How to Spot Economic Warning Signs with Andrew Ross Sorkin

Almost a century after the 1929 crash, the warning signs are back. What can history teach us about spotting the next collapse before it’s too late?

Few know better than Andrew Ross Sorkin, award-winning New York Times journalist, co-anchor of Squawk Box on CNBC, founder of DealBook, and author of Too Big to Fail, the definitive account of the 2008 financial crisis. In his new book, 1929: Inside the Greatest Crash in History, Sorkin reveals how patterns of risk, power, and optimism repeat through time—and what to look for now.

In this conversation with LinkedIn editor in chief Daniel Roth, Sorkin shares how understanding the past can help leaders and professionals navigate what’s ahead.

Learning objectives

• Apply lessons from history to navigate your career with greater foresight.
• Identify economic warning signs in companies and industries early.
• Recognize parallels between 1920s speculation and today’s bubbles.
• Apply the concept of leverage and debt as indicators of financial instability in today's markets.
• Distinguish between transformational innovation and speculative mania in emerging technologies.
• Analyze financial products for transparency and risk to make informed investment decisions.
• Develop strategies to insulate your career and business from the fallout of potential economic bubbles.