21st-23rd March 2025 at Hay Castle
The Weekend of Mistakes
A weekend of insights, discovery, stories, and lively debate awaits.
The Weekend of Mistakes (WoM) is back, with its signature deep dive into financial and economic history, and lessons for our times. Featuring top investment and economic thinkers: Russell Napier, Merryn Somerset Webb, David McWilliams, Helen Thompson, Edward Chancellor, and many more.
“Progress is cumulative in science and engineering, but cyclical in finance.”
James Grant, American financial historian and author
Last spring, an unusual and exciting event came to Hay’s best-loved landmark
The Library of Mistakes and Hay Castle held the first ‘Weekend of Mistakes’. It featured a first-class line-up of historians, economists, financial experts, and investment sages. Speakers and attendees were invited to look at the past, and especially its recurring mistakes, follies and manias to better understand the present.
The Weekend of Mistakes welcomed a varied audience: students, investment industry professionals, and those with a general interest in the history of finance, business, and economics. There was something for everyone. Locals—and others from as far afield as Hungary, Canada, the USA (and even the Cayman Islands!)—flocked to the Castle for an immersive, enlightening, and fun weekend.
Programme
Friday 21st
A Jargon Buster (With Tea!)
The Gift of Money
Saturday 22nd
Trump: The First 75 Days – The Economics
Whose Money Is It Anyway?
Gross National Happiness
The Birth of the Bank of England: ‘A Society of Money’d Men’
How Universities Go Bust
Trump: The First 75 Days – The Politics
‘Our Currency, but Your Problem’: Do We Still Trust Money?
‘Drill, Baby, Drill’
Money Laundering – A Refresher Course
Why Is Britain Stagnating?
Sunday 23rd
Merryn’s Investment Breakfast
The Crypto Zoo
The Dark Economy of Digital Extortion
ESG – Dead or Alive?
The Wizard of Oz: A Weekend of Mistakes Special Screening
A Hay Happiness Index
Where to Put Your Money in 2025
Information & Booking
For more information about the programme, please visit:
www.weekendofmistakes.org/programme
For further enquiries, please contact the Weekend of Mistakes team at: