WSB Experts on 2016 Trends: U.S. Election, Global Economy, Geopolitics

2016 Trends
Washington Speakers Bureau
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WSB Experts on 2016
U.S. and World

Leaders
Business
Visionaries
Economic
Experts
Political
Analysts
2016 promises to be a dynamic year, full of change and continued disruption in business, politics, education and global
affairs. The presidential election in the U.S. will certainly make waves, and the changes wont stop with the White House.
What can you expect from the year ahead? Drawing on our unique vantage point within the events industry for over 35
years, WSB is ready to help our customers navigate the changing landscape and plan for 2016.
Our distinguished speakers have insights and knowledge of every industry around the globe and are ready to share what
theyve learned with you. In this report, well focus on the coming years trends and transformations and how WSB can be
your partner to connect you with the voices and perspectives your audience needs to succeed in the year ahead.
U.S. and World Leaders

Madeleine K. Albright
Secretary of State (1997-2001);
Chair, Albright Stonebridge Group;
Chair, Albright Capital Management
LLC and Best-selling Author
Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense (2006 - 2011);
Author, New York Times Best Seller,
DUTY: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
and A Passion for Leadership
The world in 2016 will continue to be an unsettled and untidy place, driven by rapid and often surprising change, and
characterized by the decentralization of power, the disruptive impact of new technologies, the mobility of populations,
and the challenge of responding to a multitude of different threats while still keeping in mind the bigger picture.
Given these realties, it will be vitally important for leaders everywhere to constantly question their assumptions, watch
out for the unintended consequences of decisions, and take a clear-eyed view of the many risks and opportunities the
world presents. This is not a year where we can afford to waste time worrying we must concentrate instead on
solving problems through cooperative action and hard work.
I think 2016 will be a volatile year politically and economicallyboth here in the U.S. and around the world. The
Chinese having to close their stock market on January 4th is, I think, symbolic of the fact they will have a number of
economic challenges in the year ahead that will have implications for the global economy. Continued Chinese
assertiveness in the South China Sea and elsewhere in the region will add to tensions and potential confrontations.
Economic turbulence will be further exacerbated by continued low energy prices. With low prices bad news for
producers, good news for consumers. And then, of course, political and security developments in Europe and the
Middle East will contribute to economic volatility.
2016 will see a continuation of Middle East challenges, as we saw the year open with a break in diplomatic relations
between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which bodes ill for progress on peace in Syria and foreshadows more tensions and
conflict in the regionperhaps more than last year. And then you can throw into the mix uncertainties created by our own presidential election, and
statements being made by both Republican and Democratic candidates that will create concern abroad.
In Europe, an issue causing uncertainty is whether Britain will exit the EU, as well as how the EU will handle the immigrant and refugee crisis.
Finally, a resurgent Russia looking to create problems for the U.S. while advancing its own interests is going to be an obstacle to making progress
on a number of pressing international issues.

The rise of populism, from the right but also from the left of the political spectrum,
should not be underestimated.
Jos Manuel Barroso

President, European Commission
(2004-2014);Prime Minister, Portugal
(2002-2004) *In partnership with the
London Speaker Bureau
The world will be watching, sometimes with contradictory expectations, the

evolution of China, namely the success or failure (or the neither nor scenario) of
its leaders trying to steer their country to the new normal they wish to reach.
But normality, as Brazil unfortunately is demonstrating, is something emerging
economies are still far from attaining. Their overall performance is also raising
concerns about the sustainability of global recovery.
Uncertainty, fluidity, volatility, divergence, complexity, conflict - these are some

