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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
166 commentaries

Simon Johnson, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, a co-chair of the COVID-19 Policy Alliance, and a co-chair of the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council. He is the co-author (with Daron Acemoglu) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023).

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  1. Great Power Competition Today
    johnson168_Zhang HengweiChina News Service via Getty Images_chinasurveillance Zhang Hengwei/China News Service via Getty Images

    Great Power Competition Today

    Sep 5, 2023 Simon Johnson regards the BRICS' expansion as a sideshow to the battle for global technological leadership.

  2. The Hollywood Writers’ AI Fight Is Everyone’s Fight
    acemoglu63_David McNewGetty Images_wga strike ai David McNew/Getty Images

    The Hollywood Writers’ AI Fight Is Everyone’s Fight

    Aug 2, 2023 Daron Acemoglu, et al. think that knowledge workers who still have a voice can steer managers away from pursuing mindless automation.

  3. Why Are Russian Oil Products Still Being Sold in America?
    johnson166_Vikas KhotHindustan Times via Getty Images_jamnagar Vikas Khot/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

    Why Are Russian Oil Products Still Being Sold in America?

    Jul 3, 2023 Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko argue that all imports from “laundromat countries,” without exception, should now be prohibited.

  4. Will Democracies Stand Up to Big Brother?
    johnson165_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_facerecognition Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    Will Democracies Stand Up to Big Brother?

    Jun 12, 2023 Simon Johnson, et al. urge policymakers to head off the rapid worldwide expansion of AI-enhanced surveillance.

  5. Simon Johnson on stablecoins, artificial intelligence, inequality, and more
    GettyImages-1472273336

    Simon Johnson on stablecoins, artificial intelligence, inequality, and more

    May 9, 2023 Simon Johnson explains why a moratorium on advanced-AI development would do little good, pours cold water on the prevailing techno-optimist narrative, makes the case for scrapping payroll taxes, and more.

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  1. khrushcheva171_MIKHAIL METZELPOOLAFP via Getty Images_putinkim Mikhail Metzel/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    Putin and Kim’s Cartoon Summit

    Nina L. Khrushcheva thinks that Russia's recent meeting with North Korea was intended primarily as a warning to the South.
  2. haykel18_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_mbs Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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    Saudi Arabia’s New Nationalism

    Bernard Haykel explains the reasoning behind the Kingdom's ongoing domestic- and foreign-policy transformation.
  3. wagner22_Lukas SchulzeGetty Images_pollution Lukas Schulze/Getty Images
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    The Green Growth Mindset

    Gernot Wagner sees doctrinaire debates about capitalism as irrelevant or even deleterious to the decarbonization effort.
  4. mallochbrown17_GIANLUIGI GUERCIAAFP via Getty Images_africawomenpolitics Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images
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    Africa Is the Future of Multilateralism

    Mark Malloch-Brown explains why the continent should be at the forefront of efforts to bring about international reforms.
  5. op_yi2_PEDRO PARDOAFP via Getty Images_chinahousing Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images
    2

    A Chinese Bubble Long in the Making

    Yi Fuxian

    The Chinese government is very good at covering up small problems, but these often pile up into much bigger ones that can no longer be ignored. The current real-estate bubble is a case in point, casting serious doubts not just on the wisdom of past policies but also on China's long-term economic future.

     traces the long roots of the country's mounting economic and financial problems.
  6. bp industrial policy Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
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    Industrial Policy Is Back

    From semiconductors to electric vehicles, governments are identifying the strategic industries of the future and intervening to support them – abandoning decades of neoliberal orthodoxy in the process. Are industrial policies the key to tackling twenty-first-century economic challenges or a recipe for market distortions and lower efficiency?

  7. fischer208_DrAfter123Getty Images_AIhuman DrAfter123/Getty Images
    1

    Is AI a Master or Slave?

    Joschka Fischer wonders whether humanity can even hope to maintain control in an era of “mega-crisis.”
  8. haldar25_BettmannGetty Images_friedmanreagan Bettmann/Getty Images
    6

    Laying Chicago Economics to Rest

    Antara Haldar

    From breakthroughs in behavioral economics to mounting evidence in the real world, there is good reason to think that the economic orthodoxy of the past 50 years now has one foot in the grave. The question is whether the mainstream economics profession has gotten the memo.

     looks back on 50 years of neoclassical economic orthodoxy and the damage it has wrought.
  9. delong254_ Samuel CorumGetty Images_january6riot Samuel Corum/Getty Images
    1

    America’s Broken Civic Bargain

    J. Bradford DeLong worries that Republicans have abandoned one of the core principles that sustains a democracy over time.

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