Dr. Jacques Attali, who became a Special Advisor to the former French President, Francois Mitterrand, at age 38 and was said to be the brain behind the president, gave a public lecture at Tama Campus on January 18. The lecture was titled "Europe, Japan and Asia in a Multi-polar World", and attracted more than 1000 people attending at the venue and live feed. There gathered so many visitors that some took standing room.

Dr. Attali began the lecture by saying "in order to know about the future, one must know about the history", and gave a commentary while unraveling the history of capitalism. Then he stressed that "we must analyze our history and take actions for the future. We must also select the right course of action as well as make a prediction about the future."

During the question and answer session that followed, he was bombarded with questions from the audience and the venue was filled with a fervent atmosphere throughout the session.

[Lecturer Profile] Dr. Jacques Attali
Born in Algiers in 1943. Graduated from the French elite schools of Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole nationale d'administration. In 1981, became a Special Advisor to the then French President, Francois Mitterrand, at age 38 and was said to be the brain behind the president. In 1990, became the first president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which he designed himself, and worked as head of the advisory commission for economic framework reform under the Sarkozy government which formed in 2007. Has published more than 50 books as an economist, historian, philosopher, novelist and culture critic, and has also put effort into development of developing countries through the non-profit corporation PlaNetFinance. In his latest work, A Brief History of the Future, he makes bold predictions for the future of the world in this century, and After the Crisis: How Did This Happen? had large repercussions for Japan in the midst of the global financial turmoil.

• Click here for the video of the lecture (Japanese)