Blog - Christopher Meyer

Chris Meyer's blog focuses on the information economy, globalization and business innovation. It appears online at the Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, and Constellation Orbits.

For CEOs, are the days of sidelining global challenges numbered?

Details: Published: Tuesday, 31 December 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

Increasingly disruptive global challenges, such as income inequality, cybersecurity, and climate change, pose direct risks to long-term economic and business growth. The latest EY CEO Imperative Study, created by EYQ, reveals we have now arrived at a tipping point, as CEOs, board directors and institutional investors of the world’s largest companies align on the need for corporate action. In this episode Chris Meyer and Yassmin Abdel-Magied are joined by Daryl Brewster and Jan Babiak.

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Who will tackle the issues that matter: capital or the capitol?

Details: Published: Friday, 06 December 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

In the second half of the 20th century, much of the world enjoyed success and stability relying on a set of institutions well-suited to the industrial economy. More recently, skepticism has grown that these arrangements are responding effectively to those they were designed to benefit. Consequently, individuals are withdrawing from political processes in favor of changing the institutions they can influence — their workplaces. In this episode Chris Meyer is joined by Kees Kruythoff, and Ethan Zuckerman, who directs MIT’s Center for Civic Media.

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Why is Africa more than just a matter of time?

Details: Published: Monday, 11 November 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

In the second half of the 20th century, much of the world enjoyed success and stability relying on a set of institutions well-suited to the industrial economy. More recently, skepticism has grown that these arrangements are responding effectively to those they were designed to benefit. In this episode, EYQ Fellow Chris Meyer is joined by Kees Kruythoff, Ex-President Unilever Home Care & Unilever North America Co-founder IMAGINE and Ethan Zuckerman, who Direct MIT’s Center for Civic Media.

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As the balance shifts, how heavily does China’s influence weigh?

Details: Published: Monday, 28 October 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

China’s rise to the world’s largest economy is the third phase of the development of a modern, connected Asia. By 2030, many of the world’s largest economies will be Asian. Organizations must therefore pay more attention to their relationships with trading partners throughout the continent, not just China. In this episode of The Better Question podcast, EYQ Fellow Chris Meyer is joined by Parag Khanna, Managing Partner at FutureMap, and Jennifer Zhu Scott, entrepreneur and investor focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain and other deep tech.

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The Future of Work

Details: Published: Monday, 23 September 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

The Better Question: For an increasing number of people, work can combine labor and purpose. With the advancement of AI, and its ability to increase productivity and make time for other pursuits, individuals can pursue vocation as a career. The impact? If companies need the services of people motivated by a purpose, they will come to ask what their vocations are as well.
In this episode, EYQ Fellow Chris Meyer is joined by Aaron Maniam, Leader of the Minister of Industry in Singapore, and Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired.

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When will society be ready to harness AI’s potential?

Details: Published: Wednesday, 11 September 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

The Better Question: Like the elevator or electricity, AI is a technology that expands what is possible for humans to do. Ai has the potential to spread extremely rapidly, but it’s not yet clear how it will be slowed by resistance, backlash and regulation.
In this episode of The Better Question podcast, EYQ Fellow Chris Meyer is joined by Stefan Heck, CEO of Nauto, and Eduardo Potter, New York Times economics writer.

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EY’s Better Question podcast series: what’s after what’s next?

Details: Published: Tuesday, 03 September 2019 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

The Better Question, EY’s podcast series, answers the questions that will help executives lead their business through this transformative age. The first of six new episodes will launch on 10 September, where we discuss the new world-changing issues that will start to transform society.

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Equal Justice Initiative

Details: Published: Wednesday, 31 October 2018 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

Mary and I visited this stunningly powerful memorial, and the associated museum, in Montgomery two weeks ago. It is the work of the Equal Justice Initiative, eji.org, and their work could not be more plainspoken with respect to the history of race in the US before and after the Civil War.

What kind of regulation is appropriate for 21st Century monopolies?

Details: Published: Sunday, 09 September 2018 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

The Yale Law Journal article linked here, and the NYT coverage of the reaction (URL below) suggest we're finally beginning to address the question.

In the 1920s the doctrine of "Natural Monopoly" was developed for industries that worked better economically if a single provider served the whole market--telephone, electricity, railroad, etc. In 1934, for example, Congress gave AT&T the telecommunications monopoly in exchange for a guarantee of universal service and submission to rate of return regulation.

Apparently science denial is for the left, too.

Details: Published: Tuesday, 17 October 2017 08:00; Written by Chris Meyer

You probably already heard about this project to develop a facial recognition algorithm that predicts whether an image of a face belongs to a gay or straight person. The NYT article first explains these guys did it to focus attention to the threats posed by wide deployment of facial recognition software, linking to an Israeli company’s claim to be able to spot terrorists and a report that China is in the process of deploying similar capabilities.

