Interested in helping spread the word in your community about the good, the bad and the ugly of economic development policy? Have a boondoggle project proposed for your region that could use some expert context? Looking for a topic for your student group that could bring together people from across the political spectrum? Local sports team owner looking for stadium subsidies? Wondering how your town stacks up against the rest of the country when it comes to corporate handouts? The Center for Economic Accountability is happy to come to town and be a part of the discussion!
The CEA’s president, John C.. Mozena, is an experienced public speaker who specializes in taking complicated economic policy topics and turning them into plain English for audiences. “I talk to economists so you don’t have to,” he jokes, drawing on more than two decades’ worth of experience as a communications professional who worked with some of the world’s largest companies before turning to public policy advocacy.
Mozena’s writing on economic development topics appears regularly in media across the country. As the leader of the CEA, he has either been quoted by or had his writing appear in a diverse range of national media such as The Hill, The Guardian, the Washington Post, Newsweek, RealClear Policy, City Journal, Baseball Prospectus and The American Conservative, as well as daily newspapers or other local media in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Washington DC.
Planning a Great Event
Our goal is to educate and engage people across America in a way that changes the way they think and feel about economic opportunity in their community. If that sounds interesting to you, reach out and let’s start the discussion.
The CEA is happy to work with event organizers to tailor remarks to the appropriate audience and environment, and participate in pre-event coordination with moderators and/or other panelists.
We have provided a keynote speaker or panelist for a variety of events, including:
- Student groups
- Gatherings of elected officials
- Grassroots organizations
- Professional/fraternal clubs (Rotary, etc.)
- Community meetings
- Policy professionals
- Webinars
About the CEA:
The CEA is an independent and nonpartisan group that works to advance economic opportunity by promoting transparency, accountability and market-based reforms of state and local economic development programs across America.
We have a point of view: We approach economic topics from a free-market, limited-government “classical liberal” perspective. However, we work regularly with organizations, elected officials and other stakeholders from across the sociopolitical spectrum and make every effort to find common ground in good faith with all potential allies in making state and local economies more free, fair and open to all.
Restrictions:
Please note that the CEA is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization and as such, we are unable to participate in political campaign-related events or take part in any other such activities that are prohibited to charitable organizations under the Internal Revenue Code. If you have any questions about whether your event would be allowable, please contact us.
Public Testimony
CEA President John Mozena is available to testify to state or local legislative committees, either in-person or virtually, on topics within the scope of the CEA’s mission.
The CEA is able to undertake limited lobbying activities such as meeting with legislators or staff in relation to proposed legislation, within the restrictions placed on 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organizations by the Internal Revenue Service and any relevant state regulators.
For an example of how the CEA is able to take a research-based stance on economic development subsidy legislation, see Mozena’s testimony to the Michigan State Senate in 2021: