Your priority list, first taxi from right after that education and what you meant by that is developing the skills and skills training to make sure that your workforce you need for the next decade, finding people to bring into your companies that can execute the type of work you need that any new technological world. So how does the white house plan to address your concerns . The executive editor of the wall street journal is going to interview betsy devos, the u. S. Secretary of education who is very much focused on this particular aspect of your agenda. So please join me in welcoming them. [applause] secretary, good to see you. Good to see you, matt. I think its fair to say first of all that education for this audience over the years is probably always been one concern for many people whenever we pull our executives. I know there came interested always in the state of education. We both had a lot of talk over the last day and a half on things like ai, things like the digitization of the workplace and disruption and changes that are already are happening at the golf think are going to accelerate in the coming years. I want to start by asking you, youve been on the job now almost a year, which are your overall assessment of the preparedness of u. S. Workers today for this world in the world thats coming . Your honest sense of where we stand on training our workforce. Well, let me say first its an honor to be here and have a chance to talk a little bit about education today, and the specific question about preparedness of students for the rally of today and tomorrow, i i think weve a lot of opportunity for improvement. There are certainly students that are leaving high school and college well prepared for the world that awaits them, but i think the reality is that much of the systems that weve been relying on in education for decades now really can to be backward looking versus forwardlooking. And its michael at the the department to really bring the focus two, in the k12 very, really empowering parents and students in a new way to find education environment that is really right for them, that is going to stoke the curiosity that is innate in every child, and not sort of beat it off by the time they are in third or fourth grade. And then when you look to be on 12th grade, what are the new breed of pathways that really are available but not yet really highlighted myriad of pathways i think for several decades now we have given the subtle or notsosubtle message that the only successful path to adult life is through a Fouryear College or university. And i think thats been at the expense of lots of great opportunities. We know that 6. 1 million skilled jobs that require some level of education Gunn High School are going unfilled today, and so the opportunity is really there to step back and look more holistically at those opportunities, starting as early as perhaps middle school, exposing kids to what some of these different pathways might be. So lets break it down, talk about k12 and then we can talk about post k12. Just to be clear then, i mean, i dont know if you put a percentage on it, but when you think about how prepared, how many of our students are prepared for the world in the way you think they need to be, are half of them ready for this today . Is it probably lower than that . Is it just the students who get the opportunity to go to the private schools or the right Charter Schools or have certain opportunities . Or how bad are we failing, do you think . Students and wear it in every school in this country, theres at least one or handful of students that for them thats the right of private and they are being prepared and challenge in the right way. But when you think about the fact that kindergartners starting kindergarten this year face the prospect of having 65 of the jobs they will ultimately fail not yet having been created, you really have to think, i think, differently about what the role of education and preparation is. And in talking with a lot of Business People and others who have to ultimately employ individuals, the skills that we really have to be preparing kids with, i think, are simply put in four areas. Critical thinking skills, the ability to collaborate and work well with others, as we do in all of the rest of life but not so much in school. The ability to communicate, both verbally and in written communications, well. And then creativity. And my observation of a lot of students today is they are not having their needs met to be prepared in those areas. Theres a lot of tension on this issue. Weve had a lot of programs over the years now from the left and the right, and from the government and from outside the government, whether its race to the top or common corps. Theres been a lot of permit around but we dont really any abstract move the needle a lot. Why not . Why cant we really see that kind of change . Whats going wrong even with all these ideas . I think weve tried to fix things on the top down. Theres been very heavy involvement on the part of the federal government for several decades with the hope that we would see improving results and different results. The reality is that our performance in aggregate as compared to the rest of the world has not only been stagnant but its continued to slide. And so we really are at a crossroads i believe, and a hope that a lot of the folks here today and those with whom you work will look differently at the way you an act, engage with, and get involved with education. So thats actually a good segue to the poll question i want to ask, if we could put the question of. I want to talk about the department as you see, the Education