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Business / Economics
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Economics Speakers

 

The economy—and its relationship to your business—is an important but often deeply misunderstood topic. Our economics speakers offer sophistication, personality, and much-needed clarity.

 

26
Economics
Speakers
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John List

Economics Professor at the University of Chicago | Chief Economist at Lyft (formerly at Uber) | Author of The Voltage Effect (forthcoming)

Why do some great ideas make it big while others fail to take off? John List—a leading economist at The University of Chicago and Chief Economist at Lyft—demystifies one of today’s trickiest questions in his upcoming book The Voltage Effect. Whether you’re growing a small business, rolling out a diversity and inclusion program, or delivering billions of doses of a vaccine—to achieve success, you need to be able to replicate your ideas at scale, explains List. In his high-impact talks, he reveals the qualities of a scalable idea, and how to best engineer them to drive change in our workplaces, schools, and communities. 
Ken Rogoff

Professor of Economics at Harvard | Former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund

How can we solve enormous global challenges—like recovering from the pandemic, or addressing the looming threat of climate change—while maintaining geopolitical stability? Ken Rogoff is an acclaimed economist at Harvard and the former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), whose sharp insights have been relied upon by leaders and organizations looking to make sense of the economic forces shaping our futures. His illuminating talks provide perspective on forces driving growth, interest rates, and economic policy.
Dr. Lisa D. Cook

Michigan State University Professor of Economics and International Relations

A robust and healthy economy needs innovation. Lots of it. And from an abundance of different minds. Celebrated Michigan State University economist DR. LISA D. COOK has studied all the different ways that the innovation economy—schools, companies and organizations specializing in STEM—has created policies, procedures, and systems which undermine innovation initiatives and cost the US economy a staggering $1 trillion per year. How do we get more ideas out of the economy? Dr. Cook says you start by asking a different set of questions. 
 
Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

Editor of The Black Agenda | Co-Founder of The Sadie Collective | Speaker on Diversity and the Future of Work

Economists have been answering questions that shape our world for centuries. Unfortunately, Black women have historically been excluded from the profession, absent among the decision-makers who bear incredible power over the world’s economy. Working hard to address the diversity problem in the field is Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman: the co-founder of the only non-profit organization tackling the pipeline and pathway problem for Black women in economics, finance, and policy. In her eye-opening talks, she reveals how empowering Black women is an essential step in creating economic agency for everyone.  
Shivani Siroya

Founder and CEO of Tala

As the Founder and CEO of microfinance company Tala, Shivani Siroya delivers credit to customers with little to no formal borrowing history—helping them start and expand small businesses. The company has disbursed more than one billion dollars to customers in East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, leading Forbes to name it one of the Top 50 FinTech companies in the world. Believing that financial visibility is crucial to reaching our full potential, Siroya shares why radical trust will be the currency of the future, and how we can leverage it to create a financial system that works for everyone.
Sarah Kaplan

Director, Institute for Gender and the Economy at Rotman School of Management | Author of The 360° Corporation

Today’s businesses have to answer to more than just shareholder demands. Stakeholder pressures have companies pulled in many different directions, from employees who want meaningful work; to consumers who want sustainable products; and more.  In talks, as well as her book The 360° Corporation, Rotman professor Sarah Kaplan shows us how the trade-offs we make to fulfill these pressures—along with shareholder demands—can be an opportunity for innovation, organizational resilience, and business transformation.
Ian Bremmer

Creator of the Wall Street Global Political Risk Index

Ian Bremmer is the president and founder of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm. In 1998, Bremmer founded Eurasia Group with just $25,000. Today, the company has offices in New York, Washington, and London, as well as a network of experts and resources around the world.   
Daron Acemoglu

Author of Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor | One of the 20 Most Cited Economists in the World

In the face of increasing automation, we’ve been far too complacent, argues MIT’s Daron Acemoglu. We’re at a tipping point. Either we close the skills gap and prepare for the future of work—for the full impact of artificial intelligence—or risk losing more than just jobs. 
Amber Baldet

CEO of Clovyr | Former JP Morgan Blockchain Lead

Amber Baldet was a blockchain program lead at JP Morgan before she left to start her own company. Now the CEO of the blockchain start-up Clovyr, Baldet has been recognized as a member of Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and named one of the “People Leading the Blockchain Revolution” by The New York Times. Praised for her ability to bring together the corporate and hacker camps, Baldet explains—with charisma and clarity—how the Internet of value will disrupt businesses, the global economy, and everyday life.
Ajay Agrawal

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Expert | Founder of the Creative Destruction Lab | Co-Author of Prediction Machines

Co-author of the definitive AI book Prediction Machines, Ajay Agrawal’s talks illuminate the incoming realities of AI: how machine prediction presents us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to optimize the way we do business, run governments, and provide healthcare. 
 
