Wisdom in fragments

If you have a start-up, you start out with an idea, but in 6 months you realise 'that wasn't the right idea'. This is how truly creative companies work. Nobody can do that with EU funding because you are locked-in to your original proposal – and because of that no-one I know in the start-up world wants money from the EU.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

I personally want to throw up every time I hear some completely senseless and baseless statement like 'we need more of Europe, not less'. It means nothing, and those slogans simply drive people crazy – It goes to show the intellectual vacuousness of the people who say them.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

For us, for our people, who were under communist domination, we were comfortable and happy to take on a European identity when we gained independence. Identity is something incredibly personal; and how the individual combines their national and European identity is something they do themselves.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

We believe that entrepreneurship is indispensable for the emergence of innovative companies that allow for the diversification and renewal of our economy, ensuring sustainable economic growth and the creation of qualified employment.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

More important than picking specific industries, what matters is ensuring competitive and innovative companies that are able to compete in international markets.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

Changing the mood has an economic impact superior to many measures because companies and families, when they have more confidence, they act differently.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

We adopted a National Strategy for Entrepreneurship: Startup Portugal. A strategy that aims to make Portugal the ideal space to create, test, fail and try again.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

Portugal is generally perceived as a symbol of tolerance, openness to the world and ability to interact with and serve as a bridge to different societies, cultures and religions.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

Uncertainty and fear are enemies of economic growth. To change motivation, it is important to give hope and make people believe. But also to give concrete results. It is important to value the positive instead of only highlighting the worst.

Former Prime Minister of Portugal (2015-2024)

In the advanced countries, it is a very challenging time for people in the middle-income and middle-education range. They are being subjected to greater competition from labour saving technology.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

There are cultures in which a young man, to signal his interest in a woman, would camp outside her house for any number of days. The ones who aren't really interested say, '...to hell with it, it's not worth it!' – In this sense, signalling screens people out.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

If very damaging, asymmetries can destroy markets- causing them to unwind from the top- this is the adverse selection problem. People with high quality products remove them from the market due to the price being an average… the quality drops, then the price drops again.. and you end up with a cycle.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

I grew up in Canada and have a lot of friends in Argentina. In the early part of the 20th Century, Argentina was wealthier and had a higher per-capita income than Canada. The country had severe governance issues which impacted economic and social development.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

There are two basic underlying reasons economies slow down. Firstly dysfunctional politics and secondly economic mistakes.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

At the end of this century 40-50 years from now, the proportion of our world's population who live in the developing world will have gone from 15%, 200 years ago, to over 85% – we'll be left with a very different planet.

Nobel Prize-winning economist; Stanford provost and NYU president

I looked at her and said, 'that's impossible! If I had stolen these pears from you… you would never have seen me!'

Nobel Prize Winner for Gene Targeting in Mice