4th African American Economic Summit at Howard University

The 4th annual African American Economic Summit was held at Howard University on February 1st, 2013.  The program was sponsored by Howard University and The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The conference feature several well known black economic figures:

Bennard E. Andersen

The sessions were

Session 1: Economic Distress in the United States and the Urgency of Action
Benard E. Anderson, U of Penn, Wharton
Bobby Scott, Congressmen (VA-3)
Lorenzo Morris, HU Political Science Department
Rodney Green, HU, Econ Department Chairman
Alexander De Leon, Student, HU, Econ, Master's degree candidate

Anderson define the problem and the lack of black wealth
Scott said we have not money
Morris said blacks may have missed the window to make change
Green said the problem is capitalism and corporations are sitting on $5 trillion in cash and won't invest to make jobs. We may have to consider a mass movement for broader systemic change
De Leon

Session 2: Employment and Wealth: Policies for Black Americans and All Americans

William "Sandy" Darity jr., Duke University - Painted a great picture of the dismal employment situations in the US.  He discussed a federal job guarentee to be paid for by poverty programs.
Professor Haydar Kurban, HU econonomics department - Proposed using taxes on financial market to create jobs. Discuss
Darrick Hamilton, Econ department, New School. Racial wealth gap is huge. Proposes baby bonds for education, housing or business creation
William Spriggs, Howard U, Econ.  AFL-CIO Economist. - Raise the minimum wage
Enrique Lopezlira, Howard University, Student
Charles Bedsee, Howard Econ



A video of the sessions is available at the website of the Howard University Department of Economics.



The full list of sponsors were:

Howard University
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Howard University Department of Economics
Howard University Center for Urban Progress
Howard University Center on Race and Wealth
Duke University's Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality
Ron Walters Leadership and public policy center at Howard University