Jacques Attali (1943–) is a French economist and public intellectual. He served for many years as Special Adviser to President François Mitterrand and later became the founding President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). His work spans economics, history, geopolitics, European integration, and long-term forecasting, making him one of France's most influential contemporary thinkers. His best-known book, "A Brief History of the Future", examines the political, economic, and technological forces that are likely to shape the twenty-first century and offers a broad vision of the world's possible futures.