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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

    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
    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.

  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. iyer2_SIA KAMBOUAFP via Getty Images_malariavaccine Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty Images
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    Climate Displacement Is Also a Health Crisis

    Jayasree K. Iyer proposes a four-pronged strategy to ensure that essential medicines reach vulnerable populations.
  2. rogoff258_Fabrice CoffriniGettyImages_trump_at_davos Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images
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    Europe in Trump’s Crosshairs

    Kenneth Rogoff

    US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House represents a grave threat to Europe’s security, economy, and clean-energy transition. The European Union’s top priority must be to find ways to reduce energy prices, even if it means recalibrating some of its green policies.

     urges EU policymakers not to allow the new US administration to distract them from key policy priorities.
  3. pistor39_Julia Demaree NikhinsonGettyImages_trump_inauguration_ceos Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Getty Images
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    The New Washington Consensus

    Katharina Pistor

    If a picture is worth a thousand words, the image of Big Tech founders and CEOs filling the front row at Donald Trump’s inauguration is a manifesto. We have just watched private business take over the US government in broad daylight, and history suggests that this won’t end well.

     sees no daylight remaining between US private business and the federal government.
  4. elaynaoui2_EYERUSALEM JIREGNAAFP via Getty Images_garmentproductionafrica Eyerusalem Jiregna/AFP via Getty Images
    1

    Economic Development after the Washington Consensus

    Karim El Aynaoui & Hinh T. Dinh propose a new policy framework adapted to an era that has rendered the prevailing growth model obsolete.
  5. GettyImages-1322520591
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    Yi Fuxian on China's decision-making, economic prospects, demographic crisis, and more

    Yi Fuxian warns that China's government and mainstream analysts are still underestimating the severity of the country's demographic crisis, identifies some of the gravest policy mistakes Donald Trump's administration is at risk of making vis-a-vis China, explains why China’s middle class will never be strong enough to bring about a democratic transition, and more.
  6. leonard106_ Andrew HarnikGetty Images_trump Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
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    Trump at Davos

    Mark Leonard

    Donald Trump’s return marks the start of an anti-Davos age, defined by the lack not only of a global order but also of any desire to create one. The world should expect deeper fragmentation and chaos in the face of unresolved crises and frequent disruptions.

     thinks there will be no return to the postwar global order of universally shared rules and institutions.
  7. krueger83_Sean GallupGettyImages_manmohan_singh Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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    Manmohan Singh and the Making of the Indian Miracle

    Anne O. Krueger highlights the qualities that enabled the late leader to transform his country and lift its global standing.
  8. mueller56_SOPA ImagesGettyImages_covid_prostest SOPA Images/Getty Images
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    Confronting the Pandemic’s Toxic Political Legacy

    Jan-Werner Mueller supports calls for countries to carry out independent inquiries into how the COVID-19 crisis was handled.
  9. james_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_trump Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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    How Trump’s Anti-Globalism Could Backfire

    Harold James thinks the new administration's approach could jeopardize the foreign capital flows that America depends on.

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