In April 2023, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan outlined the U.S. international economic agenda at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. When the Biden administration took office, he said, it faced four challenges: America’s industrial base had been hollowed out, geopolitical and security competition with China had intensified, the climate crisis was accelerating, and inequality, in part driven by globalization, threatened democracy. He outlined an industrial and innovation strategy “to build capacity, to build resilience, to build inclusiveness at home and with partners around the world.”
On Wednesday, October 23, Sullivan will return to Brookings to reflect on the progress and challenges of the past 18 months and respond to the variety of responses and criticisms of his April speech. Sullivan’s remarks come as finance minister and central bankers from around the world gather in Washington for the Fall meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
A Rhodes scholar and a graduate of Yale Law School, Sullivan has been, among other things, a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, a professor, director of policy planning in Hillary Clinton’s State Department and an advisor to her presidential campaign, and national security advisor to then-Vice President Joe Biden. Following his remarks, Sullivan will be interviewed by David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center, and take questions from the audience.
Viewers can submit questions by emailing [email protected] or on X/Twitter @BrookingsEcon using the hash tag #JakeSullivan.