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Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky

Writing for PS since 2003
210 commentaries

Robert Skidelsky, a member of the British House of Lords and Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University, was a non-executive director of the private Russian oil company PJSC Russneft from 2016 to 2021. The author of a three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, he began his political career in the Labour party, became the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Treasury affairs in the House of Lords, and was eventually forced out of the Conservative Party for his opposition to NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999. He is the author of The Machine Age: An Idea, a History, a Warning (Allen Lane, 2023).

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  1. 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.

  2. Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Rich
    skidelsky192_Michael M. SantiagoGetty Images_economy Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

    Pessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Rich

    Oct 24, 2023 Robert Skidelsky reflects on the roles of capital, technology, and the state in shaping today’s global political economy.

  3. The New Anatomy of Britain
    skidelsky191_Hollie AdamsGetty Images_rorystewart Hollie Adams/Getty Images

    The New Anatomy of Britain

    Sep 22, 2023 Robert Skidelsky laments the decline of UK institutions and the increasingly limited scope for meaningful action.

  4. Imagining a Keynesian Revival
    skidelsky190_JIM WATSONAFP via Getty Images_biden ira JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

    Imagining a Keynesian Revival

    Aug 21, 2023 Robert Skidelsky thinks the time has come to call into question the rigid separation between public and private expenditure.

  5. The Great Unbanking
    skidelsky189_ OLIVIER TOURONAFP via Getty Images_nigel farage OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty Images

    The Great Unbanking

    Jul 20, 2023 Robert Skidelsky thinks that international anti-corruption regulations are too stringent and enforced without adequate oversight.

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  1. kimooon31_RezaGetty Images_oil Reza/Getty Images

    Petrostates Must Take the Lead on Climate Finance

    Ban Ki-moon, et al. urges oil-exporting countries to kickstart a program of green investment in the Global South at COP28.
  2. fratzscher18_ODD ANDERSENAFP via Getty Images_germany debt brake ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images

    Germany’s Debt Brake Is Breaking Its Economy

    Marcel Fratzscher warns that a flawed constitutional rule is undermining the country’s ability to pursue essential reforms.
  3. schaaf1_JEWEL SAMADAFP via Getty Images_cop28 JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

    Why COP28 Has Already Failed

    Marta Schaaf & Kristine Beckerle say that the UAE’s repression of dissidents and rights activists serves defenders of the climate status quo.
  4. pistor30_Justin SullivanGetty Images_sam altman Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    In AI, Capital Wins Again

    Katharina Pistor shows why OpenAI’s efforts to preserve its founding non-profit mission never stood any chance.
  5. rajan80_BRENDAN BANNONAFP via Getty Images_climaterefugees Brendan Bannon/AFP via Getty Images

    Justice for Climate Migrants

    Sameh Shoukry & Amy E. Pope urge leaders to take a holistic approach to addressing the sharp increase in weather-related displacement.
  6. Haldar_Say-More_Busakorn-via-GettyRF

    Antara Haldar on behavioral economics, development models, global governance, and more

    Antara Haldar advocates a radical rethink of development, explains what went right at the recent AI Safety Summit, highlights the economics discipline’s shortcomings, and more.
  7. The symbol of the Euro Hannelore Foerster/Getty Images

    The New Normal for Central Banks

    Lucrezia Reichlin asks why the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank keep providing liquidity directly to banks.
  8. benami208_FADEL SENNAAFP via Getty Images_israel palestine FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

    The False Choice Between Palestinian and Jewish Liberation

    Shlomo Ben-Ami

    The prevailing narrative that frames Israel as a colonial power suppressing Palestinians’ struggle for statehood grossly oversimplifies a complicated conflict and inadvertently vindicates the region’s most oppressive regimes. Achieving a durable, lasting peace requires moving beyond such facile analogies.

    rejects the facile moralism of those who view the ongoing war through the narrow lens of decolonization.
  9. buruma208_Patrick van KatwijkBSR AgencyGetty Images_wilders1 Patrick van KatwijkBSR AgencyGetty Images

    The Rage of the Outsiders

    Ian Buruma

    The far-right populist Geert Wilders’ election victory in the Netherlands reflects the same sentiment that powered Brexit and Donald Trump’s candidacy in 2016. But such outcomes could not happen without the cynicism displayed over the past few decades by traditional conservative parties.

    shows what Geert Wilders has in common with other ultra-nationalist politicians, past and present.

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