GUIDE TO A TURBULENT WORLD

  • New York City, New York, United States

Author:  Dr. Dambiso Moyo

Short Description

GUIDE TO A TURBULENT WORLD from Economist and best-selling author Dr Dambisa Moyo (St Antony’s, 1997) discusses the world we’re in and how to negotiate it. Economist Dr Moyo (St Antony’s, 1997) was drawn to St Antony’s for its international, graduate student body and expertise in ‘macroeconomics and geo-politics’ as she puts it. She completed […]

GUIDE TO A TURBULENT WORLD from Economist and best-selling author Dr Dambisa Moyo (St Antony’s, 1997) discusses the world we’re in and how to negotiate it.

Economist Dr Moyo (St Antony’s, 1997) was drawn to St Antony’s for its international, graduate student body and expertise in ‘macroeconomics and geo-politics’ as she puts it.

She completed a DPhil there considering the savings behaviour of citizens in developing countries, before joining the investment bank Goldman Sachs in 2001 in capital markets.

Born in Lusaka, Zambia, and with a remarkable CV including multiple degrees earned in the US (they span chemistry, business and public administration).

Her expertise and growing experience set her up to become an observer on the thorny issue of foreign aid, and informed her first book Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa (2009).

The book attracted a large readership and lively debate concerning the actual function of aid. While she did not oppose humanitarian aid, structural government to government aid was criticised for perpetuating low economic growth and facilitating corruption.

The book became a best-seller and launched her on a new path as author and commentator, with subsequent best-sellers including How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly –

And the Stark Choices that Lie Ahead (2011),  Winner Take All: China’s Race for Resources and What It Means for the World (2012), Edge of Chaos: Why Democracy is Failing to Deliver Economic Growth –

How to Fix It (2018) and most recently How Boards Work: And How They Can Work Better in a Chaotic World (2021).

Dr Moyo currently has an advisory role towards Oxford’s endowment, sitting on its investment committee, and has debated at the Union and spoken at Rhodes House.

She jokes that Oxford is like the Hotel California in the famous song by The Eagles, ‘you can check out any time you like but you can never leave’ she says.

Looking back at her time in Oxford she says she is very grateful to the University, and also has a rich batch of memories ranging from spending time with other students at The Eagle and Child pub, and The Standard restaurant in Jericho, where her usual order was ‘basmati rice, okra, plain naan and chicken curry.’

GUIDE TO A TURBULENT WORLD

Turning to current world politics, she ventures that the West’s penchant recently for ‘China-bashing’ is problematic.

‘It ignores the fact that many of the West’s problems are self-made,’ with, she says, ‘long under investment in infrastructure, AI and facial recognition technologies.’

She goes further, noting that by 1820 China was the world’s largest economy, a position it is now exceedingly determined to reattain  with momentous implications for the rest of the world.

She notes how from Beijing’s perspective, and not forgetting that China is the USA’s largest foreign lender, the 2008-9 Great Financial Crash came from the West, along with populism in its wake.

In Winner Takes All, she argued that China had perceptively understood the need for a very long-term and strategic pursuit of resources, ranging from oil and minerals to food and timber, leaving the West vulnerable to supply shocks.

She observes that for every outrage expressed against China, the West it finds itself in disarray too; whether on human rights (Hong Kong vs. Black Lives Matter) or vaccine strategy regarding COVID.

Contrary to what it says about itself, the West, she says, ‘is not so much these days this paradigm of goodness –.’ Outside the West, looking in, there is an air of cynicism.

On the matter of sovereign debt, she remains very concerned about the US and Europe coming out of COVID, owing to the ballooning debt they have run up.

She says, ‘60% debt-to-GDP has a slowing effect on economic growth, but the 100% that we are faced with now has real material consequences – paltry real growth rates, risk of inflation, multiple infrastructure problems and further growth in inequality.

Referring to the US, she notes that 14% of companies are considered to be ‘zombies’, where they cannot generate enough cash flow to pay back even the interest on the debt they owe.

While automobile and student loans each exceed $1 trillion –  enormous debt that has no easy end in sight.