Department as we know from the time it started has been sometimes a lightning rod on both sides of the aisle. Its been talked about and written about for you that you have been cutting the budget, there are jobs youve not been filling. You have been streamlining the department. Whats your philosophy of what the department can do and what it shouldnt do . How do you want the role of the Education Department to be defined . I think theres much larger role for states to play. It is of the role of the states, and this administration is very embracing of federalism. The every Student Succeeds act the Congress Passed at the end of 2015 which is just now starting to get enacted really returns a lot of the flexibility and control to the states for k12 education. Right now we are receiving the plans, reviewing them. Its michael to a group every single plan to follow the law that Congress Passed. The interpretations in the states will be different, and thats good, and we hope that states will take the opportunity to be creative in how they are addressing needs of students in the states. We also hope states will work with our local communities and with local School Buildings to give the kind of flexibility thats needed to allow for new creative approaches to be taken and to be embarked upon. Okay. So our poll question, does the department favor taking a greater role in driving k12 agenda, lesser role about what is now . Looks like more of the ideas is with you on this, although i see the numbers are still shifting around. Its very dramatic to watch it. A lot of people changing their minds. Let me press on that a little bit because it feels like theres always been especially for the united states, from the national perspective, tension between states and the federal entrance in terms of what should be standard for everybody and what should be localized. Thats a persistent tension point. Something common core was trying to also address. And it goes to a larger question i think that you wrestle with because you like to highlight programs that you think are unique, programs you think are great. You talked about a new Charter Schools, private schools, Public Schools. But what should be done minimal acceptable Educational Attainment . How do we reach some minimal level . There is really an inequality problem in our education system. If you have money, if youre lucky, if youre in the right community you might get a great one. Lots of people dont. How do we race that floor . Well, the reality is the probably most of us if not all of us in this room have had the ability to choose our childrens educational settings, and the reality also is that there are many, many parents, a High Percentage of our population, that dont have that power. We havent tried actually empowering parents to make those choices and to pursue an education environment that is right for each child. That has i believe stunted the creativity and Education World for decades, really. We still fundamentally operate on a model that was brought to us 150 years ago by the prussians, a country that no longer exists, and we have not deviated fundamentally from that approach. Yet everything is change in the world. And so i fundamentally believe that if and when we empower parents to make that right choice for their child, that we will see the kind of creativity entering education that we really need to see, that will ultimately prepare students to be active participants in the workforce, and i would argue even as important or more important to be job creators themselves. Is there a particular Public School model or community that you look at as an example of how then you can move, whether its new orleans or some other place, that you seen that kind of creativity . A number of states have adopted some choice programs, and were starting to see some beneficial result in those states. Florida probably being leading among them. Louisiana has certainly adopted a form of choice. Its a little more limited in scope. Indian is another state, ohio, wisconsin. But all of these are still a relatively small scales. We have not had a state or situation where every single parent in that state actually has the power to make that choice for their child. I hope that sometime in the nottoodistant future we will see that. When we reflect on what the role of the federal government and the department of education is, visavis the states, its important to remember the 90 of the funding comes from within the states. And yet i would say probably 90 plus of the regulation has come from the federal level 90 plus percent what weve seen with the entry into that, trying to make everybody conform to onesizefitsall approach has not, the results have not been positive overall her students in this country. And again company, the critics of choice who say thats all well and good if you get a chance to change her school but that still dooms many kids who dont get into the right school in order, our school or minimal school. Isnt that a risk of choice . Yet we have tried, it is a lot of those programs that has been tried in some places and we see improvement in the school here, we see improvement in his school there, which is to have a lot of kids kind of due doomed to four schools, right . How do you address that problem . Fundamentally if the demand is there is going to be response to demand. And i would actually refer to florida where again theres the broadest range of choices and the greatest number of students taking advantage of those choices. Where there are districts that have a fairly High Percentage of students opting to go to a school other than their assigned school, all of the performance in that district has improved. So it says to me that with even more of those options and more of those opportunities, were going to see even better results ultimately. And then were going to come back to post k12, and we were talking backstage about the fouryear degree. It sounds like you would like a world that has many more options for students than just thinking in terms of the fouryear degree. