About this Event
For 250 years, a ghostly hand—bloodied and invisible—has scripted our lives. Telling the story of economics like never before, Everyman makes legible the ethereal ink in which it’s etched.
A character-driven psychological drama, it presents economics’ leading man, Neo, the textbook rational actor – with his apostles, Finn, the model ‘finance bro,’ Davos, globalization’s ambassador, Wash, envoy to distant lands, and Tek, the quintessence of the tech industry – tracing their rise through the most significant moments of global economic history: the birth of capitalism to the Great Depression, the Financial Crisis to the ascent of populism. But with the by-the-book Gini and her sister, Palma, protesting the system, Tek contemplating a coup, Ordinary Joe losing patience, and a runaway monster, are they on the edge of a precipitous fall?
Kaleidoscopic like global capitalism, Everyman blends fact and fiction, future and history, tragedy and comedy. It combines novelistic flair and cutting-edge research to offer a bold new vision, built on emotion and social cooperation. If we replace a strawman—economics apocryphal protagonist—with flesh-and-blood, could we avert tragedy and alter the plot of capitalism? And, as Economic Man and Everyman battle for its soul, who, ultimately, is economics for?
Antara Haldar is a professor at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Faculty at Harvard University. She writes a globally syndicated monthly column for Project Syndicate, and has been published in The Atlantic, Times Literary Supplement, WIRED, The Independent and elsewhere. Her award?winning research has received millions of dollars in funding, been covered by major media platforms like Financial Times and NPR and cited by the World Development Report and White House.
In October 2023, Dr Gillian Tett took office as Provost of King’s College, Cambridge. An anthropologist by training, Gillian was previously Chairman of the US Editorial Board and America Editor-at-Large at the Financial Times. Alongside her role as Provost, she continues to write a weekly column and is a member of the editorial board for the FT. She is the author of, among other books, Anthro-Vision: A New Way to See in Business and Life and the New York Times bestseller Fool’s Gold: How Unrestrained Greed Corrupted a Dream, Shattered Global Markets and Unleashed a Catastrophe. Gillian has received several awards in recognition of her work, including Columnist of the Year (2014), Journalist of the Year (2009) and Financial Journalist of the Year (2008) at the British Press Awards; the British Academy President’s Medal (2011); and the American Anthropological Association President’s Medal (2022) and in 2024, was awarded an OBE for her services to journalism.
The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and book signing. Your ticket includes a complimentary glass of wine.
Tickets: £10 General Admission, £8 Foyalty Member / £35 Book and Ticket, inc. a copy of Everyman (RRP £30)
Venue: The Auditorium (Level 6) at Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road*
*Please note that the Auditorium at Foyles is fully accessible from the Ground floor lifts.
Event venue & nearby stays
Foyles, 107 Charing Cross Road, London, United Kingdom
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