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Harold James

Harold James

Writing for PS since 2001
226 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. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Who Will Create a New European Culture of Debate?
    james221_JOHN MACDOUGALLAFP via Getty Images_macron JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images

    Who Will Create a New European Culture of Debate?

    Aug 27, 2024 Harold James thinks the Franco-German twosome, historically Europe’s engine of integration, has become a spent force.

  5. Is the Polycrisis So Bad?
    james220_Getty Images_stopping crisis Getty Images

    Is the Polycrisis So Bad?

    Jul 31, 2024 Harold James suggests that the current moment is neither as unprecedented nor as bleak as many assume.

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  1. schalatek1_Resul RehimovAnadolu via Getty Images_cop29 Resul Rehimov/Anadolu via Getty Images
    Free to read

    Is the Loss and Damage Fund Becoming an Empty Promise?

    Liane Schalatek warns that rich countries are once again shirking their responsibility to provide adequate climate finance.
  2. mazzucato77_PABLOPORCIUNCULAGettyImages_G20_summit_prostest PABLO PORCIUNCULA/Getty Images

    How Global Public Investment Should Work

    Mariana Mazzucato & Jonathan Glennie propose a new model to unlock financing for action on climate change, biodiversity loss, and other issues.
  3. palacio163_Dominika ZarzyckaSOPA ImagesLightRocket via Getty Images_cop29finance Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

    COP29 Must Deliver the Goods

    Ana Palacio

    Geopolitical turmoil must not be allowed to distract global decision-makers from the urgent imperative of tackling climate change. There is no excuse for letting COP29 conclude without delivering ambitious, credible financing commitments to support climate action – including the clean-energy transition – in developing economies.

    hopes that geopolitical uncertainty will not thwart ambitious, credible climate-finance commitments.
  4. ngilman1_Ivan LiemanAFP via Getty Images_rwandagorilla Ivan Lieman/AFP via Getty Images

    Interspecies Money Is Here

    Nils Gilman & Mutesi Rusagara look beyond the first ever payments to animals and see a new model for human-wildlife economic collaboration.
  5. strain33_TheWashingtonPostGettyImages_make_america_wealthy_again The Washington Post/Getty Images

    A Trump Boom?

    Michael R. Strain thinks the president-elect’s economic policies could be wildly successful if he avoids his worst impulses.
  6. GettyImages-2072805051

    Nicholas Agar on Elon Musk, AI, the futurism industry, and more

    Nicholas Agar urges us not to put too much stock in Musk-style “Mars-shots,” describes how the humanities needs to evolve in our time of disorienting change, suggests that humanists might soon get bored with artificial intelligence, and more.
  7. geybulla2_ANTHONYPIZZOFERRATOGettyImages_cop29_protest ANTHONY PIZZOFERRATO/Getty Images
    Free to read

    Azerbaijan Greenwashes Authoritarianism at COP29

    Arzu Geybulla argues that the host country’s centralized dynastic regime is utterly incapable of meeting climate targets.
  8. bkelly1_VCGVCG via Getty Images_chinaelectricvehicleexport VCG via Getty Images

    Global Tensions Over China’s Overcapacity Will Rise Under Trump

    Brendan Kelly considers the economic and geopolitical implications of the country’s controversial industrial strategy.
  9. ackerman6_AndrewHarnikGettyImages_119th_congress Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    Trump Won, but Trumpism Did Not

    Bruce Ackerman thinks the president-elect’s agenda will falter as many congressional Republicans eye the midterm elections.

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