Latest Interviews

Ruth Davidson, Baroness of Lundin Links

Ruth Davidson, Ruth Davidson, Baroness of Lundin Links, Adam Crook

Former Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson, who transitioned from the BBC to elected office in 2010, now champions mental health parity and LGBTQ+ rights while condemning the toxic pressures of modern social media. In her current role chairing the ICV's mental health advisory group, she is directing £1.3 million in raised funds toward critical support services and advocating for policy reforms that integrate well-being into housing, military transitions, and urban planning. Beyond service expansion, Davidson continues to push for constructive discourse on trans rights, urging politicians to prioritize practical human needs over abstract ideological conflicts.

How economic policy can help the world recover

The panel assesses that while hyperinflation remains improbable, sustained high inflation and supply chain bottlenecks driven by post-stimulus goods demand are reshaping the global economy. Key risks include a potential Chinese slowdown from compounded shocks and persistent labor shortages fueled by shifting worker priorities, whereas recovery inequalities persist due to disparate vaccine access and stimulus timing. Economic stability ultimately hinges on high vaccination rates decoupling health risks from production, alongside strategic policy shifts toward green infrastructure and carbon pricing to address climate goals.

How to keep cool while the world gets hotter

Sarah El-Batouti, Eleni Miravili, Vijay Vaideswaran

Record-breaking heat waves and a growing reliance on fossil-fuel-powered cooling systems are accelerating a dangerous feedback loop, with global air conditioning usage projected to drive emissions up by 90% by 2050 if left unaddressed. To mitigate this crisis, innovators and policymakers are deploying a mix of passive building designs, natural cooling strategies, and urban greening initiatives in cities like Athens and Cairo to reduce temperatures without exacerbating the problem. Successful long-term outcomes depend on scaling affordable, low-energy technologies globally to ensure developing nations can meet cooling demands while avoiding high-end exclusivity and further environmental degradation.

Russia: how Putin is silencing his opponents

Putin

Following the 2020 attempted assassination of Alexei Navalny, the Russian Kremlin escalated repression by labeling his Anti-Corruption Foundation an extremist organization, resulting in over 11,000 arrests and the criminalization of dissent during the January 2021 protests. The state leveraged a rigged judicial system and pandemic protocols to systematically eliminate opposition figures, ensuring United Russia retained a supermajority that permitted constitutional changes extending Vladimir Putin's rule through 2036. Concurrently, intensified censorship against independent media and a massive political exodus have characterized an environment where economic decline and high fear of violence coexist with a government that prioritizes security spending to maintain a monopoly on power.

Brian Cox: Why Succession struck a chord

Brian Cox, Anne

In *The Economist Asks*, actor Brian Cox analyzes the archetype of Logan Roy from *Succession* as a figure defined by trauma and the universal disappointments of the modern human experiment. Cox connects the show's satirical critique of dynastic power to the contemporary "Trumpy Zeitgeist" while highlighting how the series transcends partisan divides to expose systemic dysfunction in both right-leaning and left-leaning families. Furthermore, the conversation extends to the British acting industry, where Cox argues that current feudal class structures have severely eroded social mobility, threatening to exclude working-class talent from opportunities that were once more accessible.

Why Investors Are Shopping for Consumer Retail

Allison Nathan, Jennifer Davis, Vishaal Rana, Jen Davis

Record-breaking $14 billion in 2021 consumer retail IPO issuance, led by Goldman Sachs' $1.8 billion Olaplex deal, has driven 28 new public listings while direct listings and M&A activity continue to surge amid robust post-IPO market performance. Despite near-term headwinds including severe supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and inflation, the sector is pivoting toward omni-channel strategies and technology-driven brand experiences to navigate shifting consumer preferences. Looking ahead, Goldman Sachs forecasts sustained growth in the sector through 2022 and beyond, driven by megatrends such as digitization, health and wellness, and ESG integration, even as macroeconomic volatility persists.

What does three degrees of global warming look like? | The Economist

A comprehensive analysis by the United Nations and hundreds of scientists projects a one-in-four chance of global temperatures rising three degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2100, a threshold that would trigger catastrophic droughts, extreme heat, and massive sea-level rise. This warming trajectory threatens to displace tens of millions of people annually, specifically exacerbating vulnerabilities among 600 million smallholder farmers, low-lying coastal cities, and populations in the Central American Dry Corridor. To avert such outcomes, experts emphasize the urgent necessity of aggressive mitigation and negative emissions strategies, noting that current policies will likely result in a 16% increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

What’s the future of food?

