The World In 2020
Ian Goldin has a unique insight into the future. Drawing on the frontiers of research at Oxford and elsewhere, he provides illuminating perspectives on the major changes in society and technology which are likely to take place over coming decades. His presentations focus on the big picture, looking at the implications for businesses, governments and individual choice.
Professor Goldin explains the connection between social and technical change, and draws out the lessons of the past thirty years of unprecedented globalisation. He discusses whether the tidal wave of globalisation will continue and whether past trends are sustainable.
He examines first population and demographic trends, considering the implications for pensions, retirement, dependency and migration patterns to the Year 2050. Next, he considers economic trends, considering whether the current dramatic instability in the market is likely to be a short-term deviation from longer term trends. He considers the rise of Asia and emerging markets, providing perspectives on economic growth and opportunities over the coming 10+ years. The connections between social, technical and economic change and market growth and consumer behaviour are unpacked. Professor Goldin provides fresh insights into the future of computing, biotechnology, nano-technology, genetics and the likely implications of frontier technologies.
Ian Goldin is a leading global thinker on the future. He has extraordinary wide ranging knowledge and an ability to combine the latest in research with insights from the inside of global politics and business.
Demography and Finance
Rapid increases in life expectancy and collapsing fertility is changing the nature of society and finance, and has dramatic consequences for economic activity, consumption and savings. A leading figure on the most pressing challenges confronting the world as we move well into the 21st Century, Professor Goldin examines the how population and demography will affect retirement, pensions, health care and other areas that will be drastically effected changes around the globe.
Risk Management
Ian Goldin is a world leading expert on the new forms of systemic risk which he identifies as arising from turbo charged globalisation associated with sharply increased levels of connectivity and technical change. Drawing on his book The Butterfly Defect: Globalization and Systemic Risk, Goldin shows how we need to rethink our understanding of risk and develop new strategies of resilience to prevent cascading shocks overwhelming our businesses and society.
Skills, Education and Immigration
Throughout history, migrants have fueled the engine of human progress. Their movement has sparked innovation, spread ideas, relieved poverty, and laid the foundations for a global economy. Looking to the future, Professor Ian Goldin examines the development of labor markets and the implications for skills, education and immigration which is the subject of his recent book Exceptional People, published by Princeton.
Humanity at the Crossroads
Goldin shows how this could be our best century ever. Or our worst, in which we may even destroy our centuries of progress. Professor Goldin identifies the major opportunities and progress which may be expected in coming years. He then draws out the ethical and social implications raised by the major shifts and advances in society and technology. He considers the public policy issues associated with the threats posed, including by climate change, pandemics and terrorism and identifies the measures necessary to ensure that society ensures that this is a century of shared opportunity, not destruction.
