, Nokia, Ericsson and Google, that Spalding sent reading materials to ahead of a 5G discussion in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Copied on the email were top Commerce Department officials, a Booz Allen Hamilton contractor and a senior adviser for cybersecurity and IT modernization at the White House Office of Science and Technology. On the agenda? “Mid Band vs High Band” spectrum, “security,” “supply chain,” “financing” and other critical issues. Hicks wasn’t just a passive observer. On Jan. 2, 2018, the managing director of OPIC, which provides financial backing to American companies expanding into foreign markets, emailed Spalding and others to say that the CEO of a satellite company called OneWeb had a plan to provide worldwide 5G coverage by 2027. Hicks fired back a note from his iPhone. “2027 is too late,” he wrote. “Let’s discuss as a smaller group tomorrow.” Spalding was forced out of the West Wing in early 2018 after a draft 20-page briefing memo he authored proposing a government-organized national 5G network was leaked, then panned as an attempt to nationalize the wireless broadband industry. Trump has not pursued such an initiative, ultimately deferring to wireless carriers to bid on publicly maintained spectrum and develop their own networks as has traditionally been the case. Still, the administration has made significant efforts to counter Chinese influence in 5G and related technologies, which are said to be critical for industries such as driverless cars, artificial intelligence, machine learning and much more. In May the Commerce Department barred Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei from doing business in the U.S. for national security reasons. And the top Department of Defense official in charge of acquisitions also recently announced the creation of a government-approved private marketplace to pair American private equity firms with U.S. technology companies producing products with national security applications to keep Chinese money out of 5G. It isn’t clear what influence, if any, Hicks had in those decisions. But his profile is only rising. In April, he led a Republican delegation to Taiwan alongside a U.S. government delegation. Hicks met with the country’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, who has lately been positioning her country’s corporations as safer providers of 5G equipment than those in China. Tsai thanked the U.S. for selling arms to Taiwan. She asked Hicks to convey her regards to the Trumps.

Private Credit – An Alternative Financing Solution? Meeting the unique funding needs through private credit. Speakers: - Marvin Kiragu, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Mizizi Capital Partners - Samia Tnani, Head of Credit Origination, AfricInvest - Ngalaah Chuphi, Partner, Ethos Private Equity Moderator: - William Pearce, Managing Director, Investment Funds, Overseas Private Investment Corporation

The CSIS Southeast Asia Program is pleased to present "The Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy in Southeast Asia: A Status Report on the Economic Pillars" featuring keynote remarks by Sandra Oudkirk (Senior Official to APEC, U.S. Department of State), and a discussion with Dr. Phyllis Yoshida (Senior Fellow for Energy and Technology, Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA; former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia, Europe, and the Americas, U.S. Department of Energy), Nigel Hearne (President, Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production Company), Brian Churchill (Senior Advisor, Overseas Private Investment Corporation), and Peter Raymond (Senior Associate, Non-resident, Reconnecting Asia Project and Simon Chair in Political Economy, CSIS). In July 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced $113 million for new economic and energy initiatives to flesh out the administration’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy. These announcements included nearly $50 million for Asia EDGE, an initiative to promote energy security and develop energy markets, and $30 million for an initiative to boost infrastructure investment through financial and technical assistance to partner countries. Secretary Pompeo also voiced strong support for the BUILD Act, which is set to double the U.S. government’s development-finance capacity to $60 billion to support U.S. private investment in strategic opportunities abroad. Nearly one year later, what impact have these initiatives had for U.S. engagement in Southeast Asia?This event is made possible with support from Chevron.

