Open Future
The Economist
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Past articles by Open:
America needs to fix capitalism to save it
Apply “Lincolnvelt” policies of greater opportunity and social insurance, says Glenn Hubbard of Columbia Business School → Read More
Watch the Open Future Festival livestream
Our annual ideas conference will take place on October 5th in Chicago, Manchester and Hong Kong → Read More
How to respond to climate change, if you are an algorithm
We ran our youth essay question through an artificial-intelligence system to produce an essay → Read More
Reimagining Hong Kong
A collection of guest commentaries on the future of Hong Kong and China → Read More
Hong Kong “is a battle for survival and for freedom”
China wants Hong Kong’s economic activities but not its rebellious elements, says Nathan Law Kwun-chung, a politician and activist → Read More
Protesters are fighting for an open society
To lose this battle would be to give up our way of life, says Fernando Cheung, a member of the Legislative Council → Read More
“Academic mobbing” undermines open inquiry and destroys the soul of universities
Controversial ideas should be subjected to debate, says Noah Carl, an independent researcher and erstwhile research fellow at St Edmund’s College, Cambridge → Read More
Smashed like avocados: how young people are treated by their elders
An interview with Joseph Sternberg and an excerpt from his book “The Theft of a Decade: How the Baby Boomers Stole the Millennials' Economic Future” → Read More
Join us for a day of ideas, debate and inspiration
Our annual ideas conference will take place on October 5th in Chicago, Manchester and Hong Kong → Read More
Our essay competition for young people
What fundamental economic and political change, if any, is needed for an effective response to climate change? → Read More
Our essay competition for young people
What fundamental economic and political change, if any, is needed for an effective response to climate change? → Read More
Regulating Big Tech makes them stronger, so they need competition instead
Use antitrust to promote interoperability, says Cory Doctorow, an author and tech activist → Read More
We need to break political tribalism to improve democracy
IT IS fashionable to reflect that politics is broken. Whether you are chatting to millennial socialists, populist nationalists or frustrated centrists, the idea that democracy in the West is malfunctioning is likely to be acknowledged without hesitation. But it is not true. → Read More
Lessons from the history of democracy
DEMOCRACY IS THE most widely accepted form of governance, yet its flaws have become increasingly apparent in recent years. Gridlocked legislatures, low trust in the press, and judiciaries challenged by expansive executive power have all called attention to the many ways in which Western institutions can become dysfunctional. → Read More
Liberals need to show a little respect
THE DEEPEST problem facing liberal societies “is not a lack of economic growth, but a lack of respect”, says Richard Reeves of the Brookings Institution. → Read More
Will humans wipe out humanity?
THE importance of science in society has no greater spokesperson than Lord Martin Rees. From his perch at Cambridge—and a centre he formed on studying existential risks—he has served as both a promoter, populariser and the moral conscience of scientific endeavour far beyond his academic field of astrophysics. → Read More
Ten pieces that look at the future of liberalism
IN APRIL THIS year The Economist launched Open Future, an initiative that aimed to start a conversation on liberalism in the run-up to our 175th anniversary. Open Future consisted of online articles, debates, podcasts and films. → Read More
The fight to keep ideas open to all
“THE ONLY way we can preserve and nurture other and more precious freedoms is by relinquishing the freedom to breed.” This ominous sentence comes not from China’s one-child policy but from one of the 20th century’s most influential—and misunderstood—essays in economics. → Read More
The antidote to civilisational collapse
An interview with the documentary filmmaker Adam Curtis → Read More
An interview with Steve Bannon
As part of the Open Future festival Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist, discusses how his economic protectionism could result in price rises for US consumers and why he thinks that’s fine. Anne McElvoy, our senior editor, presses him on populism in Europe, Brexit, and his disagreements with Ivanka Trump. → Read More