Homepage
Open in app
Sign in
Get started
Volans
Connecting Tomorrow's Dots
Opinion
Technology
Business Models
Books
Videos
Follow
Realist fantasies: a review of Martin Wolf’s The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Realist fantasies: a review of Martin Wolf’s The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism
Wolf’s diagnosis of what is ailing democratic capitalism is clear-eyed and compelling; his prescription for saving it is anything but.
Richard Roberts
May 1, 2023
Unpicking Growth’s Triple Lock
Unpicking Growth’s Triple Lock
What will it take to break the link between economic growth and the stability of our financial, political and international systems?
Richard Roberts
Jan 22, 2023
What comes after Spreadsheet Capitalism?
What comes after Spreadsheet Capitalism?
The humble spreadsheet was the shareholder value revolution’s “killer app”. Now it’s time to make decisions differently — but how?
Richard Roberts
Sep 22, 2022
Latest
Net zero by 2050 is a fantasy, unless we get serious about degrowth
Net zero by 2050 is a fantasy, unless we get serious about degrowth
The biggest barrier to effective climate action today isn’t denialism, or even apathy, but our propensity to believe convenient fantasies.
Richard Roberts
Apr 21, 2022
Limits to Growth at 50: the groundbreaking study that failed to change the world
Limits to Growth at 50: the groundbreaking study that failed to change the world
Why has the post-growth movement been such a failure in political terms? And what can it learn from neoliberalism’s success?
Richard Roberts
Mar 14, 2022
Capitalism needs new glasses
Capitalism needs new glasses
Why are we so bad at dealing with long-term risks? Because short-sightedness is encoded in the tools and models we use to allocate capital.
Richard Roberts
Jan 24, 2022
The COP process has failed. Time to try something different.
The COP process has failed. Time to try something different.
Greta Thunberg is right. By the only measure that really matters, COP26 was a failure. But this was a failure of process, not of personnel.
Richard Roberts
Nov 17, 2021
The Demographic Forces Shaping the Post-COVID World
The Demographic Forces Shaping the Post-COVID World
Demographic trends are among the most powerful and predictable forces shaping humanity’s future. We should pay more attention to them.
Richard Roberts
Sep 6, 2021
Where will the ESG backlash lead?
Where will the ESG backlash lead?
In recent weeks, the gloves have come off in the ESG wars. Here are three predictions for what to expect once the dust settles.
Richard Roberts
Sep 1, 2021
How the Powell Memorandum changed capitalism — and what we can learn from it today
How the Powell Memorandum changed capitalism — and what we can learn from it today
Fifty years ago, an American lawyer called Lewis Powell Jr. wrote a memo that deserves to be better remembered than it is.
Richard Roberts
Aug 23, 2021
A Bit of Empathy for the Central Banker; They Just Might Save the World
A Bit of Empathy for the Central Banker; They Just Might Save the World
By James Vaccaro, Executive Director, Climate Safe Lending Network; co-founder, Bankers for Net Zero; and a Volans Associate
VolansHQ
Jul 22, 2021
The Investor Activism We Need
The Investor Activism We Need
Could a new breed of activist investor help change capitalism for the better?
Richard Roberts
May 26, 2021
Reinventing capitalism: a transformation agenda for business
Reinventing capitalism: a transformation agenda for business
‘Capitalism is both the greatest source of prosperity and progress in human history and the greatest threat to it.
VolansHQ
Nov 12, 2020
Scotland points the way on Earth Overshoot Day
Scotland points the way on Earth Overshoot Day
Better news! In 2020, for the first time, Earth Overshoot Day — the day in the year when our total consumption of resources overtakes our…
VolansHQ
Aug 24, 2020
Retrofitting our way to Recovery
Retrofitting our way to Recovery
The Bankers for NetZero initiative is making the built environment its first focus sector, in partnership with the UK Green Building…
Richard Roberts
Aug 19, 2020
Beginners’ guide to Impact Investing — IM(pact)101, if you will entertain me
Beginners’ guide to Impact Investing — IM(pact)101, if you will entertain me
Walk to Work #5
Nathalie Thong
Jun 29, 2020
The Regeneration Game: Spotlight on Scotland
The Regeneration Game: Spotlight on Scotland
A regional regeneration partnership in Fife is a potential model for a bottom-up green recovery. Here’s why.
Richard Roberts
Jun 23, 2020
The New Abnormal: The World After COVID-19
The New Abnormal: The World After COVID-19
The pandemic has made further disruptive shocks — both positive and negative — more likely over the decade ahead.
Richard Roberts
Jun 19, 2020
Why Green Swans Are Key To Any Post-COVID-19 Recovery
Why Green Swans Are Key To Any Post-COVID-19 Recovery
John Elkington
VolansHQ
May 6, 2020
Sustainability With Green Swan Characteristics
Sustainability With Green Swan Characteristics
John Elkington
VolansHQ
May 6, 2020
Democracy With Green Swan Characteristics
Democracy With Green Swan Characteristics
John Elkington
VolansHQ
May 6, 2020
Capitalism With Green Swan Characteristics
Capitalism With Green Swan Characteristics
John Elkington
VolansHQ
May 6, 2020
What COVID-19 Means For The Future Of Capitalism, Democracy And Sustainability
What COVID-19 Means For The Future Of Capitalism, Democracy And Sustainability
By John Elkington
VolansHQ
Apr 3, 2020
Giving Teeth to Stakeholder Capitalism
Giving Teeth to Stakeholder Capitalism
As world leaders gather in Davos this week, we are hearing lots of chatter about stakeholder capitalism. But how serious is the talk?
Richard Roberts
Jan 22, 2020
Regenerative Procurement — How Supply Chains Need to Move from Lines to Circles
Regenerative Procurement — How Supply Chains Need to Move from Lines to Circles
Three key takeaways from a discussion on what it will take for procurement teams to play their part in the shift to a regenerative economy.
Nathalie Thong
Jan 14, 2020
Thin Philosophy and the Qualities Needed to Work in Sustainability
Thin Philosophy and the Qualities Needed to Work in Sustainability
Week of 14th October 2019
Nathalie Thong
Dec 20, 2019
The Ethical Case Against Shareholder Capitalism
The Ethical Case Against Shareholder Capitalism
What ethical blindspots will future generations judge us for, in the way that we judge our forebears for condoning slavery?
Richard Roberts
Dec 8, 2019
Making Markets Moral
Making Markets Moral
‘Modern capitalism has the potential to lift us all to unprecedented prosperity, but it is morally bankrupt and on track for tragedy.’
Richard Roberts
Nov 28, 2019
Growing the Business of Tomorrow: The Leadership Agenda for the 2020s
Growing the Business of Tomorrow: The Leadership Agenda for the 2020s
This blog is an adapted (and expanded) version of a talk I gave at the Global Goals Forum in Berlin on 10th October.
Richard Roberts
Oct 13, 2019
About Volans
Latest Stories
Archive
About Medium
Terms
Privacy
Teams