James Clad is Senior Fellow for Asia at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington DC. He is also a senior adviser for Asia at the CNA Corporation in Arlington, Virginia. During 2002-10, he served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia (including Australasia and the Pacific islands) and as Senior Counselor at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. From 1995-2002, he was professor of Asian Studies at Georgetown University and Director/Asia-Pacific Energy at Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Trained as a New Zealand lawyer, James Clad’s career has focused on Asian diplomatic, energy and security issues – broadening after 2002 to include the Middle East. During the 1980s-90s, he held Far Eastern Economic Review staff positions in various Asian capitals, and held fellowships at Harvard University and St. Antony’s College/Oxford. In 1991, he joined the Carnegie Endowment in Washington DC as senior associate for Asia. In the early 1980s, Mr. Clad belonged to the New Zealand diplomatic service, serving in Delhi and more extensively in Jakarta. His books include Business, Money & Power in Southeast Asia (1991); After the Crusade — America in the Post-Superpower Era (1996), and Borderlands of Asia (2012), a volume of political geography. His recent articles deal with power politics in the western Pacific, with China/U.S. relations, and the U.S. shale revolution. In 2009, he received the US Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award and in 2012 became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM), a royal honour.

In this interview learn about how the government is taking action to improve emerging economies. David Bohigian is the Acting President and CEO of OPIC the Overseas Private Investment Corporation that provides direct loans and and partners with private equity investment fund managers to help American businesses and ultimately improve emerging economies. They do this by managing risk, allocating political insurance to ensure job growth and revenue streams that will not be affected by political interruption. They operate in over 160 countries around the world with more than 1/4 of those investments come from Sub-Saharan Africa. At the time of this interview David was the Executive VP of OPIC (congratulations to David). See the live interview by visiting our podcast page here. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, took a stake last year in a startup whose co-chairman is a major Trump campaign fundraiser who has sought financial support from the federal government for his other business interests, according to records obtained by ProPublica. The fundraiser, Texas money manager Gentry Beach, and Trump Jr. attended college together, are godfather to one of each other’s sons and have collaborated on investments — and on the Trump presidential campaign. Since Trump’s election, Beach has attempted to obtain federal assistance for projects in Asia, the Caribbean and South America, and he has met or corresponded with top officials in the National Security Council, Interior Department and Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Beach and others at the startup, Eden Green Technology, have touted their connections to the first family to impress partners, suppliers and others, according to five current and former business associates. Richard Venn, an early backer of Eden Green, recalls the company’s founder mentioning “interest from the Trump family.” Another associate said Beach bragged about his ties to the Trumps in a business meeting. The investment is one of just a handful of known business ventures pursued by Trump Jr. since his father moved into the White House almost two years ago. In addition to being a top campaign surrogate and public booster, Trump Jr. serves as an executive vice president of his father’s company and one of just two trustees of the trust holding the president’s assets. Ethics experts have consistently criticized these arrangements, arguing that they invite those seeking to influence the government to do so by attempting to enrich the president or his family members with favorable business opportunities. Trump Jr. invested in the startup, a company that grows organic lettuce in a hydroponic greenhouse, last year, records show. Those records don’t state how much money — if any —  Trump paid for his 7,500 shares. But the shares would have been worth about $650,000 at the end of last year, based on a formula used by another shareholder in a recent court filing. Neither Trump Jr. nor the company have disclosed his investment publicly. Trump Jr. obtained the stake through a limited liability company called MSMDF Agriculture LLC, which was set up by a Trump Organization employee last fall.   