# Addressing Social Problems in a Polarized Time: As Government Steps Back, Where Can Business Step In?

![](/sites/default/files/styles/article_image/public/CSB%20Logo%20NewsEvents_3.png?itok=cZGsXvt9)  Thursday, May 2, 2019 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM  44 West 4th St, Kaufman Management Center, Gardner Commons, Room 1-100 America is experiencing a period of political polarization that is both a cause and a consequence of the declining trust in government, especially at the federal level. Divided government is likely to be common for many years to come. How can America adapt to this fact while still addressing the many social problems and forgotten citizens in a rapidly changing, globalizing, and automating economy?

Join a conversation hosted by NYU Stern’s Business and Society Program, where we’ll address these questions. We’ll look specifically at the role businesses can play in addressing environmental threats, economic inequality, and rising polarization and distrust.

Panelists
**Jonathan Haidt**
Stern Professor for Business and Society and author of *The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure*

**Isabel Sawhill**, BA '62, PhD ’68
Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution and author of *The Forgotten Americans: An Economic Agenda for a Divided Nation*

**Tensie Whelan**
Stern Clinical Professor for Business and Society and Director of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business

Moderator
**Peter Georgescu**
Chairman Emeritus of Young & Rubicam and author of *Capitalists, Arise!*