Todd Buchholz

  • Former White House Director of Economic Policy, Best-selling Author, Economist & Trend Forecaster
  • Frequent guest on ABC News, PBS, CBS and CNBC
  • Named in the 21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century by Successful Meetings Magazine

Todd Buchholz “lights up economics with a wickedly sparkling wit,” says the Associated Press. He recently jousted with James Carville and Ben Stein, and Successful Meetings Magazine named him one of the “21 Top Speakers for the 21st Century.” His editorials in the Wall Street Journal and commentaries on PBS correctly forecast the 2001 slowdown in the U.S., the 2008 pop in commodity prices, and the downgrade of the U.S. debt rating. The New York Times has turned to him to decipher terrorist threats and the job market. BusinessWeek raved about his book Market Shock, which warned of the quicksand facing the stock market. Buchholz is a widely sought keynote speaker addressing a variety of topics, from the U.S. financial markets to geo political debates to economic policies that impact business strategies around the globe. With an incisive wit and entertaining style, Buchholz’s keynote presentations reveal the economic challenges and opportunities faced by our changing society and propose important strategies for success.

 



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Past Hosts Include:
  • BNSF Railway
  • ARAMARK
  • The Americas Lodging Investment Summit
  • World Trade Center Saint Louis
  • Successful Meetings Magazine
  • The New York Times
  • Associated Press
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
Rave Reviews About Todd Buchholz as a Speaker
Todd Buchholz was just amazing. His energy, effervescence and educational material was just what we needed to kick-off the Reinsurance Conference. He kept the audience wide-eyed for 30 minutes straight. Todd never used a single note and jam-packed us with information. I likened him to un-corking a bottle of champagne and letting the good times roll. Todd was a fountain of insightful information. All that from an economist!

Keynote - The Price of Prosperity | Young Americans Foundation [54:18] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Todd Buchholz
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How to Compete in a Global Economy

Never before have businesses felt such excruciating pressure to compete. The go-go days of the 1990s turned into the go-sideways days of the 2000’s. What’s next? While enjoying superlow interest rates and riding a roller coaster stock market, firms have struggled to raise prices, even when their cos ...

Never before have businesses felt such excruciating pressure to compete. The go-go days of the 1990s turned into the go-sideways days of the 2000’s. What’s next? While enjoying superlow interest rates and riding a roller coaster stock market, firms have struggled to raise prices, even when their costs go up. China poses a threat but also an opportunity for new sales. Loyal customers seem ready to jump to a competitor. How can your company or industry survive and thrive? Can the Fed keep the economy recovering in the Janet Yellen era? Will Congress try yet another “stimulus?” Todd Buchholz, who led the White House Energy Strategy, will help you figure out whether OPEC and Russia can tighten energy supplies again or whether a revolution in natural gas will reinvigorate U.S. factories. Learn how the “scissors economy” opens up new business and investment opportunities. Today might be the very best—or the very worst—time to finance a loan. By “connecting the dots” of the world economy, Todd teaches how to anticipate the new trends that open up fresh opportunities for manufacturing, service and technology companies.

The Price of Prosperity: How to Renew Rich Nations

What’s wrong with America and the modern economy? When rich nations begin to shatter, “everyone has a comfy bed—but fewer people have a reason to get out of it.” Todd Buchholz’s new book The Price of Prosperity is earning rave reviews from leading minds on the Democratic and the Republican side of t ...

What’s wrong with America and the modern economy? When rich nations begin to shatter, “everyone has a comfy bed—but fewer people have a reason to get out of it.” Todd Buchholz’s new book The Price of Prosperity is earning rave reviews from leading minds on the Democratic and the Republican side of the aisle, from Larry Summers and Alan Blinder to Larry Kudlow. In this entertaining speech Todd explains the 5 factors that can undermine rich countries, and he puts forth bold solutions to address the eroding work ethic, rising debt loads, and the challenge of patriotism in a multicultural country. Todd takes audiences on a fascinating historical tour, from ancient Sparta to the Habsburg Monarchy to the fall of the Ottomans to identify how rich nations get in trouble, and how they can get out. Here’s what the Wall Street Journal reviewer said about Todd’s approach: “Mr. Buchholz was economic adviser to George H.W. Bush. He has run a hedge fund. He teaches and writes books and is popular with TV talk-show hosts. His book reflects that range of talents in that it has the tone of a provocative and entertaining dinner speech, studded with factoids and witticisms…The result is entertaining and informativeMr. Buchholz has raised his warning flags in a charming way.” Audiences will come away enlightened, motivated, and uplifted.

What You Must Know About Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

The “Blockchain” can disrupt the way we do business, just as the Internet, the PC, and television did in past decades. Todd Buchholz, author of Market Shock and New Ideas from Dead CEOs, tackles the startling implications of blockchain technology, and the crypto-currencies that employ it, including ...

