>> i am mark crumpton. this is "bottom line." today, president obama tries to assure americans that he is focused on the economy. lagarde discusses the slowing global economy. despite democracy protest, hong kong's chief executive says he will not resign. to our viewers here in the united states and those of you joining us around the world, welcome. we have full coverage of the

stocks and stories making headlines today. tom keene is in washington today with highlights of an interview with christine lagarde. julie monitors equity markets and oil dipping below. petergton correspondent cook and a preview of president obama's speech on the economy. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. speak to business school students outside chicago in just a few minutes time. really, this is an opportunity for the president to try to change the conversation back to the u.s. economy. so much focus on foreign-policy issues. airstrikes against syria, even arriving hereat in the united states. the president trying to refocus again american attention on the u.s. economy. the jobsday away from report, about 30 days away from the midterm elections. a big focus right now for democrats, trying to talk more about the economy. we have heard from some of the president's aides already. a top economist, jason furman,

telling me in the last little bit that the president will not offer new policy prescriptions in his speech today. things he has been trying to do but has not been successful on, higher immigration wage reform. those kinds of issues. and he will highlight the sinceement in the economy the financial crisis and a chance to reassure americans things can get better but there is more to be done. >> it is not much of a mystery that people do feel more confidence but their incomes are still lower than they were in the late 1990's according to the sense of numbers. when that is the case, people are frustrated and the solution to that is not any one thing or any two things. economic agenda the president is pushing. >> the entire economic agenda the president is pushing.

republicans in control of the house. the reality is is is a tough sell for the president trying to convince americans there are still concerns. the situation with unemployment still at 6.1%. americans are still struggling to find jobs. the challenge for the president is to try and change the conversation back to the economy and the white house has more in its toolbox to fix the economy. >> with the prospect of republicans taking the senate and the midterms, is in the white house looking at gridlock for the economic agenda? >> you have got to get past election day. i asked jason furman about that. nothing has been passing in recent months. democrats in control of the senate. what prospect is there for some of these and and -- these initiatives? he mentioned specifically tax reform, business tax reform. there is an opportunity, shared ideas that both sides can agree on.

so many details stand in the way. will be a heavy lift. that is one area he mentioned specifically. >> peter, stand by. we will speak to you shortly. the former governor is a professor of economics at the university of chicago's school of business and he joins us live. professor, welcome. thank you for your time today. >> great to be here. >> president obama is expected to point out the united states is showing more economic progress than other nations. that message not seem to be resonating with americans on main street? true we are showing some progress. i think the reason is the unemployment rate is not showing the full amount of stress american workers are feeling. 6.1% is not that high. if you look at broader measures of unemployment, jenny allen and the said have been emphasizing, and it includes part-time workers who preferred to be full-time, and if you include people giving up looking for a

job and would really like one, unemployment rate is 12% versus 6%. that is a lot of pain. >> wages for american workers are flat, adjusted for inflation, average hourly earnings in august were up only 4/10 of 1% from a year earlier. middle-class income have still not returned to prerecession levels. the question is simple but the answer appears to be complicated. if the economy is doing well, why aren't workers getting paid more? >> i said the labor market is not doing nearly as well as the unemployment rate might reflect. if you look at the broader measure, it is 12% and not 6%. if you look at the years before the crisis, that number would be higher than the regular unemployment rate but it would only be 9% or 10%, rather than 12%. what we are seeing is firms being unwilling to make the moretments to really build strength in the recovery. part of that is a lot of

economic uncertainty, in particular, policy uncertainty. >> there continue to be pockets of weakness in the labor market. and how have they convinced the recovery from gaining strong momentum? >> you have a lot of workers who have found jobs. we hear about roughly 200,000 jobs being created are much. a lot of those are part-time jobs of people who preferred to be working part-time area -- full-time. that is positive they're getting some compensation but not nearly as much as they would like. another aspect is very low labor force participation. the percentage of people actively looking for work is was in thethan it past. a lot of people feel fairly desperate and are not being included in the 6.1% unemployment number. >> i'm sticking with the former fed governor, professor of economics at the university of chicago's will business. last month, you are on bloomberg radio and you said a fed -- of

