This is a conference which brings people together to examine the problems of the world. I think there are a lot of problems in the world and it really is good that leaders come together and think about them.

It's very hard to forecast turning points, ... glamour cities.

The thing to do is increase the budget of the National Science Foundation.

The theme is absolutely important. We don't realize how much of our lives are absolutely random.

the worldwide real estate bubble and its aftermath.

Transferring the risk of drought to international financiers makes sense for insurance companies, because it enables them to expand their portfolios.

We are in the biggest real-estate boom we've ever seen. Something is going to happen to end this.

Little will be done to stop these things if public figures consider themselves beholden to some overarching efficient markets principle and do not even recognize over-speculation as a real phenomenon.

... confidence, fairness, corruption, money illusion, and stories. These are real motivations for real people. They are ubiquitous. The presumption of mainstream macroeconomics that they have no important role strikes us as absurd.

It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.