Restoring the credibility of democracy | Michael O’Sullivan | TEDxStormont

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In the context of the democratic recession, 2024 is a vital year for democracy with elections in India, the EU, South Africa, Taiwan, Mexico, the UK and of course, the US. The latter two countries, crucial to Belfast, have seen their democracies vandalised. We need to care for, renew, and restore democracy – by pushing back on those who attack it, curbing the influence of social media on it, and in turn make democracy more local and closer to people, with the involvement of women in democracy a critical benchmark. Furthermore, the whole of Ireland needs to reimagine how its democracy will work in the future. Michael O’Sullivan is Managing Partner at Harvest Innovation Advisory and a senior adviser at WestExec Advisers as well as a board member of the Jane Goodall Legacy Foundation. Michael has twenty years’ experience in global financial markets, most recently as Chief Investment Officer in the International Wealth Management Division of Credit Suisse, where he worked for twelve years. He now advises a number of asset management and fintech companies. Michael is also the author of The Levelling, which outlines what’s next in politics, economics, finance and geopolitics in the post globalization era. He is also the author of two books on Ireland and is a Forbes contributor, TED speaker and the author of the BBC 4 documentary 'World of Debt'. Michael studied in his native Cork and received MPhil and DPhil degrees at Balliol College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He has taught finance and economics at Oxford University and Princeton University. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx