Politics

In order to censor YouTube, for example, countries like Turkey and Pakistan had to block access to the whole site; it's not practical just to block selected content.

Unknown.

[the impact of the internet on liberty and free speech has been] very positive indeed – not so much two steps forward and one step back, as ten steps forward for every step back. By breaking the oligopoly of the established press and letting everyone be a publisher, it has made information much harder for the powerful to control.

Unknown.

the overall picture that's emerging is that the controls which still work operate more along corporate boundaries than along national boundaries.

Unknown.

I have never seen a good case for protectionism, but I can see a case for slowing down trade integration because it can be highly disruptive to domestic firms, markets and people's income in the short-run.

Leading economist specializing in European monetary integration and financial crises.

The general theory that integration is good for better allocation of resources is not the big thing, the big thing is that it makes it harder for governments to play with financial markets.

Leading economist specializing in European monetary integration and financial crises.

Taxes are the price of civilisation.

Supreme Court Justice; Major Legal Scholar & Reformer

We can cut our carbon emissions while achieving economic growth by replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and energy efficiency. The technologies are already there, all we need is the political will.

Environmental activist & former Executive Director of Greenpeace International

I am also here to send a message to the world: these unprecedented floods demand unprecedented assistance

Former UN Secretary-General, served two five-year terms.

Fundamental sense of well-being crucially depends on our having the ability to exert control over our environment and recognising that we do.

Psychologist & Founder of Positive Psychology Movement

Nuclear weapons were invented out of fear. The United States was afraid that Hitler was developing an atomic weapon, and they had to get one to deter him from ever using it. When the U.S. Manhattan Project that built the bomb began, no-one ever thought we would use a weapon like this; it was considered beyond the pale—a weapon that would indiscriminately kill hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

Nuclear weapons expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund.

Nuclear weapons continue to be built for basically two reasons: power and prestige. In almost every case where a country has decided to acquire a nuclear weapon they have done it either for power—the power to protect their country from external threats or a desire to project their power in the region.

Nuclear weapons expert and president of the Ploughshares Fund.

Osborne lacked gravitas and was seen as a political lightweight because of his high-pitched vocal delivery according to private Conservative polling before the election.

Governor of the Bank of England (2003-2013)

The head of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, privately criticised David Cameron and George Osborne before the election for their lack of experience, the lack of depth in their inner circle and their tendency to think about issues only in terms of their electoral impact.

Governor of the Bank of England (2003-2013)

Telecommunications has connected India- and has brought about openness, accessibility, connectivity, networking, democratisation, decentralisation and as a result- social transformation.

Telecom Pioneer & Advisor to Indian Government on Technology Policy

Almost all of the processes we use today were designed in the twentieth century, with the old mindset of command and control. Forms and data such as immigration, customs, starting a company, land records, birth certificates, death certificates, police reports, court cases- all these processes, designed in the twentieth century, are now obsolete. You have to redesign your processes to meet the needs of the twenty first century, and the web.

Telecom Pioneer & Advisor to Indian Government on Technology Policy

We are living through a profound era where speculative failure is simply not an option, and is fought tooth and nail by the government. This is a trap. Here I am the fool looking to fail frequently.

Hedge Fund Manager & Author of "The Black Swan" Risk Management