Jon Fasman

With food production responsible for over one-third of global emissions and rising meat consumption in developing nations exacerbating the crisis, the industry is turning toward lab-grown meat, insect farming, and vertical agriculture to decarbonize supply chains. While these innovations face significant hurdles such as the high cost of synthetic growth media for cellular agriculture and the energy intensity of vertical farms, they offer precise bio-engineering advantages to address nutritional deficiencies and eliminate fertilizer runoff. Historical precedents suggest that despite current consumer resistance rooted in cultural traditions, these novel food systems will likely achieve widespread adoption as renewable energy reduces operational costs and scalability challenges are resolved.

Pixel 6 AI explained | Lex Fridman

Lex Fridman

Google introduces the Pixel 6 Pro, a flagship device powered by the custom Google Tensor system-on-a-chip designed to optimize real-time neural network tasks and computational photography. The hardware features a 120Hz display, a 48MP telephoto lens with 4x optical zoom, and a heterogeneous CPU configuration that reportedly improves thermal management during intensive video recording compared to competitors. While benchmarks show the Snapdragon 888 leads in general multi-core performance, the Tensor chip secures dominance in machine learning metrics, enabling AI-driven software features like Magic Eraser, Real Tone, and super-resolution zoom.

The hidden cost of black hair

The event examines the $4 billion to $9 billion U.S. ethnic hair care market, highlighting severe health risks from unregulated chemicals and historical biases that have long marginalized natural Black hairstyles. It details how Black entrepreneurs, exemplified by Rachel Tumasi-Cawson and Joycelyn Maté, are disrupting this landscape by launching health-focused brands that address specific needs like traction alopecia while navigating a regulatory environment with minimal federal oversight. Furthermore, the discussion tracks the cultural and legislative shifts driving the natural hair movement, including the declining sales of relaxers and the recent passage of "Crown Act" legislation to ban hair discrimination in professional settings.

Melissa Bradley, Founder, 1863 Ventures

Melissa Bradley

Economist Amanda Bradley argues that systemic racism has cost the U.S. economy $16 trillion and urges leveraging the demographic shift of Black and Brown populations as the "new majority" to boost global GDP competitiveness. Her analysis highlights critical barriers such as the $250,000 capital gap facing diverse entrepreneurs and critiques traditional venture capital biases, leading her to advocate for tax credits and direct cash mechanisms over intermediary grants. Bradley points to Goldman Sachs' "One Million Black Women" initiative as a pivotal model for aligning capital allocation with economic returns, asserting that restructuring the capitalist paradigm to treat these groups as asset holders is essential for future national prosperity.

Louise Hulland, broadcaster and journalist

Louise Hulland, Lisa Donnelly

The 2015 Modern Slavery Act, championed by Theresa May, consolidated UK laws to address a £120 billion industry driven by "county lines" networks that exploit vulnerable British nationals. While Section 54 mandates supply chain transparency for large businesses, the legislation notably lacks specific statutory support for victims, leaving their adjudication to the Home Office and complicating immigration status resolution. Despite these legal frameworks, rising risks from Brexit, the pandemic, and climate displacement continue to expand the pool of targeted populations, even as younger generations drive growing corporate accountability.

Who should fix climate change?

Sasha Nauta, Katrine Braik, Oliver Morton

The discussion establishes that democratic governments must lead climate action through policy intervention, citing Germany's solar subsidies as proof that state support is essential for market transformation where laissez-faire approaches fail. Corporate leaders are expected to integrate climate strategies into core business models rather than relying on individual goodwill, a shift exemplified by Tesla's high-margin entry strategy and Microsoft's commitment to offsetting its entire historical carbon footprint. By coupling sharp emissions reductions with economic growth, the event argues that prioritizing long-term systemic protection for vulnerable populations is the only viable path to a sustainable future.

The challenges facing Germany’s new leader

Olaf Scholz, Angela Merkel, Zannie Minton-Beddoes, Tom Nuttall, Jörg Lau

Germany's recent election resulted in a fragmented parliament where the SPD, led by Olaf Scholz, formed a historic three-way coalition with the Greens and the FDP to secure governance. This shift dismantled the traditional two-party dominance, placing smaller parties in pivotal roles while simultaneously reducing the parliamentary influence of extremist factions. The new administration faces immediate challenges in recalibrating foreign policy, particularly in moving away from the Merkel era's engagement strategies with China and managing internal tensions between a Social Democratic chancellor and a Green foreign minister regarding Russia.

Is higher inflation cause for concern?

Global economies are grappling with unexpected inflationary surges driven by supply chain disruptions, massive stimulus spending, and emerging market crop shortages, with rates soaring far above the 2% targets set by major central banks. While wealthy nations initially hesitated to raise interest rates, emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, and Mexico have aggressively tightened monetary policy to preserve credibility and anchor public expectations. Policymakers now face the critical challenge of distinguishing between temporary price spikes and persistent inflation to prevent long-term economic damage and eroded living standards.