More broadly, she notes that 1.5 billion people in the world have no access to energy while climate change remains ‘enormous and urgent.’

Solving these vast problems cannot be achieved overnight or through PR headlines , she says. ‘Defunding oil majors [through idealistic divestment campaigns] simply makes energy more expensive,’ she says.

‘We need more genuine innovation and less haste, with policy, technology and recognition of customer preferences to combine.’

Africa contains 20% of the world’s population but has so far had access to less than 1% of the world’s vaccines for COVID, potentially another opportunity for China to effectively spread its influence.

Looking ahead, Dr Moyo is helping to organise a one-day Global Investment Summit, with UK-government backing scheduled for October.

The idea is to secure foreign investment in UK green industries of the future, and no doubt to regain international momentum following the perceived, rolling saga of BREXIT.

‘The world has to a remarkable degree de-globalised, with a 40% fall in international investment in recent years,’ she says. The idea of the Summit is to try and address that decline and reverse it.

To would-be investors she highlights that the areas of interest to her remain China, technology, life sciences, education and energy transition.

Perhaps as at any other time in the global past, the headlines concern turbulence and risk, but behind them are opportunities and hope too. Dr Moyo has positioned herself as a broker intermediary for ideas and economic insight.

At the end of our call she confirms that The Standard, her favourite restaurant in Oxford, is now at 117 Walton Street having previously been at another address…

‘It’s a classic Indian restaurant,’ she says, ‘and I recommend it to anyone!’

Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and follow us on Twitter

Author Profile

The articles, video and images embedded on these pages are from various speakers and talent.

These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.

Similar to GUIDE TO A TURBULENT WORLD

WS Logo 512

One evening in December 1994 a life-threatening situation with a friend of mine was getting her washing off the passenger seat of her car when the door opened, a man put a knife to her throat and said, “Move over or I’ll kill you.” She moved over into the passenger seat, and even helped him […]

  • Author: Mark Grobbelaar
Jason Hewlett | Change Your Sleep

You cave to peer pressure and put your name in a contest to riding the bull. Suddenly – you win! What was a joke and dare moments before, you now see your name on the rodeo board, everyone is freaking out with excitement because you were chosen, and the exhilaration quickly turns to dread. This […]

  • Author: Jason Hewlett
Keith Ferrazzi

I’m not going to pretend that this is easy stuff for Second Best, especially given all the uncertainty in the world. Over the course of the last three weeks, as corporate America has made the transition from meetings in conference rooms and common spaces to Zoom calls and other online sessions, I’m struck by the […]

  • Author: Keith Ferrazzi
Duncan Wardle

3 Ways to Tap into Emotion During a Pitch and The power of emotion is something that has a universal appeal and can breathe life into simple cold facts. Have you ever pitched something you knew was great, only to have it shot down? Of course you have. We all have. And though the rejection […]

  • Author: Duncan Wardle
Jason Hewlett | Change Your Sleep

If you’ve ever launched something as 3-2-1 Liftoff!, whether it is a basketball shot, a new business, or the 2 Liter bottle rocket for your kid’s science project, you know the arc of senses one feels in each attempt to succeed as we let go of our security and send the object into motion to […]

  • Author: Jason Hewlett

I realised everything you do is marketing after I recently stayed at a five-star hotel and found a major marketing problem lurking in the wardrobe in my room.   Upon check-in I was welcomed enthusiastically, and my membership status recognised with a room upgrade. I was even presented with a welcome gift to thank me […]

  • Author: Amanda Stevens
WS Logo 512

Unfolding everywhere around us to Disrupt or die as Duncan Wardle was featured in an article and video on NBR a couple years back. I made a prediction then, and we’re already seeing evidence of that prediction Duncan Wardle likes the Walt Disney quote: “It’s kinda fun to do the impossible.” He knows more than […]

  • Author: Duncan Wardle

Don’t you just love when prospects ask you that question? – What Makes You Different? If you recognize the question as the true trap that it is, and you know how to deal with it, then you love it. If you don’t treat that question as the trap that it is, you’re toast.   For […]

  • Author: Merit Khan

Our Mission

We are your partner creating memorable and engaging experiences that go beyond the event itself.

© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME