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Hamish McRae Profile

  • Regarded as one of Europe's most trusted futurists, McRae uses demographics and business trends to paint a credible outlook of the economy 20 years from now and what your organization will need to do to compete in it.

  • McRae's award-winning work as editor for Euromoney, the Guardian, and The Independent has kept him at the forefront of economical developments, government policy, evolving business models, and market revolutions.

  • McRae is the best-selling author of The World in 2020 and What works: Success in Stressful Times.
  • One of Europe’s top economic commentators and futurists, Hamish McRae gives audiences an in-depth look at the ingredients for success in an increasingly stressful and competitive world. The award-winning financial journalist draws from decades of experience researching, reporting, and demystifying the world’s most influential business trends, economic turns, and power shifts to an international audience of millions.

    McRae has been an editor for Euromoney, the Guardian, and The Independent as well as a broadcaster for the BBC and a council member of the Royal Economic Society. His books The World in 2020 and What works: Success in Stressful Times are must-reads for leaders and entrepreneurs looking to gain or maintain a competitive edge in a dramatically changing market. Hamish is currently writing his next book, on the future of the global economy.

    McRae has conducted extensive research on organizations’ biggest successes and surprising failures, deconstructing the decisions, actions, and market conditions that contributed to both. His authoritative take on the direction of the global economy and useful insights for audiences worldwide has made him an in-demand speaker and visiting professor. McRae has lectured at the School of Management of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), the School of Management at Lancaster University, and the Trinity College of Dublin.

    • View Extended/Alternate Bio

      Based in London, Hamish McRae is one of the country’s most respected economic and financial journalists. He is an associate editor and the principal economic commentator of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday and the author of the acclaimed work on the future, The World in 2020: Power, Culture and Prosperity, as well as Capital City—London as a Financial Centre, The Second Great Crash, and Wake-up Japan. His most recent work, What Works: Success in Stressful Times, is a lively, engaging, and counterintuitive exploration of business success stories from across the globe and was nominated for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

      Hamish McRae shows audiences not only where we will be in the next 25 years but how we will get there. He offers a bold vision of a world in which the best predictor of economic success is a nation’s creativity and social responsibility, rather than technological prowess. The emergence of culture and values as a source of competitive advantage for industrialized nations signals a profound shift in world order. An in-demand, world-wide speaker on the future and business strategy, McRae demonstrates how changes in demography, inflation, globalization, societal values, government, technology, and natural resources contribute to this new competitive landscape and how they affect the future of the business world.

      Secrets of the World’s Best Organizations
      In his most recent book, What Works, McRae demonstrates that although there is no surefire recipe for success, there are several common key ingredients. Drawing life lessons from great ideas found on every continent—from America to Europe, from Africa to Asia and Australasia, the book explores questions like, Why do some initiatives take off while others flounder? How have some communities managed to achieve so much while others struggle? What distinguishes the good companies from the bad? He leaves readers with practical insights they can apply to their own organizations.

      Expertise and Background
      McRae was deputy editor of The Banker and editor of Euromoney before becoming financial editor of The Guardian in 1975. In 1989, he moved to The Independent. He is also a regular broadcaster on BBC radio, a council member of the Royal Economic Society, and a visiting professor at both the School of Management of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) and the School of Management at Lancaster University. He is a adjunct professor at the Trinity College of Dublin and the director of The Income and Growth Trust, as well.

      Awards
      Hamish McRae‘s Awards include “Financial Journalist of the Year”, a special merit award in the first Amex Bank essay awards, the Periodical Publisher’s Awards “Columnist of the Year”, and the David Watt Prize for outstanding political journalism. He was also named “Business and Finance Journalist of the Year” at the British Press Awards.

    Hamish McRae Speaking Videos

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    Hamish McRae's Speech Descriptions

    One of Europe’s most acclaimed visionaries, Hamish McRae imparts credible outlooks on the consequential trends that will rivet business and society. Grounded in demographics and other valid indicators, McRae surveys the changes in power and living standards unfolding in both the short-term and long-term future along with the new competitive landscape they are forging. Audiences will leave with a thorough understanding of the values and cultural shifts driving the markets of tomorrow as well as how to distinguish their brands in increasingly crowded playing fields.

