John Micklethwait, the editor in chief of the Economist, spoke Tuesday afternoon at the Bechtel Conference Center to a packed crowd of Stanford scholars, students and community members. The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Europe Center sponsored the talk, which was a part of the Payne Distinguished Lectureship series.

Micklethwait began with a quote from economist Herbert Stein, stating, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”

He framed his speech by applying this idea to five major topics: the world economy, China, the euro, rising inequality and the size of governments.

The lecture was very timely, as Micklethwait mentioned Osama bin Laden’s death several times, and said the recent political turmoil in the Middle East was “a refreshing reminder of how quickly the world can change.”

Micklethwait described himself as a “paranoid optimist.” A mix of this paranoia, optimism and–at times–humor characterized his talk. The longtime editor drew laughter early from the crowd when he said, “Journalists are the prostitutes of the political world.”

Micklethwait spoke at length about India and China, the latter of which he called “fragile.”

“Asia is a cockpit of competing rivalries,” he said.

Moving on to the European Union, Micklethwait discussed his pessimism about the strength of the euro. While he doubted that the euro zone would fall apart, he observed that “the current rescue plan for those currencies in trouble is unstable.”

He blamed the leadership of the European Union, which he referred to as “a dysfunctional quartet” and said he believes Germany is the only country that could leave the union without enduring severe economic costs.

“It’s a currency union that is almost self-starting towards disaster,” Micklethwait said. “Some kind of restructuring has to happen. Plan A has failed.”

He then discussed income inequality, specifically in America.

“America used to be a place with infinite tolerance for inequality and capitalism,” Micklethwait said. “Now, I’m not so sure.”

He also predicted an imminent battle between the government and public sector unions, starting with pensions. He further remarked that “governments have become too large and cumbersome and need modernizing.”

He said the two places that really matter in this global debate are California and Britain. Speaking about California, Micklethwait said “in no place in the world is there such a gap between the sophistication in the private sector and the dysfunction in the public sector” than in this state.

Micklethwait closed his talk, to laughter once again, by telling the crowd, “Donald Trump. He cannot go on forever.”

Micklethwait was named Editors’ Editor of the Year 2010. After studying history at Magdalen College, Oxford, he worked as a banker at Chase Manhattan from 1985 to 1987 before joining the Economist as a finance correspondent in 1987. Since then, his roles at the Economist have included setting up the publication’s Los Angeles bureau, serving as its media correspondent, editing the business section, running the New York bureau and editing the United States section.

Micklethwait has visited Stanford so many times he has lost count.

“I like coming to Stanford for two reasons: one is because it’s a front-ranking university full of ideas,” Micklethwait said in an interview with The Daily. “On top of that you’ve got that particular relationship between Stanford and Silicon Valley, so you’re always intrigued.”

Reaction from students who attended the talk was overwhelmingly positive.

“I liked the way he structured the talk in terms of things that can’t go on,” said Justin Costa-Roberts ’11.

“I’m an Economist subscriber and think highly of the publication,” said Bill Rowan ’11. “Being a reader, you’re obviously interested in the things he talked about today.”

After the event officially ended, Micklethwait stayed to speak with audience members one-on-one.

“I think, if you want the honest truth, out of all the people in America who need my help and advice I expect Stanford graduates are the least,” he said. “But I think, keep trying to do what you want to do.”

An Le Nguyen contributed to this report.