words we will be hearing frequently during 2016. The general and persistent absence
of a world order in the age of globalization and the specific challenges of the phasing
out of the current American President will contribute to the overall geopolitical
unpredictability .
Islamic fundamentalism and extremism, the deepening of the Saudi/Iranian and
Sunni/ Shia divide and the continuing shameful and tragic situation in Syria will make
clear that in the broad Middle East, that could include many regions from Nigeria to
Afghanistan, things will only get worse before they can get better...
A politically and militarily more assertive Russia, while increasingly feeling the
pressure of international sanctions and the declining prices of fossil fuels, will continue
to raise concerns in the West, albeit in a differentiated fashion, which will in turn raise
additional problems of political management.
Markets will show volatility. The unprecedented levels of public and private debt and
the divergence of monetary policy, mainly between the U.S. and the EU, are indeed
challenging. And the same can be said of a very odd scenario with almost zero interest
rates but also very low levels of investment in many economies. All these factors will
add to the complexity of a global economic landscape that not only has dismantled the
economic consensus but is also endangering the political mainstream in several
advanced economies.
In its typical piecemeal, incremental, time-consuming and very frustrating way of

confronting problems (and finding solutions) the EU economy will continue to grow,
but most likely still below its potential. The greatest challenges will nevertheless be
political: rising populism and xenophobia fueled by the sudden and massive inflow
of refugees and illegal migrants, threats to the freedom of movement and
Schengen, the persistent black cloud of a Grexit over the euro and the threat of a
real storm, a possible but still avoidable Brexit.
But in the past, including the most recent one, the EU has confounded its critics,
showing its remarkable resilience. Let's hope for the better!
So interesting times ahead of us, certainly! But, as Bono and U2 say in one of their
songs:
Don't worry, baby!
Everything is going to be all right.
Uncertainty can be
A guiding light!

3. Russia may find itself overextended and cause it to seek compromise in both the
Middle East and Eastern Europe.
4. Some combination of Trans-Pacific Partnership, Association of Southeast Asian
Nations unity, economic factors, and internal domestic issues could cause China
to back off its assertiveness in the South China Sea and East China Sea. China is
many things, but above all they are pragmatic.
5. Even a stalemated ISIS is a dramatically wounded ISIS as their radical and violent
ideology requires them to demonstrate progress in expanding a caliphate. Its
not outrageous to think that Europe, the United States, the Gulf Cooperation
Council, Iran, and several of our Asian partners could find common cause in
fighting ISIS.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey,

USA (Ret.)
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (20112015); Chief of Staff, U.S. Army (2011);
Currently Professor at Duke Universitys
Fuqua School of Business and Sanford
School of Public Policy
In general, I think 2016 will be a year during which the world will hold its
collective breath to determine the impact of several major events including:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The U.S. Presidential Election

Implementation of the Joint Program of Action among the P5 + 1 and Iran
The sustained suppression of oil prices
Continued flow of refugees into Europe
ISIS expansion into North Africa
Thats not to say that the global security environment will be static, but it is to suggest
that the major players will be hedging their bets to preserve their position rather than
taking bold action to improve it.
There are also several opportunities:
1. Following the 2016 elections there is the possibility that a new President and a new
Congress could come to agreement thoughtfully on meaningful cyber legislation, on
immigration reform, and on de-triggering sequestration once and for all.
2. The multiple challenges of ISIS, refugees, and Russian aggressiveness could
awaken Europe to its vulnerable security situation, stiffen NATO resolve, and
encourage increased defense spending.
Personally, my principle concern is that our internal domestic conversation about

global security is far too simplistic. If we dont acknowledge the complexity, stay true
to our alliances, and adopt a bias for action we will not only miss the opportunities I
mention but make the situation far worse. Stated a bit differently, whether we like it or
not, the world needs the United States to confidently lead.
Finally, there are a few black swans worth mentioning:
1. North Korean provocation, especially if they demonstrate the ability to strike the
homeland. Cant say more on an unclassified network.
2. Further mass casualty attacks in Europe and the United States attributable to ISIS
or other radical Islamist groups.
3. A destructive cyber attack against U.S. critical infrastructure. Something that
cannot be brushed off politically as criminal in nature.
4. A third intifada in Israel.
5. Russian decision to pursue its Novorusia aspirations from Mariupol to Crimea to
Odessa to Transnistria.
6. A political decision in Taiwan to abandon its commitment to One China.
7. International Atomic Energy Agency declares Iran noncompliant with the Joint
Program of Action.

