InvestMidwest Speakers

Murray Weidenbaum

Murray Weidenbaum has been an economist in three worlds — business, government and academia. He holds the Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professorship at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as Honorary Chairman of the University's Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy.

In 1981 and 1982, Dr. Weidenbaum was President Reagan’s first chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. In that capacity, he helped to formulate the economic policy of the Reagan administration and was a key spokesman for the administration on economic and financial issues. In 1983-89, he was a member of the President's Economic Policy Advisory Board.

Dr. Weidenbaum was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy in the Nixon administration. He earlier served as the Corporate Economist at the Boeing Company. He is a member of the boards of directors of Harbour Group, Macroeconomic Advisers, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the International Center for Corporate Accountability. He has served in the past on the boards of Beatrice Food, Contel, May Department Stores, Medicine Shoppe, and Tesoro Petroleum.

He is a member of advisory boards of the Center for Strategic Tax Reform, the American Council for Capital Formation, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

He received a B.B.A. from City College of New York, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University, where he was a Banbury Fellow. He has been a faculty member at Washington University since 1964 and was the chairman of the Economics Department from 1966 to 1969.

Dr. Weidenbaum is known for his research on economic policy, taxes, government spending, regulation, and international trade. He is the author of nine books: his latest is The Competition of Ideas: The World of the Washington Think Tanks (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2008). An earlier book, The Bamboo Network, was a finalist in the 1996 competition for global business book of the year. His Small Wars, Big Defense was judged by the Association of American Publishers to be the outstanding economics book of 1992. He has written several hundred articles in publications ranging from The American Economic Review to The Wall Street Journal. He is a Fellow of the National Association of Business Economics, Honorary Fellow of the Association for Technical Communication, a past president of the Midwest Economics Association, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In the summer of 2005, his short memoir, Advising Reagan: Making Economic Policy, 1981-82, was published.

Dr. Weidenbaum’s international activities have included serving as Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and lecturing at universities and research institutes throughout Western Europe and Asia. He was made an officer of the National Order of Merit of France in recognition of his contributions to foreign policy. In 1989, he was a member of a Presidential Mission to Poland. In 1999-2000, he chaired the Congressional Commission to Review the Trade Deficit.

Murray and his wife Phyllis live in Clayton, Missouri. They have three children and six grandchildren.

David W. Checketts
Chairman, SCP Worldwide

David W. Checketts founded SCP Worldwide (SCP) in September 2001. One of the most heralded sports, media and entertainment executives he currently serves as Chairman of this fast growing company which includes ownership of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League.

The 53-year-old Mr. Checketts created his sports media company after a successful ten-year career at Madison Square Garden (MSG). As President and Chief Executive Officer for seven years, Mr. Checketts oversaw all operations of one of the most powerful sports and entertainment companies globally, including the “World’s Most Famous Arena” and its three sports franchises, the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA, the New York Rangers of the NHL, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA – along with the award winning MSG Network and FOX Sports Network.

Mr. Checketts began his career at Madison Square Garden as President of the New York Knicks in March 1991. In the four seasons he served as President, the team finished twice in first place, made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and captured the Eastern Conference Champion Title in 1994. During this time, the team set records in attendance, ratings and revenues including setting the all-time sellout streak of 460 games at The Garden. Forbes named the Knicks the most valuable franchise in the NBA.

Prior to joining the Knicks, Mr. Checketts spent one year as General Manager of NBA International, working with NBA Commissioner David Stern on building a presence for the league in broadcasting and licensing around the world.

In 1983, Mr. Checketts was named President and General Manager of the Utah Jazz. At 28 years old, he became the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA. During his six year tenure, the team captured two Midwest Division titles and enjoyed a multi-million dollar economic turnaround.

Mr. Checketts did his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and earned his MBA from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1981, where he graduated with top honors. Upon completion of his studies, he joined the Boston based consulting firm, Bain & Company.

Mr. Checketts serves on the Board of Directors of JetBlue Airways, International Management Group (IMG) and Republic Mortgage. He plays an active role with each company, serving as the Chairman, Compensation Committee for JetBlue.