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

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…

 

“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…

 

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…

 

In this interview, we talk to Gigi Sohn, President and Co-Founder of Public Knowledge (a highly influential Washington, D.C.-based public interest group working to defend citizens’ rights in the emerging digital culture) and Ross Anderson, Professor of Security Engineering at the University of Cambridge. We talk about how digital technologies…

 

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…

 

In this article, we talk to John Brynjolfsson, Managing Director of Armored Wolf LLC, a global macro hedge fund. Previously, Mr. Brynjolfsson was a Managing Director with PIMCO, firm with in excess of $750 billion of assets under management. Mr. Brynjolfsson discusses the risks, opportunities and the future of the…

 

The industrial revolution created the archetypal businessman, characterized by their ruthless attitude towards commerce. In a controversial paper, Jerry Bergman discusses the Robber Barons’ (a pejorative term used to describe businessmen in America) attitude to workers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He describes how, “The robber barons’ lack…

 

In this article, we talk to Professor Nick Bostrom, Director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, discussing the profound changes humanity could experience over coming years including artificial intelligence, machine consciousness, the direction of human evolution, and risks to humanity itself.

 

In this article, we have an enlightening talk to a world expert on Bioethics, Professor John Harris (Lord Alliance Professor of Bioethics at The University of Manchester). Professor Harris discusses the philosophy, practicality and laws surrounding bioethics, covering areas including genetics, human engineering, stem cell therapies, assisted suicide, the economics…

 

In this article, we talk to Susan Payne, CEO of Emergent Asset Management and discuss Agriculture, a keystone industry for Sub-Saharan Africa, a region which is home to almost a billion people and presents one of the greatest humanitarian challenges and economic opportunities of modern civilisation. In this exclusive interview,…

 

Explore an archive of more than 3,000 quotes.

Social media platforms are the tobacco companies of the 21st century, and they need to be regulated – especially when it comes to children. These platforms are selling a highly addictive product and continue to allow abuse and hatred on their platforms. Over 33% of all UK 18–24-year-olds have experienced abuse on Facebook.

— Noreena Hertz
Economist & Author on Globalization, Corporate Power & Digital Society

Well, do you remember those Venn Diagrams from school? Those overlapping circles to represent what two things do and don't have in common? The overlap of these two is incredibly fertile territory and this is exactly where businesses in the U.S. and UK see each other – places where they both need to do business and want to do business.

— Matthew W. Barzun
U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom

There is a degree of laziness and political correctness which has crept into the justice system. Many judges are appointed not elected. They don't want to offend. Instead of making a decision, they 'cut the baby in half' and everyone is left being a little bit miserable.

— Judge Judith Sheindlin
Creator and star of TV show "Judge Judy" for 25 years

In China, we have been working closely with the Chinese Supreme Court prosecutors and administrative environment. In the last two years, these prosecutors have initiated over 100,000 cases- they do things in a big way- and want to transform the landscape such that companies know they will get hammered if they don't comply.

— James Thornton
Environmental lawyer and founder of ClientEarth

When pushed to extremes by exterior influences, real or perceived as real, the inclination toward evil can overwhelm our psychic system and push us toward extreme cruelty toward others and even toward the self.

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Long-form Interviews with the World's Leading Thinkers — Thought Economics


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