If the 20 years from 1995 to 2015 were shaped in significant measure by digitization and the rise of the Internet, what’s next? What will define the next decade? Drawing from his highly-praised New York Times best-seller The Industries of the Future, Alec Ross provides a view into the forces that will carve tomorrow’s economy and the difficult, necessary steps that must be taken to prepare ourselves and our children for a world with powerful artificial intelligence, robotics, and scientific...

The spread of free enterprise has created a more dynamic, efficient, and competitive global economy, while the marvels of American technology and innovation have ushered in an age of unprecedented possibility. Where many business leaders worry about the increasing pressure for short-term profits, many in our workforce worry that the lack of training, limited benefits and unclear paths to upward mobility will limit their ability to make ends meet, much less offer their children a path to...

In times of financial crisis, we turn to national treasuries and central banks for solutions. The true power of these institutions, however, lies in their ability to prevent crises, not only economic, but also social and environmental. This panel will explore how financial leaders are leveraging the power of the national purse to address climate change and food security, looking at the case of the one billion poorest, most climate-vulnerable people who depend on at-risk fisheries for their...

Retail has long been one of the most influential industries in the United States. Currently the retail industry employs more than 15 million people, and even with economic changes, such as the rise of online shopping, it is projected to continue growing. Because it employs such a large portion of the American workforce, even small changes in the retail industry have immense potential to help expand opportunities for low- and moderate-income workers. What can the retail industry, related...

The 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer is the company’s 16th annual global survey, measuring trust in key institutions—business, NGOs, media, and government—in more than 28 countries. This year’s barometer reveals a growing trust disparity between the informed public and the mass population, and explores the opportunity this presents for business and CEOs to play a leading role in addressing societal issues. During this session, we will discuss the state of trust, the mounting trust inequality, and...

Latinos are America’s youngest and second-largest population, responsible for one of the most significant demographic shifts our nation has experienced since Columbus arrived on the Continent. Today Latinos account for a quarter of public school students in the United States. By 2060, Latinos are expected to account for nearly one-third of the population. Yet Latinos, millennials, and young people in general participate at much lower rates than the rest of the population. If we believe civic...

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker joins Walter Isaacson to discuss the opportunities for growth inherent in the digital economy, as well as the challenges they present for both governments and businesses. How are we to make sense of the tectonic changes taking place in our labor markets? How can we ensure that our workforce will have the skills they need to succeed? Have we figured out how to safeguard our cybersecurity future? What is the most important advice she would pass on to the...

Policy makers and economists have much to say about invigorating the country’s economic prospects and productivity. What might leaders of the US business community advise, were they to write a memo to the next president? Speakers: David Rubenstein, Horacio Rozanski, Henry Cisneros, Rosalind Brewer, Gillian Tett

Entrepreneurs in the private and social sector share insights on the reality of making change. It’s not easy, but when change happens in a substantial way, the ripple effect is huge. How do we measure impact in ways that are efficient and rigorous? What fresh approaches can new leaders apply to standing societal problems? Speakers: Sasha Dichter, Jonathan Greenblatt, Tina Seelig, Xavier de Souza Briggs

Featured Ideas Festival Scholar includes Carlos Pierre. Over the past several years, responsible investing has evolved from an alternative concept to a mainstream approach. Investors ranging from pension funds to large asset managers to individual investors are increasingly focused on integrating environmental, social, and governance factors into investment decision making. Join investor Jeremy Grantham, B Lab founder Jay Coen Gilbert, and SASB’s Janine Guillot as they discuss this evolution...

Technologists and reputable research now predict a huge potential for disruption in jobs as the pace of technology accelerates. Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, GiveDirectly, and Y Combinator are all proposing experiments in a Universal Basic Income (UBI) as an answer, but American politicians are silent. This session will explore why UBI is the right future economic policy for the United States, how to pay for it, and why it has been supported by Martin Luther King, Charles Murray, Robert...

Adam Smith, the father of modern capitalism, envisioned the financial system as a helpmate to business: banks would take our savings and invest it in productive new enterprises that would in turn create jobs and prosperity for society as a whole. But deep academic research shows that today only 15 percent of all the money flowing through US financial institutions actually ends up on Main Street. The rest exists in a closed loop of trading, speculation, and “financialization” that is...

Those in the business of addressing significant challenges that affect societies across the world—disrupters, entrepreneurs, visionaries—are indeed change agents in every sense of the word. But large-scale problem-solving, the kind that address highly complex if not wicked problems, requires transformative thinking. What are the lessons these foundation leaders are learning about building a better world? Speakers: Peggy Clark, Xavier de Souza Briggs, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, Sally Osberg

Attracting, developing, and retaining talent has been a hallmark of American economic strength for decades. However, in the first decades of the 21st century, the combined impacts of recession, slow recovery, and globalization on some sectors alongside rapid advances in technology in others is challenging our ability to keep our workforce current with the demands of the labor market. Educators, corporate execs, and policy makers offer insights to plot the future.

It’s been dismissed as a geeky fad, and exalted as the God Protocol. Among its supporters are futurists and cryptographers, venture capitalists and banks, governments and anarchists. Known by many as the backbone of bitcoin, blockchain technology promises to revolutionize the way financial institutions conduct transactions, and it's radically challenging how we think about the structure and activities of businesses more broadly. Love it or fear it, blockchain may prove to be the most...

A healthy America requires a broad prosperity that goes beyond GDP statistics and stock-market valuations. More Americans need to hold jobs with growth in wages and the opportunity to build wealth; and more Americans need confidence that opportunity exists. But some argue that capitalism is broken for the vast majority of American workers. What are the facts? Why are we in this position? And what prescriptions—from policy to education to investment—will create a more robust, inclusive economy...

Given that women live five-plus years longer than men, what would happen if we acknowledge that the retirement savings crisis is a women’s crisis? Applying this lens, potential solutions move from growth-sapping tax increases and entitlement cuts to closing the gender pay gap and keeping women in the workforce longer. Shoring up these divides is part of the national dialogue. But there’s another gender gap that’s not: the gender investing gap, which can cost some women more than the original...

In the 1930s, the Great Depression reversed a long trend towards globalization: Borders were shut, trade was halted, and tariffs imposed. After the 2008 financial crisis, it initially seemed that this would not occur again. But free trade is now stirring strong political passions, with politicians and voters of all stripes blaming trade for rising unemployment. So are we heading for a new protectionist wave? Or is it possible to resurrect the free trade dream? Is free trade really as damaging...

A reimagined capitalism requires a new kind of corporate leader—and a willingness to balance private incentives with public good. Today, a growing number of public company CEOs are going off the “shareholder value” script to communicate a new vision of why they exist and who them aim to serve. What can we learn from the purpose-driven CEO? What role will he or she play in reshaping capitalism? Speakers: Adam Lowry, Thomas J. Wilson, Ursula Burns, Alan Murray

Companies, and now investors, are looking to gauge long-term success by establishing higher standards around environmental, social, and governance performance for themselves and their portfolios in addition to financial returns. Does this approach have solid, palpable impact on social "good"? Speakers: Erika Karp, Andrew D. Plepler, Mark Tercek, Brett Jenks

What is "productivity," and how does it work? Why are some individuals and some firms seemingly so productive, where others languish? Pulitzer Prize winning author Charles Duhigg criss-crossed the United States talking with neurologists, business people, government leaders, filmmakers, and even poker players, in a quest to understand how to set goals and live up to ambition—no matter how large or small. Speaker: Charles Duhigg