The key ethical question, said Virginia Canter, chief ethics lawyer at the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is whether Beach’s involvement with Eden Green, and Trump Jr.’s investment in it, are based on the business merits — or on the possibility of cashing in on connections to power. “Why is Trump Jr. being given this opportunity?” she asked. “It definitely has the appearance of trying to gain access by any means to curry favor with the administration.” The willingness of Eden Green to invoke the Trump name in its business dealings raises further ethical concerns, experts said, particularly if potential customers understand that they are giving contracts to a startup whose success could enrich the president’s son. Neither Trump Jr. nor his spokesman responded to messages seeking comment on his relationship with Beach and investment in Eden Green. A White House spokeswoman didn’t respond to emailed questions. Alan Garten, the Trump Organization’s top lawyer, said in a statement that Trump Jr.’s investment is a personal one. The entity through which it was made “is not owned or controlled by, or affiliated in any way with, The Trump Organization,” Garten said.   Last fall, Eden Green concluded a deal with Walmart. Today, the giant retailer sells the company’s lettuce, kale and other greens at about 100 stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth region. (Eden Green’s sole facility is a 44,023-square-foot greenhouse outside Fort Worth, where it grows the greens in 18-foot vertical tubes.) Walmart interacts with government regulators on an array of matters -- everything from labor practices and land use to securities filings -- but there is no indication that Walmart is aware of Trump Jr.’s connection to Eden Green. (Separately, Walmart contributed $150,000 to Trump’s inaugural committee. Beach was a finance vice chair of that committee, but a Beach spokesman says he has never met with Walmart executives.) Molly Blakeman, a Walmart spokeswoman, declined to comment on Eden Green or its investors. “We don’t talk about our relationships with our suppliers,” said Blakeman, who added that Walmart has “supported inaugural activities” in the past.    Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Beach and the other Eden Green executives, said it’s “categorically false” that the Trump name was invoked by Eden Green officials. Kolvet cited a corporate policy that forbids discussing investors “with any current or potential client.” He also said Trump Jr. isn’t involved with company operations and bought into Eden Green during “U.S. friends and family fundraising efforts.” A recent lawsuit asserts that Eden Green is in financial trouble. In October, the company’s largest shareholder, an entity controlled by a wealthy oil and gas family from Midland, Texas, filed suit in state court in Dallas, alleging “gross project mismanagement.” The suit accused Beach and six executives, all of them board members, of paying themselves extravagant salaries (allegedly $250,000 to $300,000 per year) and putting the company “on the precipice of failure.” A financial consultant hired to examine the company’s books asserted that Eden Green executives spent more than $19.4 million in the first nine months of 2018 — a daunting sum for a company that reported having raised a total of $22 million as of June — while generating $9,000 in revenues. In late November, less than a month after the suit was filed, it was settled on confidential terms. Kolvet disputed the compensation figures asserted in the litigation, saying that the company’s pay is “in accordance with industry standards.” He maintained that Eden Green’s prospects are good. As with many startups, he said, “things don’t go in a straight line.” Kolvet asserted that the company has plenty of operating cash.  Trump Jr., now 40, and Beach, now 43, met at the University of Pennsylvania two decades ago. Both are the sons of wealthy businessmen, one in real estate, one in oil and gas. Beach’s father has since been laid low: Last month he was sentenced to four months in federal detention, plus two years of supervised release, for bankruptcy fraud. Beach was a groomsman at Trump Jr.’s wedding (Trump Jr. and his wife recently separated). Beach and Trump Jr. like to hunt and once considered buying a hunting preserve in Mexico together. According to a 2010 deposition testimony by Trump Jr., they talked business during lunches at Rothmann’s steakhouse in New York. Both have struggled in business at times. In 2009, Trump Jr. and others (including one person who pleaded guilty to an unrelated criminal fraud charge in 2010) formed a company that would sell concrete panels for home constructions out of a warehouse in North Charleston, South Carolina. The business quickly became mired in lawsuits seeking payment for unpaid bills. Trump Jr. made the situation more precarious by personally guaranteeing a $3.7 million loan for the project. Days before the note was due, the Trump Organization purchased the debt, eventually taking over the warehouse and selling it all back to Trump Jr.’s original business partner, according to press accounts. For his part, Beach’s career path has also included some travails. He spent a year or so at Enron and then moved into finance. Beach worked for a hedge fund and remains locked in litigation with it more than a decade later. (He claims he wasn’t paid his full compensation; the fund claims he was “responsible for the destruction of millions of dollars of investor capital.”) Beach now runs a “family office focused on private equity investments” out of a Dallas office that Eden Green uses as its corporate address. Trump Jr. has at least twice before invested with Beach in deals that didn’t pan out. Trump Jr. put  $200,000 in a dry Texas oil well managed by Beach’s father, according to testimony by Trump Jr. He also lost an unknown sum in a failed African mining company affiliated with Beach’s uncle. But Trump Jr. stuck with his friend. The Associated Press reported this year that the two formed a company last October to pursue technology investments. Then there was Eden Green. By the time Trump invested last fall, the company had already run into problems. It first launched in 2013 in South Africa with an ambitious mission: to feed the world through a highly efficient indoor farming system deploying patented technology intended to yield 10 to 12 harvests a year, compared with two or three for conventional agriculture. There’s a market for vegetables grown in controlled greenhouse environments as big retailers increasingly push for cleaner, more reliable and locally grown alternatives. But the challenges are significant. Energy costs run high, and there are myriad difficulties associated with scaling up to an industrial-size system.    That’s what happened in Eden Green’s first iteration, according to a half dozen early backers and associates. The produce may have been sustainable — but the business model wasn’t. The CEO of its European unit wrote in an October 2017 email obtained by ProPublica that the company had “been bleeding money and resources for almost 2 years now.” In the fall of 2017, Eden Green’s founders cemented a deal to hand over majority control to a group of U.S. investors led by Beach, current and former business associates said. This was the company Trump Jr. bought into. He used an innocuous-sounding limited liability company, called MSMDF Agriculture LLC, to make the investment. ProPublica discovered MSMDF after the Trump Organization listed it in New York City filings among dozens of other entities it controlled. (Because the Trump Organization has contracts with the city to run the Wollman skating rink in Central Park and a golf course in the Bronx, the city requires the company to file disclosures.) The Trump Organization told ProPublica that MSMDF is not in fact owned by the Trump Organization but was included in the disclosure form because it’s controlled by Trump Jr., who was described in the form as MSMDF’s president, secretary and treasurer. MSMDF was formed by a Trump Organization employee in September 2017 in Delaware, according to incorporation papers. Eden Green Holdings UK, Ltd., an affiliate of the Texas-based company, then listed MSMDF among its roughly two dozen shareholders in a 2018 report filed with British regulators. The Trump Jr-Beach connection has been most visible in the political arena. Last year, for example, Trump Jr. publicly thanked Beach and their mutual friend Tommy Hicks Jr., another wealthy investor from Dallas, for their fundraising during the 2016 campaign. “We couldn’t have done it without you guys,” Trump Jr. said of his buddies to a crowd of Republican donors in March 2017. “It was just absolutely incredible.” In the foreword to a recent book, Trump Jr. reiterated the message, writing that a “rag tag army” — Trump Jr., Beach, Hicks and Charlie Kirk, the firebrand chief of the pro-Trump organization, Turning Point USA  — barnstormed the country in 2016, raising “over 150 million dollars in ninety days.” Since Trump’s election, Beach has met with top administration figures on multiple occasions. For example, according to the AP, he lobbied National Security Council officials to relax sanctions against Venezuela to create opportunities for U.S. companies. He attended a private lunch with Republican donors and Interior secretary Ryan Zinke. Beach has denied leveraging his ties to the first family. Last month, Beach told a TV interviewer in Croatia, where he said he was exploring a “truly spectacular” $100 million real estate development, “I don’t need anything from the government, thankfully, except normal police protection in my hometown.” But newly obtained emails show that Beach wanted government backing for his private business interests at the same time he was running Eden Green. In October 2017, Beach pitched Ray Washburne, who heads the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a government agency that offers loans and guarantees to American companies looking to expand into emerging markets, according to emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. (Before joining OPIC, Washburne was a Dallas investor and a top fundraiser for Trump. He and Beach move in the same circles and have friends in common.) “The Dominican Republic could really use some US investment and support,” Beach wrote in one email to Washburne, describing his various projects there, which included “a power plant upgrade to an existing tin mine” as well as liquid natural gas infrastructure. He invited OPIC officials to travel with him to the Dominican Republic “If permitted, we would be happy to handle all transportation from DC to DR and back,” he wrote in a follow-up note. (Such a trip never occurred, according to an OPIC spokesperson.)   