In MARCH 2026 THE WEEKEND OF MISTAKES IS

GOING FOR BROKE

“Every mistake was once somebody’s brilliant idea.”

Back for our third year – the unmissable event for the economically curious.

As ever, we’ll be featuring our much-loved mix of booms, busts, crashes and panics - turning the lessons from the past into learning for today’s investors - with the help of some of today’s sharpest economics thinkers, including Russell Napier, Merryn Somerset Webb, Helen Thompson, Edward Chancellor [more names?]

Our highly topical theme for 2026 is:

Default: The History, Art and Ethics of Not Paying Back What You Owe

We’ll be asking —Can default ever be more delight than downer? Always painful, yes — but could default cut costs, clear creditors, and carve breathing room for struggling economies? Might it even nudge creditors to compromise and spare the public the harshest hits of austerity?

We’ll be delving into usury, the restorative power of wiping the slate clean, the misery of debtors’ prison, corporate death and resurrection, and the true cost of personal bankruptcy. Along the way, we’ll explore the Joy of Debts and the exotic positions governments adopt to avoid using the D-word.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• The New Economics of War • Our signature Jargon Buster session • Scandals & Frauds • Trumponomics: State Capitalism or Shakedown? • The ‘Wrexham Effect’ and The Business of Football • Fixing Britain: What next for the UK’s water industry? • Real Estate: The Art of The Squeal • Where to Put Your Money in 2026 • What Price Energy Security? • How Not to Go Bust: A Guide for Countries on the Brink •

For our Friday night keynote, and on the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, we’ll be asking ‘Has the Invisible Hand Led Us Astray?’

And watch out for our special strand for the curious, the adventurous, the contrarian investor : we’ll be putting the spotlight on the Minority Sports of the Investment Universe, including:

• Litigation Financing
• Natural Capital and Carbon Credits
• Impact Investing
• Tokenisation
• Small Business Financing

Please note: the program is subject to change