IAN GOLDIN

Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford, Former Vice President and Head of Policy, World Bank and former policy advisor to Nelson Mandela


  • Currently leads the Oxford Martin Research Programmes on Technological and Economic Change, the Future of Work, and the Future of Development
  • During his decade as Director the Oxford Martin School established 45 programmes of research, bringing together more than 500 academics from across Oxford, from over 100 disciplines, to create the world’s leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges.
  • From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice President of the World Bank, and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). 
  • From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela
  • Ian has advised over 50 governments and 100 leading global businesses
  • He has written and presented three BBC documentary series After the Crash (2018), Will AI kill Development? (2019) and The Pandemic that Changed the World (2020).
  • Author of 23 books and 55 articles
     

Professor Ian Goldin is Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford. He is a Professorial Fellow at the University’s Balliol College. From 2006 to 2016 he was the founding Director of the Oxford Martin School and currently leads the Oxford Martin Research Programmes on Technological and Economic Change, the Future of Work, and the Future of Development. 

During his decade as Director the School established 45 programmes of research, bringing together more than 500 academics from across Oxford, from over 100 disciplines, to create the world’s leading centre for interdisciplinary research into critical global challenges.

Professor Goldin initiated and was Vice-Chair of the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, which brought together 19 international leaders from government, business, academia, media and civil society to address the growing short-term preoccupations of modern politics and business, and identify ways of overcoming today’s gridlock in key international negotiations. The Commission’s report, Now for the Long Term, was published in October 2013.
From 2003 to 2006 he was Vice President of the World Bank, and prior to that the Bank’s Director of Development Policy (2001-2003). He served on the Bank’s senior management team and led the Bank’s collaboration with the United Nations and other partners as well as with key countries. As Director of Development Policy, he played a pivotal role in the re-search and strategy agenda of the Bank.

From 1996 to 2001 he was Chief Executive and Managing Director of the Development Bank of Southern Africa and served as an advisor to President Nelson Mandela. He succeeded in transforming the Bank to become the leading agent of development in the 14 countries of Southern Africa. During this period, Goldin served on several Government committees and Boards, and was Finance Director for South Africa’s Olympic Bid.

Previously, Goldin was Principal Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, and Programme Director at the OECD Development Centre in Paris, where he directed the Programmes on Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development.

He has a BA (Hons) and a BSc from the University of Cape Town, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and an MA and Doctorate from the University of Oxford.
Ian has served as a non-executive director on the boards of a number of leading businesses, including Old Mutual, Implenia AG, Metropolitan Life, and CDC Plc. His board positions include being the lead independent director and chairing investment, credit, risk, audit, strategy, remuneration, social responsibility and ethics committees. Ian has advised over 50 governments and 100 leading global businesses. His non-profit activities include being the Chair of the CORE-econ initiative to reform global economics and serving as an honorary trustee of Comic Relief and other charities.

Goldin has received wide recognition for his contributions to development and research, including having been knighted by the French Government, receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Romania and nominated Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. He has extensive media experience, appearing on all the major broadcasters. He has written and presented three BBC documentary series After the Crash (2018), Will AI kill Development? (2019) and The Pandemic that Changed the World (2020).

He has published over 55 articles, and numerous reports including Migration and the Economy: Economic Realities, Social Impacts and Political Choices (Oxford Martin School and Citi, 2018). His 23 books include Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future (Princeton University Press, 2011), Globalization for Development: Meeting New Challenges (Oxford University Press, 2012), Divided Nations: Why global governance is failing and what we can do about it, (Oxford University Press, 2013), The Butterfly Defect: How globalization creates systemic risks, and what to do about it (Princeton University Press, 2014), Is the Planet Full?  (Oxford University Press, 2014), The Pursuit of Development: Economic Growth, Social Change and Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2016), Age of Discovery: Navigating the Storms of Our Second Renaissance (Bloomsbury, 2017), Development: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years, (Penguin Random House, 2020). His latest book is Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World (Hodder Hachette, 2021).
 

Professor Goldin tailors each presentation to the needs of her audience and is not limited to the topics listed below. Please ask us about any subject that interests you:

  • Future Trends
  • Risks and Opportunities
  • Finance and Economics
  • Globalisation
  • Disruption
  • Government Policy
  • Technology
  • Economic Development
  • Natural Resources, Water, Agriculture and the Environment
  • Finance and Banking for Development
  • Global Governance
     

Future Opportunities, Future Risks

Ian Goldin has a unique insight into the future. Drawing on the frontiers of research at Oxford and elsewhere, he provides illuminating perspectives on the major changes in society and technology which are likely to take place over coming decades. His presentations focus on the big picture, looking at the implications for businesses, governments and individual choice.

