The West Point Finance Club selected 40 of its top cadets to go to NYC this fall. The goal of this trip was to provide cadets with real-world economic policy, asset management, personal finance/investing, and public-private partnerships that can be formed to facilitate U.S. economic resilience and enhance the economic instrument of national power. Through visits to three private enterprises and by engaging with a select group of industry leaders, cadets are prepared to embark on their journey as Army leaders with strong foundations in analytical reasoning and make insightful decisions about the influence of economics on the modern multi-domain battlefield.
The club visited the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell. This visit allowed us to explain to cadets the concepts of equity exchanges, market makers, and brokers, and their critical roles in providing liquidity to international markets, smoothing volatility, and facilitating the flow of capital from borrowers and savers. Following the visit to the NYSE, the club spent 3 hours at Google and were hosted by 4 x USMA Graduates. This visit allowed us to enhance the network of the Long Gray Line, but also visit a private enterprise from the technology sector. Technology has emerged as a major driver of the U.S. economy and is playing an ever-increasing role in national security. This allowed cadets to see how capital flows were being deployed within the technology sector and the power of public-private partnerships in artificial intelligence and its relevance to the public sector. We spent the end of the day at JPMorganChase participating in a carefully planned speaker series aimed at giving cadets a wide exposure to finance and economic topics from senior-level leaders within the firm. There, we heard from executives leading in spaces such as Artificial Intelligence, Sales and Trading, and Global Economic Research. The highlight was meeting with the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan, Mr. Jamie Dimon. Mr. Dimon facilitated a candid discussion with cadets covering numerous topics across the spectrum of leadership and finance.
Out-of-classroom experiences like this are made possible by generous donors who support the Margin of Excellence.
The excerpt and image were taken from the DCA Newsletter.
