Latest Interviews
Showing 1741–1755 of 2,636 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute31 min
The Future of Currency and the Global Financial System - Conference Call Series
John Lee, Dr. Jianguang Shen, Dr. Michael Hasenstab, Dr. William Lee, Laura DeLacy
Milken Institute and global experts convened to analyze the pandemic's dual transformation of health innovation and macroeconomic policy, where central banks have shifted from resolving liquidity crises to addressing a solvency crisis driven by historic deficits and surging savings. The discussion highlighted divergent strategies in digital currency, with China mandating a state-controlled CBDC to dismantle private payment monopolies, while the United States and other nations grapple with private sector experiments like Libra against a backdrop of eroding central bank credibility. Ultimately, participants warned that the "double unknown" of implementing new monetary technologies during aggressive fiscal expansion poses significant leverage risks, particularly for emerging markets with fragile banking systems.
- Goldman Sachs24 min
The Great Reset: A Framework for Investing After COVID-19
Goldman Sachs Senior Advisor Steve Strong identifies the pandemic as a transformative rule-changing event in his report *The Great Reset*, predicting a permanent economic shift driven by the adoption of resilient business models and "sticky" behavioral changes in remote work and digital health. The analysis forecasts a regulatory pendulum swing that will favor companies with built-in redundancy over efficiency, while simultaneously fragmenting consumer markets into distinct risk-based segments that demand tailored safety and social distancing measures. Ultimately, Strong cautions investors to look beyond immediate crisis survivors toward the upcoming innovation phase, where new entrants and retooled incumbents will dominate by creating superior, more resilient economic structures.
- Goldman Sachs24 min
Corie Barry, Chief Executive Officer of Best Buy
Best Buy CEO Corey Barry led the company through an unprecedented crisis by prioritizing employee safety and revenue retention, which enabled a rapid pivot to a 100% curbside-only model that captured 95% of prior-year sales volume. The retailer accelerated long-term structural shifts by reducing physical square footage, expanding consumer health technology offerings, and implementing an appointment-based in-store concierge system to ensure safety transparency. Barry further addressed cultural transformation by launching a gender diversity initiative for field leadership and establishing an inclusive framework grounded in vulnerability and empathy to guide future strategic decisions.
- Milken Institute43 min
Philanthropic Responses to COVID-19 in Asia-Pacific - Conference Call Series
Richard Ditizio, Laurence Lien, Binod Chaudhary, Andrew Forrest, Cherie Nursalim, Rich D'Attizio
The Milken Institute convened a global panel of philanthropic leaders and experts to analyze the $8 billion surge in pandemic funding and the accelerating pace of medical research, which now includes 335 tracked treatments and vaccines. Participants examined divergent national strategies from the US to Asia, highlighting specific interventions such as Australia's massive infrastructure investment and Indonesia's triple-pillar approach to economic resilience. The discussion concluded with a unified call to transition from immediate relief to long-term institutional rebuilding through blended finance and collaborative dashboards designed to protect essential supply chains and prevent mass poverty.
- Milken Institute31 min
North Korea: The Knowns and Unknowns Inside the Hermit Kingdom - Conference Call Series
Laura Deal Lacey, James Crabtree, Anna Fifield, Prof. Robert Kelly, Yasuhide Nakayama, Dr. John Park, Bob Kelly
A specialized panel assessed the fragility of North Korean stability following Kim Jong-un's unexplained absence, citing his deteriorating health and lack of an established successor as critical succession risks. Experts highlighted that while the regime has sealed its borders to prevent a catastrophic health crisis, its economy relies on eroding smuggling networks and a corrupt elite class that prioritizes Kim's survival amidst rising international sanctions. Geopolitically, the analysis suggests Kim is shifting toward unconventional behavior and developing new strategic weapons to maintain leverage, potentially positioning himself to capitalize on a favorable U.S. political environment while China seeks regional stability.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
Jared Diamond, Author of "Upheaval"
Jared Diamond applies crisis therapy frameworks to analyze global and national trajectories, arguing that leadership impact varies significantly based on institutional strength while digital communication exacerbates political polarization. He identifies internal erosion and voter restrictions as the primary threats to American democracy, yet maintains a cautiously optimistic 51% probability of resolution by citing public shifts on climate change and corporate governance reforms. Diamond concludes that overcoming existential crises requires nations to acknowledge internal faults and adopt effective external models, drawing parallels to historical recoveries like the Meiji Restoration.
- Milken Institute35 min
How COVID-19 Tests Will Help Reopen America - Conference Call Series
Esther Krofah, Gina Raimondo, Adam Schechter
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo outlined a strategic "SOS" testing framework and a phased economic reopening plan designed to expand daily testing capacity from 3,000 to 20,000 while prioritizing equity for vulnerable populations. LabCorp CEO Adam Schechter detailed the company's rapid scaling of PCR and antibody testing capabilities to 150,000 and 300,000 daily tests respectively, emphasizing high accuracy rates while noting that antibody presence does not yet guarantee immunity. Together, the state officials and industry leaders highlighted the critical role of contact tracing and continued safety protocols in preventing a combined flu and coronavirus surge in the fall.
