2017 brings great promise—and new policy challenges—for New York City and the nation. The new administration in Washington affords policymakers immense opportunity to rethink the scale and scope of the administrative state, which has expanded, largely unchecked, for more than 50 years. Chiefly, the White House and Congressional leaders have said that they will significantly reform financial-sector regulation, streamlining and improving much of the legal framework that grew up in response to the 2008 financial crisis. (The problems with that framework have manifest in the labyrinthine Dodd-Frank law). Closer to home, New York will elect a new mayor this year. As we evaluate the de Blasio administration, New Yorkers are thinking about the policy environment that the city needs in order to grow economically and help improve the lot of lower-income citizens.

On Wednesday, March 8, the Manhattan Institute (MI) and Young Leaders' Circle (YLC) are proud to welcome a guest speaker with extensive public policy experience in both Washington and New York: Robert K. Steel, presently CEO of Perella Weinberg Partners, a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary, and a former deputy mayor of New York City. He will join us at YLC in conversation with MI's vice president for research and publications, Howard Husock.

Prior to joining Perella Weinberg, Steel was New York's deputy mayor for economic development, responsible for implementing Mayor Michael Bloomberg's five-borough job-creation efforts and economic growth plan. Before this he was CEO of Wachovia Corporation, leaving his job at U.S. Treasury and taking the helm at Wachovia just as the 2008 financial crisis struck. He and his leadership team ultimately saved the bank by engineering its merger with Wells Fargo. During the crisis, Steel also served as an architect of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), through which the federal government backstopped numerous financial institutions and prevented the collapse of the U.S. banking system. Earlier in his career, Steel spent nearly 30 years at Goldman Sachs, rising to become head of the Global Equities division, vice chairman of the firm, and a member of Goldman's management committee. He is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Bob is a good friend of the Manhattan Institute. I know that you will enjoy hearing his discussion with Howard Husock—and asking him questions of your own.