The world awaits you
My speech to London School of Economics graduates
This is an edited version of a graduation speech given at the London School of Economics in July 2019.
Good afternoon, Graduates of the London School of Economics and Political Science. It is your day, and your careers, and your new lives, which start today.
“I was at the LSE. I graduated from the LSE. I’m an LSE Alumnus.” Those words are like saying “Open Sesame.” For the world lies open to you. You will end up working for the Government of China, for NGOs, for PWC or Goldman Sachs or Google. You will be entrepreneurs, social impact investors, data scientists, academics, prime ministers and presidents…we would be here all day if I kept on going.
The City’s New Face
Does it matter what the chattering classes are talking about? From the 1970s, column inches and speeches were dominated by Chicago economist Milton Friedman and the principle that companies should focus on shareholder returns and forget about suppliers, customers and community – they would benefit tangentially.