(New York, NY - November 9, 2001) New School University has received
a generous gift of $1.1 million from Bernard L. Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of
Loral Space & Communications, to create the "Bernard L. Schwartz Lecture
Series and Project in Markets, Equality and Democracy." This four-year
project will include a series of high profile public lectures, research workshops,
scholarly books, doctoral dissertations and public policy briefs aimed at understanding
the conditions under which the profit-seeking activities of private firms also
serve broader social goals, including the creation of good jobs, the improvement
of public health and education, the diffusion of socially-useful new technologies
and the reduction of economic inequality. The project will be based at the Graduate
Faculty's Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA), which is one of New School
University's most prominent research centers.
"We are grateful for Bernard L. Schwartz’s generosity
in support of this exciting new initiative at our Graduate Faculty." remarked
Bob Kerrey, President of New School University. "The expansion of world
trade and investment over the past 20 years has brought enormous wealth and
technological advancements, but with it comes challenges including pockets of
rising poverty, inequality, technological stagnation and a decline in national
sovereignty. Now is an important time for our students to be looking at these
issues, and I’m grateful to Bernard L. Schwartz’s commitment to New
School University and to these important questions."
The financial collapse in East Asia and Russia, mass protests
on environmental, labor and biotechnology standards and the unwillingness of
the U.S. Congress to grant the President "fast track" trade authority
are symptoms of a world system of trade and investment that is not serving the
broad interests of workers, consumers and entrepreneurs around the world.
According to Will Milberg, Associate Professor of Economics who will serve as
the Project Director, "This is an exciting project because its broad scope
will advance both research and public debate on the conditions under which private
competition and government regulation can interact to best produce private and
public wealth, including health and education, new technologies, and a more
equal distribution of income."
Can corporate-driven, market competition promote both economic
growth and social equality? How in the U.S. economy can we create stronger incentives
for positive social investment and socially responsible corporate practices?
What is the proper role for government and international regulation if capitalism
is to continue on its global path and while at the same time, reduce the gulf
between haves and have-nots and promote democratic change? New
School University will address these and other important questions as part of
this four-year project.
The grant will allow several, high visibility public lectures and scholarly research conferences. Each year, funding provided by the Bernard L. Schwartz Project in Markets, Equality and Democracy will enable the University to hire three graduate students to support faculty research. In addition, one doctoral student will be awarded a Bernard L. Schwartz Dissertation Fellowship based on proposed research related to Markets, Equality and Democracy.
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Bernard L. Schwartz is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Loral Space & Communications Ltd., one of the world’s largest satellite manufacturing and satellite services companies, headquartered in New York City. Prior to the company’s formation in 1996, Mr. Schwartz served for 24 years as chairman of Loral Corporation, a Fortune 200 designer and manufacturer of advanced, state-of-the-art defense systems and hardware. Over the years, Mr. Schwartz has gained significant recognition for his views and counsel on matters ranging from economic growth and industrial policy to technology and national security, which he has provided through speeches, white papers and testimony to private research institutions, educators and Congressional Committees. Mr. Schwartz has also been active in philanthropy. In 2000, he established the Bernard Schwartz Chair in Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, where he serves as a member of the Advisory Council. Mr. Schwartz also serves as a Trustee of the Baruch College Fund, Mount Sinai-NYU Medical Center and Health System, Thirteen/WNET Educational Broadcasting Corporation and the Democratic Leadership Council.
The Economics Department at the Graduate Faculty of New School University
has been an international center of research and teaching in political economy
for over 50 years. Led by pioneering critical economic thinkers including Adolph
Lowe and Thorstein Veblen in the 1930s and 1940s when the Graduate Faculty gained
worldwide renown as the University in Exile, the New School Economics Department
continued under the leadership of such scholars as Robert Heilbroner, David
Gordon and John Eatwell. The department remains committed to Robert Heilbroner’s
ideal of economics as a "worldly philosophy" of human social and political life,
which can guide the powerful tools of mathematical and statistical method.
The Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) is a research center
based at the New School that draws upon the analytical and empirical strengths
of the Economics Department’s approach to economics. Faculty members lead
project work and graduate students in the Department can receive research fellowships
within the Center. The Ford Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,
Rockefeller Foundation and the United Nations have funded recent projects at
the Center. Lance Taylor, the Henry Arnhold Professor of International Cooperation
at the Graduate Faculty, is Director of the Center.
The Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science awards M.A.
and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology, economics, philosophy, political science,
psychology, and sociology. In addition, interdisciplinary M.A. programs are
offered in historical studies and liberal arts. The Graduate Faculty has an
enrollment of about 1,050 students. International students comprise nearly 30%
of the student body and come from about 70 different countries. For further
information on the Graduate Faculty, call (212) 229-5777 or go to the Web site
at: www.newschool.edu/gf
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and 25,000 continuing education students, is comprised of seven academic divisions:
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