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Forum: May 24, 2018

Topic: “The Future of Global Pandemics”

During the winter of 1918-1919 the world experienced a global pandemic of the Spanish Flu.  Some estimates suggest that 20 million people world wide were killed as a result of the the pandemic, at a time when the global population was around 2 Billion people.  Today the conditions for a global pandemic are in place: strains of the flu that seem to attack the young and old indiscriminately, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, greater global travel.  At the same time, the public health infrastructure is much more sophisticated than what existed in the early twentieth century.  What is the probability of another devastating global pandemic?  What would be the economic and geopolitical consequences?

To help seed our discussion, we’ll examine this article “What Bill Gates Fears Most.”

Also in the Media:

David Staley was a guest on In Focus with Mike Kallmeyer discussing the future of Hyperloop: http://spectrumlocalnews.com/section/in-focus/in-focus-shows/2018/03/23/in-focus-hyperloops-impact-on-future

Also in Print: 

Columbus Futurists were profiled in a recent edition of the Columbus Dispatch’s special project CbusNEXT.  A reporter visited and reported on the November meeting (“Big History”) and interviewed convener David Staley.  Check out the story online: “Columbus Futurists gather to anticipate what might be ahead.”

Make note