4. Chinas response to the numerous challenges it faces (among them, transition
from a low cost labor and infrastructure investment-led economy to one led more by
domestic consumption and services; pollution; corruption; loss of 4-5M people per
year from the work force; insufficiently competitive state-owned enterprises, the
highest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world; shadow banking; overcapacity in key
industries; etc.)
Gen. David H. Petraeus,

USA (Ret.)
Director, Central Intelligence Agency (20112012); Commander of U.S. and International
Security Assistance Forces-Afghanistan
(2010-2011); Commander, U.S. Central
Command (2008-2010); Commander,
Multinational Force-Iraq (2007-2008).
Chairman, KKR Global Institute and professor
at CUNYs Macaulay Honors College and the
University of Southern California
5. The effect on emerging and developed markets of the economic downdrafts

generated by Chinas economic transition and slower, though apparently stabilizing
Chinese growth (even as the expansion continues in the U.S. and the EU
experiences modest growth).
13 Global Developments Worthy of Focus in 2016

1. The evolution of global governance and the challenges to institutions that have
provided a modicum of world order in the post-WWII era.
2. The degree to which the U.S. exercises leadership in global affairs and, in
particular, in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Asia-Pacific
regions while promoting further integration of the three economies of North America
(21 years into the implementation of NAFTA).
3. The degree to which the White House and Congress work together to turn
legislative and regulatory headwinds (e.g., need for comprehensive immigration
reform, revenue enhancements, entitlement refinements, infrastructure investments,
education reform, etc.) into tailwinds to enable the U.S. and our North American
partners to capitalize on the extraordinary opportunities created by the four revolutions
the U.S. is leading (IT, energy, manufacturing, and life sciences revolutions) and to
prolong the ongoing U.S. expansion, while preparing for an inevitable cyclical
slowdown.
6. The impact of the refugee crisis on national politics in European countries and
the ability of EU countries and the UK to deepen the reforms needed to sustain the
growth enjoyed in select European countries and the UK in the past couple of years.
7. The actions of Russian President Putin in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and
the Central Asian States at a time when the Russian economy suffers further from
continued EU and U.S. sanctions, as well as from continued low oil prices and falling
natural gas price, even as the costs of Russias adventures in Syria, Ukraine, and
elsewhere continue to grow.
8. The ability of PM Abe and the Japanese Diet to enact the significant reforms
needed to sustain growth in the worlds third largest economy, even as it comes to
grips with an increasingly serious demographic downturn.
9. The ability of PM Modi and the Indian legislature to enact the significant
reforms needed to help the worlds second largest country achieve the growth
necessary to achieve breakout levels of economic growth.
10. The likelihood that energy markets stay loose, thus keeping crude oil prices
down and leading to further compression of natural gas prices (with the latter
development solidified by the advent of U.S. LNG exports and further Australian LNG
exports, together with increases in other countries LNG exports).
(cont.)

Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA (Ret.) cont.
11. The continued evolution of the Islamic State, Al Qaeda, and other Islamic extremist groups as pressure on IS grows in Iraq and Syria and IS seeks to reinforce new affiliates
in North Africa, the Sinai, eastern Afghanistan, the Balkans, Yemen, etc.
12. The evolution of tensions in the East and South China Seas as China strives to exert greater dominance over the areas it claims with the nine-dash line assertion and
construction of islands on rocks in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
13. The ability of Ukraine to stabilize the front lines in the war with the Russian-supported separatists in the Donbass and, more importantly, to solidify and further the reforms
in the Ukrainian governance, economic policy, rule of law, and financial sectors to enable Ukraine to achieve progress on a path to an inclusive, free market, pluralist democracy.
Adm. James
Stavridis, USN (Ret.)
NATOs 16th Supreme Allied
Commander Europe and 15th
Commander of the U.S. European
Command (2009-2013), Head of U.S.
Southern Command (2006-2009)
Five key challenges looming in 2016 are the fight against the Islamic State, the overwhelming refugee crisis affecting
Europe, increased tension in the South China Sea, Russian obstructionism in Ukraine and beyond, and significant
disturbances in the cyber world.
The good news for the United States is that there is an increased sense of international engagement to solve Syria,
better interagency cooperation on cyber and counter-terrorism, exciting new technologies in both bio and cyber, low
energy prices, strong allies (e.g. NATO, Japan, Australia), continuing moderate growth, and ongoing innovation from tech
and info sectors.
2016 will be a mixed picture, and an especially exciting year -- especially given the overlay of the U.S. Presidential
elections.
Business Visionaries
Daniel Pink
Best-selling Author, To Sell Is
Human: The Surprising Truth
About Moving Others, Drive and
A Whole New Mind
Technology
Virtual reality (finally) becomes a real reality. After years on the drawing board, virtual reality will ever so slowly go
mainstream this year. Expect lots of experiments and startups along with lots of flops -- from media businesses
and education and training
Workplace
Millennials (finally) take charge. For years, organizations have been waiting for the ascendance of the Generation
Y. Well, its finally happened. Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. As this new
generation becomes the boss, expect a mix of fresh management practices (unlimited vacation time!) as well as a
surprising return to some conventional practices (hey, maybe hierarchy isnt such a bad thing, after all).
George Blankenship
Former Executive at Tesla Motors, Apple
Computer and GAP Inc.
A lot of companies are waking up and suddenly realizing their industry is changing much faster than they are. In
the past, the solution was typically found in faster and more efficient technology, or perhaps a reengineering of
internal processes. Unfortunately these types of solutions do not address the demands placed on companies
today and industries that are trying desperately to find successful ways to interact with Millennials, Gen X and
Gen Y as their impact begins to take hold of the future.
These generational demands, combined with more and more compliance issues, social media pressures and
upper management that is set in its ways, creates situations where companies are now looking for ways to make
revolutionary changes versus just evolving to meet demands of the next year or two. Companies that will thrive in
the next five to ten years will be those who see opportunities within their industry, combined with opportunities that
may or may not be within their industry, and figure out a way to define a path to an offering that is perceived to be
a win for their end user, customer or consumer.
Charlene Li
Expert on Social Media, Marketing
and Leadership; Author of BestSelling Books Groundswell and Open
Leadership
Agile customization of experiences becomes a priority

Advanced digital organizations will use data to drive customized experiences based not only on static transaction
profiles, but on dynamic data from real time social engagement, website activity and even their social graph activity.
This will require deep integration of CRM, marketing automation, content publishing, and social engagement
platforms, tied together with world-class analytics. Omni-channel brands like Sephora will lead the charge, having
digitized almost all aspects of the experience, including the physical retail store.
Digital governance becomes a necessity
While terribly mundane, many organizations will reach a breaking point in 2016 where the morass known as
digital/social/mobile will require a wholesale review of how they work with each other and across the enterprise.
Central to this effort will be the rationalization of the digital C-Suite, identifying the roles and digital responsibilities of
the CEO, COO, CMO, CIO, and the need for new positions like the Chief Digital Officer and Chief Experience Officer.
Social goes paid
Despite the hope that social platforms represented a new humanization of brands and companies, most marketers will treat Facebook and
Twitter like the great paid channels that they have evolved into. With ever-evolving and maturing targeting opportunities, social will become
another piece of the bought media decision, with the traditional social engagement moving squarely into service. That will leave the social media
team searching for a new purpose, potentially moving into employee engagement and brand support via community engagement.
Lee Eisenberg
Author, The Number, Shoptimism, and
The Point Is; Former Editor-in-Chief of
Esquire Magazine; Former Chief
Creative and Marketing Officer at
Lands End and Chicos FAS, Inc.
Given what seems to be the world's current moodunsettled, restless, wary, longing for harmony and given
what we can reasonably foresee on our own political and economic horizonvolatility and lack of consensusI
have a hunch many of us will be digging deeper in an effort to find some spiritual comfort. For many it won't
come in the form of a religious awakening so much as a search to unearth what purpose and satisfaction may
be lurking inside. I can't tell you, for example, how many people have told me recently that they are trying to get
their life stories down on paper; not for publication in most cases, but as a way of trying to make sense of things,
not least their own time on the planet at this moment. All in all, a positive impulse, in my humble opinion.
Kevin Carroll
Best-selling Author, Expert on
Creativity and Innovation, Agent
for Social Change
Delivering/Enabling the Unexpected

Whats needed: identifying/hiring talent; team traits/characteristics; possessing an entrepreneurial orientation;
role/value of play + creativity; maximizing employee performance; how to surprise & delight consumers.
Got GRIT?!
Grit (aka persistent stubbornness) is the quality that enables us to work hard and stick to our long-term goals. What is
grits significance in success? How do we recognize it in others and cultivate it in ourselves?
Storytelling
Native American proverb: Those who tell the stories rule the world. Storytelling continues to be a much needed and
necessary business skill. Good stories surprise us. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and
concepts in a way that numbers and text on a slide do not. The businesses that tell good stories will have an increasing advantage. Savvy
leaders that share compelling stories will be able to rally, inspire and motivate a team to turn ideas into reality.
PLAY Matters!
Play IS serious business and offers a competitive advantage that should not to be ignored. There is a plethora of research about play and the
positive impact it can have on an organizations culture, creative engagements, creative performance, and capacity to innovate. Game ON!
William Taylor
Founding Editor, Fast Company and
Best-selling Author, Practically Radical:
Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your
Company, Shake Up Your Industry,
and Challenge Yourself
The new logic of success: Dont try to be the best, strive to be the only In a time of wrenching disruptions and
exhilarating breakthroughs, of unrelenting turmoil and unlimited promise, the most successful organizations are no
longer the ones that deliver the most competitive offerings or manage the most efficient operations. Theyre the ones
that champion the most original ideas, craft the most memorable experiences, attract the most fervent customers,
recruit the most loyal allies. As a company, and as an individual, the goal is no longer to be the best at what lots of
others already do.
Its to be the only one who does what you do. Great leaders will pay as much attention to psychology and emotion as
they do to technology and efficiency Nobody is opposed to good products or efficient operations. But what we
remember, what we appreciate, what we prize, are gestures of concern and compassion that introduce a touch of
humanity into the dollars-and-cents calculations that define so much of modern life. In a world being reshaped by
technology, what truly stand out are small gestures of kindness that remind us what it means to be human.
Thats why leaders who aspire to do great things never lose sight of the small things that make such a huge
impression inside and outside the organization.
Adam Grant
Professor, The Wharton School
of Business at the University of
Pennsylvania and Author, Give
and Take: A Revolutionary
Approach to Success and
Christie Hefner
Groundbreaking Creative
Executive and Brand Innovation
Expert
We all love great collaboration: its what makes the whole greater than the sum of the parts. But today, theres no
one in charge of making sure that collaboration is doing more good than harm. Before long, companies may start
appointing Chief Collaboration Officers to lead knowledge sharing across networks, build the right innovation task
forces, identify underutilized mentors, protect overtaxed stars, and put the brakes on overwhelming meeting
demands.
Looking ahead, there's every reason to believe that 2016 will be a time of great uncertainties: political, economic,
competitive and technological. Against that backdrop, there is likely to be a premium on Culture, Communications
and Collaboration: A strong company culture that emphasizes both doing the right thing and innovation;
communications with consumers and a marriage of big data and story telling; and collaboration both within and
across Industries.
Arianna Huffington
President and Editor-in-Chief,
Huffington Post Media Group
So heres the big idea I think will shape 2016: sleep. Thats right, sleep! How much and how well we sleep in the
coming year and the years to follow will determine, in no small measure, our ability to address and solve the
problems were facing as individuals and as a society.
Sleep deprivation costs the U.S. economy an estimated $63 billion each year. The costs don't stop there. In the U.S.,
drowsy drivers are involved in 328,000 accidents each year, 6,400 of which are fatal. What we need is nothing short of
a sleep revolution. And the good news is, there is evidence all around us that this revolution is actually in its early
stages, with the potential to reach new heights in 2016.
Sleep allows us to connect with a deeper part of ourselves. Because when were asleep, all the things that define our
identity when were awake our jobs, our relationships, our hopes, our emotions are quieted. And this makes
possible one of the least-discussed benefits of sleep a small miracle really and thats the way it allows us, once we return from our nights
journey, to see the world anew with fresh eyes and a reinvigorated spirit to step out of time and come back to our lives restored.
Im confident 2016 will be the year when we collectively renew our relationship with sleep in all its mystery and all its fullness.
Aneesh Chopra
Visionary Technology Thought
Leader, Chief Technology Officer of
the United States (2009-2012) and
Author
In 2016, a few leading health systems will connect patients to the munch anticipated Health Internet, enabling them
to pick from a growing number of mobile apps competing to help them make sense of their health status.
Sir Ken Robinson

