President Bill Clinton's winning catchphrase "It's the economy, stupid!" still resonates in consequential political debates today -- with both sides of the political aisle and the many factions of economic policy interest groups slugging it out over what a healthy economy needs.

This year's "Economy Summit" organized by The Atlantic features a very diverse cast of perspectives and will focus on debt and strategies for sustainable economic growth. Some will focus on economic debates -- and others will focus on paralyzed leadership.

I'll post the entire program below -- but I should note that Washington Note readers are invited to attend -- or to watch online. If you want to be there in person, be sure to RSVP at the link below The entire conference will stream live here, which means you can watch it from as far as Tazmania or Sanaa if you have a good broadband connection.

One of the interesting issues that my collaborator and former "affinity credit card" entrepreneur Richard Vague are highlighting are the problems of a massive 'private sector debt' problem that continues to lurk in the US economic equation. For those interested, Vague and I outlined some of the problems here and spoke about this in a short YouTube clip as well as on WHYY's Radio Times, a popularly NPR-affiliated program in Philadelphia.

The line-up for this year has a lot of headliners -- in fact, they are all headliners -- but those who will make a lot of the sizzle are former Federal Reserve Governor Paul Volcker, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, anti-tax pledge activist and President of the Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist, Fix the Debt founder Maya MacGuineas, Financial Times Chief US Commentator Edward Luce, and National Journal Chief Correspondent Michael Hirsh.

The list continues with American Prospect Founding Editor Robert Kuttner, Naked Capitalism publisher Yves Smith, former FDIC chief Sheila Bair, former Federal Reserve Board Deputy Chair Alice Rivlin, Senator and former West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, Senator and former North Dakota Governor John Hoeven, Bloomberg political columnist Margaret Carlson, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Financial Services Roundtable CEO and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, National Journal editorial director Ron Fournier, former George W. Bush National Economic Adviser Lawrence Lindsey and others.

Here follows the schedule:

The Atlantic's ECONOMY SUMMIT 2013
Debating America's Debt Challenges & Recovery Options
#AtlanticEcon

Wednesday, 13 March 2013
10:00 am - 5:30 pm
Capital Hilton, 16th & K Streets NW, Washington DC
RSVP here

For those outside of Washington or unable to attend, this event will stream live on line and can be watched over the internet HERE or just tune in to The Washington Note home page.

8:45 am
REGISTRATION & COFFEE

9:15 am
WELCOMING REMARKS

ELIZABETH BAKER KEFFER
President, AtlanticLIVE & QuartzLIVE

A Preview of the April 2013 "Money Issue" of The Atlantic

SCOTT HAVENS
President, The Atlantic

JAMES BENNET
Editor in Chief, The Atlantic

9:25 am
DEBATING AMERICA'S ADDICTION TO DEBT & DEBT DEBATES:
WHAT MATTERS AND WHAT MATTERS MORE?

CRAIG ALEXANDER
Chief Economist, TD Bank

MAYA MacGUINEAS
Founder, Fix the Debt
President, Coalition for a Responsible Federal Budget

PAUL McCULLEY
Former Managing Director, PIMCO
Chairman, Global Society of Fellows, Global Interdependence Center

YVES SMITH (aka Susan Webber)
Publisher, Naked Capitalism

ROBERT KUTTNER
Co-Founder and Editor, The American Prospect
Author, Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity versus Possibility

moderator
EDWARD LUCE
Economics & Political Columnist, Financial Times
Author, Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent

10:45 am
GOOD DEBT, BAD DEBT, AND REAL OPTIONS FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH
AMIDST THE POLITICS OF AUSTERITY

MONICA MEHTA
Author, The Entrepreneurial Instinct

STEVE KEEN
Professor of Economics & Finance, University of West Sydney
Publisher of Debunking Economics and Debtwatch

