Welcome to the
website of Bill Emmott
I am a writer and consultant best known for my 13 years as editor-in-chief of The Economist (1993-2006) as well as for my books and films on Japan and Italy. My latest book, out in 2017, was “The Fate of the West” about the future of liberalism. These days, I am a “Brexile” living in Ireland, though I also spend time in Oxford, and am chairman of the Wake Up Foundation, a charity I co-founded with the film-maker Annalisa Piras, as well as of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Japan Society of the UK, and Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute. This site carries my articles, videos, speeches and books, as well as my 2050 Index looking at the long-term strengths and prospects of western societies.
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The surprising resilience of global economic growth
01.06.19 Publication: Nikkei Business
This was supposed to be the year of the global economic slowdown, led by the United States and Europe. More than 10 years after those regions’ recovery from...
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Europe’s Protest Against the Protestors
28.05.19 Publication: La Stampa
It can be counted as a protest vote against the previous protest vote. That is of course an over-simplification of the European Parliament elections, as any...
Read moreReflections on the Heisei era
02.05.19
Looking back on the three decades of the Heisei era, it is tempting to conclude that although much has changed in Japan's economy and society, very little is...
Read moreSpringtime for Nationalism?
01.04.19 Publication: Project Syndicate
LONDON – Is populism still on the rise? That question will be looming over elections in Israel, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Spain, and the European...
Read moreThe 2050 Index
In too many countries, politics and policy making is addicted to the short term. To help foster the longer-term thinking we all need, in 2017 I worked out this index, together with James Fransham of The Economist, which ranks 35 advanced western countries according to 25 different measures, grouped under the themes of demography, knowledge, innovation, globalization and resilience. I will be publishing an updated version in 2019.
See the 2050 IndexLatest Film: Cambridge Union April 26 2019
Latest Book
The fate of the West
In the long aftermath of the worst financial crisis to have hit advanced countries since 1929, liberal ideas have found themselves under threat, from the nationalist, illiberal likes of Donald Trump. But so has the co-operative network of liberal, democratic societies that we call the West, a network of alliances and friendships that was built […]
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