RETIRED MEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GREENWICH, Inc. (RMA)
Invites you to its meeting, September 16, 2026, at 11 am at Christ Church, Parish Hall, 254 East Putnam Ave., Greenwich. The program will also be shown on Zoom (click here for live feed), and on local cable channels 24 (Verizon) and 79 (Optimum)
James B. Lockhart III
“America’s Coming Fiscal Crisis: Can We Turn the Ship Around?”
How solvent is the US government? Jim Lockhart will discuss the financial challenges facing our nation as presented in his book, America: Underwater and Sinking, Time to Surface with Lessons Learned. Lockhart, a former nuclear submarine officer, will speak about managing government agencies that are deeply underwater and how to help them and the government “surface.” Lockhart last spoke before the RMA on this subject in 2023, and will bring us up to date on developments since then.
His account opens with a quote from Ben Bernanke, observing that the U.S. Government is “an insurance company with an Army.” There are over 150 government insurance entities accounting for two-thirds of the government’s expenditures. Few are based on sound insurance principles and are “underwater,” meaning their future costs are more than their future income. The unsustainable finances of the US government are underwater.
The next part of Bernanke’s quote was that the costs of healthcare and an aging society will be “a huge fiscal burden.” Drawing on his experiences running four major government insurance companies, Lockhart suggests ways to lessen the “huge fiscal burden,” to better manage the government, and to better serve the American people.
Lockhart has had a long, distinguished career in the government and private sectors. Beginning in 1989 he was Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, then Principal Deputy Commissioner/COO at Social Security, and Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. He was also a member of the TARP Oversight Board, which addressed the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
His private sector experience includes serving on four public companies’ boards including Virgin Money in the UK. He co-founded a risk management firm and served in senior positions at a reinsurance company, an insurance broker, an investment bank and a major oil company. From 2009 to 2018 he was Vice Chair of WL Ross & Co., leading their financial services investments.
He is former Chair of the Bruce Museum and a Senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center where he co-chaired a Commission on Retirement Security and is a member of its Housing Policy Advisory Committee. Jim graduated from Yale University (BA) and Harvard Business School (MBA)
Our next presentation, on September 23, is by Elise Hillman Green, President, Historic Properties of Greenwich, “Historic Properties of Greenwich: Protecting Houses, One by One.”
The Greenwich Retired Men’s Association offers a free program every Wednesday that is open to the public, both men and women; no reservations are required. Our social break starts at 10:40 am followed promptly by our presentation at 11:00. For additional information, including parking, see www.greenwichrma.org/upcoming-speakers.