Internationally Acclaimed Expert on
Creativity and Innovation and Author,
Finding Your Element, The Element
and Out of Our Minds
As an election year in the U.S., 2016 will be a vitally important year for the future of schools and education for
American students.
Parents and teachers are only part of the equation. The true basis of change in our school systems will rely on change
in policies at the local, state, and federal level. Anyone who cares about seeing disruption and policy shifts towards
more creative schooling should keep these issues top of mind when casting votes this year.
As weve seen, its a complex environment and a difficult challenge for policy. But its made worse when policies are
focused on the wrong objectives, or strategies are misaligned with how schools really need to work. So, in general,
what should be the roles of policymakers in transforming schools? And what should they actually do to help schools
meet the four basic purposes of education: economic, cultural, social, and personal?
Remember, not all policymakers in education actually care about education. Some are career politicians or administrators who are using
education as a platform for professional advancement. Their own ambitions in education may be tied up with other political interests and
motives.
Focus on the change agents. Those who can see the shape of a different future and are determined to bring it about through their own actions
and by working with others. They know that they dont always need permission. As Gandhi said, if you want to change the world, you must be
the change you want to see. Because when enough people move, that is a movement. And if the movement has enough energy, that is a
revolution. And in education, thats exactly what we need.
Tom Peters
One of the Most Influential Business
Thinkers of All Time
Its been said a million times, but it must be repeated: The pace of change is unprecedentedand staggering.
Robotics, genetics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology, among other things, are literally changing everything.
White-collar work can be augmented (IA/Intelligence Augmented), but high-end white-collar jobs by the tens of millions
are under threat (AI/Artificial Intelligence). Robots to vacuum the living room floor are terrific, but robotized war via
autonomous drones is too gruesome to contemplate. Designer babies (and other genetic miracles) may result in
extraordinary healthcare advancesbut may also introduce the stuff of wild-eyed science fiction.
Our organizationsand nationsmust take all this into account. The world will change shapefor better, and for
worse. And its happening more or less in a flash. Leading physicist Albert Bartlett goes so far as to suggest, The
greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function.
Bonnie St. John

Paralympic Ski Medalist,
Fortune 500 Business
Consultant, Rhodes Scholar,
Former White House Official
and Best-Selling Author
The word change doesn't capture the pace of our environment anymore. Change usually implies improvement by
moving from one fixed state to another fixed state. We now live in a world that requires us to constantly raise the bar
on ourselves. Instead of change management, we should focus on embracing a dynamic future. I like to borrow a
favorite expression from Spanish: Siempre mejor--always better!
Einstein once said, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I have the audacity
to update Einstein. In today's world, insanity is doing the same thing you did last year and expecting the same results.
Businesses in almost every industry are turning into technology companies these days. But the pressure to increase
hi-tech excellence also pushes us to achieve hi-touch superiority. Big data allows us to compete on personalization
and differentiate by specific human connection. As technology becomes more critical, leveraging our talent advantage
becomes equally more essential.
Travis Stork, M.D.