The “Blockchain” can disrupt the way we do business, just as the Internet, the PC, and television did in past decades. Todd Buchholz, author of Market Shock and New Ideas from Dead CEOs, tackles the startling implications of blockchain technology, and the crypto-currencies that employ it, including Bitcoin. His writing on technology and the economy have been praised in the Wall Street Journal, on ABC News, and on the BBC. In Fall 2018, Todd was a keynote speaker at Blockchain Nation, one of the premier events in the industry. As finance, tech, and supply-chain firms from Bank of America and Mastercard to UPS, IBM and Apple rush to file patents, Todd explains where the blockchain revolution and crypto-currencies are going and what your company needs to know. Todd has delivered provocative and insightful keynotes before the world’s leading companies, and has lectured at Stanford, Harvard, University of Chicago, and many others.

Behavioral Economics Can Work For You

Business leaders and policymakers take heed – your social, cognitive, and emotional biases (and those of your consumers) will affect your finances. Todd Buchholz examines how generational differences, habitual cognitive decisions, and work relationships all operate together to inform market decision ...

Business leaders and policymakers take heed – your social, cognitive, and emotional biases (and those of your consumers) will affect your finances. Todd Buchholz examines how generational differences, habitual cognitive decisions, and work relationships all operate together to inform market decisions and public choices.
Todd takes a sweeping view of the nature of competition in business, arguing for the vitality, growth, and progress it inspires in us. Drawing on biography, he also looks into the lives of influential entrepreneurs to explain how little ideas were turned into big successes that overhauled the way business is done, providing immediately actionable takeaways.
As talented journalists such as Malcolm Gladwell and David Brooks delve into the fields of behavioral economics and behavioral finance, Todd’s analytical work offers a deeper understanding particularly suited for business people and policymakers who need to apply psychological principles to everyday life. 

Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race

Todd Buchholz, author of the classic New Ideas from Dead Economists and New Ideas from Dead CEOs, reveals why we need competition to keep us going and going strong. Weaving in everything from neuroeconomics to evolutionary biology to renaissance art to General Motors, Buchholz will convince you that ...

Todd Buchholz, author of the classic New Ideas from Dead Economists and New Ideas from Dead CEOs, reveals why we need competition to keep us going and going strong. Weaving in everything from neuroeconomics to evolutionary biology to renaissance art to General Motors, Buchholz will convince you that the race to compete has not only made us taller and smarter, it’s what we love and need. In this provocative keynote presentation, Buchholz explains why laid-back firms get entangled in their own red tape and why contented CEOs end up driving their employees to bankruptcy court. While Buchholz argues that businesses need internal competition, he shows how to inspire creative competition, rather than a shark-infested culture. This is a cutting edge presentation that defies and shreds conventional wisdom.

New Ideas From Dead CEOs

Todd Buchholz brings to life history’s greatest CEOs—from Steve Jobs to Ray Kroc to Akio Morita, Estée Lauder to Tom Watson Sr.—and shows how their lives, leadership and lessons can inform and inspire us in today’s chaotic marketplace. How did Sam Walton help create the “scissors economy” and go fro ...

Todd Buchholz brings to life history’s greatest CEOs—from Steve Jobs to Ray Kroc to Akio Morita, Estée Lauder to Tom Watson Sr.—and shows how their lives, leadership and lessons can inform and inspire us in today’s chaotic marketplace. How did Sam Walton help create the “scissors economy” and go from being the owner of a single dime store to the CEO of Wal-Mart? How did Estée Lauder, a working-class woman from Queens, convince the shoppers at Saks to buy her cosmetics? How did the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 eventually lead to A.P. Giannini’s success as America’s greatest banker? In this speech, Buchholz answers these questions and shows today’s business managers how to deploy their entrepreneurial secrets to benefit their companies in today’s hyper-competitive global economy. He uses his experience as a White House economist, Harvard scholar, and Wall Street professional to show investors what kinds of CEOs to invest with and what kinds of companies to steer away from. In addition, Todd lays out a forecast for the economy and the financial markets. Audiences come away from this keynote presentation with a fresh understanding of the competitive pressures we face today, and a road map to finding success.

China: The Threat and the Opportunity

Everyone knows China offers one billion potential customers. But China also provides one billion workers eager to compete with American workers, and its ambitions have led to trade wars with President Trump.  The Chinese Communist Party has shed its communist ideology, but it still struggles to keep ...

Everyone knows China offers one billion potential customers. But China also provides one billion workers eager to compete with American workers, and its ambitions have led to trade wars with President Trump.  The Chinese Communist Party has shed its communist ideology, but it still struggles to keep its people under control. By showing audiences how to anticipate China’s next moves, this original keynote speech presentation by Todd Buchholz will help you take advantage of the incredible business opportunities ahead while avoiding the land mines.  Listen to the man who has been called “renowned” by the People’s Daily, the official voice of the Beijing government.

The Hope and Danger Behind World Politics

Since September 11, 2001, the world has changed, looking even more dangerous than during the Cold War era when the Soviet Union aimed missiles at the U.S. In just a few weeks during the winter of 2011, the map of the Middle East turned upside down, reposing dictators and replacing them with…who know ...