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts about how we can develop, i guess youre thinking about vocational schools and other options, of the past ways to careers and success. How badly i i would like in otr ways forward for students today . Well, first of all i think we need to be honoring of those various avenues and various pathways. And i i think a large extent we stigmatized them for the last couple decades or more. And weve suggested that they are lesser than and not as good a choice as options as a Fouryear College or university. Yet today we know that only about 30 of students will ultimately have a graduate from a fouryear or university, and we have as a mentioned. 1 million jobs that require some level of Education Beyond High School that remain unfilled. And we have a lot of students that i think would benefit from being exposed to learning about those options and those opportunities at a much earlier stage, as young as and as early as middle school. What can you do, what can the government to specifically to seed and fund of those . Is all up to private enterprise, is all up to states, institutions . Or can you encourage you then whether its through tax policy or two other kinds of i think its really important for businesses to engage with our local Community Colleges, for example, or other local institutions. If you need in your community that are going unfilled or in your business that are going unfilled, ive seen several examples, several great examples of Community Colleges that a party with industry in the region and have planned out curriculum and certifications to specifically meet those needs. Very often, i mean, ive talked to many students who have entered those programs and taken a year, nine months to a year of a micro degree for something, and then they will go and a few years and come back for another level of education. And i think a major shift in Higher Education to the acknowledgment that there is really no traditional student fundamentally anymore. The percentage of students to go directly for my school to a Fouryear College or university and graduate in four years is a minority of the population. So really again, getting honor and respect to all of these different opportunities and helping kids actually learn early on whether they like to work with their hands or whether they really do want to sit at a desk and do something that requires them to sit and think all day. I recall a young lady i met that in the orlando area who had been a clerk in a Circuit Court and had done that for a number of years and became bored to death. So she went back to the local committee college and took a class and was now doing advanced manufacturing wiring for one of the Aerospace Industries in the area and couldnt have been more thrilled with the work she was doing it she said i love my job. I go there every day, cant wait to get there. Youve had tough criticism from political opponents and even at times i think doubts from supporters, so, you faced your skeptics at different moments. The last couple of weeks there were rumors going around about you were thinking of stepping down. Are you thinking of stepping down . Absolutely not. Do you expect to be here for your full fouryear term . I do. The opportunity to try to make the Education Future better for kids all across this country. Thats been my lifes work and the opportunity to try to do that in a different way is an unbelievable opportunity. Let me just press, are you getting the support you think you want to get from the white house and from the congress for your agenda then . Indeed, yes. Lots of friends on the hill and the president and the white house has been very, very supportive. I mean, look it, we recognize there is latent potential in so many of our young people today and were doing them a disservice by not ensuring that they all have an equal opportunity to get a great education. Lets go to questions from the audience. Questions right here. Tell us who you are. Jeff hagedorn, scotts miraclegro. You have michelle is on my board. And you have to say to yourself, the education is the biggest shame in this country and look at michelle, shed say she was more successful, but its a suicide mission. I think, kind of, thats what youre saying, how can this country really fix education in the poorest parts of our country where, without education, i dont think there is progress . Thanks for the question and i would just challenge all of you, you have you all have spheres of influence, and you have opportunity to get engaged in your own communities. You have opportunities to engage in your states to advocate for policies that will actually change the Playing Field for all families, especially for those families who dont have the means that we have to be able to choose for our kids. Unless we fundamentally change that, i think everything that not everything that we have done, but much of what we have done to tri it change and reform education over the last several decades has been merely moving the game pieces around on the game board and its not a winning strategy. We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the course for kids today and tomorrow by giving everyone the same kind of opportunity that weve had for our