The Economist Launches The Buttonwood Gathering

Lawrence H. Summers to deliver keynote lecture at inaugural finance and economics event

NEW YORK, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ — The Economist announced today that it will launch a new signature annual event this year, The Buttonwood Gathering: Fixing Finance. The event will focus on financial reform, restoring trust in the global financial system and the geopolitical implications of the worst crisis in the past 50 years. The Buttonwood Gathering will bring together the foremost thought leaders in the world to debate and discuss what measures should be implemented to restore vigor to the world’s economy. Lawrence H. Summers, Director of the National Economic Council, The White House, is confirmed to deliver the keynote Bagehot lecture.

The Buttonwood Gathering will take place October 15-16 in New York City at Pace University and the New York Stock Exchange. Conference speakers and participants will shape and lead the debate on the future of finance; the event features a Town Hall Meeting where delegates can direct questions to global experts. Maria Bartiromo of CNBC will broadcast her signature show, “Closing Bell,” live from the event.

Other confirmed speakers include:

* John Micklethwait, Editor in Chief, The Economist
* Guillermo Ortiz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bank of International Settlements
* Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management, Columbia University
* Roger Altman, Chairman and CEO, Evercore Partners
* Sheila C. Bair, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
* Dr. Jacob A. Frenkel, Chairman and CEO, Group of Thirty (G30)
* Michael Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management
* Stephen Roach, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia
* Myron S. Scholes, Chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management
* Robert L. Reynolds, President and CEO, Putnam Investments
* George Soros, Chairman, Soros Fund Management
* Elizabeth Warren, Chair, TARP Congressional Oversight Panel
* Wilbur L. Ross Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, WL Ross & Co.
* Robert J. Shiller, Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics, Yale University

The event is sponsored by Thomson Reuters, NYSE Euronext and OMERS Worldwide.

Space is limited. For more information, or to register for the event, please go to http://buttonwood.economist.com.

The event is open to credentialed press. For media registration, please email buttonwoodmedia@economist.com.

About the event

In the 18th century traders and speculators gathered under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street to conduct their business. Things have changed since those humble days. The global financial system has been a vast engine of economic growth, but today’s financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn has left the system in a complete shamble. As financial institutions struggle to keep afloat, governments are faced with dismal choices – enduring massive upheaval in the private sector, lending vast amounts of the public’s money, even nationalization. As the news appears grimmer, the platform for rebuilding the financial system must start with the restoration of trust. The Buttonwood Gathering – named after that early gathering spot and the financial column that appears in each week’s issue of The Economist – will draw together leading policymakers, banking executives and regulators to discuss efforts to restore trust in the system and chart a path to recovery. Strong risk prevention and a solid framework of regulation that allows for responsible innovation is key to this progress. In the words of President Obama, it is time to “pick ourselves up” and “dust ourselves off.” The decisions made about how to fix the system in the coming months will have profound consequences and will shape the prosperity of future generations.

For more information, contact:
Pass and Ticket Contact:
Rosemary DiDomizio (212) 554-0627
buttonwoodevent@economist.com

About The Economist (http://www.economist.com)

Edited in London since 1843, The Economist is a weekly international news and business publication offering clear reporting, commentary and analysis on world politics, business, finance, science, technology, culture, society, media and the arts. The Economist has a North American circulation of nearly 800,000, a global circulation of more than 1.4 million and more than 3 million monthly unique visitors at Economist.com. Because of its international editorial perspective, it is read by more of the world’s political and business leaders than any other magazine.

SOURCE The Economist