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Michael Spence

Michael Spence

Writing for PS since 2008
179 commentaries

Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics Emeritus and a former dean of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Senior Adviser to General Atlantic, and Chairman of the firm’s Global Growth Institute. He is Chair of the Advisory Board of the Asia Global Institute and serves on the Academic Committee at Luohan Academy. He is a former chair of the Commission on Growth and Development and a co-author (with Mohamed A. El-Erian, Gordon Brown, and Reid Lidow) of Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World (Simon & Schuster, 2023).

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  1. What’s Wrong With Germany’s Economy?
    spence180_Picture AllianceGettyImages_germany_annual_economic_report Picture Alliance/Getty Images

    What’s Wrong With Germany’s Economy?

    Jan 30, 2025 Michael Spence thinks the country’s prospects depend significantly on closing the digital-technology gap with the US and China.

  2. The US Economy’s Trust Deficit
    Matt Gush/Getty Images

    The US Economy’s Trust Deficit

    Dec 20, 2024 Michael Spence considers the causes and consequences of Americans’ declining faith in media and government.

  3. China Can Beat Back Deflation
    spence178_NurPhotoGettyImages_china_deflation_supermarket1 NurPhoto/Getty Images

    China Can Beat Back Deflation

    Nov 6, 2024 Michael Spence predicts that, with the right policies, the economy’s growth momentum can be restored within 2-3 years.

  4. The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology
    spence176_VCGVCG via Getty Images_chinaelectricvehicles VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology

    Oct 2, 2024 Michael Spence warns that both the global economy and the sustainability agenda could be dealt a devastating blow.

  5. Europe Needs a New Economic Vision
    spence175_eu unnivation iStock / Getty Images Plus/greenbutterfly

    Europe Needs a New Economic Vision

    Aug 21, 2024 Michael Spence is confident that the European Union can make up ground lost to the US and China – if it knows what it wants.

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  1. velasco156_Alex WroblewskiGettyImages_dnc_harris_buttons Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
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    How Liberals Lost America

    Andrés Velasco attributes Donald Trump’s return to power to Democrats’ embrace of both moral neutrality and moral preachiness.
  2. halland10_TERJE PEDERSENNTBAFP via Getty Images_norwayukraineaid Terje Pedersenntb/AFP via Getty Images
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    Norway Should Cede Its War Windfall to Ukraine

    Håvard Halland & Knut Anton Mork say that the government's justifications for its war profiteering are disingenuous and short-sighted.
  3. bhide11_Anthony KwanGettyImages_deepseek Anthony Kwan/Getty Images
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    Is DeepSeek Really a Threat?

    Amar Bhidé

    If vindicated, DeepSeek’s technology could be to large language models what Nikola Tesla’s breakthroughs with alternating current were to electrification. While it cannot overcome the unavoidable limitations of backward-looking statistical models, it could make their price performance good enough for wider use.

     explains what a purported Chinese AI breakthrough does and does not mean for the industry.
  4. spence180_Picture AllianceGettyImages_germany_annual_economic_report Picture Alliance/Getty Images
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    What’s Wrong With Germany’s Economy?

    Michael Spence

    Germany became a European powerhouse partly because, in the early 2000s, its industrial sectors took over the highest-valued-added segments of global supply chains. Replicating this success today would require Germany to move to the forefront of the digital transformation, and it cannot do that without the EU.

     thinks the country’s prospects depend significantly on closing the digital-technology gap with the US and China.
  5. hausmann119_Christine OlssonGettyImages_northvolt_bankruptcy Christine Olsson/Getty Images
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    When Companies Fail to Learn, They Learn to Fail

    Ricardo Hausmann explains how the inability to identify and address knowledge gaps can doom even the most promising projects.
  6. berahab1_LUDOVIC MARINAFP via Getty Images_gabonforest Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images
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    How to Make Carbon Pricing Work for Africa

    Rim Berahab & Otaviano Canuto argue that policies must be structured to facilitate, not obstruct, the continent’s shift to renewables.
  7. jma6_NurPhotoGettyImages_china_evs_trade NurPhoto/Getty Images
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    Green Free Trade in a Protectionist Age

    Ma Jun envisions regional arrangements that facilitate the exchange of climate-friendly goods and services.
  8. mazarei1_Sayed HassanGetty Images_suezcanal Sayed Hassan/Getty Images
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    Egypt’s Economic Crisis May Not Be Over

    Adnan Mazarei urges the international community to push for long-overdue governance and economic reforms.
  9. iyer2_SIA KAMBOUAFP via Getty Images_malariavaccine Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
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    Climate Displacement Is Also a Health Crisis

    Jayasree K. Iyer proposes a four-pronged strategy to ensure that essential medicines reach vulnerable populations.

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