Thinkers & Ideas

In The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling into Disorder, Eswar Prasad argues that we are caught in a destructive feedback loop between economics, domestic politics, and geopolitics.
Prasad is a professor of Trade Policy and Economics at Cornell University, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. In his new book, he explores how globalization, international institutions, the rise of “middle power” countries, and technological innovations had the potential to promote shared prosperity—but instead are driving global instability.
In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the breakdown of the rule-based system, implications for trade policy in Europe and elsewhere, and the role AI plays in driving global instability.
Key topics discussed:
01:20 | The doom loop driving global instability
06:41 | The positive aspects of globalization and middle powers
12:02 | Implications for European trade policy
15:51 | The breakdown of the rule-based system
18:36 | The role of AI and other technologies in the doom loop
23:57 | Reasons for remaining optimistic
Additional inspirations from Eswar Prasad:
The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution Is Transforming Currencies and Finance (Belknap Press: An Imprint of Harvard University Press, 2023)

In The New Geography of Innovation: The Global Contest for Breakthrough Technologies, Mehran Gul examines how innovation works in different countries around the globe—diving deep into the ecosystems that produce great technology companies.
Gul is a writer and leading technology thinker, having served as the Lead for the Digital Transformation of Industries at the World Economic Forum. His book, which was nominated as a Financial Times best business book of 2025, he discusses why the United States remains at the world’s technological frontier, with only China being a true challenger.
In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, Global Leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he talks about how innovation ecosystems are converging, the role of statecraft in fostering innovation ecosystems, and the main forces that will shift the global innovation landscape in the coming decade.
Key topics discussed:
01:22 | Attributes of successful innovation ecosystems
06:57 | US vs. China talent pool
10:26 | What China gets right about innovation
13:20 | Why Europe lags behind on innovation
18:54 | The role of intentional statecraft in fostering innovation
23:31 | The convergence of innovation ecosystems around the globe
26:34 | Implications for businesses
28:56 | How the global innovation landscape will evolve in the next decade

In Flourish: The Transformative Power of Creating Community, Daniel Coyle investigates the ecosystems in which humans do their best work—from sports teams, to the boardroom, and our daily lives.
Daniel Coyle is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, in which he explores how people and groups grow, perform, and flourish. He combines immersive field reporting with behavioral science to create practical frameworks for building skill, culture, and meaningful connection.
In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses his definition of flourishing, how to find moments of stillness in our turbulent world, and how leaders can balance efficiency with the disorder that fosters creativity.
Key topics discussed:
01:03 | The definition of flourishing
09:13 | Finding moments of reflection and stillness
16:41 | Crisis as a trigger for flourishing
19:52 | Messiness and creativity
26:39 | Balancing disorder and efficiency
29:40 | A starting point for leaders
Additional inspirations from Daniel Coyle:
The Culture Playbook: 60 Highly Effective Actions to Help Your Group Succeed (Random House Audio, 2022)
The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups (Bantam, 2018)
The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. (Bantam, 2009)

In Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World: A New Economics for the Middle Class, the Global Poor, and Our Climate, Dani Rodrik proposes new modes of cooperation and policy experimentation to address our greatest global challenges.
Rodrik is the Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at Harvard Kennedy School. He codirects both the Reimagining the Economy Program at Harvard and the Economics for Inclusive Prosperity network.
In his conversation with Nikolaus Lang, global leader of the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses the trilemma between democracy, prosperity, and sustainability, how hyper-globalization contributed to this struggle, and his proposed framework for resolving it.
Key topics discussed:
01:06 | The trilemma of democracy, prosperity, and sustainability
03:50 | The shortcomings of hyper-globalization
10:33 | Why manufacturing is no longer an escape from poverty
14:47 | Services as drivers of development
18:33 | The new framework of productivism
23:25 | The power of unilateral climate actions
27:26 | Implications for business leaders
Additional inspirations from Dani Rodrik:
Straight Talk on Trade: Ideas for a Sane World Economy (Princeton University Press, 2017)
Economics Rules: The Rights and Wrongs of the Dismal Science (W. W. Norton & Company, 2015)

In The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things that Last, Jimmy Wales explains how he turned an impossible idea—creating an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit—into a global institution.
Wales is the founder of Wikipedia. In his new book, he distills two decades of lessons from building one of the world’s most trusted collaborative projects. He argues that trust isn’t a soft virtue but a practical system—a set of design principles that allow people and organizations to cooperate effectively, solve problems honestly, and endure.
In his conversation with Adam Job, senior director at the BCG Henderson Institute, he discusses whether Wikipedia could still be created today, how it can retain its trusted status in an age of polarization, and what we can learn from Wikipedia to rebuild trust within society.
Key topics discussed:
01:02 | How to scale interpersonal trust
04:02 | The importance of assuming good faith
07:13 | Could Wikipedia still be created today?
09:06 | How Wikipedia can retain its trusted status in an age of polarization
10:30 | The impact of AI on trust
15:40 | How institutions can reclaim lost trust
18:01 | Reasons to remain optimistic about rebuilding societal trust