fed policymakers, "they are not sure about how the economy will evolve. it is really about the data." if it were not about the data, how else would janet yellen and her colleagues be reaching decisions on monetary policy? is always about the data. some people have the view that there is a fixed timetable the fed has. they have all those things they put out for where for craft -- are, but this is really not the case. they really are looking at the data each month and updating. they will respond to the data as it comes in. >> let's go overseas for a bit. mario draghi today announced economic stimulus measures. he said the ecb would keep interest rates in the eurozone at record low levels area the bank would also start a new bond buying program to help increase this is aemand area page from ben bernanke's

playbook from a but would the effect of overseas? effective overseas? >> they have allowed their balance sheets to shrink over the last couple of years. that has been accompanied by slowing growth as well as inflation getting dangerously close to zero or negative territory. lotso, the ecb has to do a to try to respond to that. in the u.s., the fed could buy u.s. treasury securities. in europe, politically and economically, much more challenging. how much debt -- agreed that -- greek debt live by relative to spanish jet, french -- it's -- it dead, french debt ear that is an element the french did not face. >> who gets credit for the american improving economic data? the reserve?ma or

-- the fed board? >> you will have a biased because irom me served on the fed board. i think the fed gets you can credit. the fed tried to prevent inflation outcomes the european central bank is facing, as well in the japan has faced previous 15 years. that is helpful, but a necessary condition are not sufficient area having good, program fiscal policy, good, progrowth arelatory policy them reducing policy uncertainty, that is something that is very important area i do not think we made enough roberts on that for some of the other actors in washington to get as much as that i would -- as they would like. >> professor of economics joining us from chicago. professor, thank you so much for your time and perspective here and we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> days before world leaders arrived in washington, the imf managing director christine

lagarde says she worries about the disconnect between sluggish global growth and financial markets. she made her remarks in an interview this morning with tom of "bloomberg surveillance." >> in a speech you gave, you said we will not return to the crisis world. divinations, are they finally catching up with lagarde? i amwas concerned then and still concerned today. i talked this morning about the risk of the new mediocre that we to avoid. >> how is that is -- how is that different? what is your distinction of the new mediocre? exit has three components him a few well. one is that it still has the legacy of the crisis very high index -- crisis. -- in debt.ndex

then we are facing serious clouds on the horizon. a lot of uncertainty. if you combine the legacies, and the uncertainty, we have a rising of a new mediocre, where we are revising potential growth. >> the urgency i heard in your speech is almost on a calculus basis, a first and second derivative. and immediacy we saw and the stock market yesterday. i saw it mostly in the running --modity price debt crisis commodity prices. how concerned are you about what the markets are telling them about the new mediocre? leslie the markets with a concern and a lot of hesitation. there is clearly a discrepancy between the points of the

markets in many ways. points of the markets, asset values at the highest ever, volatility is very compressed and low. and the other end, we see a real economy where the recovery is not really strong and we the of fragile recovery. there is a discrepancy between the two. it is quite worrying. >> how the market reacted to his non-news. someone besides yellen. -- rest of them >> i totally agree with you that these ladies and gentleman you mentioned have done their best. it cannot be alone. pace and mixight

of fiscal measures in those countries that refused to stop public finance. we need serious structural reforms in place to unleash the potential economies have. our recommendation, in order to short-term demand issue, as well as the improvement in the medium-term investment in infrastructure, needed across the world. >> i like how you parse that about infrastructure. we have not seen that in the united. you were critical of the united states a year ago in new york. -- your your criticism criticism away from these meetings? the u.s. is doing better. do you give the united states a victory lap? let's it is clearly one of the bright spots. vast economies, the u.s. pops out in a much better condition and the u.k. does as well. clearly, on the investment and infrastructure front, more needs

