Progress Enigma: The speakers in Session 1 of TED2013As we assembled TED2013′s lineup of speakers from around the world, talked with the TED brain trust, and listened to online conversations, one theme emerged: What is the future of work? Technology and new business practices are, in many ways, putting an end to the classic “good job,” the kind that millions of people once […]
Saving for a rainy day: Keith Chen on language that forecasts weather — and behaviorBy Keith Chen How are China, Estonia and Germany different from India, Greece and the UK? To an economist, one answer is obvious: savings rates. Germans save 10 percentage points more than the British do (as a fraction of GDP), while Estonians and Chinese save a whopping 20 percentage points more than Greeks and Indians. […]
Who controls the world? Resources for understanding this visualization of the global economyOccupy Wall Street’s slogan “We are the 99%” had been echoing through the United States and the world for just over a month when James B. Glattfelder and his co-authors released the study “The Network of Global Corporate Control” in October 2011. The study was a scientific look at our global economy, revealing how control […]
On our reading list: Al Gore takes a look at The FutureAl Gore posits an intriguing question in his newest book, on shelves tomorrow, January 29: can we change the future? But this book isn’t about peering into a crystal ball. In The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change, Gore — who’s spoken at TED multiple times — breaks down the factors that are changing our […]
Adam Davidson on the fiscal cliff, cable TV, $4000 suits, the giant pool of money and moreThe term “fiscal cliff” is controversial. So Adam Davidson, the New York Times Magazine columnist and co-host of NPR’s Planet Money, prefers to call it “the self-imposed, self-destructive arbitrary deadline about resolving an inevitable problem.” In today’s talk, filmed in TED’s New York office on Monday, Davidson explains what the fiscal cliff is and why […]
Can we overcome partisanship? TED@250 explores the economy, political gridlock and the fiscal cliffThe term “fiscal cliff” has gained traction in the U.S. news in the past few months, at least in part because it paints a vivid metaphorical picture. Popularized by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the term refers to the ill economic consequences that could occur if Congress does not change its course on several policies […]
6 fascinating talks charting informal economiesWhen we hear the phrase “the economy,” often the first images that pop to mind are crisp bills being printed in a government treasury, or suited traders wheeling and dealing on the floor of a stock exchange, or a mall where suburban shoppers buy T-shirts and sneakers before grabbing a Cinnabon. But as journalist Robert […]
10 ways to chart tangible progress in Africa since 2007In 2007, at TEDAfrica, Euvin Naidoo gave an opening talk about investing in African countries — laying out 10 markets and metrics to watch as African nations gained capacity. Today, in a follow-up post, investor Ryan Hoover looks at these 10 metrics that Naidoo laid out — and charts how much has changed in the […]
