“The Overarching Objective Should Be A US-EU Super-Bloc” Featuring Peter Orszag, Lazard

We are thrilled to share this Special Edition COBT episode featuring Peter Orszag, CEO of Lazard. Peter assumed the role as Lazard CEO in the fall of 2023, after serving as CEO of Lazard’s Financial Advisory business. Prior to his tenure at Lazard, Peter’s wide-ranging career includes serving as Director of the Office of Management and Budget and as Director of the Congressional Budget Office during the Obama Administration. Peter also served as Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy in the Clinton Administration and Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Mike Bradley, Jeff Tillery and I were pleased to host Peter and hear his unique insights from his experience spanning both public service and private enterprise.

Peter recently co-authored an OpEd for Foreign Affairs entitled “Geopolitics in the C-Suite” (linked here) that explores how corporations are increasingly struggling with geopolitical complexity, an area which impacts capital allocation and long-range investment decisions. In our conversation, we cover main themes from the article, global macroeconomic trends, managing a global corporation like Lazard amidst geopolitical challenges, the potential for a “US-EU Super Bloc” and missed opportunities for collaboration in trade and energy strategies, structural challenges facing Chinese economic growth, and the impacts of political polarization on foreign policy. We discuss shifting dynamics in the Middle East, implications of the Chevron deference case (additional information here), factors influencing M&A and restructuring activity, the integration of AI in various industries, Lazard’s Power, Energy & Infrastructure team/effort, CFIUS, and overall antitrust activity. Peter shares his perspective on managing information overload, the challenge of addressing long-term US national debt, differences he’s noticed between public and private sector planning timelines, and much more. We end by discussing Lazard’s vision for 2030 and their “Banker-Scholar” culture. It was a fascinating discussion.

For additional reading, Lazard’s 2023 Annual Letter to Shareholders is linked here and Lazard’s report on Top Geopolitical Trends in 2024 is linked here. For further watching, we have previously hosted two Lazard guests on COBT: George Bilicic, Vice Chairman and Global Head of Power Energy & Infrastructure (May 3, 2023 linked here) and Admiral William McRaven, Senior Advisor (July 28, 2020 linked here).

We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did! Thank you again to Peter for joining. Our best to you all.