to be done. >> the imf managing director, christine lagarde, speaking with tom keene this morning in washington. you are looking at a live pitcher from northwestern university, the order -- the in illinois. president obama discussing the economy, live on bloomberg television. >> we can't help but visit a campus like this but feel the promise of the future. that is lacking here. it will be young people like you thatniversities like this will shape the american economy and set the conditions for middle-class growth well into the 21st century. obviously, recent months have seen their fair share of turmoil around the globe. but one thing should be crystal clear. american leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world.

it is america, our troops, our diplomats, that lead the fight to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as isis. it is america, our doctors, scientists, know-how, that lead the fight to contain to combat the evil eye epidemic -- the a eboli epidemic. we attract so many people to our shores, the studies of businesses, and tackle some of the most challenging problems in the world. alarms go off somewhere in the world, whether it is -- a disaster that is natural or man-made, when there is an idea or invention that could make a difference, this is where things start.

this is who the world calls here in america. they do not call moscow or beijing. they call us. we welcome that responsibility of leadership because that is who we are. that is what we expect of ourselves. but, what supports our leadership role in the world is ultimately the strength of our economy here at home. today, i want to step back from the russian global events to take a clear eyed look at our economy. its successes, and its shortcomings. and determine what we still need to build for your generation, what you can help us build. as americans, we can and should be proud of the progress our country has made over the past years. here are the facts.

and imes, noise clutters think confuses the nature of reality out there. when i took office, businesses were laying off 800,000 americans among. our businesses are hiring 200,000 americans a month. [applause] the unemployment rate has come down from a high of 10% in 2009 26.1% today. [applause] .1% today. [applause] our businesses have created 10 million new jobs, the longest, uninterrupted stretch of rival sector job creation in our history. inc. about it. applaud,t have to because i will give you a lot of good statistics. [laughter]

right now, there are more job openings than at any time since 2001. states hashe united put more people back to work than europe, japan, and every other advanced economy combined. i want you to think about that. we have put more people back to thanhere in america europe, japan, and every other advanced economy combined. has in hard, but it has been steady and real. it is a direct result of the american people's drive and their determination and resilience, but also the result of decisions made by my ministration. it is indisputable, our economy is stronger today than when i

took office there at by every economic measure, we are better off now than we were when i took office. time, it is indisputable that millions of americans do not yet feel enough of the benefits of a growing economy where it matters most. that is in their own lives. these truths are not incompatible. our broader economy in the aggregate has come a long way. of recovery are not yet broadly shared. at least not broadly shared enough. we can see that homes american unities are selling for more money in the stock market has doubled and maybe the neighbors had new health care or a car fresh off an american assembly line and these are all good things. but the stress that families feel, that is real as well.

it is still harder than it should be to pay the bills and whenway some money, even you are working your tail off, it is harder than it should he to get ahead. this is not just a hangover from the great recession. i have always said that recovering from the crisis in 2008 was our first order of his nest. our economyaid would not be truly healthy until we reverse the longer and profound erosion of middle-class jobs and incomes. here is our challenge. we are creating more jobs at a eddie paste. we have got a recovering housing sector,a manufacturing two things that are critical to middle-class success. we have also begun to see modest wage growth in months. all of that has gone the economy rolling again, despite the fact the economies of many other countries around the world are softening.

