The World Ahead from The Economist

By The Economist

News & Politics

What's The World Ahead from The Economist about?

This future-gazing series examines an assortment of speculative scenarios, what-if conjectures and provocative prophecies. Not all of them will come to pass, but thinking about possible futures can help us understand the present, and catch glimpses of the world ahead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The World Ahead 2023: The a...

01.23.2023

We turn the spotlight on forecasting itself, and look back on the predictions we made for 2022. How accurate were we? How do “superforecasters” look into the future? And how can forecasters account for irrational world leaders when predicting major ...

The World Ahead from The Economist episodes:

01.23.2023 The World Ahead 2023: The art of forecasting We turn the spotlight on forecasting itself, and look back on the predictions we made for 2022. How accurate were we? How do “superforecasters” look into the future? And how can forecasters account for irrational world leaders when predicting major ...
01.16.2023 The World Ahead 2023: Watch the mega-states Where is American politics heading in 2023? Alexandra Suich Bass, The Economist's senior correspondent for politics, technology and society, and our Lexington columnist, James Bennet, look outside Washington, DC, to the four mega-states to take the political temperature. Will divided ...
01.09.2023 The World Ahead 2023: Bigger elephant, leaner dragon When it comes to demographic shifts, 2023 is going to be a big year. India will overtake China to become the world’s most populous country in 2023—and China’s population will start to shrink. What are the pros and cons of ...
01.02.2023 The World Ahead 2023: China's challenges As president Xi Jinping begins his third five-year term, China’s path forward is uncertain. Covid-19 is tearing through the country after it relaxed its strict “zero-covid” policies. China also faces slowing economic growth and rising geopolitical tensions with America. Are ...
12.19.2022 The World Ahead 2023: Understand this We analyse the new buzzwords and jargon that could be making their way into the collective consciousness over the next 12 months. Host Tom Standage, Lane Greene, The Economist's language columnist, and Aryn Braun, West Coast correspondent, quiz each other ...
12.12.2022 The World Ahead 2023: Fuelling the future Europe faces a painful energy crunch this winter, as it tries to make do with less Russian gas. Will this crisis “accelerate the green-energy transition”—and what role can companies and consumers play in reducing consumption? Host Tom Standage asks The ...
12.05.2022 The World Ahead 2023: The coming recession What are the prospects for the world economy in 2023? Economies face volatile energy prices and inflation at its highest level in decades. The Economist's economics editor, Henry Curr, and deputy business affairs editor, Rachana Shanbhogue, explain the dilemma facing ...
11.28.2022 The World Ahead 2023: Conflicting possibilities How will the war in Ukraine play out in 2023? The Economist’s foreign and defence editors discuss the possible scenarios for the conflict with Russia. The best one for Ukraine is also the most dangerous. Tom Standage hosts Please subscribe ...
06.27.2022 The World Ahead: The future of green travel Can flying be made sustainable? Host Tom Standage travels to the year 2042 to find airlines making growing use of “synthetic” aviation fuel, made using carbon dioxide extracted from the atmosphere, which allows for carbon-neutral flights. Back in the present, ...
06.20.2022 The World Ahead: The future of education Will personalised learning replace teachers? Host Tom Standage travels to the year 2042 to find children being taught by personalised learning assistants powered by artificial intelligence, and funded by corporate advertising. What does this mean for schools? Back in the ...
06.13.2022 The World Ahead: The future of health care How much preventative health monitoring is too much? Host Tom Standage travels to the year 2042 to find large-scale monitoring of people’s health as part of a shift from treatment to prevention⁠—and a debate about whether regular medical scans should ...
06.06.2022 The World Ahead: The future of food Are there some things we shouldn’t eat? Host Tom Standage travels to the year 2042 to find that animal-based meat is being pushed aside in favour of cultured meat grown in vats, a new industry dominated by three companies. He ...
01.24.2022 The World Ahead: Technologies to watch The rapid development and roll-out of coronavirus vaccines has been a reminder of the power of science and technology to change the world. Host Tom Standage considers some of the technologies to watch in 2022, from 3D-printed housing and heat ...
01.17.2022 The World Ahead: Following the money Inflation in America has reached its highest level in four decades. What is the outlook for 2022? Host Tom Standage asks former US treasury secretary Larry Summers. Meanwhile, China is pushing ahead with its plans for a “central bank digital ...
01.10.2022 The World Ahead: On the borderline China is unlikely to reopen its borders in 2022 as it continues its zero-covid policy. What will the long-term impact of the pandemic be on tourism and business travel? Meanwhile, the tourist map of South-East Asia will look very different ...
