Founder of Bloomberg LP, Bloomberg LP
Michael Bloomberg's Plan for Jobs
In an exclusive interview, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tells Katie Couric that New York's model for job creation could help the whole country.
About Michael Bloomberg
At the 25th anniversary of the Tribeca Festival, Michael Bloomberg reflected on the festival's role in revitalizing Lower Manhattan after the September 11 attacks. He stated that the "rebirth and revitalization of Lower Manhattan will be remembered as one of the greatest comeback stories in American history" and that "the arts can and must play a pivotal role in strengthening our city's spirit, our economy and our quality of life." At Bloomberg CityLab 2026 in Madrid, Bloomberg announced an additional $350 million commitment from Bloomberg Philanthropies to the Global Road Safety Initiative, with a goal of saving one million lives by 2030. He said that "the more national governments retreat from the world stage, the more important mayors become" and emphasized that "one city's success can spread to other cities and improve lives there, too." Bloomberg also discussed the launch of a Mayors AI Forum supported by the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University and an expansion of global leadership programs in partnership with the London School of Economics and the Hertie School.
Transcript (13 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Reporter0:00
One politician applauding the compromise on tax cuts: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also today gave a speech about how the government can create more jobs. Later in an exclusive interview, I asked him what he thinks it will take to get the unemployment rate down.
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Michael Bloomberg0:16
Build confidence. There's a lot of people ready to go, but they're just worried that our regulation's going to stop them, that there's a different tax law every day. Get the president out there promoting business here. That's one thing. Second thing is immigration. I know some people are opposed to immigration, but unless we open our borders, we are not going to have a future. All of these industries that we need are starting to move or be created overseas. We just can't tolerate that. What else? Getting Congress to work together. You know, when you see all the bickering and you see all the partisanship and you say, look, all they're interested in is promoting their own campaigns, it doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling, and you don't want to go and invest your hard earned money and run some risks. So we've got to get them to work together. And if you want to be encouraged — and I still am more encouraged about America than I've ever been in my life — but if you really want to be encouraged, for the first time in a while, the president and Congress, or the Republicans, have gotten together and have come to an agreement. Not an agreement everybody likes, that's okay, but they are at least working together. And now the trick is to make sure they continue to do that, because it's easy to get together to cut taxes. It's going to be much harder to get together to cut the deficit.
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Reporter1:31
But centrists like you are really an endangered species in Washington DC. Is this a pipe dream for you to say they need to compromise on more issues?
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Michael Bloomberg1:39
More and more of the public is choosing not to register in either one of the two major parties. Take a look at what just happened. The Democrats were thrown out of the House. Why? Because the public said all they're doing is partisan bickering and fighting for their own party and their own power and their own perks and their own campaigns. Go back to 2006, the Republicans were thrown out for exactly the same reason.
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Reporter2:06
This speech sounds as if you may be laying the groundwork for a third party candidacy. And in fact, Thomas Friedman wrote in a recent column, quote, 'We need a third party on the stage of the next presidential debate to look Americans in the eye and say, these two parties are lying to you. I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear. I'm going to tell you what you need to hear.' Are you the person to do that?
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Michael Bloomberg2:26
No. But Tom Friedman is a very smart guy, and he's probably right. We need to have a voice for those who are not affiliated with either party. That's a good third of the population and growing.
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Reporter2:38
Why not you?
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Michael Bloomberg2:40
Well, I've got a job, and I'm going to continue to be — you know, I've got a job for the next 1,119 days. But who's counting?
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Reporter2:49
Do you think the time is right though for a third party candidate?
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Michael Bloomberg2:52
Oh, I don't know about that. I'll leave that to the prognosticators. But I think the time is right, however, to stop all this craziness and hope that the president fails. We have to hope that the president succeeds. We have to help the president succeed. If you want to run against them — and I don't, and I won't — but if you want to do that, the time to do that is near the next election. Right now, we have to pull together. We have to start making decisions based on what's good for the economy and what's good for the country, as opposed to what's good for a political party or political position.
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Reporter3:22
You know, you keep saying how optimistic you are, more optimistic than ever about the state of the United States. I think a lot of people might think, gosh, why do you still feel very optimistic about this country?
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Michael Bloomberg3:33
Because the time to make an investment is when the market is down, and the country is down. That's when new people come to the fore. That's when new coalitions are made. That's when people make great investments. The history of America is that great things were done in tough times. And so we're in tough times. Why not think that it's going to happen now? What's more, from a practical point of view, it's got to happen. I want it for my kids. I want it for me. I want it for you.
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Reporter4:01
Mayor Bloomberg had more to say on a wide range of issues, so we have posted the full interview on cbsnews.com.