In 1986, Ivan Boesky made a speech at the University of California, proclaiming “greed is healthy.” When growing up, we’re all taught that being greedy is a less than desirable character trait. If that’s the case, what did Boesky mean when he said greed is healthy?

To understand, we need to consider one of the key fundamentals of the free market capitalist system we live in.

Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, argued that the pursuit of self-interest would, as if by an invisible hand, lead to the wellbeing of all. …

It was Malvolia in Twelfth Night who said: “some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em”. There have been countless great leaders who achieved magnificent things. Many of these leaders, such as Martin Luther King or Gandhi, are still inspirational today. But are great leaders destined to be great?

Countless examples show whether someone becomes great largely depends on the political, cultural, or social landscape they live in.

Great military leaders

Napoleon Bonaparte has gone down in history as a military genius as he led an army of 600,000 men (the largest army ever assembled) to sweep…

The climate crisis is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. It’s so hard to deal with because it’s a global problem that will affect every one of us in one way or another. To deal with the problem, we have to adopt policies with a global scale in mind. The issue with doing so is that while the climate has no borders, human societies do.

Nation-states aren’t set up to deal with global problems, which makes sense because this is the first time we’ve ever had to deal with and cooperate on an issue affecting every corner of the…

Travel. Albania. Eastern Europe.

Albania isn’t a country that springs to mind as a sought-after tourist destination. But having visited nearly fifty countries, Albania easily places in my top five favourite countries.

The country is still recovering from a dark history. Under the brutal authoritarian government of Enver Hoxha, Albania was as isolated from the rest of the world as North Korea is today.

That reputation as backward has been hard to shed, but the country has left its dark past well and truly behind.

Albania is a jewel in the rough that those who are lucky enough to explore will come to see…

The word introvert is shrouded in misconceptions, to the point where many hate the idea of being one. Social perceptions of introverts are that they’re, quiet, unsociable and shy. The introvert is meek and reserved, the type of people who stands awkwardly in the corner at parties, like a wallflower. In a word, they are losers. It’s understandable then why introverts are resistant to reveal their dirty secret. To do so is to admit to being a social outcast.

Extroverts, on the other hand, are confident, outgoing and sociable. They are the life and soul of the party, people who…

In the 1960s drug abuse had swept across America like a plague. President Richard Nixon referred to the epidemic facing America as “public enemy number one.” The problem required swift and decisive action to stamp it out, and so in 1971, Nixon famously announced a ‘war on drugs’.

The logic behind the war on drugs is taking a tough line would incentivise people to either stop taking or dealing drugs. The policy complemented the prevailing logic that being harsh on criminal acts should act as a necessary deterrent. But this logic hasn’t played out in reality. …

The Baby Milk Scandal that came to light in the 1970s revealed the depths some corporations are willing to go to generate profits. Nestlé and other multinational milk companies enticed mothers in poor communities to use milk solution, by giving it to them for free. They did so using sales reps dressed up as nurses. The uniforms created the illusion the reps were experts, helping to convince the unsuspecting mothers that bottle feeding was better for their babies than breastfeeding.

The mother’s milk soon dried up after they started using the solution. …

Since first appearing in the iconic Dr. No in 1962, James Bond has become a cultural icon. There have been 26 James Bond films in all, and 59 years on, the franchise is still as going as strong as ever. It seems we can’t get enough of watching the secret service agent save the world time and again from supervillains. Yet when you break the character down he is a symbol of a time gone by, so it’s peculiar he remains such a popular cultural icon.

On the one hand, Bond drives beautiful cars, travels the world and has a…