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Remarks to TOWN HALL LOS ANGELES December 8, 2009 by Willis CEO Joe Plumeri
Joe Plumeri, Chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings Limited, the global insurance broker, is a forward thinking corporate leader who recognized and addressed the risks facing business at the start of a new decade.
Mr. Plumeri delivered his remarks at Town Hall Los Angeles, one of the nation's premier forums. Here is is full speech. To learn more about his firm visit www.willis.com. Here is his speech:
Thank you for inviting me here today. I’m honored to be addressing one of our nation’smost vibrant forums in one of our nation’smost vibrant cities. It’s often said that where California goes, America follows. It’s the bellwether state that sets the tone for the nation and the world.
In the 20th century, California had a profound impact on culture and communication. You gave us everything fromthemovies and the microchip to the internet and the Frisbee. And in how we live our lives and conduct ourselves as citizens,many of your state's laws and regulations set the standard for the rest of the country. In the last century California led on social and labor issues.
Now it’s setting trends in environmental standards to address the increasing challenges of climate change. As the nation’smost populous state – and home to the largest port in theWesternHemisphere – California is also a bellwether of our country's economy. And as everyone is this roomknows, the picture is still pretty bleak. California was hit harder and sooner than many states when the housing bubble burst. The governor and legislature are struggling to plug a gaping deficit through difficult and unpopular budget cuts. Californians are hurting – unemployment is above the national average at nearly 12.5%, the highest since World War II. And, the rest of the country has followed. In 2008, household wealth in the U.S. plunged by $11.2 trillion dollars, the most in any year since record keeping began in 1952.
Earlier this year, the Asian Development Bank estimated that $50 trillion of the world's wealth was destroyed in the financial crisis. Many people question if we will ever return to past levels of prosperity. As we close out a decade that\ began with such prosperity and promise,many of us believe that things will never be the same. Things will never be the same.How many times have we all said that to each other since 2000? After 9/11? After Hurricane Katrina? After Lehman Brothers collapsed?
