Niall Ferguson is uniquely qualified to tell us the six factors that have led the west to dominate the world these past 500 years – and that the rest are now downloading, numbering the days of our leadership in the world. He is the prolific commentator on contemporary economics and politics, contributing editor of The Financial Times and one of Time Magazine’s One Hundred Most Influential People in the World.
 
He teaches at Harvard, NYU, Stanford and the London School of Economics. Among his previous best-selling books are Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire, and The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, which he also presented as a television series. His new book, which he discusses in this video, is Civilization: The West and the Rest.

Below is a short excerpt from Niall Ferguson’s presentation at the Mackenzie Speakers Series. To view the full video of his presentation in its entirety, click here.