From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Milton Friedman had a postulate that capital would move into a region hit by an adverse shock. But as soon as you interrogate this postulate, it's manifestly rubbish. When Sheffield's steel industry collapsed, investment didn't flow in saying 'oh good, a depressed region.' It flowed out to the places which were booming and accentuated the divergence.
As a nation, we're missing out by not being more flexible, accommodating and encouraging and I think lockdown has- at least- brought about that one piece of positive change.
The entrepreneurs I like are the ones running real businesses without all the bullshit about the hype and the valuations. I've made the most money with people who put their nose to the grindstone and don't talk about valuation.
Corporations find themselves in a bind, torn between clinging to the notion of solely enhancing shareholder value and making vague promises to cater to all stakeholders, which can be perilously misleading.
The absolute focus must be on reducing inequality. This means creating strategies which provide economic opportunity - investing in industries that provide employment rather than profit, investing in education, and providing a fairer deal for those who form the labour force.
What is obvious is that the first reason people use drugs is that they're there. You can't use drugs unless they're there, and they're cheap for your pocket or for the fruits of your stealing! For that reason, we need to get a deeper understanding of the fundamental question of why drugs are available on our streets.
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.
a doubling in crime increases the Gini coefficient by 3% to 4%
Telecommunications has not only connected India, but it has also given India global recognition and a new respect for Indian talent. It has created our own multinationals, and created a huge amount of foreign exchange reserves.
This is a great analogy as the key to successful trading really is the space between trades! It's not just a matter of making the right trades… but also not doing anything when things aren't right.
We cannot use the existing models of development, because those existing models have brought us pollution, disparity of income, and significant challenge. Consumption-led economic development has been the narrative of the 20th century.
Imagine you have to walk through a field that has a few land mines scattered through it. If you walk through it and nothing happens, it seems there is no danger. If you walk across it enough times, you'll step on a landmine. Traditional risk management simply fails to account for the fact that the most dangerous risks are those which occur infrequently and don't show up in track-records.