Wisdom in fragments

We estimate with the World Bank that US$20-40 billion each year is lost in developing countries through corruption. If you add to that $5 billion each year in stolen assets, it clearly shows that corruption is a serious obstacle to the achievement of the millennium development goals.

Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Corruption destroys societies, hinders development and undermines security. Note what happened in the Middle East and North Africa… corruption was one of the triggers of unrest in these countries. It appears that people are fed-up of corruption, they want change, and they want it now.

Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

There are a high number of young people who want to set-up businesses, but there is a huge gap between their aspirations/intentions and the actual delivery of setting up a business…. More so with the young than any other age group.

I'm very old-fashioned in the sense that I still feel you need a strong manufacturing sector in your economy. I was saying that in the late 1970's and early 80's and people just laughed at me. I think my day is about to turn.

For every example I could give you of regulations causing problems, I could give you two of regulations creating opportunities. I think this notion that regulation is causing problems is a real red herring.

It's clear to me that small businesses, particularly micro-enterprises, have been responsible for the majority of the gross job creation in the last five years… particularly through the recession.

The world of business is scared without realising that it, itself, is the cure.

Many governments, faced with a popular revolt, have chosen to martyr wealth without realising that it is the source of entrepreneurship, innovation and philanthropy in their economies.

Instead of looking at hoarded cash as being a 'rainy day fund' we need to view these balances as stores of economic growth. This cash represents potential investments, new jobs, new innovations and the potential for significant wealth creation and diffusion.

What on earth they [referring to government] will do next…

As far as I'm concerned any business that's up and running within an hour of having mortar [attacks shows remarkable resilience].

Mathematician & Topologist, Solved the 4-Dimensional Poincaré Conjecture

Bill Gates of Microsoft is on-record as saying, 'Microsoft would not function as a company in the way that it does without operations in Israel.'

Mathematician & Topologist, Solved the 4-Dimensional Poincaré Conjecture

What's remarkable about Israel's economy is that in the last few years we have situations which, in any other country, would have been totally disruptive. The incredible thing is that none of these threats have a measurable impact on our economy!

Mathematician & Topologist, Solved the 4-Dimensional Poincaré Conjecture

Israel is not called 'the start-up nation' for nothing. We have great statistics to show the number of start-ups per capita, the number of PhD's per capita, V/C Dollars per capita, Patents per capita and more. Israel creates a huge amount of innovative start-ups which are often bought out before they are even revenue producing!

Mathematician & Topologist, Solved the 4-Dimensional Poincaré Conjecture

During the crisis and immediately thereafter the focus was less on infrastructure and more on, 'I need to find a manager, any manager, who can make some damn money!'

I think transparency in this sense is a red-herring. A multi-strategy hedge fund could give an investor or the SEC it's daily trade blotter and accomplish 'transparency,' and the recipient would have no idea what to make of the trades.