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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
180 commentaries

Simon Johnson, a 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Faculty Director of MIT’s Shaping the Future of Work initiative, and Co-Chair of the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council. He is a co-author (with Daron Acemoglu) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023). 

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  1. The Economic Consequences of Trump 2.0
    johnson182_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_trump Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Economic Consequences of Trump 2.0

    Jan 3, 2025 Simon Johnson explains why reality is unlikely to come close to matching the US president-elect's rhetoric.

  2. Trump Can Win Against China – in Ukraine
    johnson181_Alexander ManzyukAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_russian oil Alexander Manzyuk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Trump Can Win Against China – in Ukraine

    Nov 25, 2024 Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko argue that forcing Russia to withdraw would yield a clearer win for the US than tariffs on Chinese imports.

  3. Only Harris Will Deliver Shared Prosperity
    johnson180_JIM WATSONAFP via Getty Images_kamala harris JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

    Only Harris Will Deliver Shared Prosperity

    Nov 1, 2024 Simon Johnson says that Donald Trump’s discredited protectionism would benefit the few at the expense of the many.

  4. Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Are a Gift to the Rich
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    Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Are a Gift to the Rich

    Oct 7, 2024 Simon Johnson cites research showing that middle-class US households would foot the bill.

  5. How to Create More Good Jobs
    bildt104_Doug MillsPoolGetty Images_semiconductors Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

    How to Create More Good Jobs

    Aug 2, 2024 Simon Johnson touts the 2022 US CHIPS and Science Act, which will nurture geographically dispersed innovation hubs.

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  1. fischer224_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_trumpinauguration Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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    Trump at the Gates

    Joschka Fischer urges Europeans to recognize that they are now on their own in an increasingly dangerous world.
  2. stiglitz347_Kevin DietschGettyImages_bye_biden Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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    The End of Progress?

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Though the United States has long led the world in advancing basic science and technology, it is hard to see how this can continue under President Donald Trump and the country’s ascendant oligarchy. America’s rejection of Enlightenment values will have dire consequences.

     predicts that Donald Trump’s second administration will be defined by its rejection of Enlightenment values.
  3. varoufakis123_China PhotosGetty Images_chinayuandollar China Photos/Getty Images
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    China’s Trump Dilemma

    Yanis Varoufakis

    Will the China hawks in Donald Trump’s administration railroad him into a confrontation that transcends tariffs and embraces financial sanctions of the type the US and the European Union imposed on Russia? If they do, China's leaders will have to decide whether to decouple from the dollar-based international monetary system.

     thinks the real choice facing Chinese leaders may be whether to challenge the dollar's hegemony head-on.
  4. lamy10_Badru KatumbaGettyImages_jackfruit_farmer Badru Katumba/Getty Images
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    The Key to Narrowing the Development Gap

    Pascal Lamy, et al. explain how investments in African agri-food systems can advance many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
  5. galbraith39_rudall30Getty Images_businessmanforest rudall30/Getty Images
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    Economists’ Way Out of the Wilderness

    James K. Galbraith argues that the continued dominance of nineteenth-century thinking has resulted in a catalogue of failure.
  6. benami221_Justin SullivanGetty Images_trump Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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    Trump the Revolutionary Isolationist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami hears echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the US president's threats to acquire Greenland.
  7. hubbard4_Chen MengtongChina News ServiceVCG via Getty Images_scottbessent Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
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    How the Trump Administration Can Hit Its Growth Target

    Glenn Hubbard urges policymakers to focus on the three pillars of increased productivity.
  8. oneill129_Saul LoebGettyImages_us_treasury Saul Loeb/Getty Images
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    Trump’s First Test Will Be the Bond Market

    Jim O'Neill wonders if recent market signals will keep the new administration’s radicalism in check.
  9. ahzhang19_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_tiktok Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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    The TikTok Boomerang

    Angela Huyue Zhang thinks the US government's ban on the app has left it in an untenable position.

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