01.03.2022 The World Ahead: COP-out? After a major UN climate summit, momentum behind climate policy often falters. But will that happen in 2022 in the wake of COP26? Climate cooperation is leading to some unlikely alliances and new reports on the impact of global warming ...
12.20.2021 The World Ahead: The new space race Space was one of the only tourist destinations in 2021 that boomed. What are the prospects for extraterrestrial travel in 2022? Host Tom Standage talks to Sian Proctor, the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft, who took part in ...
12.13.2021 The World Ahead: Working it out Why will 2022 be the year of the worker? Workers around the world suffered hardship in 2020 and 2021, but labour markets across the rich world have outperformed expectations. For workers the work from home experiment has gone fairly well ...
12.06.2021 The World Ahead: Year three In wealthy and well-vaccinated countries, year three of the pandemic will be better than year two. But in countries that are poorer, less well vaccinated or both, the deleterious effects of the virus will linger. A disparity of outcomes between ...
11.29.2021 The World Ahead: The eagle and the dragon The rivalry between China and America will intensify in 2022 as each side strives to demonstrate the superiority of its system of government. As China uses its stage-managed Communist Party congress to cement Xi Jinping in power, Joe Biden and ...
07.26.2021 The World Ahead: Let food be your medicine As scientists learn more about the gut microbiome, what role could personalised nutrition play in the future of health care? We imagine a scenario where biohackers injected themselves with mRNA, the technology used in some coronavirus vaccines. And, could an ...
06.28.2021 The World Ahead: The heat is on As heat waves become more frequent and deadly around the world, we consider how two cities in India might weather a deadly one in 2041. Kim Stanley Robinson, science-fiction writer and author of “The Ministry for the Future”, tells us ...
05.31.2021 The World Ahead: Preparing for the next catastrophe The coronavirus pandemic took the world by surprise. But experts had been predicting something similar for decades. Which other threats deserve more attention—from solar flares and rogue AI to antibiotic resistance? And how has the pandemic affected efforts to prepare ...
04.26.2021 The World Ahead: Government via Siri Governments’ efforts to move their services and operations online have been accelerated by the pandemic. Host Tom Standage finds out which countries are leading the way, and which are lagging behind. What are the barriers that must be overcome, and ...
03.29.2021 The World Ahead: Live and direct How have live events, including sports, music and conferences, changed in response to the pandemic—and which changes will endure, both for in-person and remote attendees? And what do empty stadiums reveal about referees’ bias? Tom Standage hosts. Subscribe to The ...
02.22.2021 The World Ahead: When cities breathe out Covid-19 has dented the prosperity, populations and popularity of big cities around the world. But adapting to shocks is what great cities do. How will urban centres change in the post-pandemic world and what are the political implications of a ...
01.25.2021 The World Ahead: Lockdown lessons The pandemic has forced universities to move teaching online. Tom Standage asks if attitudes are shifting among students, and academics, towards remote learning. What could this mean for the future of higher education? How would it affect the business models ...
12.28.2020 The World Ahead: Joe Biden’s in-tray Looking ahead to 2021, we consider Joe Biden’s domestic-policy agenda: faced with a pandemic and an economic crisis, where will he start? To what extent will the new president be able to heal America’s deep cultural divides and how will ...
11.30.2020 The World Ahead: Post-coronanomics What is the outlook for the world economy in 2021, and how much lasting damage has been done in 2020? Carmen Reinhart, chief economist at the World Bank, explains how this crisis compares with previous ones. We find out how ...
10.26.2020 The World Ahead: A shot in the arm What are the prospects for coronavirus vaccines and the challenges involved in rolling them out around the world in 2021? The Economist's health policy editor explains what regulatory and logistical obstacles must be overcome as vaccines move from the laboratory ...
09.28.2020 The World Ahead: The future of work With work habits around the work changing because of covid-19, host Tom Standage considers the future of the office. What lessons can be learned from companies like GitHub, where most employees are remote? What can providers of flexible workspaces, such ...
08.31.2020 The World Ahead: Peak plane? In this episode we consider the future of travel. What if aviation doesn’t recover from covid-19? We find out how one airline is turning crisis into opportunity, consider how to make flying greener—and examine how the combination of the pandemic, ...
