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![Philanthropy, Democracy, and You](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulled6a155f-a9f5-4cf8-929f-0a7270a4d62c/48152033811_a01f216672_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=266%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=290)
Worried about the health of our democracy? There’s a bright light. Nation-wide the social sector is expanding to include NGOs led by a new generation, entrepreneurs building companies that offer a social return, networks of change-makers who share a profession or passion, and philanthropies taking many new forms. Together they’re tackling hard problems at the community and...
![Democratizing Wealth](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/df908c4c-926c-4bce-afe4-c0b937040cbf/53003838462_f43dc087e7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Allowing everyone a fair chance at economic prosperity and upward mobility is a goal we can all support. But, how? Leaders of investment disruptor Robinhood, the MacArthur Foundation, and Prudential join to discuss the systems, practices, and policies to provide greater access to capital markets.
![Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy Is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/15a06ceb-ed99-4e6b-b4d9-02601d93d281/28246190487_0d92070332_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=688%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Around the world, people who are angry at stagnant wages and growing inequality have rebelled against established governments and turned to political extremes. Liberal democracy, history's greatest engine of growth, now struggles to overcome unprecedented economic headwinds — from aging populations to scarce resources to unsustainable debt burdens. Democracies risk falling...
![The Changing Nature of Work and Our Troubled Democracy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/350f86d3-604b-48a3-a952-1b386a2e45df/52181801826_7abaa038f3_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
American jobs and American democracy are both in crisis. Working people show up in political discourse in discussions of “the white working class” or “essential workers,” but our politics does little to improve their lot. Why has policymaking become divorced from the interests of working people, and what does this mean for our democracy? How does the nature of work influen...
![Reimagining the Future of the Democratic Party](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c749263e-66df-409a-b2d7-1cf2f363383e/52177732784_1c983e80ab_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=791%2C0%2C3467%2C3467&w=290)
“Follow the science” has become a Democratic mantra, but many Americans are wary of experts and believe elites look down on them. Have Democrats become too identified with technocratic ways of speaking — about the economy, the pandemic, climate change? Has this deepened the political divide between those with and those without college degrees? Can Democrats reconnect with...
![Pushback: The Perils (and Power) of Corporate Commitments](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4740a973-6c0d-4f57-9c35-796fdd369fa2/53823862693_2b19d6cc7e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C238%2C3101%2C3104&w=290)
With ESG caught in the political culture wars, business executives must decide to speak up or stay quiet about climate, diversity and democracy. What do employees and citizens expect, and can playing offense be the best defense against the pushback?
![In Conversation with Paul Ryan](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null357b0c8e-d888-4204-bcb6-493b931494d3/48121212208_983e954bcb_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=686%2C0%2C2628%2C2628&w=290)
Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan talks with Judy Woodruff about his life after Congress. How have the policies he helped implement fared under the current administration? What are Ryan’s views on current economic policies? He'll address what is going well, what we can do better, and the issues he'll prioritize in his post-Washington world. Underwritten by Southern Com...
![Nationalism's Back with a Vengeance](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullca8968db-c7a9-4e5a-819d-73ed9f70379e/48132743946_4b1ba859e7_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=290%2C0%2C1019%2C1019&w=290)
Trump in America, Brexit in the U.K., anti-EU parties in Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, and Hungary, and nativist or authoritarian leaders in Turkey, Russia, India, and China -- Why has nationalism suddenly returned with a vengeance? Why has globalization become a dirty word? Can a new international order be created that doesn't dismiss what is c...
![Coding Is the New Civics: Leadership Lessons from a Top Social Entrepreneur](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6bc702fa-0c78-41a2-8726-92fe34c8f41a/43009089351_166b9faf39_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=534%2C0%2C1931%2C1931&w=290)
How will government survive without the skill of tech superstars among its ranks? Jen Pahlka’s Code for America was launched with the mission to use the principles and practices of the digital age to rebuild the institutions we rely on for our democracy. Kathleen Janus, whose recent book took her around the country meeting top social entrepreneurs, guides this conversation...
While the United States has the world’s deepest and most liquid capital markets, and the largest number of billionaires in the world, we also have historic levels of wealth inequality and racial disparity. The very real risk: These disparities might not only undermine our economy but our democracy. What will it take to narrow the gap and build wealth equity in America? Wha...
