We told the story of How Money Changed Our World. A gripping tale presented by some of the most profound and insightful thinkers on money, including David McWilliams, Merryn Somerset-Webb, Felix Martin, Edward Chancellor, Russell Napier, Iszabella Kaminska, and Tamim Bayoumi.

We went on a journey through time—from money’s ancient origins in Mesopotamia, via Greece and Rome, and the extraordinary stones of Yap—Whether it was conventional assets, crypto, gold, or simply under the mattress, we heard sharp analysis and expert insights from Russell Napier, Edward Chancellor, and Tamim Bayoumi about where to put your money in 2025 —an essential conversation for investors, economists, and anyone looking to stay ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. We delved into today’s cutting-edge innovations of cryptocurrencies, tokens, and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and heard about the pivotal moments in financial history and the human stories behind them.

We found out how, in Italian Renaissance city-states, resourceful merchants faced with a scarcity of coins created their own private money—and with it, their private banks— and became powers in the land.

How the birth of the Bank of England, after a hundred years in labour, led to the central banks now at the heart of modern economies.

We traced the far-from-inevitable rise of the Gold Standard, and its eventual collapse. Examined the dismantling of the Bretton Woods system, and shed light on the current era of fiat money—currency backed by nothing but trust. And explored how abuse of that trust has seen the rise of cryptocurrencies, in turn with their very own issues of credibility.

After an unexpected excursion into the Economics of The Wizard of Oz, we returned to our own volatile and uncertain times. For our final session, we turned to our experts for their take on global money— and what to do with yours in 2025.

Another compelling thread centred on Gross National Happiness (GNH). We heard from the inspirational Emma Slade, a CFA charter-holder and former Buddhist nun who worked on Bhutan's GNH project who offered a unique perspective on happiness and well-being. Joining her was Gus O’Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the British Civil Service, and a proponent of placing increased well-being at the centre of economic policymaking. Over two sessions, we explored how to measure what truly matters to us and whether we can represent this in a Happiness Index.

Having tackled happiness, we moved on to explore the darker side of finance in the digital age, with an insightful session on money laundering, led by Oliver Bullough, bestselling author of Moneyland and Butler to the World who exposed the staggering scale of this form of financial crime, and asks what governments can do to combat global fraud.

Expert on the economics of crime, Professor Anja Shortland, spoke about the growing risk of digital extortion known as ransomware, where attacks are growing faster than our ability to defend ourselves against them. And we learned the strategies to stay one step ahead of the digital criminals.

We also turned the spotlight on some crucial parts of the UK economy.  Sir Philip Augar led a thought-provoking panel on the parlous state of higher education funding and the catastrophic consequences of even a single university filing for bankruptcy, sadly an all too likely event. And the curious case of UK Regulation.  With so much of our economy and society regulated by independent bodies, we asked what is the proper role of government? And where is the democratic accountability for regulators’ decisions? Ed Richards (former director of OFCOM) and Terry Burns (former Chair of Channel Four and Welsh Water) provided an in-depth look at the current state of regulation in the UK.

And finally we turned to the vexed question of the UK Planning System. From houses to railways, hospitals to nuclear power stations, why is it so expensive to build anything in the UK compared to other countries? Who benefits from the current system? Who loses? How could we do things better?

On the investment front, our expert panels highlighted areas of risk and opportunity, as the Trump presidency took hold. We also examined the question ‘ESG – Dead or Alive?’ in a lively session featuring a partner from Baillie Gifford and the CEO of leading impact investor, Snowball Capital  And, back by popular demand, Professor Helen Thompson and Nick Butler tackled Trump’s volte-face on the USA’s energy policy, and the likely consequences for climate change.