57 episodes

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.
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The World Ahead from The Economist The Economist

    • News
    • 4.6 • 108 Ratings

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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.
Sign up for Economist Podcasts+ at www.economist.com/podcastsplus
If you’re already a subscriber to The Economist, you’ll have full access to all our shows as part of your subscription.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    The World Ahead 2023: The art of forecasting

    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 events? Charlotte Howard, The Economist’s executive editor, talks to Tom Standage, editor of The World Ahead, and Warren Hatch, the CEO of Good Judgement, a “superforecasting” platform and partner of The Economist.
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    The World Ahead 2023: Watch the mega-states

    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 government and razor-thin majorities cause politics to grind to a halt in the coming year? And will the presidential election of 2024 be a re-run of 2020? Tom Standage hosts.
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    The World Ahead 2023: Bigger elephant, leaner dragon

    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 growing and shrinking populations, and what can governments do in response? Tom Standage asks Brooke Unger, The Economist’s international correspondent, and Lena Schipper, South Asia bureau chief
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    The World Ahead 2023: China's challenges

    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 China’s days of rapid catch-up growth behind it? And how might the war in Ukraine change China’s calculus on Taiwan? The Economist's China Editor, Roger McShane, senior China correspondent, Alice Su, and senior Asia correspondent, Dominic Ziegler, give their views.
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    The World Ahead 2023: Understand this

    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 on the meaning of deadpool, cool pavement, aridification, TWaT city, Yimby, battery belt, passkeys, horizontal escalation and the doughnut effect.

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    The World Ahead 2023: Fuelling the future

    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 Economist's environment editor, Catherine Brahic and global energy and climate innovation editor, Vijay Vaitheeswaran. Also, hydrogen hype is rising again—will this time be different?
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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
108 Ratings

108 Ratings

Orb7_rulez ,

Pyramids of ICE

Two Words

Im Not

Sorry for

Breaking rules

Penultimate in

The slinger

It is

A cold

Hard world

Frozen solid

Dry ice

Wicked compression

Horrendously absurd

Silently, defiantly

Onwards Toxicity

Glittering Frosty

Two Words

Greenhouse Gas

Global Warming

Carbon Dioxide

Wicked Compression

Ice Cold

Dry Ice

Solidly Severed

Ice Shelved

Great Pyramids

Of Freeza

Square Cut

Negative 108F

Opps I

Flunked Oppression

And Yell

Leroy Jenkins

LoL WoW!

moving on-missu ,

Tom and Warren, we’ll done

Charlotte Howard however, what does she add to the show? Who is behind Ms Howard’s career? Ms Howard missed the whole energy sector dominance of the past 3 years as energy corespondent she placed readers of The Economist in a lagging position. Shame on you for keeping her on and spreading her poor performance to other programs.

garrekds ,

Underrated

This is a seriously underrated podcast. Episodes are always fresh and interesting on important topics that are under the radar. There is also little overlap with other shows, making it a must-listen. This show should definitely be produced more frequently. Perhaps refreshed with the same conversational style as Checks and Balances.

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