Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder

Aspen Ideas: Economy Announces Key Themes for 2026 Programming

National leaders, innovators, policymakers, and scholars will gather in Tulsa, Oklahoma, October 13-15 to explore the issues driving and defining the global economy.

Washington, D.C. & Tulsa, OK, July 9, 2026 – Organizers today announced the program tracks for Aspen Ideas: Economy 2026, taking place October 13-15 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Presented by the Aspen Institute, Aspen Ideas: Economy is a national forum designed to bring the public into direct conversation with leaders, scholars, innovators, policymakers, business executives, and other voices whose perspectives and decisions are shaping our economic future.

The six tracks form a framework to explore questions that are as relevant today as they were when Adam Smith first posed them 250 years ago in The Wealth of Nations : What allows people, communities, and nations to prosper? Who gets to participate in that prosperity? And what institutions, systems, and relationships make it possible? 

Aspen Ideas: Economy Tracks

  • Builders & Believers: Enterprise, Entrepreneurship, and Opportunity
  • Making Place: Geography, Growth, and Local Prosperity
  • Money & Meaning: Capital, Ownership, and Participation
  • Powering the Future: Energy, Infrastructure, and Security
  • Work & Dignity: Work, Learning, and Opportunity in an Age of AI
  • The Founding Bargain: Markets, Democracy, and Prosperity

Descriptions of each track are available here. More details, including speakers, sponsors and additional dimensions of programming, will be announced in the weeks and months ahead.

Across three days and nights of mainstage conversations, intimate roundtables, leadership seminars, and immersive experiences, this unique gathering will explore the forces shaping the global economy while experiencing how they are unfolding across Tulsa. 

Programming will take place across the city, ranging from lively general assemblies  in iconic cultural institutions like Cain’s Ballroom to roundtables in innovation hubs such as 101 Archer, Build in Tulsa, and Fab Lab Tulsa. Field trips will see attendees explore the city and its environs, including the historic neighborhoods of Arts District, Greenwood (Historic Black Wall Street), and Mother Road Market along Route 66, while evening activations will spill out into bars and restaurants throughout Tulsa.

Members of the media are invited to apply for press credentials to attend Aspen Ideas: Economy here. A press credential grants complimentary access to Aspen Ideas: Economy. Covering reporters are responsible for arranging their own travel and lodging. Credential requests will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please direct media inquiries to [email protected].

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