Dr. Vikas Shah MBE DL Interviews the world's leading thinkers, and the people shaping the century.

In a statement issued on March 22nd 2010, Human Rights Watch said, “Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese search engine is a strong step in favour of freedom of expression and information, and an indictment of the Chinese government’s insistence on censorship of the internet…” They continued, “China is…

Thought Economics

 

In this interview, we speak to Sir Richard Feachem, who is Professor of Global Health at both the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Global Health Group. Sir Feachem was also the founding Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight…
Thought Economics

 

Recent economic events have brought the concept of financial bubbles from academic texts to the forefront of economic and commercial thought.  Whereas economies used to be slow laborious creatures, the globalisation of capital markets, and growth of technology within them, has increased the ‘speed’ of economies to a pace never…

Thought Economics

 

“Just two days after Haiti’s earthquake, Leonel Fernández, the president of the neighbouring Dominican Republic, ordered a helicopter to fly him over the border for an unannounced visit. He was worried that his Haitian counterpart and friend, René Préval, was still incommunicado. What made this neighbourly gesture remarkable was that…

Thought Economics

 

“[Shares in] Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest carmaker, fell in Tokyo as it expanded a U.S. recall by more than 1 million vehicles to 5.35 million, adding to concerns its reputation for quality may be permanently tarnished.” When you buy a car, you assume that everything is fine with…

Thought Economics

 

As Foreign Policy Magazine reports, “Equatorial Guinea’s economy depends almost entirely on oil, which generated revenues last year of well over $4 billion, giving it a per capita annual income of $37,900, on par with Belgium.” While this has given the country’s ruler (Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo) an estimated net…

Thought Economics

 

“The Federal Reserve Board sent its most explicit signal yet that the emergency supply of liquidity to financial markets is done and the most aggressive monetary policy easing in its 96-year history will eventually reverse.” – February 19th, Bloomberg. Citing “continued improvement in financial market conditions”, the US Federal Reserve…

Thought Economics

 

As I write this, my Bloomberg feed shows that, “Euro-region leaders [have] ordered Greece to get the bloc’s highest budget deficit under control and said they are prepared to take “determined” action to staunch the worst crisis in the currency’s 11-year history.”, with the FT adding, “Under an agreement hammered…

Thought Economics

 

History has seen humanity exist in a near constant battle for social, economic, political and (since the enlightenment) individual freedoms. These battles have been set against a backdrop of great change and conflict, as states, commerce and other bodies struggle to reconcile their needs for utility, their risk aversion and…

Thought Economics

 

In recent weeks, we have seen uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and Jordan where members of the populous have taken to the streets, demonstrating and disrupting a country over issues ranging from food inflation, corruption, freedom of speech, living conditions and basic human and economic rights.  Most notably of…

Thought Economics

 

All Interviews  (588)

In this interview I speak to Nissan Formula E Team Principal, Tommaso Volpe. Formula E is the world’s sole all-electric single-seater FIA World Championship and provides an elite motorsports platform for automotive manufacturers to accelerate EV innovation while delivering races in the heart of some of the world’s most iconic…

Professor Brian Cox is widely recognized as the foremost communicator for science, cosmology and astronomy in the world, and is Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society. In this interview, we discuss…
Business & Economics  (346)

In this interview I speak to Nissan Formula E Team Principal, Tommaso Volpe. Formula E is the world’s sole all-electric single-seater FIA World Championship and provides an elite motorsports platform for automotive manufacturers to accelerate EV innovation while delivering races in the heart of some of the world’s most iconic…

In this conversation, I speak to Will Butler-Adams OBE, CEO of Brompton. Will joined the company in 2002 aged 28, when it had around 40 employees; he became Director in 2006 and took over as Managing Director in 2008. During his time, Brompton has become a global brand with over a million…
Culture, Society, Sports & Arts  (238)

In this interview I speak to Nissan Formula E Team Principal, Tommaso Volpe. Formula E is the world’s sole all-electric single-seater FIA World Championship and provides an elite motorsports platform for automotive manufacturers to accelerate EV innovation while delivering races in the heart of some of the world’s most iconic…

Health & Medicine  (67)
In this interview, I speak to James Nestor (author of ‘Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art’) we discuss his extraordinary journey understanding how modern civilisation has forgotten the importance of the most important thing we do, breathing. We discuss the impact that poor breathing has on our health…
Nobel Laureates  (20)
Politics & Policy  (162)
In this interview, I speak to Baron Jon Moynihan on his new book, Return to Growth Volume One: How to Fix the Economy. We discuss the UK’s decades-long stagnant economy and looks at what can be done to resuscitate it. In our conversation, we explore the key dynamics affecting economic…
Science & Technology  (122)
Professor Brian Cox is widely recognized as the foremost communicator for science, cosmology and astronomy in the world, and is Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, The Royal Society Professor for Public Engagement in Science and a Fellow of the Royal Society. In this interview, we discuss…