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Michael Spence

Michael Spence

Writing for PS since 2008
178 commentaries

Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics Emeritus and a former dean of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Senior Adviser to General Atlantic, and Chairman of the firm’s Global Growth Institute. He is Chair of the Advisory Board of the Asia Global Institute and serves on the Academic Committee at Luohan Academy. He is a former chair of the Commission on Growth and Development and a co-author (with Mohamed A. El-Erian, Gordon Brown, and Reid Lidow) of Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World (Simon & Schuster, 2023).

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  1. The US Economy’s Trust Deficit
    Matt Gush/Getty Images

    The US Economy’s Trust Deficit

    Dec 20, 2024 Michael Spence considers the causes and consequences of Americans’ declining faith in media and government.

  2. China Can Beat Back Deflation
    spence178_NurPhotoGettyImages_china_deflation_supermarket1 NurPhoto/Getty Images

    China Can Beat Back Deflation

    Nov 6, 2024 Michael Spence predicts that, with the right policies, the economy’s growth momentum can be restored within 2-3 years.

  3. The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology
    spence176_VCGVCG via Getty Images_chinaelectricvehicles VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology

    Oct 2, 2024 Michael Spence warns that both the global economy and the sustainability agenda could be dealt a devastating blow.

  4. Europe Needs a New Economic Vision
    spence175_eu unnivation iStock / Getty Images Plus/greenbutterfly

    Europe Needs a New Economic Vision

    Aug 21, 2024 Michael Spence is confident that the European Union can make up ground lost to the US and China – if it knows what it wants.

  5. The Economics of Philanthropy
    spence174_ David RyderGetty Images_gates foundation David Ryder/Getty Images

    The Economics of Philanthropy

    Jul 4, 2024 Michael Spence proposes mechanisms for inducing the wealthy to support public goods at a time of rising inequality.

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  1. 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.
  2. benami221_Justin SullivanGetty Images_trump Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
    1

    Trump the Revolutionary Isolationist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami

    America's president subscribes to a brand of isolationism that has waxed and waned throughout US history, but has its roots in the two-century-old Monroe Doctrine. This is bad news for nearly everyone, because it implies acceptance of a world order based on spheres of influence, as envisioned by China and Russia.

     hears echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the US president's threats to acquire Greenland.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

    Financial markets and official economic indicators over the past few weeks give policymakers around the world plenty to contemplate. Was the recent spike in bond yields a sufficient warning to Donald Trump and his team, or will they still follow through with inflationary stimulus, tariff, and immigration policies?

     wonders if recent market signals will keep the new administration’s radicalism in check.
  5. 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.
  6. delaney1_Jose JimenezGettyImages_bahamas_dorian Jose Jimenez/Getty Images
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    Turning the Financial Tide for Small Island States

    Maya Delaney & Aminath Shauna tout the potential of green and blue bonds to protect critical ecosystems and build economic resilience.
  7. brown116_Timur MatahariGettyImages_indonesia_free_school_meals Timur Matahari/Getty Images
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    School Meals Provide Food for Thought – and Fuel for Development

    Gordon Brown & Kevin Watkins tout universal nutrition programs in lower-income countries to mitigate a lost decade for poor children.
  8. karl3_Apu GomesGetty Images_LAfires Apu Gomes/Getty Images
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    A House Gutted by Fire

    Terry Lynn Karl blames the inferno now consuming Los Angeles County squarely on greenhouse-gas emissions.
  9. op_janeway17_Natalya KosarevichGetty Images_moneyhandslightbulb Natalya Kosarevich/Getty Images
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    False Economies

    William H. Janeway highlights the high cost of the single-minded focus on efficiency that has come to dominate the discipline.

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