but as americans, we measure our success by something more than our gdp or a jobs report. measure it by whether our jobs provide meaningful work, we give people a sense of purpose, and whether it allows folks to take care of their families. too many families still work too many hours with too little to show for it. job growth could be so much faster and wages could be going up faster if we made better decisions going forward with the help of congress. our task is to now harness the momentum that is real, that does west, and make sure accelerate that momentum, that the economy grows and jobs and wages grow. that is our challenge. family is notal bringing home any more than it that means it is

harder for middle-class americans to climb the ladder of success. it means it is harder for poor americans to grab hold of the latter into middle-class. ladder into the middle-class. that is not what we're about. if being american means anything, it means we believe even if we -- >> obviously a little bit of a technical hit there as the president was making his comments at northwestern university in illinois. i understand we have the feed back to the president at northwestern. >> and then come. kids can as well. that is about more than just fairness. it is more than just the ideal of what america's is about. when middle-class families cannot afford the services and goods our businesses sell, and makes it harder for our economy to grow. our economy cannot truly succeed

if we are stuck in a winner take all system where a shrinking few do very well where a growing many are struggling to get by. historically, our economic greatness rests on a principle, when the middle-class fries and people work hard to get into the middle-class, then america thrives. when it does not, america does not. be a central to talent -- challenge of our time. you have to make it work for everyone in america. every policy i pursue as president is aimed at answering that challenge. over the last decade, we learned the hard way it was not as -- it was not sustainable to have an economy where too much of the in home prices, bubbles burst, and a casino mentality on wall street, where the reckless as of a few could

threaten all of us, where income at the top skyrocketed. that was not a formula for sustainable growth. we need economy that is old on a rock that is durable competitive. of good, steady source middle-class jobs. when that is happening, everybody does well. that is land day one, when i with dick durbin and others who were working with us, i said we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation for or -- for growth and economy. we have been laying the cornerstones of this foundation . iry single day since mentioned earlier that there is not an economic measure by which we are not better off when we took office. let me break down what we have been doing structurally to make sure we have a strong foundation

for growth going forward. the first cornerstone is new investments in energy and technology that make america a magnet for good, middle-class jobs. right off the bat come as soon as i came into office, we upped our investment in american energy to strengthen our own energy security. oil andhe number one gas producer in the world is no longer russia or saudi arabia. it is america. ♪ [applause] for the first time in nearly two decades, we now produce more oil than we buy from other countries. we are advancing so fast in this area that two we -- two years ago, i started a goal to cut in half by 2020, and we will meet that goal this year. six years ahead of schedule. [applause]

so that is in the traditional fossil fuel area. at the same time, we help put tens of thousands of people manufacture turbulent -- turbines and install solar powers on businesses. the electricity we harnessed from the wind. we increased tenfold what we generate from the sun. we have brought enough clean energy online to power every home and business in illinois and wisconsin 24/7. that is the kind of progress we can be proud of and in part cap -- accounts for the product we have also made in reducing carbon emissions that cause climate change. i know here at northwestern, yorkie -- your researchers are working to convert sunlight into fuel, which sounds impossible, or at least really hard. [laughter] but the good news is, if you

need to get the hardware america ande, american universities are pretty good place to start. meanwhile, our 100 year supply of natural gas has been a big factor in drawing jobs for our source. many are in manufacturing, which produces the quintessential middle-class job here it during the last decade, it was widely excepted that american manufacturing wasn't your burst -- in irreversible decline. jewel,rs ago, its crown the american auto industry, could not survive on its own. like -- of folks like jan and and mike and others. we helped the automakers restructure and retool. they are building and selling used cars at the fastest rate in eight years. we invested in new plants, new technologies, new high-tech hubs like the digital manufacturing and the design institute

northwestern has partnered with in chicago. today, american manufacturing has added more than 700,000 new jobs. it is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the economy. more than half of all manufacturing executives have said they are actively looking at bringing jobs back from china. many of the middle-class in the last decade was defined by outsourcing good jobs overseas. if we keep upping this -- these investments, we can have in sourcing. new factories opening their doors here in america in the fastest pace in decades. alsoe process, we have worked to grow american exports and open new markets and knock down barriers to trade. businesses that exports tend to have better jobs. our businesses sell more goods and services made in america to the rest of the world than ever before. ever. that is progress we can be proud of.