kids. Other question . Questions for secretary devos . No . Before i turn it back it matt, here we go, right here. Hi, keith allman, ceo of masco of michigan. How would you describe your strategy or key initiatives of the department to drive the change that you talk about . So three main areas that im focused on within the department, and they all the first one is certainly k12 education. Starting with ensuring that we implement the every Student Succeeds act as congress has intended. Thats a big piece of work. And secondarily, to advance policy that will help compliment what our states are doing to empower parents with more choices. I believe that its really the states role to take on these policies and to do them in a way that works for their states. Theres lots of different mechanisms, but they have to really respond to and take the initiative within the states. And the federal government can come alongside and compliment what theyre doing. The second area is with Higher Education and as weve already talked about, the fact that we have many students that graduate high school, dont know what they want to pursue. Some of them go to school for a year and a half or two and then drop out because they havent found a direction or a passion for their future. We have to give students a much wider menu of opportunities starting in high school and in middle school, to help guide them into a productive future and i think, you know, you all we all can be part of that. Then the third area of focus is really the department itself, and you know, the president has given us all all the agencies a directive to do a topdown review, not only of the organization and structure of every agency, which were doing and which we think we can streamline and simplify to a large extent, but also to the regulations that are part of that agency and just the week before last, we indicated a rollback and 600 pieces of guidance or regulation that were no longer relevant. One of them was directives how to respond to a flood in the midwest in 1992. And all of these things just stay on the books and they all are part of different, you know, pieces of law that then get rolled forward for everybody to deal with, the next time around. So, we really are doing a very serious house cleaning. Lets get one more question here. Here. By according to the mckenzie report by 2064 we will have negative employment growth and at that time we can only compete globally if we are more productive. In other words, we have it really become very, very good in our emerging technologies area and in educating our school pipelines of the students in the emerging tech following areas for all the advanced computing and your Artificial Intelligence and whatever, your advanced materials. So what are the government and the Current Administration is doing and particularly, youre doing in preparing us of such future . Good question, that sounds very daunting, doesnt it . I go back to i go back to what i said earlier, that i think the most important skills to help a child learn are Critical Thinking skills, the ability to collaborate, the ability to communicate well, and the ability to be creative, and i would stress that fourth one creativity because i think for many students they have they have felt the process of education, of going through school is one that sort of sucks the creativity right out of you. And thats why im an advocate for many different models and many different approaches to be taken to offer students ways to learn. One of the most promising developments in k12 curricula is what i say is learning, demonstrating in a subject matter or material and whatever and when doing so, be able to move on to the next segment, not measuring by the amount of time a child is sitting in the seat and letting them move on as quickly as theyre able to and really fostering that interest in learning as a result. Another promising approach is the inquiry based project approach and weve seen pockets of this being adopted in schools around the country, but its not by and large theres lots of skepticism, lots of speculation about what might not work. Well, i would say we need to embrace a lot of this, a lot more, and a lot more schools need to be looking seriously at how they keep kids engaged in their own learning because thats ultimately going to help foster creativity and foster those who create opportunities for others. Secretary devos, matt murray, thank you very much. Thank you. [applaus [applause] so the administration has a very ambitious economic plan, 3 Economic Growth. That intent is to keep it there and perhaps grow from there. What are the forces or trends that could help or hinder that very ambitious Economic Growth target . Jon hilsenrath, the Global Economics editor of the wall street journal is going to speak with Kevin Hassett from the council advisors. Please welcome them. Thank you all very much. I actually want to start off this interview with you by asking the audience a question, so the economys grown at a 3 annual rate for the last six months, im hoping youd please put up your hand if you think that the economy is going to sustain that growth of 3 for the months ahead . Id say about half. Id give it closer to a third, but well say a third to a half. The administration is looking for 3 growth. So theres some skeptics in the audience. Explain to the audience why were going to get that growth rate sustained. First, youre right that weve had a couple of quarters in a row of 3 growth. But the first one of those was something of weather related phenomenon, there was a weak First Quarter because of the weather, but the Fourth Quarter is looking its going