Skip to main content
Access provided by

Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
176 commentaries

Simon Johnson, 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). 

Sort by: Show:
  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Russian Revisionism and the Sources of Western Weakness
    johnson175_ Alexander ManzyukAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_russian oil Alexander Manzyuk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Russian Revisionism and the Sources of Western Weakness

    Apr 2, 2024 Simon Johnson & Oleg Ustenko explain why Vladimir Putin’s effort to revise the post-Cold War geopolitical order could succeed.

  5. Putin’s Silk Road Around Sanctions
    rbrooks1_Markus Scholzpicture alliance via Getty Images_germanyshipping Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images

    Putin’s Silk Road Around Sanctions

    Feb 29, 2024 Robin Brooks & Simon Johnson urge Europe and the G7 to stop the re-export of Western goods to Russia from Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Follow Simon Johnson

Never miss a commentary by Simon Johnson

  1. brown111_ALAIN JOCARDPOOLAFP via Getty Images_mpox ALAIN JOCARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    The High Cost of the Netherlands’ Mpox Vaccine Hoarding

    Gordon Brown condemns European populists’ failure to heed the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  2. charap3_ TATYANA MAKEYEVAAFP via Getty Images)_kursk TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP via Getty Images)
    0

    How to Make the Most of the Kursk Gambit

    Samuel Charap & Charles A. Kupchan think Ukraine and its partners have a big opportunity to start working toward a negotiated end to the war.
  3. leonard104_SurkovDimitriGetty Images_USEUflag SurkovDimitri/Getty Images
    0

    The US Election Will Overturn Europe’s Strategic Status Quo

    Mark Leonard worries that Europeans are unprepared for whoever will succeed US President Joe Biden.
  4. mazzucato71 GettyImages-2159148172_AW Getty Images
    0

    The Water-Security Crisis

    Mariana Mazzucato, et al.

    Increasingly severe water shortages represent a human-made crisis that can be resolved through human interventions. The situation demands new thinking about the economics of this critical resource and how to manage it through mission-oriented strategies that span all levels of governance.

     call attention to a global problem that demands far more attention from policymakers at all levels.
  5. reyna1_Martin Schuttpicture alliance via Getty Images_ev green deal Martin Schutt/picture alliance via Getty Images
    0

    The European Green Deal Is Already Benefiting Consumers

    Agustín Reyna rejects the misguided notion that voters are indifferent to environmental concerns.
  6. bremmer34_Anna MoneymakerGetty Images_harrissouthkorea Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
    0

    What Is Kamala Harris’s Foreign Policy?

    Ian Bremmer

    Although Kamala Harris is largely aligned with Joe Biden on many global and strategic issues, her unique worldview promises a distinct form of leadership on the international stage. Not only would US foreign policy shift under a Harris administration; it could change in highly consequential ways.

     considers how the Democratic presidential nominees' views compare to Joe Biden's.
  7. anheier25_JOHN MACDOUGALLAFP via Getty Images_afd JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    Will the German Center Hold?

    Helmut K. Anheier considers what is driving support for extremist parties in the country’s eastern states.
  8. delong263_MEGAN JELINGERAFP via Getty Images_USindustrysteel Megan Jelinger/AFP via Getty Images
    3

    America Has No Alternative to Industrial Policy

    J. Bradford DeLong thinks new threats to economic security outweigh the reasons for opposing government-led development.
  9. nye261_Kevin DietschGetty Images_us election Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
    1

    US Foreign Policy in 2025

    Joseph S. Nye, Jr. compares the two presidential candidates’ attitudes and positions on major global issues.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.