now, we also know many of these manufacturing jobs have changed. punching in and pounding rivets anymore. you are coding computers and guiding robots and mastering 3-d print and these jobs require some higher education or technical training. that is why the second cornerstone of the new foundation we have been building is making sure our children are prepared and our workers are prepared to fill the jobs of our future. the 20thhrived in century because we made high school free. we sent a generation to college. the mostwe cultivated educated workforce in the world. it did not take long for other to look at our policies and caught onto the secret of our success. they set out to educate their kids as well so they can

outcompete our kids. we have to lead the world in education once again. [applause] that is why we launched race to the top in our schools. train thousands of math and science teachers. supported states that raise standards for learning. today teachers and 48 states and d.c. are teaching our kids the knowledge and skills they need to compete and win in the global economy. working with parents and educators we have turned around some of the country's lowest performing schools. on our way to connecting 99% of students to high-speed internet and making sure every child at every seat has the best technology for learning. theseface it, some of changes are hard. sometimes they cause

controversy. we have a long way to go. in america ison actually improving. last year our elementary and bital school students have the highest math and reading scores on record. the dropout rate for latinos of modern americans -- african-americans are down. [applause] the high school graduation rate is up. it is now 80% for the first time -- above 80% for the first time in history. we have invested in more than 700 community colleges, which are so often gateways to the midwest. we have that they have stopped in cyber security and i.t.. here in chicago rahm emanuel just announced the city will pay community college tuition for more striving high school graduates. studentselped more afford college with grants and tax credits and loans and more young people are graduating than ever before.

more veterans to college on the post g.i. bill. including several at northwestern, and if you are here today and thank them for their service. [applause] so we have made progress on manufacturing. and creating good jobs. we have made progress on education. of course, even if you have the right education, for decades one thing that made it harder for families to make ends meet and families to girl was the high cost of health care. so the third cornerstone had to be health care reform. thehe decade before affordable care act, a.k.a. obamacare -- [laughter] [applause] in the decade before the affordable care act,

double-digit premium increases were, and. ceo's call with -- call them one of the biggest challenges to competitiveness, and if the employer did not drop the charges, they might pass them onto you and take them out of your wages. today we have seen a dramatic slowdown in the rising cost of health care. when we passed the affordable care act the critics were saying what are you doing about cost? to me tell you what we have done about cost. if your family get your health care through your employer, premiums are rising at a rate tied for the lowest on record. what this means for the economy is staggering. if we have not taken this on an premiums had kept growing at the rate they did in the past decade, the average premium for family coverage today would be $1800 higher than they are. most people did not notice it.

but that is $1800 you do not have to pay out of your pocket or steve vanished from your paycheck. that is like in 1800 dollar tax cut. that is not for folks who signed up where obamacare. that is the consequences of some of the reforms we have made. because the insurance marketplaces we created encourage insurers to compete for your business and many cities they have announced next year's premiums -- something important is happening here. next year's premiums are falling in some of these markets. [applause] this is defying the law of physics. but we are getting it done, and it is progress we can be proud of. cost ofe slowing the health care. covering more people at the same time.

and just last year we've reduced the share of americans by 26%. that means one in four uninsured americans, four in 10 people have gained this in less than one year. , theoung entrepreneurs fact that you can compare and buy affordable plans in the marketplace, frees you up to strike out on your own, chased the new idea. we hope you will unleash new services and products across the country. so the job lock that used to exist because you needed health insurance, you are free done that now. you can go out and do something on your own and get affordable health care. meanwhile, partly because health care costs have been rising at the slowest rates in nearly 50 what healthrowth in care cost the government is down .lso

i want everyone to listen carefully here because when we were debating the affordable care act, there was a lot of complaining about how we could not afford this. the independent nonpartisan congressional budget office reported in 2020 medicare and medicaid will cost us $188 billion less than projected just four years ago. here is what that means. health care has long been the single biggest driver of america's future deficits than the single biggest driver of the debt. health care the single biggest factor driving down those deficit. this is a game changer for the fourth cornerstone of the new foundation, getting the fiscal house in order for the long run. so we can afford to make investments to grow the middle class. between a growing economy, prudent spending cuts, health care reform, and asking the

