Shaping the global economy

✨ Watch on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

In a world of economic uncertainty, stagnant growth, and existential risk, what does it take to build something that lasts? This Easter special brings together four sharp thinkers to examine the forces reshaping how we create value, spend it, protect it — and whether any of it will matter in the long run.

Paul Krutko makes the case that economic turbulence is often the best time to start something new, explaining why the most resilient regional economies are built through patient "gardening" of local talent rather than chasing headline investments. Dana Thomas revisits her landmark argument that luxury lost its soul the moment it started answering to shareholders instead of customers — and finds the industry has only doubled down since. Tom Ough surveys the researchers and scientists working to prevent civilisation-ending catastrophes, from supervolcanoes to engineered pandemics to runaway AI. And Jeremy Hunt reflects on why the tax and welfare reforms that could genuinely unlock growth are precisely the ones that take the longest to show up in the numbers.

Special guests include:

• Paul Krutko — President & CEO, Ann Arbor SPARK

• Dana Thomas — Author, Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster

• Tom Ough — Author and journalist

• Jeremy Hunt — Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer

Watch the episode on YouTube below, or listen via your preferred podcast app.