Nicolas Berggruen Institute – NBI
Encyclopedia
The Nicolas Berggruen Institute (NBI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank and consultance engaged in the comparative study, design of systems of governance suited to the new and complex challenges of the 21st century. It aims to integrate the new possibilities of the information age with the best practices of efficient, decisive and meritocratic administration in Asia with the democratic accountability of the West. The knowledge society both enables and requires intelligent community, intelligent democracy and intelligent governance.
– Chairman
Dawn Nakagawa - Executive Director
Nathan Gardels – Senior Advisor
Members of the group include:
The members he has chosen for the Think Long Committee for California run the ideological gamut. Reaganite George Schultz and Bush administration veteran Condoleezza Rice will weigh in, as will Democrats Willie Brown and Gray Davis. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad will also serve on the committee. Arnold Schwarzenegger
, then Governor of California, was invited to be a guest at the first meeting.
Members of the committee, in addition to Berggruen, include:
Matt Fong
, 30th California State Treasurer
, was a member until his death in 2011.
In November 2011, the Think Long Committee published a report, A Blueprint to Renew California: Report and Recommendations, with three appendices. The report begins:
NBI Team
Nicolas BerggruenNicolas Berggruen
Nicolas Berggruen is an investor. He is the son of art collector Heinz Berggruen. He is the founder and president of Berggruen Holdings, a private investment company and the Nicolas Berggruen Institute, a political think tank. His father created the Museum Berggruen in Berlin and his mother was...
– Chairman
Dawn Nakagawa - Executive Director
Nathan Gardels – Senior Advisor
NBI Projects
The Nicolas Berggruen Institute initiates and develops projects by creating leadership task forces to develop recommendations for governance reform within a specific context. Some of the projects include:21st Century Council
The 21st Century Council is a group of former heads of state, accomplished thinkers and global entrepreneurs brought together to explore reform of global governance systems. The current focus of the group is the G20 and they will be presenting their recommendations to President Sarkozy in the Fall of 2011 prior to the G20 Summit in Cannes.Members of the group include:
- Shaukat AzizShaukat AzizShaukat Aziz is a world acclaimed Pakistani economist who was the 15th Prime Minister of Pakistan from May 20, 2004 to 15 November 2007 in a joint military government led by General Pervez Musharraf. A Citibank executive, Aziz returned to Pakistan from the United States to be became Finance...
- Former Prime Minister of PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... - Zheng BijianZheng BijianZheng Bijian is a longtime advisor to the leadership of China. He was ranked 96 of 100 on the 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll, and 44 of 100 in the Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers in December 2010.Zheng was born in Fushun County, Sichuan...
- Doyen of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China - Fernando Henrique CardosoFernando Henrique CardosoFernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...
- Former President of BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... - Felipe GonzalezFelipe GonzálezFelipe González Márquez is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.-Early life:Felipe was...
- Former Premier of SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... - Festus MogaeFestus MogaeFestus Gontebanye Mogae is a Botswana politician who was President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was reelected in October 2004; after ten years in office, he stepped down in 2008 and was succeeded by Lieutenant General Ian Khama...
- Former President of BotswanaBotswanaBotswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966... - Gerhard SchröderGerhard SchröderGerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
- Former Chancellor of GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... - George Yong-Boon YeoGeorge YeoGeorge Yeo Yong-Boon is a former politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he served in the Cabinet from 1991 to 2011 as the Minister for Information and the Arts , Minister for Health , Minister for Trade and Industry and Minister for Foreign Affairs...
- Former Foreign Minister of SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... - Ernesto ZedilloErnesto ZedilloErnesto Zedillo Ponce de León is a Mexican economist and politician. He served as President of Mexico from December 1, 1994 to November 30, 2000, as the last of the uninterrupted seventy year line of Mexican presidents from the Institutional Revolutionary Party...
- Former President of MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... - Francis FukuyamaFrancis FukuyamaYoshihiro Francis Fukuyama is an American political scientist, political economist, and author. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford. Before that he served as a professor and director of the International Development program at the School of...
- Political Scientist, Philosopher - Alain MincAlain MincAlain Minc is a French businessman, political advisor, and author.-Biography:Alain Minc was born in Paris on April 15, 1949. He is a graduate of the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris and the École nationale d'administration....
- Author and Policy Adviser - Nouriel RoubiniNouriel RoubiniNouriel Roubini is an American economist. He claims to have predicted both the collapse of the United States housing market and the worldwide recession which started in 2008. He teaches at New York University's Stern School of Business and is the chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an economic...
- Economist - Amartya SenAmartya SenAmartya Sen, CH is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members...
- Nobel Laureate - Michael SpenceMichael SpenceAndrew Michael Spence is an American economist and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, along with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz, for their work on the dynamics of information flows and market development. He conducted this research while at Harvard University...
- Nobel Laureate - Joseph Stiglitz - Nobel Laureate
- Ahmed ZewailAhmed ZewailAhmed Hassan Zewail is an Egyptian-American scientist who won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry and Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology.- Birth and education :Ahmed Zewail was born on...
