Pssst… if ever you have the chance to hear Stuart Varney speak, grab it! Emblematic of the “coat hangers” in our respective mouths, wife Kirby and I were presented that opportunity back in November by way of The Fund for American Studies’ 2010 Leadership Network.

For those unfamiliar with the gentleman, he may be found daily serving as the anchor of Fox Business News’ morning show, Varney & Company… for those of you groaning at the mere mention of the word Fox, relax, Stuart has logged time with both CNN and CNBC. In fact, with Larry King’s recent retirement, Varney may be the dean of cable news hosts, having joined CNN’s Manhattan bureau at its genesis back in 1980. A graduate of the London School of Economics, his coverage of the 1987 stock market crash earned him the coveted Peabody Award for excellence in journalism.

There’s an “old saw” about laying all the economists in the world end-to-end and never reaching a conclusion, so upon receiving the advance promotional material describing Varney as charismatic and articulate, we might be forgiven our skepticism—after all, those aren’t the first words one associates with economists (think Messrs. Greenspan & Bernanke). It was also claimed that, “Stuart Varney cuts through the jargon to make complex economic issues accessible and interesting for any audience.”

Well, we’re here to report that it’s all true—he’s a gifted speaker, both highly engaging and enormously entertaining. In that striking British accent, Varney began the evening by suggesting that we should all be thanking him for: 1) having immigrated to this country; and 2) his subsequent contribution of fathering six children! What followed was a tour of demographic issues, both here and abroad, and their impact upon entitlement societies. In essence, it would be Varney’s contention that demographics alone undermine current social policy and without structural change, economies will be overwhelmed.

Concluding on an optimistic note, Varney believes the recent election results will do a lot to restore confidence in private enterprise… that some of the $1.8 trillion dollars sitting on the sidelines comes in and businesses start to expand, start to hire… and this will lead to 3-4% growth by the middle of 2011. Apparently, great minds think alike, as this corresponds with the outlook of our own Chief Investment Officer, Dave Stepherson. Happy New Year to all.

(Pssst, Stuart—your admonition to me that, as a father of five, “there’s still time to catch up,” though rendering me speechless at the time, has led to this discovery: six children, another distinction shared with the aforementioned Larry King. In your defense, we would quickly disclaim that any similarity to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental, as your achievement depended on one wife only. This engenders enormous respect, but like the inestimable Mr. King [living or dead?], it remains sadly out of our reach.)