In this special episode, Shepheard-Walwyn host Jonathan Brown interviews one of our best-selling authors, Fred Harrison, to mark the launch of his new book, Cheating, which argues modern civilisation was built on an ancient betrayal in which leaders diverted economic rent for self-interest, creating an irresponsible social system that persists today. Fred defines rent as the surplus over basic needs that once powered human evolution, then links today’s “four plus one” crises—political paralysis, ecological breakdown, migration, autocracy, and AI—to the ongoing capture of rent. He forecasts a severe global downturn around 2028 as the current 18-year cycle ends, worsened by post-2008 policies and AI-driven job losses. He describes regional deprivation in the UK as deadly, calls for indicting the culture of cheating, proposes “one world rent” to incentivise cooperation, warns that AI may scale corrupt values, and urges an informed public conversation to reform human empathy and the economic system for the greater good.
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