WILLIAM GREIDER
National Affairs Correspondent, The Nation

SHERLE R. SCHWENNINGER
Director, Economic Growth Program, New America Foundation

MICHAEL HUDSON
Research Professor of Economics, University of Missouri
Research Associate, Levy Institute, Bard College
President, Institute for the Study of Long Term Economic Trends

moderator
DEREK THOMPSON
Senior Editor, Business, The Atlantic

11:45 am
KEYNOTE PRESENTATION & INTERVIEW

THE HON. PAUL VOLCKER
Former Chairman, Federal Reserve Board

moderator
JAMES BENNET
Editor in Chief, The Atlantic

12:30 pm
KEYNOTE PRE-LUNCHEON INTERVIEW

THE HON. ALICE RIVLIN
Former Deputy Chairman, Federal Reserve Board

moderator
DEREK THOMPSON
Senior Editor, Business, The Atlantic

1:30 pm
THE GREAT RECESSION AND PROBLEMS UNRESOLVED

THE HON. SHEILA BAIR
Former Chair, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Senior Advisor, Pew Charitable Trusts

interviewer
MICHAEL HIRSH
Chief Correspondent, National Journal

2:15 pm
CAN WASHINGTON SEE THE BIG PICTURE?
THE MAKINGS OF A VIBRANT US ECONOMY MAY BE HERE

THE HON. ROBERT RUBIN
Former Secretary of the Treasury
Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations

DAVID WESSEL
Economics Editor & Columnist, Wall Street Journal
Author, Red Ink: Inside the High Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget

2:45 pm
A NO FILTERS VIEW OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY'S PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

THE HON. LAWRENCE LINDSEY
Former National Economic Advisor to President George W. Bush
Former Governor, Federal Reserve System
President & CEO, The Lindsey Group

interviewer
EDWARD LUCE
Chief US Correspondent, Financial Times
Author, Time to Start Thinking: America in the Age of Descent

3:15 pm
REALLY FIXING THE US ECONOMY: WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

THE HON. EDWARD G. RENDELL
Former Governor of Pennsylvania

interviewer
MARGARET CARLSON
Columnist, Bloomberg

3:45 pm
OUT OF THE CLOSET:
DEALING WITH AMERICA'S PRIVATE SECTOR DEBT CHALLENGE

RICHARD VAGUE
Former CEO, First USA Bank

STEVE CLEMONS
Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
Founder & Senior Fellow, American Strategy Program, New America Foundation

4:15 pm
DEBT DRAMAS HAPPEN EVERY DAY IN STATES: HOW GOVERNORS DEAL

THE HON. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV)
United States Senator
Former Governor, State of West Virginia

THE HON. JOHN HOEVEN (R-ND)
United States Senator
Former Governor, State of North Dakota

interviewer
STEVE CLEMONS
Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic

4:45 pm
POLICY & PROMISES: PONDERING LEADERSHIP AND A HEALTHIER ECONOMY

GROVER NORQUIST
President, Americans for Tax Reform
Author, Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government's Hands Off our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives

interviewer
STEVE CLEMONS
Washington Editor at Large, The Atlantic
Editor at Large, Quartz

5:15 pm
DEBT & GROWTH IN AN AGE OF POLITICAL BANKRUPTCY

THE HON. TIM PAWLENTY
President & CEO, Financial Services Roundtable
Former Governor of Minnesota

interviewer
RON FOURNIER
Editorial Director, National Journal

5:45 pm
FESTIVE RECEPTION with Specialty Drinks:

"Sequester at the Beach" & "Debt Old Fashioned"

With the impending publication of our Going to Tehran:  Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran, we have decided to move our blog to a new platform, www.GoingtoTehran.com.  Race for Iran will remain active as a repository for our previous posts and comments, going all the way back to October 2009, but henceforth our new posts will be published on Going to Tehran.  As you will see, it looks and operates very much like Race for Iran, so hopefully the transition will be non-stressful.  We thank all who have read, engaged, and supported us on Race for Iran, and look forward to seeing you and new readers who might join us on Going to Tehran.

–Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett