Schramm delivered his address during the 2009 recession and used the moment to make a passionate case for entrepreneurship as the engine of American prosperity. He reminded graduates that the nation had faced far worse, from the Great Depression to the stagflation of the early 1980s, and had always recovered. He argued that economic growth is not a happy accident but something Americans have always deliberately pursued. Growth has reduced poverty, welcomed talented immigrants, powered scientific progress, and created the social mobility that defines the American experience. And the only way to achieve that growth is through entrepreneurs who create new products, new services, new companies, and new jobs.