- Nobel Laureate - Jack Dorsey - Founder of TwitterTwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
- Arianna HuffingtonArianna HuffingtonArianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
- founder of The Huffington PostThe Huffington PostThe Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,... - Eric Schmidt - Chairman of GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
The Think Long Committee for California
The Think Long Committee for California aims to offer a comprehensive approach for repairing and renovating California's broken system of governance while proposing policies and institutions vital for the state's long term future. The Think Long Committee for California has involved a politically diverse board from the outset.The members he has chosen for the Think Long Committee for California run the ideological gamut. Reaganite George Schultz and Bush administration veteran Condoleezza Rice will weigh in, as will Democrats Willie Brown and Gray Davis. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad will also serve on the committee. Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
, then Governor of California, was invited to be a guest at the first meeting.
Members of the committee, in addition to Berggruen, include:
- Eli BroadEli BroadEli Broad is an American businessman from Detroit, Michigan who resides in Los Angeles, California.-Life and career:An only child, Broad was born in the Bronx to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. His father was a housepainter, his mother was a dressmaker. His family moved to Detroit when he...
- Co-founder of Kaufman and BroadKB HomeKB Home is a homebuilding company based in the United States, founded in 1957 as Kaufman & Broad in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first company to be traded on the NYSE as a home builder and is a Fortune 500 company...
, Philanthropist - Willie BrownWillie Brown (politician)Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
- 58th Speaker of the California State AssemblyCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
and 41st Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco - Gray DavisGray DavisJoseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...
- 37th Governor of CaliforniaGovernor of CaliforniaThe Governor of California is the chief executive of the California state government, whose responsibilities include making annual State of the State addresses to the California State Legislature, submitting the budget, and ensuring that state laws are enforced... - Maria Elena DurazoMaria Elena DurazoMaria Elena Durazo is the current executive secretary–treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. She was appointed the interim executive secretary–treasurer following the resignation of Martin Ludlow in February 2006, and was voted as the permanent replacement on...
- Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIOAFL-CIOThe American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers... - Ronald M. GeorgeRonald M. GeorgeRonald Marc George is the retired 27th Chief Justice of California, where he headed the Supreme Court of California and the Judicial Council of California...
- 27th Chief Justice of Supreme Court of CaliforniaSupreme Court of CaliforniaThe Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:... - Antonia Hernandez - President of the California Community FoundationCalifornia Community FoundationThe California Community Foundation is a leading philanthropic organization in the United States, managing approximately $1 billion in assets and granting nearly $100 million to nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles County and causes around the world....
- Robert HertzbergRobert HertzbergRobert Myles Hertzberg served as Speaker of the California State Assembly. He was twice elected unanimously Speaker of the State Assembly, and served two terms. In the State Assembly, he represented more than 400,000 constituents in the San Fernando Valley communities of Los Angeles...
- 64th Speaker of the California State AssemblyCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000... - Gerry ParskyGerry ParskyGerald Parsky is an American politician, who has served as chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of California, as well as several sub-cabinet positions under Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush....
- Former Assistant Secretary of TreasuryUnited States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
for International Affairs - Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
- 66th United States Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence... - Eric Schmidt - Chairman of GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
- Terry SemelTerry SemelTerry Semel is an American corporate executive who was the chairman and CEO of Yahoo! Incorporated. Previously, Semel spent 24 years at Warner Bros., where he served as chairman and co-chief executive officer...
- Former CEO of Warner Bros.Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,... - George P. ShultzGeorge P. ShultzGeorge Pratt Shultz is an American economist, statesman, and businessman. He served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989...
- 60th United States Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of StateThe United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence... - Laura Tyson - Former Chair of the Council of Economic AdvisersCouncil of Economic AdvisersThe Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President that advises the President of the United States on economic policy...
- David BondermanDavid BondermanDavid Bonderman is a founding partner of TPG Capital and its Asian affiliate, Newbridge Capital...
- Founding partner of TPG Capital
Matt Fong
Matt Fong
Matthew Kipling Fong was a Republican who served as the 30th California State Treasurer and was also the adopted son of Democrat March Fong Eu, the 25th California Secretary of State....
, 30th California State Treasurer
California State Treasurer
The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has more narrow responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller...
, was a member until his death in 2011.
In November 2011, the Think Long Committee published a report, A Blueprint to Renew California: Report and Recommendations, with three appendices. The report begins:
- Rebooting California's Democracy:
- Leaving Gridlock Behind with a Bipartisan Path to the Future
- After a year of deliberation and consultation with an array of experts, as well as state and local officials (see list in Appendix), the Think Long Committee for California proposes the following set of integrated structural reforms to “reboot” California’s dysfunctional democracy by installing a new civic software.
- While setting in place a long-term framework for good governance over the coming decades, our plan would:
- Create a positive business environment for job creation
- Reduce the personal income tax across the board while retaining California’s progressive tax structure
- Fund education by an additional $5 billion while fostering reform
- Provide $2.5 billion to the University of California and California State University systems to keep higher education within reach of California’s families
- Empower county governments and help reduce public safety costs by providing $1.5 billion in additional funding
- Provide $1 billion to California cities in block grants to meet their local needs
- Start paying down the state’s “wall of debt” and stabilizing the boom-and-bust budget cycle
- Give Californians real power to make government accountable
- Improve the process for making long-term economic policy