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Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky

Writing for PS since 2003
201 commentaries

Robert Skidelsky, a member of the British House of Lords and Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University, was a non-executive director of the private Russian oil company PJSC Russneft from 2016 to 2021. The author of a three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes, he began his political career in the Labour party, became the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Treasury affairs in the House of Lords, and was eventually forced out of the Conservative Party for his opposition to NATO’s intervention in Kosovo in 1999.

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  1. Globalization’s Latest Last Stand
    skidelsky184_Getty Images_deglobalization Getty Images

    Globalization’s Latest Last Stand

    Feb 20, 2023 Robert Skidelsky traces the growing backlash against economic integration to the faithful application of neoliberal principles.

  2. The Return of Thoughtcrime
    skidelsky183_Hollie AdamsGetty Images_UKpoliceprotest Hollie Adams/Getty Images

    The Return of Thoughtcrime

    Jan 17, 2023 Robert Skidelsky warns that the British government’s crackdown on peaceful public protest negates the presumption of innocence.

  3. Too Poor for War
    skidelsky182_Chris J RatcliffeGetty Images_bank pound falling Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

    Too Poor for War

    Nov 8, 2022 Robert Skidelsky & Philip Pilkington explain how the United Kingdom became more vulnerable to external shocks than other Western powers.

  4. Gorbachev’s Tragic Legacy
    skidelsky181_EVGENIA NOVOZHENINAPOOLAFP via Getty Images_gorbachev funeral EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

    Gorbachev’s Tragic Legacy

    Oct 19, 2022 Robert Skidelsky reflects on the long-term effects of the late Soviet leader’s political and economic reforms.

  5. Requiem for an Empire
    skidelsky_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_queenfuneral Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Requiem for an Empire

    Sep 12, 2022 Robert Skidelsky reflects on Queen Elizabeth II's role preserving Britain's global influence as the head of the Commonwealth.

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  1. buiter45_Jabin BotsfordThe Washington Post via Getty Image_jeromepowell Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

    Price Stability vs. Financial Stability?

    Willem H. Buiter

    If the US Federal Reserve raises its policy interest rate by as much as is necessary to rein in inflation, it will most likely further depress the market value of the long-duration securities parked on many banks' balance sheets. So be it.

    thinks central banks can achieve both, despite the occurrence of a liquidity crisis amid high inflation.
  2. frankel145_ Richard Baker  In Pictures via Getty Images_exchangerates Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images

    Fifty Years of Floating Currencies

    Jeffrey Frankel explains why the shift toward exchange-rate flexibility after 1973 was not a policy failure, as many believed.
  3. harrington34_Drew AngererGetty Images_avril haines Drew Angerer/Getty Images

    What Do America’s Spies Really Think About China?

    Kent Harrington thinks the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment should have delved deeper on the issue.
  4. grafton2_ SIMON MAINAAFP via Getty Images_water SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images

    Waking Up to the World’s Water Crisis

    Quentin Grafton, et al. see three overarching priorities for the first global water conference in almost a half-century.
  5. benami199_BULENT KILICAFP via Getty Images_ukraine BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images

    Peace Requires Betrayal

    Shlomo Ben-Ami shows why Ukraine and Russia will most likely have to pursue an unpopular endgame to stop the bloodshed.
  6. reichlin29_David L. RyanThe Boston Globe via Getty Images_svb David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

    Lessons from the SVB Collapse

    Lucrezia Reichlin

    Although Silicon Valley Bank was not deemed to be systemically important, its insolvency forced the US Federal Reserve to head off systemic contagion and exposed the inadequacy of the FDIC’s partial deposit insurance regime. The financial-stability framework adopted after the 2008 crisis obviously needs another overhaul.

    considers what the bank’s failure should mean for the current financial-stability framework.
  7. foglia4_kentohGetty Images_bankingregulations kentoh/Getty Images

    It’s the Banking Regulations, Stupid

    Antonio Foglia traces the Silicon Valley Bank failure back to fundamental flaws in the prevailing governance framework.
  8. mazzucato52_Mario TamaGetty Images_water agriculture drought Mario Tama/Getty Images

    Confronting the Global Water Crisis

    Mariana Mazzucato, et al. offer a seven-point blueprint for preserving one of the planet’s most important natural systems.
  9. op_haass3_Chris HondrosGetty Images_iraqwar Chris Hondros/Getty Images

    Revisiting America’s War of Choice in Iraq

    Richard Haass considers the enduring lessons from a foreign intervention that was both ill-conceived and poorly executed.

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