On November 6—one year out from the ‘08 elections—the Metropolitan Policy Program launched a new national competitiveness initiative, Blueprint for American Prosperity: Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation. The Blueprint offers a powerful and compelling argument: The ability of the United States to compete globally and to meet the great economic, environmental and social challenges of the twenty-first century rest largely on the health, vitality and prosperity of the nation’s major cities and metropolitan areas.
The forum featured a panel of innovative business, philanthropic, government and university leaders discussing how federal policy reforms could bolster their efforts to create more prosperous metropolitan areas. Brookings President Strobe Talbott and Jim Johnson, former chairman of Brookings’s Board of Trustees, provided introductory remarks. Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program, presented the Blueprint, followed by the panel discussion.
Read Jim Johnson's remarks » (pdf)
Read Henry Cisneros's remarks » (pdf)