Writing

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here.

I am here to discuss something more personal. I am here to talk about my grandparents. I'll start on my father's side.

On my father's side, I had my grandmother and my grandfather – who I called Nannie and Grampy. Nannie grew up in Winthrop, and Grampy in Augusta. After moving to Boston and Philadelphia to study dentistry, my grandfather joined the U.S. Army's 7th Corps. He was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany.

I vividly remember Nannie and Grampie talking about the shock of post-war Germany. They talked about going through Checkpoint Charlie, moving from West to East, seeing the streets immediately around the Checkpoint built up by the Soviet occupation – modern shops, offices, and storefronts. But as they went further and looked beyond this facade, the development dropped off sharply: ruins, rubble, and poverty were left by the Soviet desecration.

The streets they saw immediately near the Checkpoint were built up as visual propaganda by an authoritarian regime – while the rest of the country lived in poverty. While the Soviets poured resources into the Stasi, the East German secret police, that tortured and spied on its own citizens, little could be spared for development. And a single East German party – the Socialist Unity Party – held control over the entire political system, approving all candidates who could run.

The governing party was terrified of one thing: losing its grip on power. That's why they tightly controlled elections. That's why they tortured their people. And that's why they built up propaganda streets for foreigners like my grandparents to see.

The reason I bring this up today is that we as Americans have a long history of the peaceful transition of power. In America, our democratically-elected governments aren't afraid of losing power. We embrace it as part of the republic our founding fathers set up.

But on January 6th, 2021, we came close to losing this.

And so, last month, no one took the peaceful transition of power for granted: I was working in DC this fall. Businesses were choosing to board up their stores. Fences and walls were being put up. People were talking about leaving town because of violence. I thought back to what my grandparents must have seen each day, looking in to East Germany.

I am incredibly thankful that we've had a peaceful transition of power. Let me say that again, I am incredibly thankful that we've had a peaceful transition of power.

But up until election day, it looked uncertain. That is no way to run our country. It's not in our economic interest – businesses shouldn't have to close and lose sales because of politics. And it's not in our individual interest – no person should feel they have to flee their homes for safety because of politics.

We need an ironclad commitment, from every American, to a peaceful transition of power — regardless of who wins. And we need our leaders to understand that losing an election is never a justification for violence – it's just a part of our system.

My dad's parents eventually left Germany – but their faith in American democracy and the power of our system stayed with them for life.

While many people flee their home countries due to violence, repression, and a lack of opportunity – including East Germany, that's why the Berlin Wall was built, after all – in contrast, millions would do anything to come to our country. That brings me to my mother's side of the family.

My grandmother and grandfather lived in Bihar, India. While historically a center of culture and power, in the mid-20th century, its economy remained stagnant and impoverished.

My grandfather – like every parent – wanted better for his family. He went in search of economic opportunity. He found it halfway across the world in New Jersey. He didn't know a single person in the new country, but the power of our nation – the American Dream and economic opportunity for all – led him to bring his young family over. They were blown away by what they saw – fully stocked, abundant shelves. Incredibly caring and close-knit communities. Strong public education – and ketchup, which was entirely new to them and my mother still loves.

My grandmother and grandfather went on to have 3 kids and 9 grandkids: doctors and entrepreneurs, journalists and people who work in financial institutions, animal caretakers and more.

From my family's experience and the millions of people that come to the U.S. each year, it's clear that immigrants help grow our economy, and even create economic opportunity for all – both native born and immigrant – through their contributions.

We need to reform our system to promote legal immigration and reduce unauthorized immigration – which both enables companies to undercut domestic employees while not guaranteeing safety and security for immigrants themselves.

And, we need policymakers to focus on reviving economic opportunity. The percent of children going on to outearn their parents has dropped from 90% for my grandparents generation to just around 50% for those born in the 1980s.

Without economic opportunity, people lose hope. We no longer stay as the country that people who want to work hard will come to to start their businesses or invent new technologies. We lose the American dream, and we lose our American identity.

So how do we counter it?

From the research, investing in young children and education. Promoting more affordable housing and mixed-income communities, which we can do by increasing supply and making targeted investments.

These aren't partisan ideas. The answer isn't just more taxes and more spending or less taxes and less spending. It's a mix, and every American will benefit from more opportunity and from more hope in the future. That was the America my family came to and the America we made economic contributions to. And it's the America whose values inspire our people and the entire world to look up to us.

I'm reminded of these values that make us American through my grandparents each and every day – I'm even wearing my grandfather's tie today. But from their generation, to mine, and from mine to all of yours, we need to bring people together around our core American values.

