The National Planning Association, which has celebrated its 60th anniversary in October 1994, is an important forum in the United States where senior business, labor, agricultural, and academic leaders come together on an ongoing basis to focus on economic and social issues of mutual concern and national significance.
NPA is a key center for senior officials from all sectors of society. NPA comprises a wide range of international and domestic policy committees that wrestle with critical issues facing America and the world. It is a source of research and analysis that public and private sector leaders may turn to for objectivity and clarity.
All too often the different sectors of society talk past each other and not to each other, making it difficult to articulate clear-cut responses to the challenges confronting the United States. Central to any progress in meeting these challenges is the forming of a consensus on what diagnosis is correct and what action should be taken. Leaders from diverse components of society must, in their own interest and that of the nation, search for common ground to promote measures that will ensure the general welfare. The National Planning Association provides a network in which this essential exchange can take place.
In recent years, NPA has focused on preparing for the economic and social challenges of the global marketplace. While market economies have proved to be the best engines of growth in producing wealth, they do not always produce the ideal distributive results, nor do they automatically respond to concerns about noneconomic human values. NPA has focused on strategies geared to achieving maximum competitiveness consistent with meeting compelling human needs.
NPA is dedicated to finding effective solutions to the problems that America faces. In a democratic society, workable solutions require broad-based input and support. The National Planning Association is a key player in this process.