Aspen Institute Looks at 'Capitalism and the Future' During Two-day Event in NYC

Google and PepsiCo CEOs join panel at The New York Public Library

NEW YORK, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Is capitalism broken? Will a new business ethic emerge in the aftermath of the financial meltdown? And is the financial crisis actually a crisis of failed leadership? The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program will explore these questions with thought leaders from business, government, religion and the nonprofit sector in a two-day program modeled after the successful Aspen Ideas Festival, held each summer in Aspen, Colorado.

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The two-day program begins with an evening panel on Tuesday, November 3rd at The New York Public Library, as part of the Live From the NYPL series. CEOs Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo and Eric Schmidt of Google, will join authors Niall Ferguson (The Ascent of Money) and Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan) in a discussion moderated by Aspen Institute President Walter Isaacson. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Celeste Bartos Forum, at the New York Public Library on 42nd Street at Fifth Avenue. Tickets, which are $25.00 ($15.00 for students and members), can be purchased by going to the Library's Web site, www.nypl.org/live.

The second day continues at Bloomberg corporate headquarters in New York City, with panels on business innovation, a look at the problem of short-termism in capital markets, the conflict between beliefs and business and a discussion of the relationship between Washington and Wall Street. Bloomberg, which is Aspen's media partner for the two-day event, will provide moderators for the panels and will be broadcasting parts of the program on Bloomberg Television. Tickets are sold out for the second day.

Panelists include:

• David Blood, Senior Partner and Co-founder, Generation Asset Management
• Bill George, Professor of Management Practice, Harvard University and former CEO, Medtronic
• Jeffrey Hollender, Chief Inspired Protagonist, co-founder and Executive Chairperson, Seventh Generation
• The Very Reverend James Kowalski, Dean, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
• Pamela Passman, Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Global Corporate Affairs, Microsoft
• Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
  

Peter Weinberg, founding partner of Perella Weinberg Partners, will be interviewed at lunch by Bloomberg Television journalist Erik Schatzker.

The Aspen Institute Business and Society Program develops leaders for a sustainable global society. Through dialogue, business education and research, BSP creates opportunities for executives and educators to explore pathways to sustainability and values-based leadership. For more, visit www.aspeninstitute.org/bsp.

The Aspen Institute mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. The Aspen Institute does this primarily in four ways: seminars, young-leader fellowships around the globe, policy programs and public conferences and events. The Institute is based in Washington, DC, Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore and has an international network of partners.