Is the world facing a state of permacrisis?

Leading economists Mike Spence and Mohamed El-Erian talk about the “pretty complicated and disorienting environment” we face.  In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward thinking podcast, co-host Michael Chui talks with A. Michael Spence, dean emeritus of the Stanford Graduate Scho…

Has the drive toward human development been thrown into reverse?

The UNDP’s Pedro Conceição talks about today’s global gridlock, uncertainty complex, and a pervasive sense of disempowerment.

Unpacking the mysteries of productivity

Leading economist Chad Syverson speculates about the ingredients in productivity’s secret sauce. In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward thinking podcast, co-host Janet Bush talks with Chad Syverson. Syverson is George C. Tiao Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the …

Delivering services to the public—digitally—with Jennifer Pahlka

A former US deputy chief technology officer talks about how digitization can be used to create a government that works for the people. Jennifer Pahlka is the founder of Code for America, served as the United States government’s deputy chief technology officer, and is author of the book Recoding Am…

What’s the future for cities in the postpandemic world?

Co-host Janet Bush talks with Ed Glaeser, the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and the chairman of the Department of Economics at Harvard University. His latest book, coauthored with health economist David Cutler, is Survival of the city: The future of urban life in an age of isolation…

Forward Thinking on Europe’s existential crisis with Marco Buti

Co-host Janet Bush talks with Marco Buti. Buti holds the Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa Chair in European Economic and Monetary Integration at the European University Institute. They cover topics including the following: The evolution of European policy coordination European competitiveness Whether Europe’…

Forward Thinking on the tricky business of removing carbon from our world with Nan Ransohoff

Co-host Michael Chui talks with Nan Ransohoff. Ransohoff is the head of climate at Stripe and leads Frontier, an advanced market commitment for carbon removal. She answers questions including: Is carbon removal a get out of jail free card for emitters? What are the most promising carbon removal tec…

Forward Thinking on how geeks are changing the world with Andrew McAfee

Co-host Michael Chui talks with Andy McAfee. McAfee is a principal research scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, co-founder and co-director of MIT’s initiative on the digital economy, and the inaugural visiting fellow at the Technology in Society organization at Google. 

Forward Thinking on why we ignore inflation—from ancient times to the present—at our peril with Stephen King

Co-host Janet Bush talks with Stephen King. King is a senior economic advisor to HSBC, having served as the bank’s group chief economist from 1998 to 2015. His latest book, very prescient in timing, is We Need to Talk About Inflation: 14 Urgent Lessons from the Last 2,000 Years. In this podcast, he…

Forward Thinking on the existential issues facing the middle classes in every country with Homi Kharas

Co-host Janet Bush talks with Homi Kharas. Kharas is a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution and also cofounder of World Data Lab. He studies policies and trends influencing developing countries, the emergence of the world's middle class, and global go…