Johan Norberg is an author, lecturer and documentary filmmaker. He is a native of Sweden, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. and the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels. He is a frequent commentator in Swedish and international media and columnist in Aftonbladet, Sweden’s largest news group.
Norberg has written 20 books covering a broad range of topics, including global economics and popular science. The breakthrough came with In Defence of Global Capitalism (2003), published in more than 25 countries.
His most recent book, the celebrated Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (2016) was chosen as the Book of the Year by The Economist, Guardian and Observer. The Economist calls it “a tornado of evidence… a blast of good sense” and The Times writes “Norberg has a strong case and he makes it with energy and charm. A pertinent book for grumpy times.”
“We have come far in tackling the issues facing our species. We now have a good idea what it will take to see this progress continue. But it’s a choice. We could yet ruin it all. We have done it before – as individuals, companies, countries. The future is ours to win – or lose.”
Johan Norberg regularly writes and hosts documentaries on development, economics and current affairs, in most cases for American television, including Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis, Power to the People, Free or Equal and Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives.
For his international work, Johan Norberg has received the Distinguished Sir Antony Fisher Memorial Award from the American Atlas Foundation, and the gold medal from the German Hayek Stiftung, that year shared with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
He is a passionate, experienced and acclaimed speaker with engagements from Stockholm to Sydney, from Buenos Aires to Beijing and from Cairo to Capitol Hill on subjects like liberty, progress, entrepreneurship, global trends and globalization. Norberg has been particularly celebrated for his ability to make complex ideas easily accessible and challenge his audience with truly sharp thinking for a rapidly changing world.