NOBEL PRIZE WINNER PAUL KRUGMAN, PRESIDENTIAL AUTHORITY RICHARD NORTON SMITH, NATIONAL REVIEW EDITOR RICH LOWRY, AND PRINCETON PROFESSOR SEAN WILENTZ SPEAK AT COLLEGE EVENT

Westchester Community College presented the institution’s annual President’s Forum event, "Ruffles, Flourishes and Challenges: Issues Facing the New President and Congress" on Sunday, November 23, 2008. The panel discussion in the Academic Arts Theatre, moderated by Lester M. Crystal, president, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, was a broad ranging discussion of president-elect Obama and his administration.

The panelists were Paul Krugman, 2008 Nobel Prize winner for Economics, New York Times columnist, and professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University; Richard Norton Smith, authority on the American presidency, historian who appears regularly on the NewsHour; Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review, syndicated columnist, Fox News Channel commentator; and Sean Wilentz, history professor at Princeton University, contributing editor at The New Republic.

Moderator Lester M. Crystal was instrumental in preparing the NewsHour program for its launch as the nation’s first hour-long nightly newscast. Prior to NewsHour, Crystal was president of NBC News, executive producer of NBC Nightly News, and producer of The Huntley-Brinkley Report. Scarsdale resident Crystal is on Westchester Community College Foundation’s board of directors.

Among the intriguing comments made at the event:

"Obama’s election showed the country was healthier than we would have thought (on the issue of race)." Sean Wilentz.

"Obama faces more direct challenges of an enormous scope than any president since 1932." Sean Wilentz.

"Candidate Obama did an excellent job having the media eat out of his hand…there was glee at the rise of Obama. The ardent press honeymoon is continuing at this point." Rich Lowry.

"If the fairness doctrine (regulating the press) is voted back in, that will affect how the press covers the Obama administration. But even if that happens, you can’t regulate Internet bloggers." Sean Wilentz.

This is the largest economic crisis since the Great Depression, it’s a terrifyingly large crisis," said Paul Krugman. "I worry that Obama’s economic recovery plan ($250 billion) is too small. It remains to be seen that it is big enough," he continued.

"We may see Obama and Congress start legislating but hold off on actually putting some of these policies, such as Universal Healthcare, into effect until the economy is in better condition." Paul Krugman.

"You may see some discussion of the elimination of existing programs, which will help give Obama and the new Congress credibility." Richard Norton Smith.

"Once the current wars are over and done with, they may cost us a total of $2 trillion. That is a significant amount of money but not that large in terms of the percentage of our gross domestic product. The wars are not at the heart of our economic problems." Paul Krugman.

The President’s Forum, formerly known as the Literary Symposium, is a fundraising event and has been presented by the Westchester Community College Foundation for the past 24 years.