to be in the same range so were going into next year with a significant amount of momentum. And if you look down into the nuts and bolts of the numbers, the thing that jumps out at me is that its probably represented in this room that Capital Formation has really started to pick up this year, that Business Capital spending was really, really bad over the last few years, one of the measures we look at is something called capital deepening and its sort of like how much workers had better machines to work with and how much their productivity is going up because they had better machine and capital deepening, going back to the Second World War contributed almost a year to productivity growth, but in the last four years, it even went negative. And so there was more depreciation than investment in the economy as a whole, which suggests there is some kind of real business pessimism and maybe a big Corporate Tax opportunity going on, but right now, the business pessimism seems to have waned and Capital Spending is headed back up and i think that has something to do with optimism about the tax reform and something to do with the president s regulatory agenda. So Business Investment youre saying is going to drive. Lets ask the audience again, raise your hand if youre planning to pick up your own pace of investment in the next year . Year . About the same people. Another third to a half. At least 70 . The lights are bright. The Federal Reserve projects longterm growth around 1. 8 . We were talking about a 3 growth rate. What do you see that the fed isnt seeing right now in terms of the economys long run prospects . I have a respect for the independence of the fed and as a former fed economist, i can say theyre an elite bunch, but i think that, you know, if were talking growth whats it going to be like ten years from now, whatever we do now, it will be less impactful on growth because it will change the level, but not necessarily the growth rate. Thats robert solos prizewinning idea in the long run there are factors like population growth that are determi determineing of gdp growth. We have a tax reform plan looks like its highly likely to pass and everybody is counting votes, seems to be optimistic, and its going to repair a badly broken Corporate Tax system. You in, the oecd is probably a decade ago told us we needed corporate reform in the u. S. Because were chasing the capital off shore and if we fix that well get a surge of Capital Spending in the u. S. And should drive gdp up shortterm. I dont know what the fed resumptions are about whether the tax reform costs if you reduce the cost of capitol about 15 which is our estimate of what it does, then that 15 reduction to cast of capital should increase Capital Spending and gdp growth in the short run. Are you saying that 3 growth is possible for the short run, but not so much for the longer run, that theres 1. 8 number could be given the demographic depends how far out you go. There are things that can be stimulative for growth. Close to full employment, becoming an attractive place for capital to locate again, means there could be more factories going up in the u. S. , driving up workers and labor force,participation. Thats been headed the wrong direction, but if it turns around. The refire department. Baby boomers is a really big deal and it used to be that Labor Force Growth would give us maybe about a percent a year Economic Growth in the background for the potential gdp than we could expect, you know, seven or eight years from now. For sure at some point the positive effect of these things would affect the level, but not the growth rate. I want to talk about the level of unemployment. 4. 1 its now. And this is level that economists sometime describe at or below full employment. The idea being that if it goes much lower, the economy risks potentially overheating, and wages growing faster thatten are sustainable and potentially a new bubble. Would you say where we are is a level consistent with or below full employment . When i started the fed, they had an actual rate of unemployment at 6 and then i kind of remember, a cut a long time ago that i worked there, they reduced it to 5 1 2 during the five years i was working there, but i think that we found that Unemployment Rates below that can be consistent still with stable prices. I think the opportunity right now. If you look the a the history of Business Cycles, its now when labor is tight in places you start to see income inequality to decline and wage growth increase. If we were to take that magic moment and tee people up and give them a wage hike and improve income and equality and then we at that moment. Reform our tax code and factories want to relocate to the u. S. The way to think about it, one of the things that have received a lot of attention, is the fact that theres geographic inequality. There are places that high Unemployment Rates and all of colorado right now theyve got about half an unemployed worker for every job opening. If you look at surveys in businesses in a lot of the parts of the country he they couldnt find workers. If were a 20 territorial, people will want factories where there are workers. It will increase wages and reduce income inequality and bring the jobs home. I want to bring the geographic issues that you raised. But to stay on this point. Were in a position where theres real opportunity, but weve also seen in periods in the past where we had unemployment at or near 4 or even lower. Weve seen financial bubbles in the late 1990s. We ended up getting a stock market boom that was unsustainable and then again in the mid 2000s. Is there a risk if unemployment keeps falling well