The Polarization Epidemic

Details: Published: Tuesday, 08 November 2016 23:43; Written by Chris Meyer

Terrific NYT infographic -- the colored counties are those whose presidential votes were "landslides" i.e. the winner 20% or more above the loser. The maps look like Hot Zone or any of the virus outbreak movies -- polarization engulfs the entire population over time. More data on the site about the characteristics of the red and blue counties’ populations.

Good Behavior is a Business Opportunity

Details: Published: Monday, 03 October 2016 14:55; Written by Chris Meyer

In Standing on the Sun and (more briefly!) the HBR, Julia Kirby and I argued that sensors of all kinds—from Copenhagen Wheels to Kenyans with Ushahidi on their phones to body cameras—would bring information about negative externalities such as pollution, civil violence, and abuse of authority to the attention of consumers/citizens, who would consequently care more about the behaviors that caused them.

Income Inequality is a Sustainability Issue

Details: Published: Friday, 13 February 2015 16:10; Written by Chris Meyer

In January, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini announced to employees that the company was raising its minimum wage from $12 to $16 per hour, and announced an improved health benefit for lower-income employees.

More News From the Information Revolution Front : Who's more progressive – airports, movie theaters, or the NFL

Details: Published: Wednesday, 01 October 2014 10:10; Written by Chris Meyer

Three industries provided connectable dots today. First, the FCC announced that the blackout rule — which has prevented the broadcast of NFL games in a team’s home market unless the stadium is sold out —

My Involuntary Medical Tourism – and a bad pattern for the U.S.

Details: Published: Friday, 29 August 2014 10:10; Written by Chris Meyer

I was in Singapore a few weeks ago for a mixture of work (digital innovation) and play (attend a wedding). Good times. Until the night before the wedding, when with our Australian friends who’d kindly flown up to meet us,

Quotidien Revolution

Details: Published: Tuesday, 19 August 2014 10:10; Written by Chris Meyer

Innovation is revolutionary only when it results in a shift in power. “Disruption” has become such a throwaway term that we forget our society is reshaping itself through power shifts every day.

The Power of Your Vote Should Not Reflect the Size of Your Wallet

Details: Published: Thursday, 10 April 2014 10:00; Written by Chris Meyer

In September 2004, I attended a reunion of my class at Harvard Business School, four years after the Supreme Court decision putting George W. Bush in office and immediately before the next Presidential election. We invited Elaine Kamarck, then at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, to discuss elections in a country in which the electorate was so evenly divided. She explained how the too-close-to-call campaigns spurred the funding arms race to new heights.

Details: Published: Monday, 31 March 2014 10:00; Written by Chris Meyer

2009: “SOCIAL FUSION”

Five years ago, as part of Monitor Talent’s annual gathering of thought leaders, we gathered a set of marketing and social media experts to discuss a hypothesis about how current trends would affect marketing.

Money from Nothing

Details: Published: Wednesday, 26 February 2014 10:10; Written by Chris Meyer

Last week I wrote about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Thursday night in New York I stumbled into another innovation in the medium of exchange:

Income Inequality Is a Sustainability Issue

Details: Published: Tuesday, 28 January 2014 10:00; Written by Chris Meyer

This evening, President Obama will deliver his State of the Union Address, and it is widely reported that it will focus on the issue of income inequality. He will be “on trend,” as they say in fashion — in recent months, leaders from the new Mayor of New York to the Pope have also been vocal on the subject.

Details: Published: Wednesday, 20 March 2013 10:00; Written by Chris Meyer

A genetics rock star, a social media investor, an R&D leader, and a Spanish minister of health walk into a bar… No, it’s not the start of a joke—it’s what happened at Madrid’s Ritz recently, when Fundación de la Innovación Bankinter, a think tank, brought together William Haseltine, Esther Dyson, Alpheus Bingham, Bernat Soria, and 26 others to develop a new model of drug discovery.

For CEOs, are the days of sidelining global challenges numbered?

Who will tackle the issues that matter: capital or the capitol?

Why is Africa more than just a matter of time?

As the balance shifts, how heavily does China’s influence weigh?

The Future of Work

When will society be ready to harness AI’s potential?

EY’s Better Question podcast series: what’s after what’s next?

Equal Justice Initiative

What kind of regulation is appropriate for 21st Century monopolies?

Apparently science denial is for the left, too.

The Polarization Epidemic

Good Behavior is a Business Opportunity

Income Inequality is a Sustainability Issue

More News From the Information Revolution Front : Who's more progressive – airports, movie theaters, or the NFL

My Involuntary Medical Tourism – and a bad pattern for the U.S.

Quotidien Revolution

The Power of Your Vote Should Not Reflect the Size of Your Wallet

The Future of Marketing – and Next Generation Social Science: A visit to The Advanced Center for Modeling

Money from Nothing

Income Inequality Is a Sustainability Issue

What Does It Take to Redesign an Industry?