Penn Urban Research Institute's April 14 Symposium To Address Globalization, Cities, Jobs and the Economy

  • WHAT:"Globalization: Cities, Jobs and the National Economy" will explore   job security, urban development and sustainable economic growth in this era of increasing globalization.
  • WHO: Hosted by the Penn Urban Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and moderated by Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor Chris Satullo, the panel will include:
  • Jeremy Siegel, professor of finance at Penn's Wharton School
  • Witold Rybczynski, professor of urbanism, Penn School of Design
  • Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Economy.com
  • WHEN:  6 p.m., Wednesday, April 14.
  • WHERE:Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, 39th Street between Walnut Street and Locust Walk, Philadelphia.

The transfer of technology is happening faster than ever and fueling a global economy.  The global economy is fueling urbanization, and, for the first time in history, most people will soon be living in cities. Globalization is causing the cities where modernization is occurring to have more in common with each other than with their countries.  

This panel will examine the issues surrounding outsourcing, the relocation of jobs to lower-cost labor markets, which has caused concern about domestic economic losses.  Siegel will discuss the broader positive implications of this debate -- that the development of emerging markets is critical to future U.S. economic growth -- and will connect the looming domestic Social Security crisis to Asia's economic growth.  In a historic perspective of urban development and globalization, Rybczynski will maintain that a dramatic shift is occurring right now with urban growth at a record pace in the next 25 years and will provide the historic precedents.  Zandi will give a forecast of domestic jobs lost due to outsourcing and the consequences for the national economy and provide a forecast for the Philadelphia region.