Nicolas Véron is very much a mentor, despite his youth in comparison to me! One of the brains behind Bruegel, the economics think tank where I worked for more than 13 years, he worked with Jean Pisani-Ferry for a number of years on the Bruegel project before it became operational.

He regards Bruegel to have been an exception, an outlier, in many areas. However, that does not mean that think tanks, old and new, cannot learn something from a number of aspects of the Bruegel story. Finding a niche, operating as an entrepreneur and substituting money with time and hard work are just three areas where this story can inspire others.

He also gives a short insight into some of the differences between European and US think tanks. Perhaps the biggest difference is all about US managerial culture which affects more than just the think tank sector.

An inspiring and motivating guest, I hope you will learn something from Nicolas to apply to your own work in the think tank sector.