Next month, TEDGlobal 2011 will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland, but here in Kraków you’ll get the opportunity to watch it live in real time. Not only that, but it’s the first time that TEDGlobal will be broadcast live in Poland, at an event we’re calling TEDxKrakówLive! With the event less than a month away (July 13th to be exact), it’s a good time to take a look at the speakers and the ideas that will be presented. The screening is divided into four sessions by topic, so we’ll cover each one in a four-part series on this blog, starting with today’s overview of the day’s first session: Future Billions.
The day’s conference begins with historian Niall Ferguson, perhaps most famous for his 2008 book The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (also a Channel 4 and PBS television series, which you can watch here), detailing the history of money from Babylonian loan sharks to the recent financial crisis. Needless to say, the topic of Dr Ferguson’s presentation will be money (as the session title suggests), though his approach is to add human context to a usually dry subject. An expert at viewing historical events through a financial lens, Dr Ferguson’s latest research centres on the financial and cultural domination of the West for the past 500 years, and how that era may be coming to an end during our century – the topic of his latest book, Civilization: The West and the Rest. How does the struggle for money affect The Stuff of Life? Find out at 9:30 am.
Next up is Yasheng Huang, a political economist who examines how democracy is related to economic growth. Professor Huang will shift the financial conversation from West to East, as he did in his 2008 book Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics, detailing the history of economic reforms in the country. In his writing and teaching, he offers a critical view of American policy towards China, and examines the nuances of Chinese economics and state policy, which are often far more complicated than they appear. Is entrepreneurship possible without democracy? Perhaps it’s time to reevaluate our view of the Chinese economy.
Comedian Robin Ince will offer a change of pace for the morning, though the topic is still very much scientific – specifically, the science of what’s funny. Ince is quite used to being surrounded by smart people, as he hosts an award-winning radio show on BBC4 with physicist Brian Cox (of the excellent Wonders of the Solar System series) and frequent guests Ben Goldacre and Simon Singh called The Infinite Monkey Cage. Expect live experiments in comedy.
The final speaker of Session 4 will be Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World Food Programme. Concluding the topic of Future Billions, Sheeran’s work is focused around finding ways to feed the billions of humans inhabiting the Earth sustainably. She believes we already have the tools and resources to end world hunger, and has a plan to do so. Find out what it is on Wednesday morning.
Remember, the screening of TEDGlobal will be held 13 July at Gazeta Cafe, Bracka 14Â between 9am and 8pm. See you there!