wealthiest americans to pay a little bit more on their taxes, over the past five years we have cut the deficit by more than half. when i took office, the deficit was nearly 10% of the economy. today it is approaching 3%. [applause] in other words, we could shore up america's long-term dynamics is without going back to the mindless austerity or manufactured crises or trying to lash excuses to/ -- s benefits to seniors. finally, we have put in place financial reform to protect consumers and prevent a crisis on wall street from hammering main street ever again. we have new tools to prevent too big to fail. to stop taxpayer-funded a louts.

we made it illegal for big banks to gamble with your money. the first-ever consumer watchdog to protect consumers from yours audibled lending or credit card practices. we secured billions of dollars in relief for consumers who get taken advantage of and working seenlisa madigan we have industry practices changing. an argument you will hear, often time from critics is the way to grow the economy is to get rid of regulations. folks up the oppressive hand of the government. out, truthw it turns be told, there are still some dopey regulations on the books. there are regulations that are outdated, no longer serving a useful purpose, and we have

scrubbed the laws out there. i have identified hundreds that are outdated and do not help the economy and do not make sense and are saving billions of dollars by gradually eliminating those unnecessary regulations. contrast that with rules that discourage casino style mentality on wall street, or rules that protect the basic safety of workers on or safeguard the air our children breathe and keep mercury or arsenic out of the water supply -- these do not does have economic benefits, these are rules that save lives and protect families. i will always stand up to those and they are good for the economy. line --is the bottom were all the work that remains,

for all the citizens we still need to reach, what i want people to know is there are some really good things happening in america. unemployment down. jobs up. .anufacturing growing deficits cut by more than half. high school graduations. college enrollment up. clean energy production up. financial system more stable. health care costs. rising at this lower rate. board the trend lines have moved in the right direction. that is because this new foundation is now in place. investments in energy and technology that create new jobs. new investments in education that will make a work force more

skilled and competitive. numerous forms for health care that cut costs for families and businesses. numerous forms to the federal budget that will promote stronger investments and stronger economy for future generations. numerals or the financial system -- new rules for the financial system to prevent the crises we entered from happening again. you added all up and it is no surprise that for the first time in more than a decade this must leaders from around the world, ,hese are business surveys business leaders from around the world have set the worlds most attractive place is not india or the united states of america. that is because the financial sector is healthier. because manufacturing is healthier. because health care inflation is at a 50 year low. because the energy dome is that

new highs. -- at new highs. because of all these things, our economy is not just time for study or sustained growth, america is better poised to lead and succeed in the 21st-century than any other nation on earth. .e have got the best cards i will not allow anyone to dismantle this foundation. because for the first time we can save real, tangible evidence of what the contours of the new economy will look like. and economy teaming with new energy and technology and bustling with highly skilled workers. a studentere graduating from college has a chance to advance to a bribe -- and an job market entrepreneur can start a new

business and succeed and an older worker can retool for the new job. and to fully realize this vision requires study, relentless investment in these areas. we cannotlet up and be complacent. we have to be hungry as the nation. we have to compete. when we do, if we take the necessary steps to build on the foundation through that some really hard work we have laid over the years, i promise over the next 10 years we will build an economy where wage growth is stronger than the past three decades. it is achievable. so let me talk more specifically about what we can do right now. first of all, we have to realize the trends that matter to the middle class for so long are not ones we are going to reverse overnight. the facts do not believe there -- the facts to not show there are a lot of people out there underemployed and underpaid.

working long hours and having trouble making ends meet. i hear from them every day. i meet with them and it is part working because they're struggling hard. -- heartbreaking because they are struggling hard. fore is no silver bullet faster wage growth. there are policies that would grow jobs and wages faster than what we're doing right now. bridges,uild roads and as we have $2 trillion of preferred maintenance on the infrastructure, we will not just for construction workers and engineers on the job, we will revitalize entire communities and connect people to jobs and make it easier to ship businesses to the rest of the world and can pay for it with tax reform that cut rates on businesses and closes loopholes, making it more attractive for companies to invest and create jobs here in the united states. let's do this. make our economy stronger.

make it easier for first-time homebuyers to get along, we will create not just more construction jobs, we will speed up your efforts to start a new company and send your kids to college and graduate school sunday. more families by that first home, make the economy stronger. if we keep investing in clean energy technology, we will not just put people to work on the .ssembly lines pounding into place for zero carbon components of the clean energy age, we will reduce carbon emissions and prevent carbon emissions down the road. --est in new american enemy american energy and make the economy stronger. if we make high quality preschool available to every

child, not only will we give our kids a safe place to learn and parents go tohile work we give them the start they need to succeed in school and earn higher wages. today i am setting a new goal. by the end of the new decade, let's enroll 6 million new -- children in high quality preschool. that is an achievable goal we know will make the work for stronger. [applause] -- will make the workforce stronger. schools,esign our high we will graduate more kids with the real world skills that lead directly to a good job in the new economy. if we invest more in job training and apprenticeships we will have more workers coming back to this country. if we make it easier for students to pay all college loans, we will help all whole lot of young people breathe easier and feel free to take the

jobs they really want. [applause] so let's do this. let's keep reforming the education system to make sure young people at every level have a shot at success just like folks at northwestern do. if we fix the broken immigration system, we will not just prevent some of the challenges like the one we saw at the border this summer, we will encourage the best and brightest from around the world to study here and stay here and create jobs. independent economist say a big bipartisan reform at the house is now blocked for over a year would grow the economy, shrink the deficits, secure our borders. let's pass that bill. let's make america stronger. [applause] if we want to make and sell the best products, we have to invest in the best ideas like you do here at northwestern. instituteechnology

does not just conduct groundbreaking research, it has more than 1800 products. that is jobs. led a decade ago america to international effort sequence the human genome. a study found every one dollar invested returned $40 to the economy. that sounds like a good return on investment. [laughter] today the world's largest genomic center is in china. does not mean america is slipping. that doesn't mean america is not investing. we cannot let other countries discover the products and businesses that will shape the next entry in this entry after that, so we have to invest more in the kinds of basic research that led to google and gps and makes the economy stronger.

wage, wese the minimum will not just put -- [applause] we will not just put more money in workers pocket, they will spend that money at local businesses. who in turn will hire more will. since i firstrs asked congress to raise the national and among wage, 13 states went ahead and raised theirs and more business owners are joining them on their own. statesballot in five this november, including illinois. [applause] recente is the thing, survey showed a majority of small business owners support a gradual increase of $10.10 per hour. a survey last week showed nearly two thirds of employers thought the minimum wage should go up in their state and more than half think it should be at least $10.

so what is stopping us? let's agree that no one who works full-time in america should everyone have to raise a family and -- a family in poverty. give them a raise. it will make the economy stronger. [applause] if we make sure a woman is paid equal to a man for her efforts, , that is not just giving , and a boost, gentleman you want your wife making that money that she has earned. it gives the entire family a boost, and it gives the entire economy of boost. men in collegece degrees and graduate degrees.