get some kind of financial excess and given the way you see stocks behaving right now, is that a signal that the economy or markets are potentially overheating . Well, i think theres definitely always that risk and that the one thing that weve learned is that as soon as we think that the risks are low, thats when the risks start to head upward and going back to whether its sustainable or not and inner relationship between the low Unemployment Rate and sort of forecast for the future, think about it this way. If the Unemployment Rate is 7 and youre a firm and you want to increase output then you can get a cheap worker off the unemployment line, but if the Unemployment Rate is what it is now, and youre like the Colorado Company thats, you know, got listings, but there arent people applying, you have to invest in increasing productivity of the people that you have and that productivity increase will transfer into wage increases if the data suggests that thats true, and so if that happens, we get the productivity enhancing Capital Formation, then we can expect this to be a sustainable, higher level of growth that would affirm the expectations of markets. I dont think that its possible that the sort of productivity enhancement that we need to stay at 3 is something that anyone reasonable would project if we dont pass tax reform so therefore, i think this whole thing about the mark market, the market might be ahead of itself if it doesnt pass. When you say it might be ahead of itself. Explain what you mean by that. Well, sure, so the market is like at expectation mechanism for the future and its all the Different Things that might happen and puts probabilities on them and says on average this is what we think is going to happen. If you think about why prices are where they are right now, it must be because the market has factored in this thats good for the economy will pass. In all of a sudden that we learn it wont, that will be bad news for the market. How bad depends on probability that its priced in. Do you think its fully priced in . No, i dont. I would guess that we could actually ask right here, you know, the people, again, like how many people here think the odds are greater than 70 that the tax bill passes . Yeah, almost nobody, so, maybe, but how about greater than 50 or at or around 50 . So thats about, thats what these people not as many people as said well get 3 growth. I want to talk to you a little about what happens when theres another recession. This expansion is now more than eight years old. Weve never had an expansion go longer than ten years. Whats the governments role and by that i mean in fiscal policy, but also, in Interest RatesFederal Reserve, Monetary Policy when we go into another recession, which if history is a guide, can happen in three or four years. First, i dont think that the evidence is too convincing that recoveries die of old age. Very often theres a precipitating event that us kas the recovery to end and recession to begin. Theres an economist at university of california, san diego, jim hamilton is his name who looked at post war recession and found very many of them, if not all of them start with an oil shock. That is pretty much unpredictable. So recessions are going to come into our future for sure, but i dont think that the odds of recession in the next year are unusually high just cause were eight years and what is the tool kit . What tool kit do you see in the central bank. I appreciate the independence of the fed. The fed has a big tool kit that its used in the past and if it continues, the recovery continues and normallizes Monetary Policy and more than ample tool kit to draw on. I think the macro economics literature has suggested that the fed is more nimble in recessions and that attempts to use keynesian style stimulus have often been too late, and there was the old fact that the nbdr Business Cycle committee announced were in recession after the recession is over because the data are backward looking. If you wait for them to say we have a recession for stimulus, its clear youre not going to be timely, but absolutely, if a recession were to happen, then fiscal policy would probably be part of the mix and thats something that even now, that cea, you know, we are a studying and starting to think about options. You dont wait for the rainy day to buy an umbrella. What are the options . Its possible that Interest Rates arent going much higher. In an event like that, what are the options that the administration would look at in another down turn. An example weve studied the shovel ready project idea is not necessarily a good one. That Infrastructure Investment is a really great investment for our economy, something the president talked a lot about since the campaign, but youre not necessarily going to get Infrastructure Spending out in the next six months to stimulate the economy, but other things such as tax variables seem to have quicker response time. Youre pulling that lever now, with tax variables. Its hopefully an insurance policy. If we become the most attractive place on earth to locate if you weigh the factors, not just taxes, then theres a big increase in Capital Formation in the u. S. And timely this far into. You signed a letter to ben bernanke in 2010 calling on the fed to stop its bond buying programs. Whats known in markets as qe or quantitative easing. The fed didnt stop, it kept doing it. Who was right, who was wrong in terms of whether that was an Effective Program or an inEffective Program . You or ben bernanke . Well, you know, i wrote the letter in the past before im in the white house where its really important that i respect the independence