Legatum Institute Foundation

Speaking as part of the Legatum Institute's ongoing series with the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies, and 'World Affairs' magazine, Kenya Private Sector Alliance CEO, Carole Kariuki, was optimistic about the role the private sector can play in securing Kenya's democratic progress. The discussion was moderated by Peter Lewis and was hosted at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, DC.

As part of the Legatum Institute's latest Salon Series 'Prosperity on the Edge: 1913-14 The Last Year of Peace', Justine Picardie, Editor-in-chief at 'Harper's Bazaar UK' and Coco's most recent biographer, discussed how the designer's entrepreneurial rise to fame in 1913 created an explosive impact that continues to reverberate today. The discussion was moderated by Legatum Institute Senior Adviser Hywel Williams.

Princeton University Professor of Economics and International Affairs, and Legatum Institute Wellbeing Commissioner, Angus Deaton gave a talk on his new book, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth and the Origins of Inequality. Interviewed by Zachary Courser, Senior Fellow at the Legatum Institute

As part of its 'Policy Dialogues' series, the Legatum Institute hosted Laura Sandys MP for a discussion on the policy proposals outlined in her paper 'Consumers at the Heart of Markets'. The paper calls for radical reform to ensure that consumers are centre stage in policy-making. Responding to Laura's view was Richard Lloyd, Executive Director of Which? magazine. The conversation was moderated by Hywel Wiliams, Senior Adviser at the Legatum Institute.

In an event at the Legatum Institute, author, veteran journalist and 'Democracy Lab' Editor, Christian Caryl, discussed his new book which shows how the world we live in today-and the problems that plague it-began to take shape in the pivotal year of 1979. The discussion was moderated by Anne Applebaum, Director of Global Transitions at the Legatum Institute

As part of the Legatum Institute's latest Salon Series 'Prosperity on the Edge: 1913-14 The Last Year of Peace' King's College London Professor Vernon Bogdanor examined the role and contribution of the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, in the last months of peace. Introductory remarks from Hywel Williams, Senior Advisor at the Legatum Institute

How can the Euro-Atlantic community protect democratic development in the new EU states and the Balkans while confronting aggressive authoritarianism further east? In conversation with 'The Economist's' Edward Lucas, representatives from Washington DC-based Freedom House presented their annual publication, 'Nations in Transit'. Includes Q&A.

As part of its continuing program exploring the moral foundations of capitalism, the Legatum Institute hosted a panel discussion with prominent American and British conservative commentators on the future of free enterprise. Panellists Bill Kristol (editor of The Weekly Standard), Yuval Levin (editor of National Affairs) and Tim Montgomerie (opinion editor and columnist for The Times), engaged in a transatlantic dialogue on the roots of the persistent economic crisis in the US and Europe, and how to formulate a politically durable and innovative conservative reform agenda in response.

As part of the Legatum Institute's 'Morality and Capitalism' series, George Mason University professor, Steven Pearlstein, shared his views on why we may need to re-examine the concept of capitalism and markets. Earlier this year, Professor Pearlstein stirred debate and discussion with a Washington Post commentary piece entitled "Is Capitalism Moral?". While establishing that socialism and communism have been thoroughly discredited since the Cold War, he indicated that stagnant incomes, growing economic inequality, and the recent financial crisis is beginning to force us all to re-examine the functioning of capitalism and markets.

The Legatum Institute and its partner think tanks held the third and final workshop of the 'Democracy Consensus', this time in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In this podcast, LI's Anne Applebaum interviews Adrian Wooldridge (The Economist), Ann Bernstein (Centre for Development and Enterprise, South Africa) and Eswaran Sridharan (UPIASI) on their reflections from the workshop.

Fiona Samuels - Reform of Egyptian Subsidies

Reform of Egyptian Subsidies

Subsidies Reform in Egypt

Subsidies to consumer goods, including fuels and food, account for almost one third of Egypt's public spending. They have been an inefficient method of helping the poor and represent an unsustainable drain on Egypt's public finances. On this rationale, Dalibor Rohac presented his paper, 'Towards a Reform of Egyptian Subsidies - The Political Feasibility of Unconditional Cash Transfers', arguing for an immediate elimination of subsidies and their replacement with a stream of unconditional cash transfers.

The Legatum Institute and Editorial Intelligence were pleased to co-host a very timely breakfast discussion on media freedom, post-Leveson, with Chris Blackhurst, Group Editorial Director at The Independent and Anne Applebaum, Director of Global Transitions at the Legatum Institute.

The Legatum Institute hosted a discussion with His Eminence the 11th Kirti Rinpoche on the crisis of self-immolation that has swept through Tibet during the last four years.

The Legatum Institute and its partner think tanks held the second workshop of the 'Democracy Consensus', this time in Johannesburg, South Africa. Speakers included Anne Applebaum (Legatum Institute), Ann Bernstein (Centre for Development and Enterprise), Edwin Ritchken (Department of Public Enterprises, South Africa), Simon Schwartzman (Instituto de Estudos do Trabalho e Sociedade, Brazil), Adrian Wooldridge (The Economist). The Democracy Consensus is a partnership between the Legatum Institute and think tanks in South Africa, India and Brazil. The project aims to understand better the relationship between democracy and market capitalism in the developing world

At the launch of a new Legatum Institute Transitions Forum report 'Five Traps for Putin', journalist and authors Ben Judah and Oliver Bullough discussed the sources of Russia's coming instability.

As part of the Legatum Institute's 'Promise of Freedom' series, (Lord) Grey Gowrie delivered the inaugural lecture on the question of poetry and its centrality to the conversation that has taken place between English and American literature in the decades since the Queen's coronation in 1953.

In an event at the Legatum Institute, Max Boot, author and Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations discussed his most recent book 'Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present'.