A month later, the emails show, Beach also lobbied on another project, arranging a call with his business partner and one of Washburne’s top deputies regarding an “India Oppty,” which appeared to involve an energy fund. Separately, Beach also introduced Washburne to the head of oil giant Exxon Mobil’s Africa operations, with whom Beach said he had gone shooting at Blenheim Palace in England, where the Churchill family resided for three centuries. And Beach connected another Washburne aide with a South African mining executive who Beach described as “one of my partners.” OPIC spokeswoman Amanda Burke said Beach has not submitted any formal applications for agency funding. “OPIC routinely meets with a variety of businesses and stakeholders,” she said, adding that formal applications trigger background and credit checks and “go through several levels of agency vetting and approval.” Asked whether having a Trump connection would disqualify a person from receiving OPIC support, Burke emailed that “in general, an individual’s personal or legal business interests would not disqualify them from applying. However, certain relationships may cause board members or other decision makers of OPIC to be conflicted out of the decision-making process on potential projects.”

Please join the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda as it hosts the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Henrietta Fore for a keynote address and armchair discussion. Executive Director Fore's address will outline the challenges that humanitarian organizations like UNICEF face in gaining access to the women, children, and young people living through conflict and crises. She will describe UNICEF's approach to overcoming access barriers in countries like Yemen, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Syria. She will also discuss how UNICEF is working in fragile contexts not only to serve immediate needs, but also to support communities' resilience as they build lasting health, nutrition, water, and education systems for long-term prosperity. For over four decades, Executive Director Fore has worked to champion economic development, education, health, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief. Her impressive career includes being appointed as the first female Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2007 – 2009 and serving on the boards of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. We look forward to your attendance and participation for this event.  

For as long as I have been a social sector professional, there has always been a desire to do more partnering with the “private sector.” And, by that I mean traditional, for profit or commercial enterprises like Coke, Toyota or Airbus. In fact, 14 years ago, the capstone project of my Masters degree at American University was, I’m not kidding, “The Role of The Private Sector in Conflict Resolution.” My point here is that this is not a new topic by any stretch. No matter how you’d like to approach it, the reason why we don’t see more traditional investment in parts of the world where its necessary to send aid or development assistance can be boiled down to one word: risk. Money, or more specifically the individuals who control money, large and small amounts alike, do not like to place that money at risk of being lost. Unfortunately, the places where social sector actors choose to align there sights for action can readily be characterized along a scale of increasing risk. But here’s the thing - the money, or again the individuals who control the money, are also constantly on the lookout for new opportunities that offer potentially high rates of return. And, funny enough, you guessed it, the places where those of us in the social sector live and work are also places that offer tremendous potential markets and high-return opportunities. So what’s an investor to do? Luckily, Joan Larrea has agreed to be my guest on today’s 154th Terms of Reference Podcast. Joan is the CEO of Convergence, an institution that connects, educates, and supports investors to execute blended finance transactions that increase private sector investment in emerging markets. Joan has 20 years of experience in emerging markets investing. She led the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation's efforts to partner with philanthropic and private investors, she was a managing director on the emerging markets team at Global Environment Fund and she began her career as an investment officer at International Finance Corporation. This episode is a fantastic conversation about how Convergence is attempting to breath life into investments that would otherwise be too risky for the traditional private sector. We not only discuss the three ways in which Convergence works, but we also touch on several of the deals they have helped bring to life. We also talk about the reasons why this type of investing can be so difficult for everyone involved and where that trepidation comes from.

