Skip to main content

Yuen Yuen Ang

Yuen Yuen Ang

Writing for PS since 2010
17 commentaries

Yuen Yuen Ang, Professor of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, is the author of How China Escaped the Poverty Trap (Cornell University Press, 2016) and China’s Gilded Age (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Sort by: Show:
  1. Doing Development in the Polycrisis
    ang16_DesignPicsEditorialGettyImages_colonial_sugar_mill_dutch_east_indies1 Design Pics Editorial/Getty Images

    Doing Development in the Polycrisis

    Nov 25, 2024 Yuen Yuen Ang argues that we need a fundamentally different way of thinking about our biggest global problems.

  2. China’s Economic Paradox
    tai1_GREG BAKERAFP via Getty Images_hchina GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images
    Free to read

    China’s Economic Paradox

    Sep 4, 2024 Yuen Yuen Ang explains a seemingly contradictory trajectory characterized by a high-tech boom and stagnating growth.

  3. How Exceptional Is China’s Crony-Capitalist Boom?
    op_ang1_retrorocketGetty Images_corruption retrorocket/Getty Images

    How Exceptional Is China’s Crony-Capitalist Boom?

    May 10, 2024 Yuen Yuen Ang explains how corruption both drove the country's GDP growth and sowed the seeds for its current economic problems.

  4. Mismeasuring Corruption Lets Rich Countries Off the Hook
    basu93_sesameGetty Images_corruptionbribe sesame/Getty Images

    Mismeasuring Corruption Lets Rich Countries Off the Hook

    Mar 22, 2024 Yuen Yuen Ang shows what conventional rankings get wrong, and proposes a better approach to measuring the problem.

  5. The Moral of the China Story
    ang13_CFOTOFuturePublishing_via Getty Images CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

    The Moral of the China Story

    Dec 11, 2023 Yuen Yuen Ang explains why the world’s second-largest economy has gone from being a model to a warning in just six years.

Follow Yuen Yuen Ang

Never miss a commentary by Yuen Yuen Ang

  1. hoven1_Ashley CooperConstruction PhotographyAvalonGetty Images_housesolarpanel Ashley Cooper/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images

    The Key to Universal Energy Access Is Green

    Ingrid-Gabriela Hoven & Francesco La Camera tout the transformative potential of distributed renewable energy systems.
  2. rajan97_Douglas RissingGettyImages_us_dollar_treasury Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

    Trumponomics’ Exorbitant Burden

    Raghuram G. Rajan

    According to the incoming chair of US President Donald Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers, America runs large trade deficits and struggles to compete in manufacturing because foreign demand for US financial assets has made the dollar too strong. It’s an argument that manages to be both logically incoherent and historically wrong.

    is unpersuaded by the argument made by presidential advisers for unilaterally restructuring global trade.
  3. norrlof11_SOPA ImagesGettyImages_bitcoin_us_dollar SOPA Images/Getty Images

    Trump, Bitcoin, and the Future of the Dollar

    Carla Norrlöf

    By launching new trade wars and ordering the creation of a Bitcoin reserve, Donald Trump is assuming that US trade partners will pay any price to maintain access to the American market. But if he is wrong about that, the dominance of the US dollar, and all the advantages it confers, could be lost indefinitely.

    doubts the US administration can preserve the greenback’s status while pursuing its trade and crypto policies.
  4. khrushcheva190_Andrew HarnikGettyImages_trump_zelensky_oval_office Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    Fear and Loathing in the Oval Office

    Nina L. Khrushcheva sees traces of Stalin and Mao in Donald Trump’s penchant for ritual humiliation of foe and friend alike.
  5. juergensgrant1_R. Satish BabuGettyImages_india_construction_worker R. Satish Babu/Getty Images

    Future-Proofing Social Protection

    Florian Juergens-Grant & Luca Pellerano explain why employers’ contributions should be determined by capital intensity, not just labor stock.
  6. coyle38_DrAfter123Getty Images_AI DrAfter123/Getty Images

    Diane Coyle on innovation, AI, economic data, and more

    Diane Coyle suggests ways to account for “free” digital services in economic frameworks, considers how to prevent the emergence of AI monopolies, warns that cutting funding for basic research is tantamount to destroying the US economy’s foundations, and more.
  7. schor2 Getty Images

    Long Weekends Forever

    Juliet B. Schor recognizes the technology's potential to facilitate a four-day workweek, benefiting workers and owners alike.
  8. karman2 Getty Images

    Overcoming the Sectarian Challenge to Democracy

    Tawakkol Karman explains what it will take to forge a sustainable political settlement in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East.
  9. johnson183 Getty Images

    The World According to the Oligarchs

    Simon Johnson explains how techno-monopolists’ consolidation of political power in the United States will play out.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.