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TED Talks Daily

Why we ignore obvious problems -- and how to act on them | Michele Wucker

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.111.9K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2019

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why do we often neglect big problems, like the financial crisis and climate change, until it's too late? Policy strategist Michele Wucker urges us to replace the myth of the "black swan" -- that rare, unforeseeable, unavoidable catastrophe -- with the reality of the "gray rhino," the preventable danger that we choose to ignore. She shows why predictable crises catch us by surprise -- and lays out some signs that there may be a charging rhino in your life right now.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This TED Talk features author and policy analyst Michelle Walker, recorded live at Ted Salon,

0:07.8

Imagine If 2019.

0:11.8

So what if there were a highly obvious problem right in front of you?

0:17.7

One that everyone was talking about, one that affected you directly?

0:24.2

Would you do everything within your power to fix things before they got worse?

0:31.3

Don't be so sure. We are all much more likely than any of us would like to admit

0:37.5

to miss what's right in front of our eyes.

0:40.9

And in fact, we're sometimes most likely to turn away from things

0:45.7

precisely because of the threat that they represent to us

0:50.4

in business, life, and the world.

0:53.9

So I want to give you an example from my world, economic policy.

0:59.4

So when Alan Greenspan was head of the Federal Reserve, his entire job was to watch out

1:05.9

for problems in the U.S. economy and to make sure that they didn't spin out of control.

1:11.5

So after 2006, when real estate prices peaked,

1:15.7

more and more and more, respected leaders and institutions

1:20.0

started to sound the alarm bells about risky lending

1:24.3

and dangerous market bubbles.

1:27.9

As you know, in 2008, it all came tumbling down.

1:32.2

Banks collapsed.

1:33.7

Global stock markets lost nearly half their value.

1:37.0

Millions and millions of people lost their homes to foreclosure.

1:41.4

And at the bottom, nearly one in ten Americans was out of work.

...

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