On Friday, November 7, a sold-out crowd of nearly 2,300 business professionals gathered at the Westin Harbour Castle to gain insights on the disaster-stricken global economy from Dr. Alan Greenspan, former chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Toronto Board of Trade was proud to present this exciting opportunity to hear directly from one of the most preeminent and debated economic thinkers of our time.
 

Before Dr. Greenspan took to the stage, Carol Wilding, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade, had an opportunity to remind attendees about the timeliness and importance of events like these for Toronto’s business community. “Everyone feels a real urgency to turn the page,” Ms. Wilding said. “Clearly, the time has come to shift the conversation from ‘what went wrong?’ to ‘where do we go from here?’ That’s the discussion our members at the Board of Trade want to hear today, and that’s why we chose to be a co-sponsor of today’s event.” 

Dr. Greenspan spent the better part of an hour on stage, responding to thought-provoking questions from Don Drummond, executive vice president and chief economist of TD Bank Financial Group. Dr. Greenspan provided extensive detail on events that led up to the U.S. financial crash that has sent worldwide markets reeling. He noted that the rate of decline is slowing, but that we cannot know where the economic “freefall” will end until the U.S. housing market stabilizes.

 “I’m not going to forecast where we’re going because frankly I don’t have a clue,” Dr. Greenspan acknowledged with humour. He went on to suggest, however, that “there is still fiscal strength in the U.S. economy,” and that this once-in-a-century crisis will correct itself in time. He also noted that Canada has one of the most stable economies in the world, but we will inevitably share the sting of the recession afflicting our largest trading partner to the south.