Marc L. Busch

Expert on International Trade Policy and Law | Professor

In 2019, trade wars have dominated the headlines like a high-stakes drama of America versus the world—and 2020’s election will only fuel the fire. Marc L. Busch,  a trade expert and consultant for McKinsey & Company and the World Bank illustrates what near-future changes mean, and what tactics businesses can use to fight back.
Shoshana Zuboff

Author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism | Harvard Business School Professor Emerita | Activist and Scholar

As we attempt to grasp the consequences of our digital era, Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism “shines a searing light on how this latest revolution is transforming our economy, politics, society—and lives” (Financial Times). Zuboff outlines the consequences of putting a price on private data, and urges business leaders to pay attention, resist habituation, and come up with novel responses to this new era. 
Raj Chetty

Economist and MacArthur Genius studying economic inequality

Is the American dream attainable anymore? And what can we do to help disadvantaged children have a real shot at it? A MacArthur “Genius” and one of the top economists in the world (The New York Times), Raj Chetty tackles the core issues of American society—education, equality, and government policy—through the powerful lens of economics. Drawing on his “Opportunity Atlas”—a visualization of his paradigm-shifting research—he urgently addresses how social mobility and childhood environment affect future success, and presents predictive tools and practical tactics for taking action. 
Michael Casey

Chief Content Officer at CoinDesk | MIT Media Advisor | Author of The Truth Machine

Our 21st century digital society suffers from a trust deficit, and our outdated 20th century institutions are unable to fix it, says MIT Media Lab advisor Michael Casey. Casey’s solution is shaped by the decentralizing ideas of the blockchain movement: an incentives-driven mechanism for verifying information that, if designed in humanity’s interests, will help us reclaim agency over our data and creative output. 
James Fallows

National Correspondent for The Atlantic | National Book Award Winner | Co-Author of Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America

James Fallows is one of the world’s most respected journalists—an intrepid, yet sensitive investigator of his world and others. In his talks, Fallows shares the stories of grassroots innovators—detailing the growth and optimism not usually covered by mainstream media. Our Towns is a tale of American strength, ingenuity, and progress, and Fallows is a world-class storyteller.   
 
James Robinson

Noted Economist and Political Scientist, co-author of Why Nations Fail

James Robinson—the co-author of the hard-hitting book, Why Nations Fail—knows why some countries are richer, healthier, and more prosperous than others. In his keynotes, Robinson delves into real-world examples that contrast success and failure among various nations. 
Annie Lowrey

Author of Give People Money (July 2018) | Contributing Editor at The Atlantic

How is the economy adapting to profound technological advances, such as AI and automation? How are these forces, and many others, redefining the nature of work, the potential of business, even society itself?

 

 
Derek Thompson

Staff writer at The Atlantic | Host of Plain English | Bestselling Author of Hit Makers

As Senior Editor at The Atlantic, Derek Thompson writes on economics and politics, media and money in America today—and always with an expert sense of what’s important. Whether he’s analyzing labor markets, entertainment, or government—or changes in generational spending and voting habits—Thompson offers sophisticated takes that people actually want to read.
Michael Katchen

Founder and CEO of Wealthsimple

If Toronto is the Silicon Valley of the North – a thriving international hub of technological innovation – then Michael Katchen is one of its leading figures. Katchen is the founder and CEO of Wealthsimple, whose easy-to-use service has redefined investing for a young generation, and whose massive success has disrupted the financial services industry.   
Julia Ioffe

Author of Russia Girl (Forthcoming) | Correspondent at GQ Magazine

What does Russia really want? Julia Ioffe – author of the illuminating Atlantic cover story “What Putin Really Wants” and the forthcoming book Russia Girl – has emerged as the premier voice to access Russia’s intentions, and what they mean for America. A gifted speaker, Ioffe unpacks this defining geopolitical drama with piercing clarity, showing us how we got here, and what lies ahead.  
 
John Ibbitson

Award-winning Journalist and #1 Bestselling Author of Empty Planet

A smaller population has the potential to disrupt our world—for the better—says veteran journalist John Ibbitson. Upending decades of conventional wisdom on the future of population growth, Ibbitson’s talks offer a realistic and in-depth study of demographic shifts—with a hopeful plan for how we can change its shape if we choose to.
 
Matt Taibbi

New York Times bestselling author of Hate, Inc., Insane Clown President and The Divide | Rolling Stone Writer

One of the smartest—and funniest—chroniclers of the rise of Trump, growing inequality, and Wall Street excess, Matt Taibbi is also the author of four New York Times bestsellers. In talks, as in his award-winning column for Rolling Stone, Taibbi paints an alarming portrait of politics, media, and culture, providing a way forward against our most urgent crises. 
George Packer

Bestselling Author of The Unwinding and Last Best Hope | The Atlantic Staff Writer

 No one understands the diverse, vibrant, and conflicted American tapestry quite like GEORGE PACKER. A sterling journalist and National Book Award-winning author, Packer’s New York Times bestselling book, The Unwinding, and now Our Man, offer sweeping analyses of America through the lens of political figures and landmark historical moments. “If you could read only one book to comprehend America’s foreign policy and its quixotic forays into quicksands over the past 50 years, this would be it,” says Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson in his glowing New York Times Book Review cover story. Packer’s gripping keynotes are no different.
Douglas Rushkoff

Author of Team Human, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus, and Present Shock

Instead of trying to optimize human beings for the automated future, we should be optimizing technology for human beings, says Douglas Rushkoff. His funny, agile talks show how we can put human creativity at the heart of businesses, even as we embrace automation and all the change it ushers in. 
Randall Lane

Chief Content Officer of Forbes Magazine

Randall Lane is the chief content officer of Forbes Magazine, where he has helped it reach its highest-ever U.S. readership (6.7 million) with new emphases on young innovators and disruptors. These are people reimagining the rules for business and rethinking the potential for entrepreneurs to solve the world’s most intractable problems.  
Diane Francis

Bestselling Author and Editor-at-Large at The National Post

Creating a robust agenda for the development of emerging tech isn’t a frill, but a necessity in the 21st century. An award-winning, bestselling author and futurist, Diane Francis argues for a more effective innovation policy and cultural shift—to build the vibrant venture capitalist infrastructure we need, and to help Canadian entrepreneurs create world-beating companies at home.