To neutralise populism, give people more control Providing individuals with greater agency can improve our politics, say Robin Varghese and Sarah Pray of the Open Society Foundations This is a by-invitation commentary as part of The Economist’s Open Future initiative, to spur a global conversation across the ideological spectrum on individual rights, markets and [...]
A cry for freedom in the algorithmic age Humanity must retain the right to reject the network and uphold individuality, says Gaspard Koenig As artificial intelligence makes its way to all areas of life, the most prominent people aiming to explain the technology and translate it for the public tend to be scientists, businessmen [...]
Even noxious ideas need airing—censorship only makes them stronger Restricting free speech in the name of liberty fuels illiberalism, says Jacob Mchangama of Justitia, a Danish think-tank “Freedom of expression has its limits. Those limits begin where hatred is spread … where the dignity of other people is violated.” So said Angela [...]
Countries can test, quarantine and prepare for the post-coronavirus world, says Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist WHEN THE makers of the film “Contagion” in 2011 needed to vet the plausibility of the script, they turned to Larry Brilliant, one of the world’s leading epidemiologists. His reply scared them even more than the screenplay: not only [...]
Cory Booker, a Democratic senator from New Jersey, on racial justice, fixing racial income inequality—and optimism “THE PAST IS never dead. It's not even past,” wrote William Faulkner, an American novelist. The observation rings especially true for the agonising problem of race in America. After centuries of slavery and segregation, African-Americans achieved formal legal [...]
America needs more and better protections over personal data, says Lawrence Cappello of the University of Alabama ONE OF the toughest questions of modern life is where to draw the bounds of privacy—and privacy law. Digital technologies make a virtue of sharing. At the same time, the ability of governments and companies to keep [...]
Progress in artificial intelligence belies a lack of transparency that is vital for its adoption, says Gary Marcus, coauthor of “Rebooting AI” To judge from the hype, artificial intelligence is inches away from ripping through the economy and destroying everyone’s jobs—save for the AI scientists who build the technology and the baristas and yoga [...]
All conflicts end with talking—and we Brits need to talk, says Adnan Sarwar, a journalist and former British soldier SOMETHING HAPPENED to me last year in Iraq. It made me think about Britain today: who we are, where we are and how we’ll get to somewhere new. But before we get to that [...]
We can re-engineer the system to create a new political centre, says Charles Wheelan of Dartmouth College and a former candidate for Congress I. The problem DEMOCRACY HAS always been an imperfect way to govern. But today we are pushing the system to breaking point. It is like expecting a sturdy wooden bridge [...]
China needs to take risks and accept the “political middle,” says Christine Loh, a former Legislative Councillor This is a by-invitation commentary in a series on “Hong Kong’s Future,” part of The Economist’s Open Future initiative, which aims to foster a global conversation across the ideological spectrum on vital issues. Hong Kong’s problems arise from [...]