New York Times Best-Selling
Healthy Lifestyle Author;
Emergency Room Physician;
and Host, The Doctors
One of the big trends I'm championing is to inspire communities to become more connected with both physical and
mental health and well-being as the central theme. In this day of social media, people don't always gather together as
much as in the past.
Progressive communities are smartly building bike trails and walking paths, renovating or building new community
centers that boast not only workout facilities and gyms, but host get-togethers for individuals of all ages in a
community. Farmers markets for all, basketball for the youth and bingo for the elderly, as an example. Good health
starts in the community, not at the hospital. Good community leaders understand this and see a huge opportunity to
play a central role in improving individual health through community initiatives.
Economic Experts
Lord Mervyn King
Governor of the Bank of England
(2003-2013)
Towards the end of 2015 there was a growing conviction that the world economy, and especially, the United States,
was finally on the road to recovery. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates. But by the beginning of 2016 this
optimism hit reality. We are not going through a normal business cycle. Chinas sharp slowdown has been evident for a
long while, except in the official data. The knock-on effect on Germany eases life for the ECB in 2016 but only by the
euro area countries converging on weak growth.
Migration to Europe is causing both economic and political problems. Political fragility, almost everywhere, contributes
to uncertainty that will hold back the sharp expansion that would be normal after the deep recession of 2008-09. All of
these factors are interconnected. Lack of cooperation makes finding a way through these challenges much more
difficult. New ideas have never been both more necessary and in short supply.
Robert Reich
Economic Analyst, CNBC
Contributor, Professor, New York
Times Best-Selling Author, Advisor
to Presidents and Former
Secretary of Labor
Anti-establishment politics versus establishment politics. 2016 may mark the start of a fundamental populist,
anti-establishment shift in American politics, driven largely by public anger over the economic stagnation of the middle
class and fear.
Insufficient aggregate demand in the economy. With the Fed raising rates and Congress seeking to cut the debt
and deficit, and consumers unable to spend as much as before, a deep question for the economy is where the
demand will come from for all the goods and services the economy is capable of producing.
Environmental justice. Despite Paris, the climate will continue to change, and we'll see more of the consequences in
2016 -- especially when it comes to poor populations around the world that don't have adequate arable land, are
subject to flooding, and live in housing that's vulnerable to intense weather. The issue of environmental justice will
likely come to the surface.
Economic Experts
Ron Insana
Senior Analyst, CNBC and
Financial Industry Expert
North Korea has allegedly, and successfully, tested a Hydrogen bomb.

