Detroit (WWJ)  -- The president of the National Urban League says he would like to see the next president of the United States devise a sweeping new economic plan. similar to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

"Invest in infrastructure, invest in people, invest in a new way of oversight and regulation for the financial services industry," Marc Morial said Thursday.

He called on the next president to "launch the largest public works infrastructure program in the history of the nation...rebuild water systems, sewer systems, levy systems," he said.

He also sounded a warning bell, in a speech before the Detroit Economic Club.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a crossroads in American history. I mean not to share this information in an effort to be somber or to be gloomy or to suggest somehow that all is bad and all is certainly on a downhill spiral," he said,  "but I do think we must recognize that when crises like these are faced, it requires changes in direction. It requires thoughtfulness and candor about how we got here and why we are here.”

But he also said that he saw signs of hope.

"When I see the people of this city with their incredible talent — white collar jobs, blue collar jobs, people with technical skills, people who’ve helped to build the automobile industry and build the manufacturing sectors," he said,  "I see people who are clearly capable of helping to build the new economy of the 21st century.”