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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson

Writing for PS since 2007
174 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). 

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  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. Dark Offshore Money Threatens Democracy
    james173_Getty Images_offshore accounts Getty Images

    Dark Offshore Money Threatens Democracy

    Jan 2, 2024 Simon Johnson & Daron Acemoglu call for a crackdown on the dozens of tax havens around the world and reform of financial secrecy laws.

  5. Kissinger’s Opening to China Will Haunt American Politics in 2024
    acemoglu67_Getty Images_kissinger china Getty Images

    Kissinger’s Opening to China Will Haunt American Politics in 2024

    Dec 15, 2023 Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson show how US economic policies based solely on realpolitik have backfired but still cast a shadow.

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  1. benami213_YEHUDA RAIZNERAFP via Getty Images_israelflag Yehuda Raizner/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Unbearable Lightness of Anti-Zionism

    Shlomo Ben-Ami warns that demonizing all Israelis will only make peace less likely – though that may be the point.
  2. alfredsdottir1_Getty Images_pay gap Getty Images
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    How to Close the Gender Wage Gap

    Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir argues that Iceland’s experience lends further support to Nobel laureate economist Claudia Goldin’s research.
  3. brown107_Jeff J Mitchell - Pool Getty Images_covidvaccine Jeff J. Mitchell/Pool/Getty Images
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    Getting the Pandemic Treaty Across the Finish Line

    Gordon Brown

    Just as governments are working tirelessly to conclude negotiations on a new pandemic treaty, a torrent of misinformation and fake news has been unleashed to undermine the process. For the sake of current and future generations, policymakers must resist the propaganda and get the job done.

     hopes negotiations will conclude this month, and pushes back on a last-minute wave of misinformation.
  4. singer231_Michael M. SantiagoGetty Images_college protests Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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    When Is Criticism of Israel Anti-Semitic?

    Peter Singer rejects comparisons of the recent US campus protests to the actions of Nazi student groups in the 1930s.
  5. Project Syndicate
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    Trump’s Plans for the Fed Would Revive 1970s-Style Inflation

    Maurice Obstfeld thinks the presumptive GOP nominee’s policies reflect an outdated understanding of the economy.
  6. adebajo5_Getty Images_southafricaelection Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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    Mandela’s Heirs Face Their Biggest Election Test

    Adekeye Adebajo explains why the African National Congress could lose its 30-year monopoly on power.
  7. dalmia1_DIBYANGSHU SARKARAFP via Getty Images_bjp DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP via Getty Images
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    What Explains the BJP’s Rise?

    Gaurav Dalmia

    Why are there such high expectations for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India’s ongoing parliamentary election? Simply put, the party is far better organized than its rivals, and its leader, Narendra Modi, is undeniably the most charismatic Indian prime minister in recent memory.

     ennumerates the reasons why the ruling party has come to dominate the country’s electoral landscape.
  8. zhang66_STRAFP via Getty Images_chinaelectricvehicles STR/AFP via Getty Images
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    Why China Provides Evidence for Optimists and Pessimists Alike

    Zhang Jun explains why rigorous, evidence-based assessments of the economy's performance can diverge sharply.
  9. marin27_Sean GallupGetty Images_afd Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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    The Zero-Sum Logic Fueling the Rise of Germany’s Far Right

    Dalia Marin thinks that promoting economic growth remains the most effective antidote to nativist sentiments.

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