What Is the Great Reset?
A neutral, attributed definition — what the term means and how supporters and critics use it.
"The Great Reset" is the name of an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, proposing that governments and businesses use the recovery to build economies that are, in the WEF's framing, more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. It was presented as a set of policy proposals and a book co-authored by WEF founder Klaus Schwab.
The phrase has since taken on a second, very different life as the focus of widespread suspicion and conspiracy theories. Critics — ranging from mainstream skeptics of the WEF's influence to promoters of unfounded theories — have used "the Great Reset" as shorthand for an alleged plan by global elites to concentrate power, erode national sovereignty, or impose control. It is important to distinguish the actual WEF initiative from the many claims later attached to the term.
The World Economic Forum initiative
The WEF's Great Reset was a themed agenda for its 2021 meeting, arguing that the pandemic offered a chance to rethink capitalism around sustainability, stakeholder value, and technology. It consisted of proposals and discussion rather than binding policy, and drew on longstanding WEF themes.
Legitimate criticism
Some critics object on substance and accountability grounds — questioning the influence of an unelected forum of executives and officials over public policy, or disagreeing with its economic prescriptions. This is a mainstream debate about the role of global institutions and elites.
Conspiracy theories to be careful with
The term also became attached to viral, unfounded conspiracy theories — for example that the pandemic was engineered to enable the plan, or that a slogan like "you will own nothing and be happy" (from an unrelated WEF video) represents official policy. Fact-checkers have repeatedly found these specific claims to be false or distorted.
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The Great Reset — Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Great Reset in simple terms?
- The Great Reset is a 2020 World Economic Forum initiative proposing that the post-COVID recovery be used to make economies more sustainable and resilient. It was a set of proposals and a book, not binding policy. The term has separately become the subject of many unfounded conspiracy theories.
- Is 'you will own nothing and be happy' part of the Great Reset?
- That phrase comes from a 2016 WEF social-media video of predictions by one contributor, not an official Great Reset policy. Fact-checkers note it has been widely misattributed and taken out of context.