SDF

Named by The Observer as “one of the world’s leading thinkers” and by Vogue as “one of the world’s most inspiring women,” economist Noreena Hertz is a bestselling author, board member and keynote speaker whose thinking inspired the creation of Bono's Product (RED).

Her previous books The Silent Takeover, The Debt Threat and Eyes Wide Open are published in more than twenty countries. Her latest book is the international bestseller The Lonely Century - A Call to Reconnect.

A regular commentator in print globally, Noreena’s opinion pieces have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Die Zelt, El Pais, and The South China Morning Post. She makes frequent television appearances around the world including on flagship television shows such as CBS’ This Morning, BBC’s Question Time, NHK’s Global Debate; has created and hosted four television documentaries; hosted her own show on the US’ largest radio network, Sirius XM and served as the economics editor for the UK’s leading commercial television network, ITV.

Noreena has a PhD from Cambridge University and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Having spent 10 years at the University of Cambridge, in 2014 she moved to University College London where she is an Honorary Professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity.

Noreena advises governments and corporations globally and sits on the boards of Warner Music Group and Workhuman.

Warnings are sounding around the world about the growing crisis of loneliness.
In this session, a leading political economist cautions against dismissing loneliness as merely an emotional state. Going beyond impacting individuals, the current epidemic of loneliness and isolation is driving marginalization and exclusion within our societies, even giving rise to polarization and political extremism. Our speaker diagnoses the problem of how loneliness is making us targets for political populism and threatening our democracies and explores potential solutions.

Former Associate Director for the Centre for International Business, University of Cambridge
Author of <The Lonely Century> and <Eyes Wide Open>