The Powers - 12 Principles to Change Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary with Mark ErwinAired Wednesday, 13 July 2016, 3:00 PM ETJoin us for this “WISDOM WEDNESDAY” at 12pm PST / 3pm EST on INSPIRED LIVING RADIO as we welcome our special guest, and our first former U.S. AMBASSADOR to the show, MARK ERWIN! We will be discussing his new book: THE POWERS – 12 PRINCIPLES TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE FROM ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY.*No open phone lines this week…Mark Erwin is the President of Erwin Capital, Inc., Board Member of the Council of American Ambassadors, Former U.S. Ambassador and author of The Powers: 12 Principles to Transform Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary (Skyhorse, June 28, 2016).Born in Coral Gables, Florida, Mark’s opportunities to learn from difficult experiences started early, being born to a mother from a wealthy family. Struggling with mental health issues, Mark’s mother had lost nearly all of her wealth and they had gone from “riches to rags.” During his teen years, Mark began rebelling and was expelled from high school.Mark’s life was transformed when in 1961 at the age 16 he was arrested for forging checks on his mother’s account. Given the choice of going to jail for 4 years or enlisting in the military, Mark served in the United States Air Force. With newfound discipline and determination, Mark decided to turn his life around.Mark went on to serve the Clinton Administration in two positions. President Clinton first appointed him to the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. He was later asked to serve as United States Ambassador to a regional embassy serving the Republic of Mauritius, the Republic of the Seychelles and the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros.Mark’s upcoming release, The Powers: 12 Principles to Transform Your Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary will provide readers with insight into recognizing the powers within them and how to use these powers to achieve extraordinary results in their chosen paths. The book will also provide many examples of ordinary people who have harnessed their own powers to achieve the extraordinary.Website: www.markerwin.net~~~INTERACT WITH INSPIRED LIVING RADIO (ILR) EVERY WED~~~Feel free to post your personal questions (or private message us) on the INSPIRED LIVING RADIO (ILR) FACEBOOK OR TWITTER accounts (@inspired4us), and we will bring them live to air! This is a great way to interact with the LIVE show, Marc & Kim, along with celebrity guests!Facebook Group Page – INSPIRED LIVING RADIO: https://www.facebook.com/groups/953052554715269/Twitter Page or Follow us @Inspired4Us: INSPIRED LIVING! https://twitter.com/Inspired4UsGoogle+ Communities Page: INSPIRED LIVING! with Marc & Kim https://plus.google.com/u/0/communiti…/111118826880689715612Instagram Page or Follow us @Inspired4Us: INSPIRED LIVING https://instagram.com/inspired4us/“You are the Inspired, and the Inspiration!” ~Inspired Living

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation is the US Government’s Development Finance Institution. OPIC helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets, catalyze revenues, and grow jobs by providing investors with financing, political risk insurance, and support for private equity funds. Mitchell Strauss, the Special Advisor for Socially Responsible Investment Finance, joins the podcast to discuss where OPIC … Continue reading OPIC Socially Responsible Investment Finance

John B. Taylor is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University. He formerly served as the Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research where he is currently a Senior Fellow. He is also the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution. Taylor’s fields of expertise are monetary policy, fiscal policy, and international economics. Taylor has an active interest in public policy. He served as senior economist on President Ford's Council of Economic Advisers, as a member of President George H.W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, and as economic adviser to the Bob Dole and George W. Bush presidential campaigns. For four years from 2001 to 2005, Taylor served as Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs where he was responsible for U.S. policies in international finance, including currency markets, trade in financial services, foreign investment, international debt and development, and oversight of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. His book Global Financial Warriors: The Untold Story of International Finance in the Post 9/11 World describes his years as head of the international division at Treasury. He served as a Member of the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and is currently on the Board of Dodge and Cox Funds. Before joining the Stanford faculty in 1984, he held positions as professor of economics at Princeton University and Columbia University. Taylor received a B.A. in economics summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1968 and a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 1973. Introduction/Moderator: Dr. Christine Cumming, retired First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Director of the Economic Club of Minnesota September 10. 2015