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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
178 commentaries

Simon Johnson, a 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Faculty Director of MIT’s Shaping the Future of Work initiative, and Co-Chair of the CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council. He is a co-author (with Daron Acemoglu) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity (PublicAffairs, 2023). 

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  1. Only Harris Will Deliver Shared Prosperity
    johnson180_JIM WATSONAFP via Getty Images_kamala harris JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

    Only Harris Will Deliver Shared Prosperity

    Nov 1, 2024 Simon Johnson says that Donald Trump’s discredited protectionism would benefit the few at the expense of the many.

  2. Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Are a Gift to the Rich
    krueger52_FREDERIC J. BROWNAFP via Getty Images_shipping port us FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images

    Trump’s Proposed Tariffs Are a Gift to the Rich

    Oct 7, 2024 Simon Johnson cites research showing that middle-class US households would foot the bill.

  3. How to Create More Good Jobs
    bildt104_Doug MillsPoolGetty Images_semiconductors Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

    How to Create More Good Jobs

    Aug 2, 2024 Simon Johnson touts the 2022 US CHIPS and Science Act, which will nurture geographically dispersed innovation hubs.

  4. Human Capital for the Age of Generative AI
    palacio140_Getty Images_AI Getty Images

    Human Capital for the Age of Generative AI

    May 30, 2024 Simon Johnson & Eric Hazan explain how adoption of the technology could help suitably qualified workers climb the wage ladder.

  5. History Already Tells Us the Future of AI
    acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images

    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Apr 23, 2024 Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.

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  1. deryugina2_ANATOLII STEPANOVAFP via Getty Images_ukraine ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
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    Trump’s Best Hope for Peace Is to Support Ukraine

    Tatyana Deryugina, et al. warn that trying to appease Putin could cast the American president-elect as a modern-day Neville Chamberlain.
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    Should Ukraine Have Nuclear Weapons?

    Slavoj Žižek dismisses the idea that firing Western missiles at Russian targets represents a dangerous escalation.
  3. fischer122_NurPhotoGettyImages_berlin_wall_35th_leaders1 NurPhoto/Getty Images
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    The End of the Liberal West

    Joschka Fischer considers what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for Europe and the post-war world order.
  4. op_disparte1_SadikDemirozGetty Images_digitaldollar FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
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    Trump’s Inflationary Triple Threat

    Maurice Obstfeld

    Contrary to the claims of techno-libertarians like Elon Musk, independent central banks have a decades-long record of successfully controlling inflation. Yet, as the Federal Reserve’s credibility and oversight capabilities become more critical than ever, US President-elect Donald Trump’s policies threaten to undermine them.

     warns that the incoming administration’s agenda would weaken the Fed and destabilize the financial system.
  5. BP trump china MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images
    1

    What Will Trump Do About China?

    US President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to take a confrontational approach to China, with tariffs as his weapon of choice. But unless his administration adopts a measured approach, his plans may end up harming American businesses and consumers, undermining US democracy, or even leading to military confrontation.

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    The Big Picture

    PS editors
  7. karman1_getty images_cooperation Getty Images
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    Human Progress in the Trump Era

    Tawakkol Karman, et al. propose ways to foster a culture of cooperation at a time of rising conflict and democratic erosion.
  8. frankel166_JemalCountessGettyImages_national_debt Jemal Countess/Getty Images
    3

    Elon Musk’s $2 Trillion Fiscal Fantasy

    Jeffrey Frankel dives into the incoming US administration’s absurd claim that fresh tax cuts will not increase the deficit.
  9. buchholz21_getty images_us china Getty Images
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    The Deal Trump Should Offer China

    Todd G. Buchholz proposes that the incoming US administration push for a debt write-off and market access instead of tariffs.

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