Welcome to the
website of Bill Emmott

I am a writer and consultant best known for my 13 years as editor-in-chief of The Economist (1993-2006) as well as for my books and films on Japan and Italy. My latest role is as co-director of a new non-profit, the Global Commission for Post-Pandemic Policy. My latest book,  ‘Japan’s Far More Female Future’ was published in Japanese in summer 2019 and was published in an expanded English edition in September 2020. The book analyses the economic impact of the growing number of females in higher education in Japan. ( see Japan Forward Book Review). These days, I am a “Brexile” living in Ireland, though I also spend time in Oxford, and am chairman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Japan Society of the UK, Trinity College Dublin’s Long Room Hub Arts & Humanities Research Institute and Trade Advisers Ltd, an Irish consultancy. This site carries conference papers, videos, speeches and books, as well as my 2050 Index that in 2017 looked at what data told us about the long-term strengths and prospects of western societies. For my regular articles, please subscribe to my free Substack service, Bill Emmott’s Global View, at https://billemmott.substack.com

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Featured ArticleSee all

What we know, and don’t know, about the new geopolitical and geoeconomic order

05.10.22

If ever an era confirmed why it is both right and important to be a classical liberal – or at the very least to understand and learn from classical...

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Reflections, 20 years on

10.09.21 Publication:

This beautiful, poignant image from the September 10th cover of The Economist took me back to that terrible day 20 years ago in more ways than most, for it...

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“Three Myths about Afghanistan”

05.09.21 Publication:

There’s no denying that August was a terrible month both for President Joe Biden and for the reputation of the United States. But the disastrously handled...

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The Real Failure Is Pakistan

18.08.21 Publication:

LONDON – There is only one good thing about the fact that the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks will take place less than a month...

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The 2050 Index

In too many countries, politics and policy making is addicted to the short term. To help foster the longer-term thinking we all need, in 2017 I worked out this index, together with James Fransham of The Economist, which ranks 35 advanced western countries according to 25 different measures, grouped under the themes of demography, knowledge, innovation, globalization and resilience. I will be publishing an updated version in 2019.

See the 2050 Index

Latest Film: Lecture at University of Tokyo, May 15th 2019

Latest Book

Japan’s Far More Female Future

Until now, Japan’s politics, economy and society have been dominated by men. The future promises to be different, as demographic realities and the growing number of women graduating from higher education since the early 1990s steadily change organisational structures and culture. How well the country adapts to this will determine whether in the 2020s, 30s […]

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