    What’s Happening in the World Economy?
    Hamish McRae offers audiences insights on the current economic environment and the two big issues that will shape the global economic future—the global recession and the structural shift in power away from the old world to the new (emerging marketing like China and India). He outlines how these issues affect each other (the downturn speeds the shift in power) and our status in our recovery (we are still in the early stages of recovery but the factors that contributed to the fall are being corrected).

    McRae also looks specifically at China and India, discussing how improving their economies is good for business across the globe and how people in different countries can thrive by focusing on what they’re good at, be it innovation (like in the U.S.), manufacturing, financial services, or the like. He also looks at other economic issues like trade and intellectual property rights. One of the UK’s most-respected economic and financial journalists, McRae leaves audiences with a clear understanding of the issues that will affect the global economy in the years to come.

    What Works
    In a talk based on his book What Works: Success in Stressful Times, Hamish McRae share stories and case studies about the several common ingredients shared by successful organizations in all sectors the world over. Drawing life lessons from great ideas found on every continent—

    from America to Europe, from Africa to Asia and Australasia, he explores questions like, Why do some initiatives take off while others flounder? How have some communities managed to achieve so much while others struggle? What distinguishes the good companies from the bad? While there is no surefire recipe for success, McRae proves that there is a lot to learn from the world’s high performers, and he leaves audiences with practical insights they can apply to their own organizations.

    The World in 2020—Power, Culture, and Prosperity
    Can we talk sensibly about the future when so many predictions have proved wildly inaccurate? Yes, we can because it is possible to identify forces that will change the world over the next generation. Hamish McRae shows audiences what the world will look like in 2020 and shares what the implications will be for the business world.

    Other Topics Include:

      • Success in Stressful Times: From America to Europe, from Africa to Asia and Australasia
      • The Development of the World's Financial Services Industry
      • A Vision of the Future World Order
      • The Rise of the Asian Economies
      • Globalization
      • Energy Markets and Resources

    What People are Saying about Seeing Hamish Speak

    Rating Entries

    “Hamish was extremely well received, and he tailored his presentation perfectly.”
        Global Management Consultants

    “Thank you very much for your really impressive participation and contribution to the conference. We believe the forum was very successful, due in the main to your efforts, which shall, I′m sure, be long remembered.”
        Humming IMC, Korea

    “Hamish was fantastic! He presented what could have been very dry statistics with humour and panache. He gave us all much to reflect on.”
        The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology

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    Books by Hamish McRae:

    What Works: The Secrets of the World’s Best Organisations and Communities
    In a lively and counterintuitive exploration of success stories from across the globe, an award-winning journalist takes the reader on a fascinating journey in pursuit of the flimsy difference between triumph and failure.

    Drawing life lessons from the great ideas put to work on every continent—from America to Europe, from Africa to Asia and Australasia—these stories are as surprising as they are inspiring. This book explores such questions as:

      • Why do some initiatives take off while others flounder?
      • How have some communities managed to achieve so much while others struggle?
      • What distinguishes the good companies from the bad?
      • What lessons can we learn from the surprisingly well-ordered Mumbai community made famous by Slumdog Millionaire?
      • Why have Canadian manners helped Whistler become the most popular ski resort in North America?
      • How has Zurich developed the world’s most admired anti-drug policies?
      • And how has Hong Kong used gambling profits to help its residents enjoy the greatest level of economic freedom on the planet?

    Readers will be entertained, informed, and enlightened as to how to achieve successes of in their businesses, communities, and lives.



    World in 2020: Power, Culture and Prosperity
    In The World in 2020, acclaimed commentator and best-selling author Hamish McRae paints a vivid competitive landscape in which culture and values will be the new sources of advantage for the industrialized nations. In the year 2020, all having embraced market capitalism, the North American, European and East Asian countries will be engaged in fierce economic competition. With each nation increasingly able to imitate the others, innovations will cross borders within more days and weeks, removing technological prowess as a source of sustained advantage.

    McRae sees the “old motors for growth”—land, capital and natural resources—being replaced by more qualitative assets—quality, organization, motivation and self-discipline of the people. Everywhere, governments will take a less active role in the social and economic life of the nation. In such a world, the best predictor of success will be how a nation strikes a proper balance between creativity and intellect on the one hand, and social responsibility on the other. Thus the leading world economic powers of the next generation are just as likely to include China and Australia as the United States and Japan.

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