of the fed. If the fed looked back at that history and decided that they needed to act in a similar way, then i certainly wouldnt want to be engaged in the public debate with them on that. I think at the time, that a few of us thought that Forward Guidance could probably accomplish a lot of the things they were trying to accomplish with qe and thats what moved us to write the letter. Certainly, idea that inflation risks were significant something at that we believed at the time. The fed thought at the time they could do this and that it wouldnt create even potentially, much of a medium term risk of higher inflation and that certainly occurred like we had growth and we didnt have the pickup in inflation. I want to ask, we have a question for the audience, and this is a real question that were going to ask and to use their machines to answer about globalization. So we want to hear the view of the audience on globalization. Has globalization been good for business . Let me see, its hard for me to see here. I can see. Okay. Right down here. So its a pretty unanimous, unanimous view that globalization has been good for business, almost everybody, 95 . Whats your view on whether globalization has been good for american workers. I guess i can ask the audience, i cant phone a friend. No, i think that globalization, of course, has been good for american business. You know, if trade is, you know, makes everybody better off in the end. Well, this administrations view is that weve entered into a lot of bad trade deals and made americans worse off. How does that fit into your view. I think that the president s view, hes spoke been this a lot, ive spoken with him and the other members of the team often about trade, as the trade deals could be a lot better, that theyre not always symmetric, but i dont think theres massive opposition that trade improves welfare in an economic model. We have a followup question which ill put up there real fast. Are you worried about the trump administrations commitment to globalization . Lets see if the answers vary at all there. It looked like were coming in a little bit more than 60 are saying that theyre worried about this administrations commitment to globalization. What do you have to say to address these concerns in the audience . I think that president trumps view on trade is something that has been shared by president s of the past, if you look at you know, the person who ran the uspr or other president s and they often were out there trying to improve trade deals to end asymmetries, to reduce nontariff barriers and didnt have a lot of success. President trump thinks that trade deals can be made better. I dont think that anyone can argue with that, the question is it can we accomplish that through negotiations is it your view, lets go to questions if theres questions from the audience, we dont want to cut off your time with Kevin Hassett, questions for kevin . If not yes, right over here. How often and how frequently do you interact with the president and how have you found him to be as a student of empirical macroeconomic Data Analysis in a way that he hasnt consumed before . You know, the interaction with the president , how often is something that well keep between ourselves, but ive met with him often and i really enjoy spending time in the oval office, that he dives deeply into issues, has good intuition, is willing to challenge his own intuition, and, yeah. And so, ive had a very positive experience and you know, if i hadnt, i would dodge the question or something, but for sure. Hes a great boss. Thats been my experience, yes. Can i get so if you only had two tools to generate Economic Growth, one tax reform or two, Infrastructure Spending, which do you think would have the greater impact if you could wave a magic wand as of today . I think that we would start with tax reform and thats been the judgment of this white house, that i think that weve been working very hard on infrastructure. I think that ive been to six principals meetings since my confirmation on infrastructure where people are really digging in and thinking about how we can have a 21st century infrastructure that supports the thriving economy that will be produced by our tax reform, but i think that prioritizing tax reform is the right thing to do. Again were the highest Corporate Tax country on earth that, you know, i dont know, if youd ask another question, but when i go around talking to business leaders, ive had a hard time meeting someone who built a new plant in the u. S. For the last five or six years because the other countries around the world are more attractive in terms of taxings. I think that priority sizing that was the right thing to do. When are we going to see the administration moving forward on infrastructure agenda, is that a 2018 item . And what is it at the core of it, publicprivate partnerships or its still a work in progress and youll definitely see a lot more on that after tax reform. And after tax reform is the current view that we have and hopefully thats sooner than 2018. Other questions . Other questions for Kevin Hassett. Turn it back to john. I want to ask you about sector stagnation. We have larry were going to leave the last couple of minutes of this discussion and go live now to the 32nd annual trouble this toyland survey from the u. S. Public Interest Research group and showing you examples of hazardous toys, and of the years holiday season. And live cspan2 is just starting. We are a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. I am joined today by dr. Lenore jarvis, a fellow of the American Association of pediatrics and rachel weintraub, legislature and