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Jonathan D. Ostry

Jonathan D. Ostry

5 commentaries

Jonathan D. Ostry, formerly a senior official at the International Monetary Fund, is Professor of Economics, Global Affairs, and Public Policy at the University of Toronto and a nonresident fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. His recent books include Confronting Inequality (Columbia University Press, 2019) and Taming the Tide of Capital Flows (MIT Press, 2018).

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  1. Canada Must Learn From the Green Backlash
    ostry6_Anadolu GettyImages_canada_axe_the_tax Anadolu/Getty Images

    Canada Must Learn From the Green Backlash

    Mar 7, 2025 Jonathan D. Ostry calls for climate policies to reflect social realities, instead of being based solely on economic efficiency.

  2. The Canary in the Inflation Coal Mine
    ostry5_Gary HershornGetty Images_shipping Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

    The Canary in the Inflation Coal Mine

    Oct 5, 2022 Jonathan D. Ostry explains why central banks should pay much greater attention to shipping costs.

  3. The IMF Is Still Behind the Times on Capital Controls
    stiglitz304_STEFANI REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_imf STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    The IMF Is Still Behind the Times on Capital Controls

    May 16, 2022 Joseph E. Stiglitz & Jonathan D. Ostry thinks the Fund’s revised policy framework is better than the previous one, but still flawed.

  4. Inclusive Growth or Else
     Luxury clothing is displayed in a window along Madison Avenue Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    Inclusive Growth or Else

    Feb 5, 2018 Sergei Guriev, et al. propose concrete steps to support more sustainable and broadly shared economic prosperity.

  5. Surviving the Great Capital Flood

    Surviving the Great Capital Flood

    Oct 9, 2007 Simon Johnson & Jonathan D. Ostry

  1. przybylski2_Alexander KoernerGetty Images_germanyarmy Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

    Europe’s Democrats Must Forge a Will to Fight

    Wojciech Przybylski & Goran Buldioski think European leaders' most urgent security task is to nurture citizens' resolve to defend their countries.
  2. mazzucato81_Tomas CuestaGetty Images_javiermileichainsaw Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images

    Governments Are Not Startups

    Mariana Mazzucato & Rainer Kattel

    By trying to running the state like a private business, Elon Musk and other anti-government types are creating a mess that someone else will have to clean up. Governments and businesses serve vastly different purposes, answer to different constituencies, and operate on entirely different timelines.

    explain why ongoing efforts to run the state like a business are doomed to fail.
  3. jkerry2_Ozgun TiranAnadoluGettyImages_black_sea Ozgun Tiran/Anadolu/Getty Images

    Dumping Biomass in the Ocean Is Not a Climate Solution

    James Kerry & Lisa Levin warn against the commercialization of unproven climate interventions like one targeting the Black Sea.
  4. eichengreen202_ Stefan Wermuth - WPA PoolGetty Images_churchillsterling Stefan Wermuth/WPA/Pool/Getty Images

    Sterling’s Past and the Dollar’s Future

    Barry Eichengreen

    US President Donald Trump says he wants to preserve the dollar's international role as a reserve and payment currency. If that's true, the history of pound sterling suggests he should be promoting financial stability, limiting the use of tariffs, and strengthening America's geopolitical alliances.

    applies three lessons from prewar Britain that the Trump administration appears determined to ignore.
  5. wei69_Alex WongGetty Images_trumptariffs Alex Wong/Getty Images

    Trump’s Misguided Tariff Formula

    Shang-Jin Wei criticizes the US administration's crude calculations, which disregard textbook macroeconomic principles.
  6. chellaney186_SAI AUNG MAINSAI AUNG MAINAFP via Getty Images_myanmarearthquake Sai Aung Main/AFP via Getty Images

    The US Must Change Course on Myanmar

    Brahma Chellaney outlines a policy approach that would promote stability, rather than perpetuating criminality and violence.
  7. fedyk10_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_ec_rearm_eu_annoucement Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

    Europe Must Move Faster to Defend Itself

    Anastassia Fedyk, et al. outline four steps European leaders can take to accelerate rearmament and mitigate the Russian threat.
  8. guzman19_Tomas CuestaGetty Images_milei Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images

    Will the IMF Get Played by Javier Milei?

    Martín Guzmán worries that the Fund will damage its credibility by issuing another politically motivated loan to Argentina.
  9. velasco158_Spencer PlattGetty Images_rustbelt Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    There Is No Method to Trump’s Tariff Madness

    Andrés Velasco sees no merit in any of the rationales the White House has advanced for launching a global trade war.

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