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A Conversation with Lloyd Blankfein and Steven Rattner
Moderated by Gillian Tett

Presented by Guild Hall & The Common Good
Series programmed by Ellen Chesler and Patricia Duff

With inflation, interest rates, geopolitical tensions, and rapid technological change all in play, the global economic outlook feels unusually uncertain. The Global Economy: Where Is It Headed? will feature experienced voices from finance and public policy to unpack what matters most right now and what may be coming next.

Lloyd Blankfein, former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and author of a bestselling memoir, led one of the world’s most influential financial institutions through periods of both crisis and growth. Steven Rattner, financier, former head of the Obama administration’s Auto Task Force, and frequent economic commentator, brings perspective from both Wall Street and government. Gillian Tett, U.S. editor-at-large at the Financial Times, known for making complex financial systems accessible and relevant, will moderate.

A book signing in the lobby will follow the program.

  • Lloyd Blankfein

    Lloyd Blankfein is senior chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. He joined the J. Aron Currency and Commodities Division of Goldman Sachs in 1982 after working as an attorney in a law firm. Lloyd was named partner in 1988 and co-head of the J. Aron Division in 1994. He became co-head of the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division as of its formation in 1997 and was based in London from 1997 to 1999 in that capacity.

    Lloyd served as vice chairman of Goldman Sachs from 2002 through 2003, with management responsibility for the FICC and Equities Divisions. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, he served as the firm’s president and chief operating officer from December 2003 through June 2006. He served as the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer from 2006 through September 2018, and remained as chairman through December 2018.

    Among his affiliations with nonprofit organizations, Lloyd is a member of several Harvard advisory boards, a member of the Executive Committee of the UJA Federation of New York, a Board Fellow of Weill Cornell Medical College and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

    Lloyd earned a JD from Harvard Law School in 1978 and anAB from Harvard College in 1975.

    Photo courtesy of Goldman Sachs.

  • Steven Rattner

    Steven Rattner is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Willett Advisors LLC, the investment arm for former New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s personal and philanthropic assets. In addition, he serves as the Economic Analyst on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and is a contributing writer to The New York Times Op Ed page. He previously served as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury and led the Obama Administration’s successful effort to restructure the automobile industry, which he chronicled in his book,Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry.

    Mr. Rattner wrote the book Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry about his time as Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury leading the Obama Administration’s successful restructure of the automobile industry. Before this, in 2000, Mr. Rattner formed Quadrangle Group LLC, a private investment firm that had more than $6 billion of assets under management. He was Managing Principal there until February 2009.

    Before the start of his investment banking career, Mr. Rattner worked as a journalist for The New York Times for nine years, mostly as an economic correspondent in New York, London and Washington. In 1982, he joined Lehman Brothers and was then a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley before leaving to become a General Partner at Lazard Frères in 1989. While at Lazard Frères & Co., he served as Deputy Chairman and Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

    Mr. Rattner has dedicated time to both public and philanthropic organizations as a board member or trustee. He was the Chairman of the Educational Broadcasting Corporation, a Fellow at Brown University and Chairman of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, among others. He is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

    As a graduate of Brown University with honors in economics (1974), Mr. Rattner was awarded the Harvey Baker Fellowship. He is married to former State Department official Maureen White. They have four children.

  • Gillian Tett

    Gillian Tett is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Financial Times. She writes a weekly column on Friday, covering a range of economic, financial, political and social issues. She also serves as Provost of King's College, Cambridge.

    Previously, she chaired the FT editorial board, ran Moral Money, the FT's sustainability newsletter which she co-founded, and wrote two columns a week. Gillian's earlier roles included US managing editor for the FT; assistant editor; capital markets editor; deputy editor of the Lex column; Tokyo bureau chief; reporter in Russia and Brussels.

    She has been named Columnist of the Year (2014), Journalist of the Year (2009) and Business Journalist of the Year (2008) in the British Press Awards, and received three awards from America's Society of Business and Economic Writers Awards. She is a best-selling and award-winning author of four books, and received the Royal Anthropological Institute Marsh Award and the American Anthropological Association President Medal for her work in social science. She has received honorary degrees from Carnegie Mellon, Miami and Baruch universities in America, and Exeter, Lancaster, Goldsmith's, London in the UK.

Sponsors

Principal Sponsor: Lisa Rosenblum 
Lead Sponsor: Straus Family Foundation 
Additional Support: Julie Raynor Gross 

Performing Arts programs are supported by 2026 season sponsors Galia Meiri-Stawski and Axel Stawski, with additional lead support from Henry and Peggy Schleiff, The Melville Straus Family Endowment, Monica and Peter Tessler, and Vital Projects Fund. 

Guild Hall’s Performing Arts programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

Additional support provided by Friends of the Theater: Natascia Ayers and Jim Ciquera, Bonnie and Joel Bergstein, Gene Bernstein and Kathy Walsh, Amy Cooney and Marty Feinman, John and Joan D’Addario, Suzanne and John Golden, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Steve and Susan Pesner and Peace, in memory of Michéle Pesner, whose entire life was devoted to all aspects of culture, The Schaffner Family Foundation, Lisa Schultz and Ezriel Kornel, Stacey and Oliver Stanton, and Susi and Peter Wunsch. 

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