March 17, 2010
On Friday March 5, 2010, the
Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development, the official
journal of
The Ronald H. Brown Center, held its 17th annual Symposium
entitled
"The Fall of the Economy and its Effect on New York." This
Symposium fostered a discussion about business social
responsibility, government bailouts of big business and the
mortgage foreclosure crisis. The panelists also explored the
economic inequities in the United States, and in New York City,
which predated the recent economic crisis and have been exacerbated
by the biggest economic collapse since the Great
Depression.
Photo Gallery
Approximately fourteen speakers, including academics, practitioners
and politicians, provided insights, analysis, and commentary on
these issues. Among the many highlights of the symposium,
Professor Cheryl L. Wade facilitated a provocative colloquy between
New York City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie and
State Senate Banking Committee Chairman Brian Foley on the
mortgage foreclosure crisis. The featured speaker, Bob Edgar, the
President and Chief Executive Officer of Common Cause, gave an
exciting speech on the state of the economy and the destructive
effect of campaign contributions on politics and economic
reform.
The Symposium provided a venue for the speakers to discuss the
economy, the lessons learned from the market collapse and remedies
to repair the breaches in the economic system. In the near
future, the
Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development will
issue a symposium issue commemorating these issues.