There is a new chase for global wealth, says Rubinstein.

I think Alan Greenspan’s view of it would probably be that we had a dramatic change in the economy when the Soviet Union and its satellites basically dissolved. And we put onto the workforce a whole new set of workers who helped make certain products more efficiently; who helped make our own lifestyle by giving us cheaper products in some ways; and who helped with our own productivity. Right now it’s clear that . . . that people are basically looking at the world through the economic prism of capitalism. And capitalism has a lot of pluses and a lot of problems. And sometimes . . . it sometimes can be very inefficient and unfair. But I think there is now a global chase for greater wealth, and this is putting a lot of pressure on companies and countries to compete much more effectively than it did . . . than they did before. Right now we are not in a situation where the U.S. economy can live by itself; where the European economy can live by itself; or the Asian economy can live by itself. The economies are all interrelated, and I think if you don’t recognize that, you’re not likely to be a major force in the 21st century economy.

Recorded on: 9/13/07