China has devalued it currency to a multi-year low against the dollar as their manufacturing sector contracts for the
10th month in a row.
U.S. manufacturing is contracting as the Fed tightens monetary policy.
Iran and Saudi Arabia are at each others throats.
Despite that oil continues to crash to an 11-year low, under $35 per barrel.
Real estate, art and luxury markets are topping out.
The stock market is off to its worst start in years.
And Donald Trump is at 31% in GOP polls, 15 percentage points above his closest rival, while HRC is talking about
higher taxes and Bernie Sanders is calling for the banks to be broken apart.
2016: The Year of Living Dangerously has already begun.
Political Analysts
Ted Koppel
Legendary Anchor of ABC News'
Nightline and Contributing
Columnist, The New York Times,
The Washington Post and The Wall
Street Journal
The world has been horrified by recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. It is only natural that the brutal
nature of shooting down unarmed civilians would seize our attention.
The unseen dangers of cyber attacks on our infrastructure, however, will (not may, but will) reveal those other acts of
terrorism to be relatively trivial by comparison. General Keith Alexander, the former Director of the National Security
Agency, likes to say that there are only two kinds of companies in America today. Those that have been hacked and
those that don't yet know it.
A successful cyber attack against one of this country's three electric power grids would cut off electricity to tens of
millions of Americans for weeks or even months. Thousands would die. Tens of billions of dollars would be lost. What
is the government's plan to deal with the consequences of such an attack? There is none.
David Gregory
Legendary ABC News' White
House Correspondent (1973-2014)
In politics, we are in a consequential time but are hobbled by deep distrust and dislike of our major institutions from
media and government to corporations and certainly politicians! This populism makes this presidential cycle
particularly difficult to predict. We dont know who will show up to vote in these early states, let alone from whom. In
the end, I see voters opting for someone who will do no harm. No one is looking for a hero from our presidential cycle.
Voters dont expect to find one. Presidential temperament is also something to watch closely. Overall, we are living in
a polarized political time making it more difficult for the establishment politicians.
In a different vein I think the biggest media brands will consolidate their influence despite the explosion of platforms in
media. Big media companies may not innovate very well, but they know how to acquire those who are. I think we will
see more of this.
Finally, I think as we find more ways to become efficient through automation and technology in our lives we will see
the rise of a desire to turn inward. Religion may be struggling to reach people (you hear a lot more people who are spiritual rather than religious) but there is a desire
to connect to something larger and to quiet our minds amid the tumult of our lives. Talk of mindfulness will become louder!
Political Analysts
David Plouffe
Chief Advisor, Uber; Senior Advisor to
President Barack Obama (20112013); Campaign Manager, 2008
Obama for President; and New York
Times Best-Selling Author
Ann Compton
Legendary ABC News' White House
Correspondent (1973-2014)
Tucker Carlson
Co-host, FOX and Friends Weekend
and Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Caller
2016 will be a year of political intrigue and change, with one of the most unpredictable elections in recent memory
just now starting to heat up. The on demand economy will continue to create opportunity and change while raising
questions of how it co exists with legacy industries.
The 2016 campaign promises twists and turns that defy political gravity, that stump the pundits, and that may well
deliver a dramatic ending even Hollywood could never imagine! For the 2016 campaign, voters have been telling
us they are mad as heck and arent going to take it any longer. The pundits and political ruling class have not
been listening.
We always claim that this or that election is the most important and interesting in recent memory, but this one
really is. After months of campaigning, it's even less clear who will win next November. What we do know is that
America is changing faster than it ever has, and that nothing will be the same when this is over. That's both great
news, and terrifying."
Political Analysts
Paul Begala
Political Analyst and
Commentator, CNN
Rather than being distracted by the latest shiny object, I advise audiences to focus on the fundamentals: What's the
President's job approval number? (George W. Bush's was 26% going into the 2008 election; that doomed John
McCain). What percent of Americans think we're moving in the right direction - versus those who think we're going
seriously off on the wrong track? Are jobs being created? Is median family income finally beginning to move up? Are
Latinos registering to vote? Are young people becoming engaged, as they did when Pres. Obama ran, or are they
sitting on the sidelines, as they did in the mid-terms of 2010 and 2014? Has fear of another terror attack increased
or abated?
Head-to-head matchups in national polls are virtually useless to serious strategists. Look at the fundamentals and
not the horserace.
George F. Will
Americas Foremost Political
Columnist
There really never is a dull election in our turbulent, argumentative nation, but 2016 promises to be particularly
riveting. When Barack Obama leaves office at noon, January 20, 2017, we will have had three consecutive two-term
presidencies--something that has not happened since the Virginia Dynasty of our third, fourth and fifth presidents-Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. The Democrats' challenges include this: six times since the Second World War,
parties have tried to extend their hold on the White House from eight to twelve years. Five times they have failed.
The Republicans' challenges include this: eighteen states and the District of Columbia have voted Democratic in all
six presidential elections since 1992. They have a combined total of 242 of the 270 electoral votes need to win. So
unless the Republican candidate can switch some of those states, the Democratic nominee will spend the autumn
looking for 28 electoral votes--and she will find them.
Furthermore, many things are beyond the parties' control, including this: the recovery--such as it has been--from the
Great Recession began in June 2009, which means it is old enough that, judging by recent economic rhythms, we
are due for a recession sometime soon.
It is going to be a wild ride. Wild and long and unpredictable.
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