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Harold James

Harold James

Writing for PS since 2001
206 commentaries
2 videos & podcasts

Harold James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. A specialist on German economic history and on globalization, he is a co-author of The Euro and The Battle of Ideas, and the author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle, Krupp: A History of the Legendary German FirmMaking the European Monetary Union, and The War of Words.

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  1. Technology for Me, Not for Thee
    james204_Win McNameeGetty Images_musk Win McNameeGetty Images

    Technology for Me, Not for Thee

    May 2, 2023 Harold James is not surprised that market-dominant incumbents are the loudest boosters of a new techno-pessimist narrative.

  2. Harold James on the Ukraine war, inflation, globalization, and more
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    Harold James on the Ukraine war, inflation, globalization, and more

    Apr 25, 2023 Harold James argues that post-conflict stabilization in Ukraine must account for the entire region, considers where policymakers went wrong in responding to recent price surges, explains why growth remains the best means of managing debt risk, and more.

  3. Crises of Uncertainty
    james202_FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_ubs credit suisse FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

    Crises of Uncertainty

    Mar 30, 2023 Harold James fears the consequences of policymakers’ continual revision of economic and financial governance rules.

  4. How the Ukraine War Could End in Peace
    james201_FADEL SENNAAFP via Getty Images_ukraine damage FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

    How the Ukraine War Could End in Peace

    Mar 2, 2023 Harold James thinks Russian history is full of parallels that offer cause for cautious optimism.

  5. The Poverty of Anti-Capitalism
    james200_Sean GladwellGetty Images_worldconnection Sean Gladwell/Getty Images

    The Poverty of Anti-Capitalism

    Jan 26, 2023 Harold James considers recent arguments against markets, globalization, and growth, finding them to be deeply flawed.

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  1. rajan83_Kevin DietschGetty Images_federalreserve Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    Not Buying Central Banks’ Favorite Excuse

    Raghuram G. Rajan shows why monetary policymakers must bear some of the blame for the latest banking-sector turmoil.
  2. op_reedlangen6_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_supremecourt Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    The Lost Liberal Legal Imagination

    Nicholas Reed Langen

    Rather than seeing themselves as the arbiters of divine precepts, Supreme Court justices after World War II generally understood that constitutional jurisprudence must respond to the realities of the day. Yet today's conservatives have seized on the legacy of one of the few justices who did not.

    considers the complicated legacy of a progressive jurist whom conservatives now champion.
  3. fulford1_John MooreGetty Images_pandemic John Moore/Getty Images

    Saved by the Pandemic?

    Scott Fulford explains why its successful COVID-19 stimulus could help the US forge a path to financial stability for all.
  4. slaughter97_Miguel PereiraGetty Images_workingfromhome Miguel Pereira/Getty Images

    How Much Work Is Enough?

    Anne-Marie Slaughter & Autumn McDonald explain how the pandemic raised new questions – and some very old ones – for employers and employees.
  5. velasco137_JAVIER TORRESAFP via Getty Images_kast JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images

    How the Far Left Paves the Way for the Far Right

    Andrés Velasco

    In October 2022, Chileans elected a far-left constitutional convention which produced a text so bizarrely radical that nearly two-thirds of voters rejected it. Now Chileans have elected a new Constitutional Council and put a far-right party in the driver’s seat.

    blames Chilean President Gabriel Boric's coalition for the rapid rise of far right populist José Antonio Kast.
  6. skidelsky187_Getty Images_gpt-4 Getty Images

    Creeping Toward Dystopia

    Robert Skidelsky worries that even elected governments will appropriate emerging technologies in the name of national security.
  7. shoukry2_BOBB MURIITHIAFP via Getty Images_drought BOBB MURIITHI/AFP via Getty Images

    The Climate Loss and Damage Fund Is Coming

    Sameh Shoukry assesses recent efforts to implement a crucial initiative agreed at last year’s UN Climate Change Conference.
  8. wian29_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_chinagraduates Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    China’s Youth Unemployment Problem

    Nancy Qian warns that diminishing opportunities for new graduates will have profound long-run macroeconomic implications.
  9. dezegher1_ AHMAD ZAMRONIAFP via Getty Images_deforestation AHMAD ZAMRONI/AFP via Getty Images

    How Can the New EU Regulation Achieve Deforestation-Free Supply Chains?

    Joann de Zegher explains why transaction-level records are crucial to curbing the destruction of the world’s forests.

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