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James Livingston

James Livingston

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James Livingston, Professor Emeritus of History at Rutgers University, is the author of six books, including Origins of the Federal Reserve System: Money, Class, and Corporate Capitalism, 1890-1913 (Cornell University Press, 1986), and the forthcoming The Intellectual Earthquake: How Pragmatism Changed the World, 1898-2008 (University of Chicago Press).

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  1. What Was Capitalism?
    op_livingston4_PolinmrGetty Images_capitalism money Polinmr/Getty Images

    What Was Capitalism?

    Feb 16, 2024 James Livingston asks whether those at the commanding heights of today's economy are steering us toward feudalism or fatuousness.

  2. Neoliberal Minority Rule
    livingston3_GIORGIO VIERAAFP via Getty Images_desantistrumpflorida Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

    Neoliberal Minority Rule

    Nov 1, 2023 James Livingston says that the question is no longer how, but whether, free markets can serve democracy’s cause.

  3. Men Overboard
    op_livingston3_Kevin DietschGetty Images_joshhawley Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    Men Overboard

    Aug 11, 2023 James Livingston explores the unspoken tragedy at the heart of conservatives' fixation on defending patriarchy.

  4. The Sense of an Ending
    op_livingston2_Beata ZawrzelNurPhoto via Getty Images_capitalisamprotest Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The Sense of an Ending

    Mar 10, 2023 James Livingston surveys the intellectual terrain created by the transition from capitalism as we have come to know it.

  5. The Contested Fed
    op_livingston1_Anna MoneymakerGetty Images_fed Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    The Contested Fed

    Dec 2, 2022 James Livingston reviews three books that, each in its own way, reveal a central truth about the world’s leading central bank.

  1. vbadre1_ DeAgostiniGetty Images_icarusbruegel DeAgostini/Getty Images
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    Business Lessons from the Fall of Icarus

    Vanessa Badré scrutinizes a Flemish masterpiece to glean insights into the challenges of corporate social responsibility.
  2. patten164_ JUSTIN TALLISAFP via Getty Images_hongkongsecuritylaw Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

    China Tightens Its Grip on Hong Kong

    Chris Patten condemns the latest attempt by the Communist Party’s puppet government to curb democratic freedoms.
  3. op_tasca1_Long WeiVCG via Getty Images_e-cny Long Wei/VCG via Getty Images

    The Struggle for Currency Supremacy

    Paolo Tasca

    New techno-powered alternative currencies should not be seen as decisive challenges to the US dollar. Instead, they are best understood as pawns in an older game of strategic dominance for which there is no end in sight.

    expects that digital assets will accelerate efforts to create alternatives to the US dollar.
  4. khrushcheva179_JEWEL SAMADAFP via Getty Images_rupertmurdoch Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images

    The Oligarch, His Ex-Wife, Her Mother, and Rupert Murdoch

    Nina L. Khrushcheva contemplates the media mogul's impending marriage to the Russian biologist Elena Zhukova.
  5. bp immigration Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

    The Immigration Tinderbox

    In the United States and Europe, immigration tends to divide people into opposing camps: those who claim that newcomers undermine economic opportunity and security for locals, and those who argue that welcoming migrants and refugees is a moral and economic imperative. How should one make sense of a debate that is often based on motivated reasoning, with emotion and underlying biases affecting the selection and interpretation of evidence?

  6. arezki19_MARCO LONGARIAFP via Getty Images_senegalelection Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

    Senegal’s Election and Africa’s Future

    Rabah Arezki considers what Bassirou Diomaye Faye's presidency could mean for one of Africa's most closely watched democracies.
  7. disparte5_ Kevin DietschGetty Images_FSOC Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    America Must Lead on Crypto Regulation

    Dante Alighieri Disparte urges policymakers to take decisive action and set new rules for the industry in 2024.
  8. gul6_Hasan MradDeFodi Images via Getty Images_ghannouchi Hasan Mrad/De Fodi Images via Getty Images

    Rached Ghannouchi’s Plight Deserves More Attention

    Abdullah Gül decries the prosecution and imprisonment of Tunisia's widely respected avatar of Islamic democracy.
  9. okonjoiweala27_GIUSEPPE CACACEAFP via Getty Images_WTO13ministerialconference Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images

    WTO Reform Is Everyone’s Responsibility

    Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala writes that meaningful change will come only when members other than the US help steer the organization.

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