Mr. Coughlin added that to avoid logistical problems and the groupthink that may occur in a meeting, the panelists worked independently.
Other panelists working in private equity in India and China laid out pluses and minuses in the two markets during the Wharton conference, which was titled "Driving Returns: Value-Added Investing".
The least popular spots among the panelists included "Work," one of two commercials for Bud Light Platinum beer; "Power and Beer," one of two commercials for General Electric; and a commercial for Century 21 featuring celebrities.
A moment of comic relief came when one member of the House Ways and Means Committee pressed some of the panelists who work in the hedge fund industry to estimate the average pay among hedge fund managers.
The panel, entitled Imaging Black Futures, was the first in a series called Pass the Mic, and included three panelists whose work overlaps with racial injustice, gender, and sexuality: rapper Junglepussy, community organizer Kei Williams, and DJ/activist D'hana Perry, AKA Battyjack.
The New York Times reported last week that three of the eight panelists previously worked inside the city's Education Department during Mr. Bloomberg's tenure.
The panelists discussed working with their children who are taking over the restaurants ("I need a therapist," Mr. Ginsburg moaned) and their camaraderie.
Instead of being pawns in the games of industry, the panelists thought, working Americans could thrive by hiring out skills as they wanted, and putting money in the pockets of peers who had done the same.
All three panelists have worked as journalists: Elif Batuman frequently reports on Turkey for the New Yorker, Renata Adler covered Selma and Watergate for the New Yorker in the 1960s and 1970s, and Indiana reported on the Kevorkian assisted-suicide trial and other matters for the Village Voice.
Since the event wouldn't be quite the same without him, he has graciously agreed to attend as a speaker and an expert panelist to work with launching startups.
