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Harold James

Harold James

Writing for PS since 2001
228 commentaries
2 videos & podcasts

Harold James is Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University. A specialist on German economic history and on globalization, he is a co-author of The Euro and The Battle of Ideas, and the author of The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle, Krupp: A History of the Legendary German FirmMaking the European Monetary Union, The War of Words, and, most recently, Seven Crashes: The Economic Crises That Shaped Globalization (Yale University Press, 2023).

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  1. Shock Therapy for Multilateralism
    james225_AnadoluGettyImages_un_security_countil_meeting Anadolu/Getty Images

    Shock Therapy for Multilateralism

    Jan 2, 2025 Harold James considers what another Donald Trump presidency will, and will not, mean for global cooperation.

  2. Is America the Next Soviet Union?
    james224_Francis LochonGettyImages_ussr_dolls Francis Lochon/Getty Images

    Is America the Next Soviet Union?

    Nov 28, 2024 Harold James sees parallels between the United States’ political dysfunction and that of its twentieth-century adversary.

  3. Fascism in Our Time
    james223_Win McNameeGetty Images_fascism Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Fascism in Our Time

    Oct 28, 2024 Harold James emphasizes the similarity of US business leaders’ behavior to that of their counterparts in 1930s Germany.

  4. Trump’s Tariffs Are an Opportunity for Harris
    james222_Win McNameeGetty Images)_debate Win McNamee/Getty Images)

    Trump’s Tariffs Are an Opportunity for Harris

    Oct 7, 2024 Harold James urges the Democratic presidential candidate to reject the new consensus against free trade.

  5. The Future of Conservatism
    ps3q2024 predictions GettyImages-1958540720-fade_AW Getty Images

    The Future of Conservatism

    Sep 9, 2024 Elizabeth Corey, et al. consider whether the populist “new right” in America, Europe, and elsewhere is here to stay.

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  1. aslund80_Natalia KolesnikovaGettyImages_russia_inflation Natalia Kolesnikova/Getty Images

    Putin’s War Is Fueling Russian Stagflation

    Anders Åslund thinks a weakening economy will soon become a serious constraint on Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
  2. aghion10_Laurence DuttonGettyImages_ai_jobs Laurence Dutton/Getty Images

    What AI Means for Growth and Jobs

    Philippe Aghion, et al. think the technology has great potential to boost productivity without harming employment.
  3. elerian176_Dan KitwoodGetty Images_bankofengland Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    Shock-Proofing the UK Economy

    Mohamed A. El-Erian

    No country wants external developments to drive up its borrowing costs and weaken its currency, which is what the UK is facing today, together with serious cyclical and structural challenges. But if the British government responds appropriately, recent market volatility might turn out to have a silver lining.

    urges the government to communicate better what it is doing to boost resilient growth – and to do more.
  4. drchowdhury3_Shen HongXinhua via Getty Images_modixi Shen Hong/Xinhua via Getty Images

    As Trump Returns, Sino-Indian Relations Are Changing

    Debasish Roy Chowdhury explains why one of America’s key allies is hedging its bets amid escalating global tensions.
  5. GettyImages-1275420781

    Ricardo Hausmann on immigration, climate finance, economic complexity, and more

    Ricardo Hausmann urges the US to issue more H1-B visas, argues that Europe must become a military superpower in its own right, applies the “growth diagnostics” framework to Venezuela, and more.
  6. chellaney183_Hector RetmalGettyImages_wuhan_institute_of_virology Hector Retmal/Getty Images

    Will Trump Crack the Mystery of COVID’s Origin?

    Brahma Chellaney urges the incoming US administration to tighten rules governing risky “gain-of-function” research.
  7. berjon1_NurPhotoGettyImages_bluesky

    Social Media as It Should Be

    Robin Berjon explains how the Bluesky model could restore the original promise of the internet.
  8. bildt131_EMIL STACHRitzau ScanpixAFP via Getty Images_trumpgreenland Emil Stach/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images

    Trump’s Greenland Grab

    Carl Bildt

    Now that Donald Trump is returning to the White House, he believes that it is an “absolute necessity” for the United States to have “ownership and control” of Greenland. But as an autonomous Danish territory where the US military already operates, Greenland has no reason to abandon its current political arrangement.

    explains why the US president-elect's threats to seize the Danish territory are so dangerous.
  9. haass176_ Brandon BellGetty Images_biden Brandon Bell/Getty Images

    Joe Biden’s Disappearing Legacy

    Richard Haass thinks the outgoing US president got some big things mostly right and some big things mostly wrong.

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