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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
178 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. 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.

  2. Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Are a Gift to the Rich
    krueger52_FREDERIC J. BROWNAFP via Getty Images_shipping port us FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

    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.

  3. 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.

  4. Human Capital for the Age of Generative AI
    palacio140_Getty Images_AI Getty Images

    Human Capital for the Age of Generative AI

    May 30, 2024 Simon Johnson & Eric Hazan explain how adoption of the technology could help suitably qualified workers climb the wage ladder.

  5. History Already Tells Us the Future of AI
    acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Apr 23, 2024 Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.

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    PS Events: COP29 Live From Baku

    PS editors present the COP29 Live From Baku event.
  2. barfi27_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_trumpnetanyahu Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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    Trumpian Turmoil Is Coming to the Middle East

    Barak Barfi thinks that the regional leaders who are cheering now may soon be pining for a less capricious leader.
  3. galbraith38_MandelNganGettyImages_democrats_funeral Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
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    The Democrats Committed Suicide This Year

    James K. Galbraith thinks the party has only itself to blame for losing the 2024 election on low voter turnout.
  4. chellaney181_JAM STA ROSAAFP via Getty Images_south china JAM STA ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
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    America Must Stand Up to Asia's Bully

    Brahma Chellaney urges Donald Trump’s incoming administration to push back against China’s aggressive expansionism.
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    Inclusive Finance Is the Key to Climate Action

    Sophie Sirtaine calls for COP29 to address the overlooked question of how to channel funds to vulnerable communities.
  6. tharoor196_Yawar NazirGetty Images_ladakh Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
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    India’s Troubled Truce with China

    Shashi Tharoor fears that the recent agreement ending the military standoff in Ladakh will not bring the expected benefits.
  7. nsofor10_XinhuaNewsAgencyGettyImages_cancer_screening Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
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    Reducing Men’s Cancer Burden

    Ifeanyi M. Nsofor outlines a holistic approach that combines personal responsibility with community and government action.
  8. acemoglu80_ Joshua LottGetty Images_democrats Joshua Lott/Getty Images
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    The Trump Shock Is the Democrats’ Fault

    Daron Acemoglu

    While the Democrats have won some recent elections with support from Silicon Valley, minorities, trade unions, and professionals in large cities, this coalition was never sustainable. The party has become culturally disconnected from, and disdainful of, precisely the voters it needs to win.

     thinks Kamala Harris lost because her party has ceased to be the political home of American workers.
  9. christiansen1_Alexis RosenfeldGetty Images_dead coral Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images
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    Trouble Lurks Beneath the Surface of Ocean Conservation

    César Gaviria & Patti Harris warn that current marine protected areas come nowhere close to what is needed to preserve sea life.

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