Boom-bust cycles. They're occurring more frequently than ever. The most notorious ones impact financial markets - but they impact nations, healthcare, food, energy, education, technology and many other areas as well. Given their frequency, why are we still surprised when unsustainable scenarios burst? Vikram Mansharamani, author of Boombustology, is expert at helping people recognize and manage the risk of bubble trouble. He steps back from complex market dynamics and uses a multiple-lens framework to look at disparate data and then connect the dots - providing actionable insights; is there a bubble, where is it in its lifespan and what actions should you take to avoid bubble risk? A maverick mind and a contrarian by nature, Mansharamani achieved success during his two decades in the financial markets by looking at signs on the road less travelled - analyzing financial markets with his powerful but unique toolkit . As a speaker, Mansharamani has a gift for connecting with audiences - he is engaging with a keen sense of humor and helps individuals and organizations identify and navigate the booms before they bust - a skill that has earned him the confidence of many of the world's most impressive companies. Mansharamani is the first resident scholar at Tiger21, a peer-to-peer learning group for high net-worth investors and a Lecturer at Yale where his class, 'Financial Booms and Busts', is among the most popular on campus. He is a regular contributor to financial media including: Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Bloomberg, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Korean Times, The South China Morning Post, The Daily Beast and many others.
Compelling Keynotes
The Generalist Advantage: Going Beyond Expertise
Blinded by expertise and single-minded focus? It happens. But in a fast-paced world driven by complex and diverse factors, connecting the dots is often more important than developing the dots. Vikram Mansharamani shows why generalists are better-suited to navigating uncertainty in this environment than specialists; he provides audiences with real tools to help them avoid tunnel vision and think beyond their area of expertise. The talk is based on Mansharamani's much-discussed HBR blog post, All Hail the Generalist, one of the site's most-read in 2012. Entertaining and empowering, with examples drawn from finance, politics, agriculture, medicine, and education, Mansharamani helps people manage risk and anticipate the future with intriguing specifics to convince the audience of his generalist approach.
Global Prosperity - Why Everything is About to Change
As the middle-class booms in emerging nations, a global consumption boom is likely to have an unprecedented impact on a wide range of commodities - food, fuel, precious metals - that will impact the global standard of living. The result will be geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Vikram Mansharamani untangles these dynamics through easy-to-understand, entertaining, and engaging analysis that evaluates the effect of a ballooning middle-class on an unlikely collection of industries -- from education and entertainment to defense, finance and healthcare. Mansharamani's insights help audiences look differently at the nature of global prosperity and how it may shape their business and their future.
The End of Cheap Food - A Global Forecast
Food is emerging as one of the future's most volatile assets. Shifting political, economic, climatic and societal change all factor into the equation. Vikram Mansharamani applies his multi-lens bubble-spotting approach to the key drivers of food prices in a global marketplace. He suggests that the era of cheap food is over and describes the geo-political and geo-economic ramifications of such developments - from Wall Street to Pudong. Audiences will leave with an understanding of the dynamics of land grabs, water scarcity, and the implications of food (in)security for national defense.
The Global Economy - An Unconventional Look
Europe falling apart? China collapsing? Treasury bubble popping? Japan economic implosion? Social networking bubble? Alternative energy dynamics creating geopolitical unrest? Vikram Mansharamani applies a unique combination of practitioner experience and academic perspective to help audiences navigate the seemingly unending cross-currents of global economic, financial and political developments. While audiences often find themselves agreeing with Mansharamani each step of the way, they're frequently surprised by what turn out to be unconventional conclusions.
Spotting Bubbles Before They Burst
In a globally dynamic environment, boom and bust cycles are more frequent than in the past. It seems there's always something that has reached unsustainable levels. The trick, of course, is recognizing it and taking action before the bubble bursts. In direct contrast to the views espoused by most academics, Vikram Mansharamani makes a persuasive case that it is possible to identify financial (and other) bubbles before they burst. He draws on entertaining and engaging examples from art markets, architecture, and popular culture - as well as economics and politics - and powerfully demonstrates that you do not need to be an expert to effectively anticipate the future. Audiences walk away empowered to think independently and to connect obvious dots to generate not-so-obvious conclusions.
