McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Speakers
Douglas Holtz-Eakin

Chief Economic Adviser, McCain-Palin 2008

Austan Goolsbee

Senior Economic Adviser, Obama-Biden 2008; Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

Presider
Floyd Norris

Chief Financial Correspondent, The New York Times

from McKinsey Executive Roundtable

The McKinsey Executive Roundtable Series in International Economics was a quarterly meetings series, which brought together major U.S. and foreign policymakers, business leaders, and independent commentators to discuss and debate current issues in international economics, such as global energy markets, tax policy, global demographic change, and securities regulation.

This meeting series was sponsored by the Corporate Program and the Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies.

Explore More on Economic Crises

United States

What Does the U.S. National Guard Do?
The National Guard is a special part of the U.S. military that answers to both state governors and the president. While it began as a “strategic reserve,” the guard has come to play an important role in domestic and overseas operations.

by Diana Roy, Noah Berman and Anshu Siripurapu September 30, 2025

Monetary Policy

What Is the U.S. Federal Reserve?
Over the past decade, the Fed kept interest rates low while it deployed trillions of dollars in stimulus and expanded its regulatory oversight. Now, the central bank is battling inflation and grappling with political pressure regarding its independence.

by CFR Editors September 16, 2025

Sub-Saharan Africa

Africa’s ‘Leaders for Life’
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to many of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. Pro-democracy advocates have at times successfully stopped presidents from extending their mandates, but the authoritarian trend could be accelerating.

by Mariel Ferragamo and Claire Klobucista August 26, 2025

Top Stories on CFR

Global Governance

The State of Global Governance: Middle Powers and the Search for Stability
The rise of middle powers in recent decades has offered a counterweight to the strain created by the United States, China, and Russia in international affairs. But although middle powers challenge great power leadership within multilateral institutions, they also create stability within those institutions and have a vested interested in maintaining it. 

by Esther Brimmer December 17, 2025

United States

The Great Aid Recession: 2025’s Humanitarian Crash in Nine Charts
The world faces unresolved conflicts, growing climate crises, attacks on aid workers, two famines, and diminishing political will—along with significant aid cuts. Altogether, 2025 has earned a grim new superlative: the worst humanitarian year on record.

by Sam Vigersky December 23, 2025

U.S. Foreign Policy Program

Ten Most Significant World Events in 2025

As 2025 comes to a close, here are the ten most notable world events of the year.  

by James M. Lindsay December 23, 2025 The Water's Edge