Daniels visits D.C. for labor, fiscal policy discussions

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University President Mitch Daniels traveled to Washington, D.C., on April 4 and 5 to participate in panel discussions on the impact of the digital revolution on the labor market and budget policy.

At Monday’s event – the Markle Foundation’s A Labor Market for the Digital Age: Pathways & Opportunities – Daniels participated in a roundtable discussion with Markle Foundation CEO and President Zoë Baird and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. The panel was moderated by Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute. Daniels serves as honorary co-chair of the Aspen Institute's Future of Work Initiative, which aims "to identify concrete ways to strengthen the social contract in the midst of sweeping changes in the 21st century workplace and workforce."

The discussion examined the intersection of large-scale economic and technological transformations and how to “ensure all Americans benefit from the wave of digital revolutions that have permeated modern life.”

The program can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QHh_i-Idrs.

On Tuesday, Daniels took part in the 2016 Mortimer Caplin Conference, which focused on fiscal issues facing the next president. The conference was hosted by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which Daniels co-chairs, and the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Daniels was featured in the session “Lessons from History - Budget Policy in the First Year” along with Alice Rivlin, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who served as director of the Office of Management and Budget from 1993 to 1996. The talk was moderated by Ann Compton, former White House correspondent for ABC News.

The conference is part of the Miller Center's First Year Project, a three-year initiative to develop bipartisan insights and recommendations to guide the next president in his or her first year, according to the event website. 

Also Tuesday, Daniels discussed the national debt and economic growth during a live interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Video of the interview is available at http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000507099.