Thursday, June 14, 2007
Conference Opens
It is 8 PM and the conference was officially opened by Vinit Nijhawan, Raj Alur welcomes us all and Al Kapoor has got us started by introducing the speakers for tonight. Mike Grandinetti from MIT Sloan School has formally set the tone for the evening, introducing Rod Randall, Senior Managing Director at Vesbridge and the key note speaker, Reed Hunt, Board Member Intel.
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It was one deep dive beyond the surface and semantics of a typical US - China dialog. Reed Hundt presented a thorough, analytical and engaging overview of why the US must avoid making the mistakes the Chinese did in the 1700's.
Protectionist policies, artificial trade barriers and short sighted immigration policies will only contribute towards a declining economy and are not means to 'counter' Chinese growth.
This is the first time in history that the US is seeing another country expand due to lower labor costs, conscious investments and bold ambition - all ingredients that US itself once had to help overtake the manufacturing oriented UK economy in the 1800's.
The ideal response should not be defensive. Rather it is time for the US to get on the offensive and show leadership in a major sector like energy. By becoming the world's largest green economy, de-aggregating the energy giants and bringing in a revolution much like the Telecom Act of 1996; the US has the potential to convert a tight vertically integrated 'financial play' that is the current energy sector into a thriving, entpreneurial and market-friendly sector.
Reed Hundt's active engagement with the audience in the Q&A session reflected his interests in engaging in a meaningful dialog with a group he says has the promise to make the transformation of the energy sector possible.
His charge was to ensure that US Citizens and corporations continue to benefit by ensuring that the right kinds of decisions are made with an understanding of long term implications. It will be difficult to reverse the outcomes of bad decisions and it was up to entrepreneurs and economic agents to play an active role in creating new inventions, capabilities and products within the US that would enrich US citizens and ensure sustainable leadership in the world economy.
Reed Hundt patiently autographed his recent books and was very kind to personalize it for the sea of humanity that mobbed him after his speech.
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