Future Hindsight

Brent Wilkes is the former CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and a lifelong advocate for Latino rights. We discuss what fair and comprehensive immigration could be, the positive impact of immigrant labor in the US economy, and how we can demand sound immigration policy at the ballot box.

Mark Hetfield is the President and CEO of HIAS, the oldest refugee assistance organization in operation. We discuss our humanitarian obligations to refugees, the tremendous benefits that they bring to American society, and bust the misconceptions about the current refugee situation in the US.

Taking refugees is an act of humanity:

Refugees have escaped persecution, their country, their homes, and their jobs in order to survive. The Refugee Convention of 1951 is an international law that requires countries to give them protection. We bring refugees to the US because it's a way to protect human rights and our collective humanity.

Refugees are a tremendous positive force:

They are among the most productive members of society because they have lost everything, and they know that they can't take anything for granted. In the US, refugees have contributed many billions of dollars more than they take in services. Some of our most successful companies, such as Google and Intel, were started by refugees.

We have enormous untapped capacity to resettle refugees:

The US can take in hundreds of thousands of refugees without noticing the impact or the stress. Many faith-based agencies are clamoring to welcome and help more refugees, but the exhaustive and extreme vetting process to enter the country and the cut in funding will result in the resettlement of less than 20,000 refugees in the US this year.

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Mark Hetfield is the CEO and President of HIAS, a refugee assistance organization, and a major implementing partner of the United Nations Refugee Agency and the U.S. Department of State.

Mark Hetfield is the President and CEO of HIAS, the oldest refugee assistance organization in operation. We discuss our humanitarian obligations to refugees, the tremendous benefits that they bring to American society, and bust the misconceptions about the current refugee situation in the US.

Paul Lagunes is a Columbia University political scientist whose scholarship focuses on corruption in the Americas. His current book project is Corruption and Oversight: Insights from Field Experiments. We define corruption, discuss how it relates to democracy, and learn that voting is a tool to fight against it.

Corruption is a contingent behavior In a world of multiple equilibriums, the rules of the game differ from place to place, thus it may be rational to engage in corruption in certain contexts. The same individual will behave one way in one setting and another way in another setting. Corruption involves costs for societies at large. The losers are every day, law-abiding citizens.

The Watchful Eye and the Cracking Whip Both transparency and punishment are essential. We need to make clear and visible that everyone who participates in corruption is punished because revealing corruption without punishment emboldens bad actors. They feel and seem empowered. Government agencies and oversight non-governmental organizations can effectively work together to satisfy both roles.

How citizens can fight corruption We need to be informed, care about curbing corruption, and make our voices heard on the issue. The best way to do so is to vote on Election Day and to use public forums, such as town hall meetings, to confront and engage public officials. Democracy's promise to solve corruption hinges on the premise that officials are the agents, and citizens are the principals.

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Paul Lagunes is a political science and an Assistant Professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. His work has been widely published, and he is currently working on a book titled Corruption and Oversight: Insights from Field Experiments.

Paul Lagunes is a Columbia University political scientist whose scholarship focuses on corruption in the Americas. His current book project is Corruption and Oversight: Insights from Field Experiments. We define corruption, discuss how it relates to democracy, and learn that voting is a tool to fight against it.

Raise consciousness:

Globalists have been willing to stand by while many people were left behind. Elites need to acknowledge their complicity in order to reverse the increasing division between us and them, as well as make clear to people in power that the current version of globalism is not acceptable.

More experiments are necessary:

The only effective way to tackle global issues is to start experimenting around possible solutions, each of us in the ways that we can. There are already many interesting projects ranging from continuing education for workers to flexible employment. Everyone who has the ability to do something on this issue, must do so.

Invest in humans:

The role of the government is to promote equal access to opportunity, so that all people are included in the system. Maximizing profit is not human, but it is capitalist. Injecting humanity into public policies on diverse issues like refugees or free community college will create a society where a gig economy can support families and provide a public good.

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Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, and the foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large at TIME Magazine. His latest book "Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism" is a New York Times bestseller that explores the rejection of globalism as an ideology and possible solutions for a more equitable world.

Ian Bremmer is a prolific thought leader and author, the president and founder of Eurasia Group, and foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large at TIME Magazine. His most recent bestseller is Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism. We discuss how globalism, the ideology, has been rejected, and what we can do to write a new, equitable social contract.

Shafi Goldwasser is an award-winning mathematician and computer scientist and the Director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley. Her most notable work is in cryptography and zero knowledge proof. We discuss the promise of cryptography to make our society more secure.

Data privacy and you:

Cryptography is the field that deals with the privacy and correctness of how our information is used. It makes our data more secure, with a range of tools such as encryption, authentication, and verification. Every time we are online, we need to be vigilant about what private information we share and with whom. We should use the tools of cryptography and be careful about giving permissions for apps to access our data.

Algorithmic Fairness and Data Bias:

We have an idea that algorithms are fair because they are machine computations. However, algorithms do no account for actual individuals, so the data is trained with existing societal norms, which can perpetuate unfairness. Data can also be poisoned once people figure out what algorithms are used by tweaking the information in order to get the desired outcome.

Demand accountability:

We must demand that our personal information is only used in ways that can keep our identity private. There are already collaborative platforms using various encryption methods that are effective for governments and companies to use. "If companies get into trouble because of fiascos having to do with private data you don't just blindly continue supporting them."

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Shafi Goldwasser is the Director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley, the world's leading venue for collaborative research in theoretical computer science. She is also the Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, and professor of computer science and applied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She is currently working on the project "Splinter: Practical Private Queries on Public Data".

Shafi Goldwasser is an award-winning mathematician and computer scientist and the Director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley. Her most notable work is in cryptography and zero knowledge proof. We discuss the promise of cryptography to make our society more secure.

Jennifer March is the Executive Director of the Citizen's Committee for Children of New York. This non-profit and nonpartisan child advocacy organization combines public policy research and data analysis with citizen action. We discuss family homelessness, juvenile justice, and the power of effective advocacy.

Growing up poor likely leads to long term damaging outcomes:

Every child should be guaranteed a prosperous environment with proper access to health care, housing, education, and safe living conditions. Children in poverty often face multiple risk factors such as poor quality housing and low-quality schools.

Effective child advocacy requires a coalition:

A virtuous circle of a large group of people with a common interest is the most effective in pushing for change. Everyone ranging from service providers and beneficiaries, advocates lobbying the government, volunteers writing letters and making phone calls, social media, as well as participants in visible rallies come together to be heard.

A holistic approach:

We need to focus on pragmatic solutions that we know will serve a holistic approach to help provide stability and promote wellbeing, such as a housing subsidy or affordable childcare. Universal systems of early education and healthcare are fundamental building blocks for children to evolve and develop into thriving adults.

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Jennifer March is the Executive Director of the Citizen's Committee for Children of New York (CCC), a non-profit advocacy organization that works to ensure that every child is healthy, housed, educated, and safe.