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Ian Goldin    

Director, Oxford University's 21st Century School, Visionary Economist and Former Vice President, The World Bank

Ian Goldin is Oxford University Professor of Globalisation and Development and the founding Director of the Oxford Martin School, the world’s leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges. Goldin leads research groups on Technological and Economic Change, Future of Work and Future of Development. Goldin previously was World Bank Vice President and the Group’s Director of Policy, and served on the World Bank Executive and other key committees. Before joining the World Bank he was Chief Executive of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and Economic Advisor to President Nelson Mandela, accompanying President Mandela on all major international engagements and serving as Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Bid.

Goldin is an advisor to a wide range of businesses, governments and international agencies and been a non-executive director of leading Fortune 100 firms, serving as the Senior Independent Director on and chair of key committees. Goldin was knighted by the French Government for his services to development and is Chair of the core-econ.org initiative to transform economics, a founding Director of the International Center for Future Generations, a member of the International Science Council, and an honorary trustee of Comic Relief and other charities. He has written and presented three BBC series, "After the Crash," "Will AI Kill Development" and "The Pandemic that Changed the World" and the BBC Analysis "The Death of Globalisation?." The most recent of Goldin’s 25 books are Age of the City and The Shortest History of Migration. His previous books including "Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better Worl"d; "Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Year"s; "Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of our Second Renaissance"; "The Butterfly Defect: How globalisation creates systemic risks and what to do about them"; "The Pursuit of Development: Economic Growth, Social Change and Ideas"; "Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped Our World and Will Define our Future" and "Is the Planet Full?."

He is a renowned public speaker and regular presenter at the WEF Davos meeting, at Google Zeitgeist, TED, and other global events and has been interviewed on all leading global media channels.

Speech Topics


Ian Goldin is also renowned for addressing the following areas:

  • Economic Development
  • Natural Resources, Water, Agriculture and the Environment
  • Finance and Banking for Development
  • Global Governance

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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