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James K. Galbraith

James K. Galbraith

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1 videos & podcasts

James K. Galbraith, Professor of Government and Chair in Government/Business Relations at the University of Texas at Austin, is a former staff economist for the House Banking Committee and a former executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. From 1993-97, he served as chief technical adviser for macroeconomic reform to China’s State Planning Commission. He is the co-author (with Jing Chen) of the forthcoming Entropy Economics: The Living Basis of Value and Production (University of Chicago Press, 2025).

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  1. The Democrats Committed Suicide This Year
    galbraith38_MandelNganGettyImages_democrats_funeral Mandel Ngan/Getty Images

    The Democrats Committed Suicide This Year

    Nov 13, 2024 James K. Galbraith thinks the party has only itself to blame for losing the 2024 election on low voter turnout.

  2. Elon Musk Gets Trump’s Economic Plans Partly Right
    galbraith37_Anna MoneymakerGetty Images_elonmusktrump Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Elon Musk Gets Trump’s Economic Plans Partly Right

    Nov 1, 2024 James K. Galbraith argues that only a tycoon could love Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs, deportations, and spending cuts.

  3. Inflation Shamanism
    galbraith36_STRNurPhoto via Getty Images_krugman STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Inflation Shamanism

    Sep 20, 2024 James K. Galbraith marvels at the Federal Reserve's ability to win praise for positive outcomes it did not cause.

  4. Economic Theory for the Real World
    galbraith33 Getty Images

    Economic Theory for the Real World

    Sep 9, 2024 James K. Galbraith offers a new conceptual framework based on twenty-first-century science and simple observation.

  5. High Interest Rates Finally Bite
    galbraith35_Andrew HarnikGetty Images_powell Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    High Interest Rates Finally Bite

    Aug 6, 2024 James K. Galbraith sees in the stock-market crash an outcome that a 17-year-old economic model fully explains.

  1. ahzhang19_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_tiktok Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The TikTok Boomerang

    Angela Huyue Zhang

    By banning TikTok, US authorities have sent American users of the app flocking to Chinese platforms with even fewer safeguards on data security or algorithmic manipulation. Though these, too, might be banned, others will replace them, leading America to construct, one prohibition at a time, its own "Great Firewall."

    thinks the US government's ban on the app has left it in an untenable position.
  2. delaney1_Jose JimenezGettyImages_bahamas_dorian Jose Jimenez/Getty Images

    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.
  3. brown116_Timur MatahariGettyImages_indonesia_free_school_meals Timur Matahari/Getty Images

    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.
  4. karl3_Apu GomesGetty Images_LAfires Apu Gomes/Getty Images

    A House Gutted by Fire

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

    False Economies

    William H. Janeway highlights the high cost of the single-minded focus on efficiency that has come to dominate the discipline.
  6. bq trump institutions Photo by Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images

    Can US Institutions Withstand Trump 2.0?

    While some observers doubt that US President-elect Donald Trump poses a grave threat to US democracy, others are bracing themselves for the destruction of the country’s constitutional order. With Trump’s inauguration just around the corner, we asked PS commentators how vulnerable US institutions really are.

  7. wagner31_Westend61Getty Images_climatependulum Westend61/Getty Images

    The Climate Policy Pendulum

    Gernot Wagner notes that green technologies retain their many advantages, regardless of national political developments.
  8. strain35_Christina HouseGettyImages_commencement_ceremony Christina House/Getty Images

    Could High-Skill Immigration Increase Under Trump?

    Michael R. Strain argues that the recent kerfuffle over foreign workers underscores the president-elect’s pragmatic instincts.
  9. posner38_Viktor SidorovGettyImages_un_flag Viktor Sidorov/Getty Images

    What Happened to International Law?

    Eric Posner sees the web of treaties, conventions, and institutions as another victim of the anti-globalization backlash.

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