Peter G. Peterson
A prominent billionaire business man has issued a call to arms to American businesss leaders to “get off their butts” and go on the offensive and play a leading role in helping solve the nation’s economic problems. Peter G. Peterson, former Commerce secretary, CEO of Bell and Howell, and cofounder of the Blackstone Group, urges business leaders to create a movement that “makes it safe for politicians to opt for the hard choices and unsafe for them to do nothing.”
In a column in Business Week magazine, Peterson excoriates business for being on the defensive for a decade resulting in the fact that the public holds U.S. business in low esteem. It is time, he writes, for a private-sector Marshall Plan to rescue our own economy. He describes a vast effort in which business leaders, including CEOs and their boards, organize to be heard on the issues and not just lobby for favors.
Peterson stated, “in my more than 50 years in business, I cannot recall a time when there were so many daunting national challenges, with business engagement so lacking.” It is time, he urged, for business to do the right thing, not just to protect our kids and grandkids but to safeguard our remarkable country’s future.
Stressing the seriousness of the issue, Peterson notes that the U.S. has a staggering $60 trillion in unfunded government liabilities and promises. Foreign lenders could lose confidence in our economy. That, he says, would trigger a true crisis: a plummeting dollar, soaring interest rates, and runaway inflation.
Peterson is backing his convictions with serious money. He created a foundation with an endowment of $1 billion to address fiscal sustainability issues related to federal deficits, entitlement programs and tax policies.