- Goldman Sachs29 min
Andrew Roberts, Historian and Author of "Leadership in War"
Andrew Roberts, Anthony Gutmann
Andrew Roberts' latest book *Leadership and War* analyzes nine historical figures who shaped modern history, challenging deterministic views by asserting that individual will and specific personal choices, such as Napoleon's 1812 invasion, primarily drive outcomes rather than impersonal forces. The author argues that traits like charisma and moral character are irrelevant to success, identifying ruthlessness, total self-belief, and a pivotal late-twenties biographical moment as the shared characteristics of these leaders. Roberts concludes that while historical leaders like Churchill and Thatcher controlled information and embraced a sense of destiny, modern leaders face fundamentally different challenges in the digital age where censoring negative news is impossible.
- Goldman Sachs22 min
Philip Jansen, Chief Executive Officer of BT Group
BT Group CEO Phil Jansen disclosed his March COVID-19 infection to facilitate contact tracing and adapted the crisis response by prioritizing customer and national stability while managing a 20% staff reduction. The telecommunications giant rapidly expanded critical infrastructure by connecting 18 hospitals and deploying tens of millions in funding to maintain network performance during a surge in fixed data demand. Looking ahead, Jansen outlined a £12 billion investment plan to achieve 20 million fiber connections and doubled 5G coverage within a year, while cautioning that the SME sector faces significant financial pressure once government support schemes conclude.
- Goldman Sachs21 min
Daniel Susskind, Author of "A World Without Work"
Economist Daniel Susskind argues that the 21st century faces a crisis of scarcity for well-paid work driven by technology rather than a lack of tasks, creating distinct challenges in inequality, concentrated power, and the erosion of meaning derived from employment. While dismissing Malthusian pessimism, Susskind predicts that technological expansion will eventually double global GDP per capita within decades, prompting a necessary policy shift from traditional labor market regulation to "leisure policies" and the rapid adoption of Universal Basic Income to address the immediate collapse in demand exacerbated by the pandemic. To navigate this transition, he advises young professionals to either cultivate non-routine interpersonal skills that resist automation or acquire technical expertise to design automated systems, warning that current educational models remain dangerously misaligned with future economic realities.
- Lex Fridman29 min
Exponential Progress of AI: Moore's Law, Bitter Lesson, and the Future of Computation
The author argues that historical AI progress relies on exponential computational growth rather than human-designed expertise, yet current research prioritizes incremental, non-scalable methods over approaches capable of leveraging future compute surges. Potential drivers for this scaling include distributed IoT networks, specialized ASICs, and algorithmic breakthroughs in self-supervised learning, alongside speculative frontiers like quantum and neuromorphic computing. The essay concludes that the industry must shift toward evaluating methods based on their 5-to-20-year scalability to harness these emerging exponential gains.
- Goldman Sachs27 min
Bernard Looney, Chief Executive Officer of BP
BP CEO Bernard Looney led the company through a historic demand collapse and supply disruption by prioritizing workforce safety, community support, and financial liquidity while navigating the "Black April" crisis. Concurrently, Looney accelerated BP's strategic shift toward clean energy with a net-zero commitment by 2050, driven by shifting societal values and investor sentiment regarding ecological fragility. The leadership approach also emphasized a cultural transformation focused on employee mental health, authentic communication, and ethical decision-making to rebuild societal trust.
- Goldman Sachs27 min
António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres identifies the COVID-19 pandemic as the most severe global crisis since World War II, exposing critical fragilities in multilateral governance and the urgent need for a unified international strategy. He warns that the emergency is exacerbating deep-rooted inequalities, disproportionately affecting women, refugees, and the informal economy while threatening democratic stability through rising authoritarian surveillance and mental health burdens. Guterres calls for an unprecedented mobilization of resources involving the IMF, private sector expertise, and immediate debt relief to prevent systemic insolvencies and steer future recovery toward a greener, more inclusive global order.
- Milken Institute33 min
The World Post COVID-19: Silver Linings for Business - Conference Call Series
Laura Deal Lacey, Oriel Morrison, Raj Ganguly, Magnus Grimeland, Chatri Sityodtong, Laura DeLacy
The Milken Institute convened a global webinar series featuring leaders from B Capital, Antler, and ONE Championship to analyze the unprecedented economic and societal shifts driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. These experts detailed how the crisis has halted traditional sectors while accelerating growth in digital health and education technology, prompting entrepreneurs to adopt a "warrior mentality" to secure supply chains and generate employment. The discussion further emphasized that while immediate survival strategies focus on short-term profitability, the long-term outlook predicts permanent structural changes in global governance and supply chain management.
- Milken Institute44 min
The Impact of COVID-19 on Real Estate Investment - Conference Call Series
Peggy Sito, Hugh Andrew, Stuart Crow, Kenneth Gaw, Abhinav Ram Reddy, Laura DeLacy, Kenny Goh, Abhinav Reddy
This analysis details the severe contraction in Asia-Pacific real estate activity during early 2020, where transaction volumes fell 30% and specific sectors like hospitality and construction faced operational collapses due to pandemic restrictions. Despite current distress, investor sentiment remains cautiously optimistic with significant capital reserves poised to deploy once clarity emerges, while institutional players shift focus toward defensive assets like logistics, data centers, and medical facilities. Forecasts suggest a recovery timeline two to three times the duration of the lockdown, with markets possessing strong domestic fundamentals expected to rebound faster than those reliant on tourism and external trade.