![How China’s Crackdown Challenges the World](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bc888889-d863-4741-8d87-dc6828b4beba/27476354053_405ff72363_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1224%2C0%2C4912%2C4912&w=290)
China’s economy is slowing and the world has no choice but to pay attention. And in Beijing, Xi Jinping’s administration pursues policies increasingly divergent from democratic ideals. These developments are philosophically challenging, especially as they concern the world’s largest population and second-largest economy. And yet they also pose threats to multilateral coope...
![Is Trust the Ultimate Currency of Stakeholder Capitalism?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/482893af-9891-49b5-ac13-eb38b5876a42/52178758869_2809a018be_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1012%2C0%2C4024%2C4024&w=290)
A majority of Americans say that distrust is their default setting, fueled by growing distrust of democracy, media, and government, according to the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer survey. The survey found that business is now the most trusted institution, filling the void left by paralyzed and incompetent governments, but that trust has simultaneously become localized: in my...
![Putin & Xi: Studies in Grievance](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/06a3bd7e-1e39-46b0-b453-8726fa7ddbd5/aif-2022-grievance.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=349%2C0%2C901%2C901&w=290)
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, foreign policy strategists continue to debate what motivates Russian President Vladimir Putin and what could be his endgame. Not far behind are concerns about Chinese President Xi Jinping and whether developments in Europe will reverberate in the Far East. What do Putin and Xi have in common? What brings them together, and conve...
![‘From Generosity to Justice’](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2972818-afc6-4d6a-b2d1-3ae254ff42be/53000937904_bc2b391fee_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=632%2C0%2C2381%2C2381&w=290)
Over a century ago, Andrew Carnegie wrote the “Gospel of Wealth,” challenging his wealthy peers to be generous with their largesse. Today, in his new book, Ford Foundation president Darren Walker writes that inequality far surpasses that which Carnegie witnessed, and argues that the widening chasm between haves and have-nots demands a new approach to philanthropy.
![The Business of Active Citizenship](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3f6f2cb8-2014-46cd-8704-eff1db8295a2/53003991912_aa17bfaed6_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1034%2C0%2C3734%2C3734&w=290)
Over the past few years, companies have come off the sidelines regarding major policy issues from gun violence to climate change. For Levi Strauss & Co and Patagonia, advocating for their values and modeling good corporate behavior is right up there with selling jeans and puffy jackets. Here’s a look behind their thinking.
![America’s Next Golden Age: Building the Middle Class of the Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullec588d50-b7dc-44a1-a726-a03fa1250006/America_Next_Golden_Age_aif19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=558%2C0%2C1444%2C1444&w=290)
While incomes are rising, there are questions about gains in short-term financial stability and long-term wealth creation for the majority of America’s working households. Related, there have been debates about the connection between the demise of the middle class and how this could threaten our overall economy and democracy. How can we create a new golden age of middle-cl...
![Healing America Through A Year of Service](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullc3e844cc-f36c-4a34-99b7-987e39662f0b/48152508852_61383c6821_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=293%2C0%2C1013%2C1013&w=290)
Many Americans worry that our country is hopelessly divided — that we lack even the most basic common experiences, beliefs, or traditions, resulting in a society devoid of empathy and factions unable to work together in our republic. One idea to address this critical challenge is gaining momentum, including increasingly getting mentioned on the 2020 campaign trail: making...
![The Global Economy: A Delicate Moment](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null3fd15a10-1bc1-4fa2-a5db-cc74499405b7/48145926216_ea8e59202b_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=266%2C0%2C1067%2C1067&w=290)
In 2018, economic activity was accelerating in almost all regions of the world. One year later, much has changed. The escalation of US-China trade tensions, credit tightening in China, and macroeconomic stress in key G20 economies have all contributed to a weakened global expansion. As the US trade war with China deepens, what are the biggest risks at this delicate moment?...
![Where the West Lost Its Way](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulled2d0ebe-db06-4257-8ffb-0f74c48b9e52/48133653878_b321e4fee7_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=279%2C0%2C1041%2C1041&w=290)
World order is never in stasis for too long. And indeed, we seem to be witnessing a historic shift now. The relatively stable decades after World War II saw gains for global democracies, rapid economic growth fueled by globalization, and the birth of the Internet. But they also saw the speeding of global warming, widening inequality, and the scourge of transnational terror...