U.S. Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor delivered a speech last night on "The Global Economy in the 21st Century," at the Institute of Politics' (IOP) ARCO forum.
The enthusiastic crowd of around 500 listened attentively as Kantor gave a 30-minute address promoting global engagement in trade matters instead of isolationism.
"Mutual assured destruction has to become mutual assured prosperity," said Kantor, who has been responsible for negotiating more than 200 trade agreements.
"When are we going to create dignity, hope and a future for the people we left behind?" Kantor asked, saying that the rural areas and inner cities have been passed over by the global economy.
Kantor, the former United States Trade Representative, cited education as the primary tool for enabling the nation to work collectively in the competitive, foreign market.
"The greatest asset we have are human beings and we have to invest in them," he said.
"No American can be left behind in this global economy because we don't have one person we can sacrifice in this new global economy," he said.
Kantor also hailed the economic improvements instigated under the Clinton administration.
Kantor attributed the greatest drop in poverty rate in over four decades to Clinton.
He also praised Clinton for reducing the size of government, noting that under Clinton, "we will have the smallest federal government since [John F. Kennedy'40] was elected."
Members of the audience had nothing but praise for Kantor's speech. "He was witty, anecdotal and general at the same time," said Scott A. Coleman, a second year student at the KSG. "I thought he was more candid than I would expect from an administrative official at this point in time in the campaign." Avery W. Gardiner '97, chair of the IOP Student Advisory Committee, said she appreciated Kantor's "firm commitment to maintaining fair standards." The event was sponsored by the Kennedy School of Government's Center for Business and Government, the Center for Science and International Affairs, and the Institute's Student Advisory Committee
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