Competition is great for consumers, but nothing destroys enterprise value faster than intense competition. To succeed in commerce, you need a great operating team focused on the nitty gritty details of the business.
— Alfred Lin“Unlike the divisive silos we've constructed, where one generation accuses the other — the older labeling the younger as lazy and the younger dismissing the older as out-of-touch or rigid. This dynamic needs transformation. Moving forward, it's imperative that both boomers and zoomers work in tandem.”— Ken Costa
The quote archive
Economics
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
In a geopolitical recession, suddenly the biggest macro risks are by their nature political. And you focus less on growth and more on stability and resilience, and that's a problem because the free market model tells you 'don't focus on resilience and stability, focus first and foremost on growth and everything else will take care of itself'.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
The rise of populism, backlash against globalisation, and movement against open borders means that populations support the weaponisation of economies even though it doesn't work to their own advantage.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
We've entered a geopolitical recession, where the old US led world-order is unwinding. This isn't just a Trump issue- it's about Europe, BREXIT, about Russia undermining the US and the West, the rise of China and its alternative political and economic models.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
In the United States, we had over $940 billion dollars of fraud in 2017, that's almost $1 trillion. There isn't enough law enforcement in the world to deal with that.
— Frank AbagnaleNotorious con artist and impostor who inspired the film "Catch Me If You Can
People who haven't benefitted from decades of neo-liberal prosperity are right in their assessment that democracy does work for certain people, but not for them.
— Darren McGarveyScottish Writer, Broadcaster & Anti-Poverty Activist & Poet
There's a deliberate strategy and direct correlation between how much we're being attacked regarding our looks, and how much the beauty industry and cosmetic surgery industry are booking. These are companies growing into the tens of billions in revenue across countries and continents.
— Jameela JamilActress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place
We have made money, capital, materialism and consumption into our God, it's a disease – you could call it affluenza. It is perhaps because of this context that humanity has lost its way, and the consideration of human rights has been subordinated to the interests of a handful of powerful people who sit at the top of the pyramid.
— Kumi NaidooEnvironmental activist & former Executive Director of Greenpeace International
Capital has poured into San Francisco and the Bay Area but the growth hasn't distributed itself beyond the top percentile of the community. If you are in one of these companies, you may have a stable and survivable life in the Bay Area, but if you're not? You're going to have to make some incredible trade-offs.
— Cary McClellandWhen a customer sees that a company from India is performing in the financial markets better than their local partner, their attention is caught. We leveraged the financial markets for building brand, for competing in the marketplace.
— Kris GopalkrishnanCo-Founder and Former CEO of Infosys, Indian IT Pioneer
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.
— Kris GopalkrishnanCo-Founder and Former CEO of Infosys, Indian IT Pioneer
In rich countries, 'innovation' often means finding a better way of doing things. But in developing countries, it can mean finding a way to do things at all.
— Melinda GatesCo-Founder of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Health Advocate
Free trade, openness, security, and a stable government framework have been the key factors behind the emergence of Dubai as an international business hub.
— Hussain SajwaniFounder and Chairman of Damac Properties, major UAE real estate developer
No nation is rich enough to pay for both war and civilization. We must make our choice; we cannot have both.
— Abraham FlexnerEducational reformer who revolutionized medical education standards in America
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
— Dwight D. EisenhowerSupreme Commander of Allied Forces & 34th U.S. President
There's 6,000 times more energy hitting the surface of the Earth than we consume as a species. The poorest countries in the world are also the sunniest, which is a powerful asset.
— Peter DiamandisFounder of X Prize Foundation & Singularity University