Since September 11, 2001, the world has changed, looking even more dangerous than during the Cold War era when the Soviet Union aimed missiles at the U.S. In just a few weeks during the winter of 2011, the map of the Middle East turned upside down, reposing dictators and replacing them with…who knows? Todd Buchholz takes his audience on a world tour to gauge the “hot spots” that threaten us. At the same time, though, we must appreciate the successes: the countries that have turned from dictatorships to democracies; the economies that have dumped communism for capitalism. Recently, The New York Times editorial page called on Buchholz to make sense of the terrorism threat. As a former “point man” for the White House during the Gulf War, Todd Buchholz shows his audience how to handle the risks while keeping hope alive in this expansive keynote speech presentation.

Is the Economy Headed Higher — or Off a Cliff?

The go-go days of the 1990s turned into the go-backwards days of the 2000’s. What’s next? How will China’s erratic growth shake up business? Will commodity inflation unhinge the economy again? Can Fed chair Ben Bernanke keep the economy recovering? Will Congress try yet another “stimulus?” Todd Buch ...

The go-go days of the 1990s turned into the go-backwards days of the 2000’s. What’s next? How will China’s erratic growth shake up business? Will commodity inflation unhinge the economy again? Can Fed chair Ben Bernanke keep the economy recovering? Will Congress try yet another “stimulus?” Todd Buchholz, who led the White House Energy Strategy, will help you figure out whether OPEC will tighten energy supplies again or whether a revolution in natural gas will reinvigorate U.S. factories. Learn how the “scissors economy” opens up new business and investment opportunities. Today might be the very best—or the very worst—time to finance a loan. By “connecting the dots” of the world economy, Todd Buchholz will help you develop a timely vision for the economy and the stock market.

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Biography

 

From White House to Wall Street

As a frequent commentator on the state of the markets, Todd Buchholz brings his experience as a former White House director of economic policy, a managing director of the $15 billion Tiger hedge fund, and a Harvard economics teacher to the cutting edge of economics, fiscal politics, finance, and business strategy.  Buchholz is a frequent guest on ABC News, PBS, and CBS, and he recently hosted his own special on CNBC. Buchholz has debated such luminaries in the field as Lester Thurow and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

Before joining Tiger in 1996, Buchholz was President of the G7 Group, Inc, an international consulting firm whose clientele included many of the top securities firms, investment banks and money managers in New York, London, and Tokyo, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. His commentaries were closely read by officials at the Federal Reserve, Bundesbank and Bank of England. From 1989 to 1992 he served at the White House as a Director for Economic Policy. Buchholz won the Allyn Young Teaching Prize at Harvard and holds advanced degrees in economics and law from Cambridge and Harvard. He was a fellow at Cambridge University in 2009, holds several engineering and design patents and is a co-producer of the Broadway smash “Jersey Boys.”

Buchholz is the inventor of the Math Arrow, a mathematical matrix that makes numbers more intuitive to children.  He is the CEO of Sproglit, LLC, which develops software and classroom materials based on the Math Arrow.  Martin Cooper, widely recognized as the inventor of the cellular phone, has called the Math Arrow “ingenious.”

Acclaimed Author and Keynote Speaker

Buchholz has authored numerous critically acclaimed and best-selling books, many of which he has developed into successful lectures and speaking events. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and are used in universities worldwide, including at Harvard, Duke, and Princeton. Author Buchholz is praised for his examination of economics, business and entrepreneurship in the context of global society.

The Sunday TIMES (UK) called The Price of Prosperity: Why Rich Nations Fail and How to Renew Them “highly entertaining, far-sighted and enjoyably acerbic.” The Wall Street Journal named the book to its exclusive list of “Eight Summer Must-Reads” for 2016.  Market Shock: 9 Economic and Social Upheavals that Will Shake Our Financial Future, was released to rave reviews and dubbed “outstanding” by the Wall Street Journal. Buchholz has also published the best-selling New Ideas from Dead Economists, New Ideas from Dead CEOs, From Here to Economy, and Lasting Lessons from the Corner Office, which garnered high praise from The New York Times and Financial Times. Named by Publishers Weekly as a “top ten” book for 2011, his book Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race has been praised by the Financial Times, Toronto Globe & Mail, Los Angeles Times and the BBC, among many others. Buchholz has penned articles for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Forbes, and Reader’s Digest.

Trend Forecaster & Global Economy Expert

Buchholz is widely sought for his depth of experience, sharp wit and honest, entertaining delivery. He puts global politics and financial markets into perspective and offers a positive understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing today’s markets.

An experienced media personality, Buchholz gave a lecture at the White House entitled “Clarity, Honesty and Modesty in Economics,” and has delivered keynote speeches before such influential corporate and financial institutions as Microsoft, IBM, Goldman Sachs and the United States Chamber of Commerce. He has served as a consulting advisor to the White House, Microsoft, Allstate, Goldman Sachs, IBM, SAP and Toyota, and he is routinely asked to provide perspective in newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.