07.27.2020 The World Ahead: Red, white and green In this climate-themed episode we imagine how the Republican party might pivot on environmental policy and go green for 2024. We consider how climate scientists map out different scenarios for the trajectory of global warming. Also, a journey to 2050 ...
06.29.2020 The World Ahead: Bus to the future What is the future of public transport in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic? Also, the United Nations’ Assistant Secretary-General on how countries should prepare for future disasters. And could a “carbon surveillance” system help save the planet? Tom Standage ...
05.25.2020 The World Ahead: After Kim Jong-un The North Korean leader’s recent disappearance for three weeks led to intense speculation about his health. What would happen if Mr Kim's regime collapsed? Peter Singer, an author and political scientist, explains how his novel, set in the near future, ...
04.27.2020 The World Ahead: Viral acceleration The covid-19 pandemic has triggered an economic crisis, but how will this change the way people use technology—and which of these changes will last? Host Tom Standage speaks to guests from Ark Invest, the Brookings Institution and Alphabet’s drone-delivery company, ...
03.30.2020 The World Ahead: Pandemic predictions As the covid-19 situation worsens, host Tom Standage explores what the pandemic reveals about the perils of prediction and what other future threats we might be overlooking. Also, what a simulation of a future mission to Mars could teach us ...
02.24.2020 The World Ahead: NPT threats The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty turns 50 this year, but the celebrations may be short-lived. Also, the challenges facing Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as he tries to keep both China and America happy. And why the future of video-gaming may ...
01.27.2020 The World Ahead: Deep green sea New environmental rules have been introduced to control pollution at sea, but might they do more harm than good—and how can shipping be made greener in the long term? Also, a look at the future of nursing, as 2020 has ...
12.30.2019 The World Ahead: Tax me if you can 2020 will be a key year for determining how big multinational and technology companies are taxed, but can a global deal be reached? Also, to what degree will the Olympics boost Japan’s international standing next year and will a new ...
11.25.2019 The world ahead: Small COP, big COP On the eve of the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, we ask what delegates hope to achieve. Also, how can online games help in the fight against fake news? And host Tom Standage interviews an artificial ...
10.28.2019 The world ahead: Libra in the balance As doubts surround the launch of Facebook’s Libra, will 2020 really be the year of digital currencies? We find out what shopping is like when payments are automatic and invisible. And, how China provides a glimpse of how people will ...
09.30.2019 The world ahead: A different dystopia With recent protests taking place against president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, The Economist’s foreign editor, Robert Guest, considers what might happen if Mr Sisi's regime collapses. We discuss the global cannabis revolution, as medical use opens the way to wider liberalisation. And, ...
08.26.2019 The world ahead: Clash of the titans With tensions rising in the South China Sea, we consider how a potential clash between America and China might play out—and why the world should pay more attention to this region. And host Tom Standage takes a ride in a ...
07.29.2019 The world ahead: Sunshady business If efforts to cut emissions fall short, might some nations resort to solar geoengineering — building a sunshade in the stratosphere — to buy more time? Also, what if Facebook blocked Europeans from using its services? Tom Standage hosts Music ...
06.24.2019 The World ahead: In the Sharenthood What if America decided to pull out of NATO? And a trip to 2029 to report on a landmark case in which parents are required to pay damages for sharing images of their children online, and refusing to take them ...
05.27.2019 The world ahead: Food for thought After the successful stockmarket flotation of Beyond Meat, maker of the Beyond Burger, we assess the potential impact of meat substitutes on global meat consumption. Also, is space tourism about to take off? And what can be done to preserve ...
04.29.2019 The world ahead: When the drugs don't work In this edition of The world ahead we examine a possible future where antibiotics no longer work. What causes such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and what can be done to remedy it? And in another health-care scenario, we examine technology's potential ...
03.22.2019 The world ahead: Slow social In this episode we discuss why, after years of trying to make their products as addictive as possible, social-media companies are now heading in the opposite direction. We look forward to key dates later this year for elections, Chinese anniversaries ...
02.22.2019 The world ahead: Shifting sands of the Sahel In this episode of our future-gazing podcast we discuss how an often-ignored region in Africa seems set grow in prominence, for the wrong reasons. Professor Stephen Hsu discusses the implications of genomic risk-scoring in health care. And we look at ...

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