I am a Democrat. But I won't root for Republicans failing – I want them to succeed. There are tough issues we need to tackle: a rising budget deficit. The continued fallout of the opioid crisis. Increasingly hostile foreign powers. I hope that, in this chamber and in the halls of Congress, that Republicans and Democrats can come together to make progress on these issues. There are many authoritarian nations in this world that want us to fail. Iran, North Korea, Russia — and on many issues, China too. Their strength is rising. But we can't let their countries win — and we can let our country fail.

My grandmothers passed this year. With their passing, I have no remaining grandparents. But I hope this country will not forget their lessons: persistent faith in American democracy and an unflagging commitment to economic opportunity.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Jay Philbrick and I study applied math-economics and computer science.

For those of you who do know me, it might be from my stint as the weird “email guy” for the Brown Debating Union, from being omnipresent at Econ DUG events, or from being Maine's number one fan.

Now that introductions are done, I want to share a short message.

I am a lucky man.

I'm lucky to have such a loving family. My hard-working and supportive parents – my mom, Sadhana, and my dad, Leigh. My inspiring, adoring, and patient siblings, Ian and Maya.

I'm lucky to have the best of friends — Logan, Shivani, Faheem, Fernanda, and many others.

And I am lucky to have come to Brown, to have learned from and worked with such incredible professors — Teddy Mekonnen, Kellie Forrester, Sylvia Kuo, Dany Bahar, Brad Gibbs, Matthew Kraft, Emily Oster, Peter Hull, and Louis Putterman among many, many others — and to be surrounded by this bright, hardworking, and inspirational group of students.

At this point in our lives, we are all lucky for at least that last one.

The sum of all this luck, of course along with hard work and dedication, allows us to accomplish our goals. It makes our career dreams come true. It will allow us to have the kinds of lives for ourselves and our loved ones that would have been unimaginable for almost the entirety of human history.

But that luck is – some might call it – as good as random…

As I was saying, that luck is random. Not everyone is as lucky as we are… just 0.21 percent of the U.S. population has an Ivy League degree, 38M people in this country alone live in poverty, and – thanks to research from Professors Raj Chetty and our own John Friedman – we know that the American Dream, measured by the share of children who go on to out-earn their parents, has dropped from around 90% for children born in the 1940s to around 50% for children born in the 1980s.

It sounds dire, and it is. For so many of us, the fundamental promises of this country are no longer a guarantee.

But I believe there's a solution: economics.

Economics can be a tool for good. We can see that from the trend in economics Nobelists and other prominent figures over the past several years alone. No matter the career you pursue or the subject in economics you study, there's a path to do good.

If you choose to pursue econometrics, economic research, or policy: the Nobel Prize-winning work of Professors Guido Imbens, Josh Angrist, and David Card, has shed immense light on policies we can truly say causally support greater economic mobility and prosperity. And we owe a tremendous debt to Professor Claudia Goldin, the most recent Nobelist in economics, who I'm thrilled is here in attendance – she has dedicated her life to economic research, uncovering a number of policies and dynamics that can promote gender parity in the workplace and beyond.

For those who choose to pursue financial markets: economics Nobelists Dr. Ben Bernanke, as well as Professors Doug Diamond (a Brown alum!) and Phil Dybvig, and even private equity executive Peter Stavros have shown that financial markets can build more stable, prosperous financial institutions that help everyday Americans get access to credit, borrow in times of crisis, share in the wealth of the companies they work at, and retire comfortably.

Technology often focuses on market design and game theory. Professor Alvin Roth famously used his insights into the field to develop a better system for matching potential donors with patients in need of a kidney, saving thousands and thousands of lives.

Consulting… okay, maybe there's no path to good in consulting. Sorry… don't tell BCG I said that… I'm kidding – many of the most impactful and effective managers, from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to the trailblazing former Pepsi CEO Indira Nooyi, got their training at consulting firms.

My point is: economics is a tool. And it's a tool we can use to create more luck for those who don't have as much of it as we do. People shouldn't have to get as lucky as we all did to have opportunity in this world. So, go out in the world and get your career started – but remember this obligation.

Use econometrics to evaluate policy. Find those effective policies, advocate for them, call your Senators and Representatives, vote for candidates who support them, and make sure they are enacted to genuinely improve the lives of folks across the country and across the world.

Use financial markets to help folks retire comfortably, to help institutions and endowments further their missions, and to help grow and scale innovative businesses.

Use technology to help build more optimal systems, and yes, should you choose to go into consulting, use it to help businesses and governments better serve their people, to become an effective, impactful manager, or to fund good causes around the world.

We're at Brown because we care about the world. We study economics because we care about having tools to study the real world. Go out, develop those insights, leverage your expertise, and use economics for good.

So, thank you to the Department, to the staff and faculty, and to all my talented peers for making us the lucky ones – now, we have the obligation to improve the world for all those who didn't get quite as lucky as us.

Thank you, and congratulations to the Class of 2024.