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Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky

Writing for PS since 2003
214 commentaries

Robert Skidelsky is a member of the British House of Lords, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University, and the author of a prize-winning three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes. He began his political career in the Labour party, was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party, and served as the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Treasury affairs in the House of Lords until he was sacked for his opposition to NATO’s 1999 bombing of Kosovo. Since 2001, he has sat in the House of Lords as an independent. He has also served as a non-executive director of the American mutual fund Janus (2001-11) and the private Russian oil company PJSC Russneft (2016-21). He is the author of The Machine Age: An Idea, a History, a Warning (Allen Lane, 2023).

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  1. The UK Labour Party’s Green-Energy Debacle
    skidelsky197_Leon NealGetty Images_UKgreen Leon Neal/Getty Images

    The UK Labour Party’s Green-Energy Debacle

    Feb 19, 2024 Robert Skidelsky explains why the threat of climate change outweighs the risks of increased public spending.

  2. Robert Skidelsky on Keynes, AI, the future of work, and more
    mmuniz2_Malte MuellerGetty Images_AIrobot Malte Mueller/Getty Images

    Robert Skidelsky on Keynes, AI, the future of work, and more

    Feb 6, 2024 Robert Skidelsky argues that the best way to secure supply chains is peace, highlights three grave risks posed by artificial intelligence, challenges the notion that science and religion should be regarded as opposites, and more.

  3. Britain’s Post Office Scandal and the Rule of Law
    skidelsky195_ Dan KitwoodGetty Images_post office Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    Britain’s Post Office Scandal and the Rule of Law

    Jan 18, 2024 Robert Skidelsky explains why Western countries are finding it increasingly hard to address official misconduct.

  4. How to Prevent an AI Apocalypse
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    How to Prevent an AI Apocalypse

    Dec 19, 2023 Robert Skidelsky thinks that regulating artificial intelligence is not enough to rein in potentially dangerous technologies.

  5. Peacekeeping, Past and Present
    fischer186_Ian WaldieGetty Images_eu Ian WaldieGetty Images

    Peacekeeping, Past and Present

    Nov 20, 2023 Robert Skidelsky mines the nineteenth-century Concert of Europe for lessons on how to maintain geopolitical stability today.

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  1. stiglitz331_serggnGetty Images_techregulation serggn/Getty Images

    A Big Defeat for Big Tech

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Tech companies know that if there is an open, democratic debate about data security, consumers’ concerns about digital safeguards will win out. And while the industry's lobbyists tried to ensure that no such debate could ever occur, one of their more cynical moves has now been exposed and thwarted.

    details how the industry tried to slip extraordinary protections against regulation into US trade agreements.
  2. zizek27_Giles ClarkeGetty Images_jimmycherizier Giles Clarke/Getty Images

    Haiti’s Proud Boys

    Slavoj Žižek

    If we measure a failed state by the cracks in the edifice of its power, reflected in brewing ideological civil wars, deadlocked assemblies, and increasingly insecure public spaces, we must recognize that the United States is not so unlike Haiti. Both have given rise to violent gangs with political ambitions.

    warns that rich Western democracies are not immune to politically motivated gang violence.
  3. hedegaard11_y Dursun AydemirAnadolu via Getty Images_parliament elections Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu via Getty Images

    Unity Is Europe’s Greatest Asset

    Connie Hedegaard emphasizes the importance of stability amid persistent economic and geopolitical crises.
  4. qian34_PEDRO PARDOAFP via Getty Images_immigration PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images

    The Truth About US Immigration

    Nancy Qian warns that overheated campaign-season rhetoric is dangerously polarizing and ultimately self-defeating.
  5. mueller51_ David McNewGetty Images_gop trump David McNew/Getty Images

    The Zombification of Political Parties

    Jan-Werner Mueller argues that Donald Trump’s capture of the GOP’s organizational machinery recalls authoritarian tactics elsewhere.
  6. basu100_David Dee DelgadoGetty Images_newyork David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

    The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior

    Kaushik Basu highlights the potential benefits of emphasizing adherence to the spirit of laws, if not their letter.
  7. brown106_KOLA SULAIMONAFP via Getty Images_nigeriaschool Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images

    For Nigeria’s Schools, Safety Must Come First

    Gordon Brown writes that the latest mass abduction of students underscores the dilemma facing parents throughout the country.
  8. owoo1_disabled iStock / Getty Images Plus

    Give Women with Disabilities a Chance

    Nkechi S. Owoo explains what is needed to protect and empower one of the world’s most vulnerable demographic groups.
  9. op_mkurz3_Spencer PlattGetty Images_rustbelt Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    How Capitalism Became a Threat to Democracy

    Mordecai Kurz examines the economic policies and market dynamics that have ushered in America's Second Gilded Age.

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