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Michael Spence

Michael Spence

Writing for PS since 2008
178 commentaries

Michael Spence, a Nobel laureate in economics, is Professor of Economics Emeritus and a former dean of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Senior Adviser to General Atlantic, and Chairman of the firm’s Global Growth Institute. He is Chair of the Advisory Board of the Asia Global Institute and serves on the Academic Committee at Luohan Academy. He is a former chair of the Commission on Growth and Development and a co-author (with Mohamed A. El-Erian, Gordon Brown, and Reid Lidow) of Permacrisis: A Plan to Fix a Fractured World (Simon & Schuster, 2023).

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  1. The US Economy’s Trust Deficit
    Matt Gush/Getty Images

    The US Economy’s Trust Deficit

    Dec 20, 2024 Michael Spence considers the causes and consequences of Americans’ declining faith in media and government.

  2. China Can Beat Back Deflation
    spence178_NurPhotoGettyImages_china_deflation_supermarket1 NurPhoto/Getty Images

    China Can Beat Back Deflation

    Nov 6, 2024 Michael Spence predicts that, with the right policies, the economy’s growth momentum can be restored within 2-3 years.

  3. The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology
    spence176_VCGVCG via Getty Images_chinaelectricvehicles VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The High Cost of Excluding Chinese Technology

    Oct 2, 2024 Michael Spence warns that both the global economy and the sustainability agenda could be dealt a devastating blow.

  4. Europe Needs a New Economic Vision
    spence175_eu unnivation iStock / Getty Images Plus/greenbutterfly

    Europe Needs a New Economic Vision

    Aug 21, 2024 Michael Spence is confident that the European Union can make up ground lost to the US and China – if it knows what it wants.

  5. The Economics of Philanthropy
    spence174_ David RyderGetty Images_gates foundation David Ryder/Getty Images

    The Economics of Philanthropy

    Jul 4, 2024 Michael Spence proposes mechanisms for inducing the wealthy to support public goods at a time of rising inequality.

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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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