“Maxton is a thinker of astonishing depth and breadth, one to speak the tough truths that many other academics, politicians, and commentators avoid.”
Huffington Post
Graeme Maxton is the author of eight internationally acclaimed books on climate change, philosophy, economics, energy, and the automotive industry, which have been published in more than 20 different language editions. He was previously Secretary General of the Club of Rome, a Regional Director with the Economist Group in Asia, and an Advisory Board Member on the UN’s Energy Transition Project. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board at Population Matters. His latest book, The Follies of the Western Mind: Letters from my Uncle, was published in 2025.
Well-known for his punchy, clearly articulated analysis on global affairs, and for his trenchant criticism of modern economics, Graeme was a freelance contributor to The Economist for many years. He also wrote regularly for many other publications in Europe and Asia, including the South China Morning Post, and the Irish Times. He was a frequent guest host on CNBC’s Squawk Box and Capital Connection for many years, as well as a regular contributor to BBC and CNN news programmes.
His previous books include A Chicken can’t lay a Duck Egg (2020), Globaler Klimanotstand (2020), one the top climate change books of 2020 according to JBZ, and Change! Warum wir eine radikale Wende brauchen, (2018) which was a No. 1 Amazon best-seller in Germany. He is also the co-author with Jorgen Randers of Reinventing Prosperity (2016). The German edition, Ein Prozent ist genug, was a also a No. 1 best-seller on Amazon.
Graeme also wrote The End of Progress: How modern economics has failed us (2011), which was nominated for the FT’s Best Book about Business Award. The German edition, Die Wachstums Lüge, was a top-20 Spiegel best-seller.
He is the co-author of two books on the automotive industry, Time for a Model Change (2004), which was Cambridge University Press’ Feature Book of the Year, and Driving Over a Cliff (1995), which was nominated for the FT’s Best Book about Business Award.
Before being elected as Secretary General of the Club of Rome, he was a Regional Director with the Economist Group in Asia where he chaired the Economist’s Conferences on aviation, energy, business in China, and automotive as well as Government Roundtables. He was previously with strategy consultants Booz.Allen & Hamilton, in banking with Citibank and American Express, and a visiting professor on the MBA Program at Bayes Business School in London.
He is a Research Affiliate of the Rachel Carson Center at Ludwig Maximilian Universität in Munich.