From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
We've heard stories from folks who have paid off their student debt by becoming digital artists and selling NFTs. If you think about the jobs of the future – there will be people who will be making money as VR sculptors, virtual land real estate agents… People are already creating those jobs now!
None of this is new. The Romans traded forward contracts in commodities 2000 years ago; a Dutch fugitive, Isaac le Maire, conducted the first ever bear attack on a stock in 1610, leading also to the first ever regulatory ban on short-selling that same year.
Much jitteriness in this recent crisis has come down to 'flying blind' – where investors and risk managers have been caught somewhat unaware, and do not have the visibility to make decisions with support.
Economies are built on free flow of capital within the market, which drives trade. Business and individuals need debt (finance) to invest, develop, trade and grow. This is a fundamental truth of how markets operate.
The economy is in the doldrums and likely to worsen. The UK economy has performed worse than most Euro Zone countries, and the calls for a change, of course, are becoming pretty loud. The economists who backed Osborne in 2010 have basically withdrawn their support, the IMF lowered its growth forecast and so on. The government's economic strategy is clearly in disarray.
No nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.
Systems change is slow because it requires consensus that there is a system failure to start with, as well as the presence of a viable alternative. This requires a combination of culture shift, behavioral change, and structural change to ultimately change the rules of the game.
While some criticize them as being overly individualistic, I believe there's a subtle yet undeniable transition from the 'me' mindset to a collective 'we' approach. The profound 'co' concept I foresee is what I term 'co-destiny,' rooted in socially energized capital.
We have open and transparent pricing through our futures exchange- that means price is determined by buyers and sellers and not an 'official' selling price set by a producer. In that regard, it's unique and filling a need that is not currently serviced East of Suez.
Transparency is paramount. We have to make sure that we have sufficient transparency in the investments we are making, to be able to manage risk for our clients.
Happiness is a measure that reflects the success with which people achieve their personal objectives of living levels, happy and healthy families and satisfying work.
Firstly, inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomena. Secondly, the Phillips curve is dead and buried. US employment, and domestic measures of capacity utilization didn't even work 40 years ago! We stuck a stake in the heart of such measures about 15 years ago.