Bringing residents of inner cities into the economic mainstream is a key challenge facing America today, Secretary of the Treasury Robert E. Rubin '60 told an audience of about 600 at the Kennedy School yesterday.

Now that America is in the midst of sustained economic recovery, it is crucial that we turn our eyes to the urban poor, Rubin said.

"This is a matter of fundamental importance to all of us," he said. "Until we bring the residents of the inner cities into the economic mainstream, all of us will be tremendously disadvantaged."

Calling for a "true marshalling of national will and effort," Rubin presented three major goals to break the cycle of poverty in the city: investment in people, improvement of public safety and access to private capital.

Rubin also outlined an eight-point economic agenda for the nation, which includes instituting community development bank programs, expanding micro-enterprise loans, increasing the involvement of the private sector in mentoring private businesses and creating secondary markets for loans to the inner cities.

Rubin said equipping the poor to reenter the economic mainstream requires efforts by both the public and private sectors.

Rubin, who spent 26 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City before joining the Clinton administration in 1993 as assistant to the president for economic policy, has extensive experience in both sectors.

"You could really tell that he had not spent his life in the public sector; he spoke very frankly," said Michelle Greenstein, a first-year at the Kennedy School.

Many in the audience said they were impressed by Rubin's agenda.

"Our country has such wealth, such a strong economy, yet we also have such disparity," said Michael F. Seelman, who is pursuing a masters of public policy at the Kennedy School. "I was very heartened to hear that the Clinton administration is aware of the challenge and has the courage to address it."

But others were more skeptical.

"His program is what the inner cities need; the challenge is in the implementation," said Cindy Arenberg, who is pursuing a master's in public administration at the Kennedy School. "I am confident that the administration will do what they can to implement it, but the question is whether the companies will take advantage of the tax incentives and whether the inner city residents will take advantage of their opportunities.