The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism

About the Speech: According to Martin Wolf, the “infection of democracy by the plague of populist authoritarianism” in both developing countries and established democracies, notably and crucially the US, but also the UK, France and Italy, has led to an era of looming “democratic depression”. In his address, Mr Wolf argues that the breakdown of the relationship between market capitalism and liberal democracy — the "complementary opposites" of our modern civilisation – as well as soaring inequality threatens to undermine the whole fabric of society. He considers whether it is too late to reverse course and if not, how we might do so.

About the Speaker: Martin Wolf is Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, London. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000. He was a member of the UK government’s Independent Commission on Banking between June 2010 and September 2011. He is an honorary fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and King’s College, London.  He has received honorary doctorates from six universities, including the London School of Economics. He is a University Global Fellow of Columbia University, New York. Mr Wolf won the Ludwig Erhard Prize for economic commentary for 2009, the 33rd Ischia International Journalism Prize in 2012,  the Overseas Press Club of America’s prize for “best commentary on international news in any medium” for 2013 and the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gerald Loeb Awards. His most recent book is The Shifts and The Shocks: What we’ve learned – and have still to learn – from the financial crisis.