Professor Goldin explains the connection between social and technical change, and draws out the lessons of the past thirty years of unprecedented globalization. He discusses whether the tidal wave of globalization will continue and whether past trends are sustainable.

He examines first population and demographic trends, considering the implications for pensions, retirement, dependency and migration patterns to the Year 2050. Next, he considers economic trends, considering whether the current dramatic instability in the market is likely to be a short-term deviation from longer term trends. He considers the rise of Asia and emerging markets, providing perspectives on economic growth and opportunities over the coming 10+ years. The connections between social, technical and economic change and market growth and consumer behaviour are unpacked. Professor Goldin provides fresh insights into the future of computing, biotechnology, nano-technology, genetics and the likely implications of frontier technologies.

Rescue: From Global Crisis to a Better World

An optimistic vision of the future after Covid-19 by a leading professor of globalisation at the University of Oxford.

We are at a crossroads. The wrecking-ball of Covid-19 has destroyed global norms. Many think that after the devastation there will be a bounce back. To Ian Goldin, Professor of Development and Globalisation at the University of Oxford, this is a retrograde notion.He believes that this crisis can create opportunities for change, just as the Second World War forged the ideas behind the Beveridge Report. Published in 1942, it was revolutionary and laid the foundations for the welfare state alongside a host of other social and economic reforms, changing the world for the better.

Ian Goldin tackles the challenges and opportunities posed by the pandemic, ranging from globalisation to the future of jobs, income inequality and geopolitics, the climate crisis and the modern city. It is a fresh, bold call for an optimistic future and one we all have the power to create.

Age of Discovery: Navigating the Risks and Rewards of Our New Renaissance, published Bloomsbury and St Martin’s Press, is out now.

Da Vinci, Columbus, Copernicus, Luther, Gutenberg. These names recall an era in which an unprecedented rush of discovery and disruption broke through long-standing barriers and broke down equally long-standing powers. This rush entangled the whole world politically, economically and intellectually, and reshaped society. Now, the same forces that converged 500 years ago to spark genius and upend social order—great leaps in science, trade, migration, technology, education and health—are once again present, only stronger and more widespread.

In Age of Discovery, Ian Goldin and Chris Kutarna show how we can draw courage and wisdom from the last Renaissance in order to fashion our own golden age out of this New Renaissance. Whether we’re seized by Gutenberg or Zuckerberg; the discovery of the Americas or the rise of China; copperplate or silicon etching; the Bonfire of the Vanities or the rise of ISIS; the spread of syphilis or the Ebola pandemic—a Renaissance moment, then and now, forces humanity to give its best just when the stakes are highest.

Age of Discovery navigates the crises of our time and helps us all define a legacy that the world will still celebrate half a millennium from now.

The Pursuit of Development: Economic Growth, Social Change and Ideas

What does development mean, and how can it be achieved?

The Pursuit of Development provides a concise account of what development means and how it can be achieved.  It draws on scholarly and policy debates to show how nations escape poverty and achieve economic and social progress.

The book identifies how our understanding of development has changed as the pendulum has swung from arguments for stateled development to a preoccupation with market forces. It examines the role of governments, international institutions, business and civil society, and explores how the notion of development itself has evolved from a preoccupation with incomes and economic growth to a much broader understanding of development.
The Pursuit of Development considers the evolving role of finance, trade, migration and other flows to development. The contributions that education, health, gender, equity and other dimensions of human well-being make are also examined, and Professor Goldin demonstrates why it is also necessary to include the role of institutions and the rule of law, as well as sustainability and environmental concerns.

Exceptional People: How Migration Shaped our World and Will Define our Future

Throughout history, migrants have fueled the engine of human progress. Their movement has sparked innovation, spread ideas, relieved poverty, and laid the foundations for a global economy. In a world more interconnected than ever before, the number of people with the means and motivation to migrate will only increase. Exceptional People looks at the pro-found advantages that such dynamics will have for countries and migrants the world over. Challenging the received wisdom that a dramatic growth in migration is undesirable, the book proposes new approaches for governance that will embrace this international mobility.