they also start their careers with lower pay and that grows over time and that affects their families. it is stupid. let's inspire and support more women. likeially in fields science and technology and engineering and math. let's catch up to 2014. pass the fair pay law. make the economy stronger. while we're at it, let's get rid of the barriers that keep more moms from entering the workforce. was done att kellogg. helping business and political leaders who recognize flexibility and paid maternity leave are good for business. let's offer those deals to dad's , two. sure work pays for

parents raising young kids. it is a good investment. california adopted a sleep that boosted work and earnings for moms with young kids. let's follow their lead. make our economy stronger. now, none of these policies i just mentioned on their own will entirely get us where we want to be. but if we do these things systematically the cumulative impact will be huge. unemployment will drop a little faster, which means workers will gain more leverage when it comes to wages and salaries, which means consumer confidence will go up. it means families will be able to spend a little more and save a little more. that means our economy will grow stronger and growth will be shared. people will feel the recovery, rather than just

reading about it in the newspapers. that is the truth. and i am going to keep making the argument for the policies because they are right for america, supported by the facts. i am always willing to work with anyone, democrat or republican to get things done. and every once in a while we actually see of bill land on my desk around congress. -- from congress. we do a bill signing and i look at the members and tell them, look at how much fun this is, let's do this again. [laughter] [applause] if gridlock prevails, it cooperation and compromise were no longer -- are no longer valued by vilified, then i will do everything i can on my own, if it will make a difference for

working americans. i will keep teaming up with governors and mayors in ceo's and philanthropist who want to help. here is an example, 28 million americans who will benefit from a minimum-wage increase. 28 million. over the past years, 7 million have gotten a raise. until congress chooses to step up and help all of them, i will keep fighting to get an extra million there with a raise. we will keep fighting for this. and let me say one other thing about the economy, because often times you hear this from critics. the notion is the agenda i have just outlined is somehow to pro-business

capitalist free market values. since we're at a business school, i thought it might be useful to point out that bloomberg, for example, came out with an article today saying sheet arerate balance the strongest just about that they have ever been. corporate debt is down. rockets are up. good.sses are doing that any of somehow these policies like the minimum or clean energy are somehow bad for business is simply belied by the facts. it is not true.

and if you talk to business ones whoeven the really do not like to admit it because they did not like it that much -- do not like me that the, they will admit balance sheets look really economy is doing better than our competitors around the world. that buy this notion somehow this is antibusiness agenda. this is a pro-business agenda. i am not on the ballot this fall. michelle is pretty happy about that. mistake, these policies are on the ballot. every single one of them. this is not some official campaign speech or political

speech, and i will not tell you who to vote for, although i suppose it is kind of implied. [laughter] [applause] but what i have done is laid out my ideas to create more jobs and grow more wages. i have also tried to correct the said, a lotse, as i of noise out there. every item i kicked off, those are the facts. kenyon,t conjecture, not partisan rhetoric. i laid out fax. i laid out what i know has happened. i have laid out an agenda for what i think should happen to make this grow even better or faster.

a true opposition party should have to courage to lay out their agenda. hopefully their agenda grounded in facts. there is a present fewer republicans are preaching new deficits, because the deficit has come down at almost a record pace. there is a reason fewer republicans running around about obamacare. while obamacare may seem like things are a threat to the freedom of the american people on fox news, turns out working well in the real world. [applause] now, when push came to shove this year and republicans in congress had to take a stand on policies that would help the middle class and americans like

for reenacting their pay or extending insurance for the unemployed, the answer was no. the one thing they did vote yes on was another massive tax cut for the wealthiest americans. one last month at least republican in congress said tax cuts for those at the top are even more pressing now than they were 30 years ago. more pressing. when nearly all the games of the recovery have gone to the top 1%. is at thee inequality highest rate we have seen in decades. i find that a little hard to does buthat it really we need the tax cut right now. don?ap

what are the facts or the empirical data that would justify that position? ilog business school, you are smart and do the analysis and run the numbers. has anyone here seen as credible argument that that is what the economy needs right now? seriously. [laughter] this is -- if you watch the on some of theng and folks areasts just pontificating about how important this is. based on what? what is the data or proof? if there were any credible argument, it says when those at the top do well, and eventually everybody else will do well, it would have worn dashboard itself out by now. we would've seen data that is