Slavoj Žižek laments that many Western leftists have followed the far right directly into the Kremlin’s hands. | Continue reading
Kenneth Rogoff explains how a suspiciously successful young upstart can prove that he is for real. | Continue reading
Jayati Ghosh describes the five major economic and social transformations required to achieve sustainable well-being. | Continue reading
Joseph E. Stiglitz & Dean Baker argue that the problem is on the supply side and that policymakers should look there for solutions. | Continue reading
George Soros frames the war in Ukraine as the latest battle for open-society ideals – one that implicates China as well. | Continue reading
Nouriel Roubini explains why central banks are unlikely to be able to reduce inflation without causing a recession. | Continue reading
Nicholas Davis, Mark Esposito and Landry Signé outline the factors contributing to policy divergence across otherwise similar countries. | Continue reading
George Soros warns that, after misreading the situation in Ukraine, Russia's leader seems to have gone literally mad. | Continue reading
Patrick Reinmoeller & Karl Schmedders warn investors against trying to time when the current boom in non-fungible tokens turns to bust. | Continue reading
Even at currently elevated US home-price levels, buying still makes sense for those who are set on ownership. But buyers need to be sure that they can accept what could be a rather bumpy and disappointing long-term path for home values. | Continue reading
It is unclear whether current widespread product shortages are merely a temporary disruption or evidence of a global production meltdown. But today’s supply shocks offer striking parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis, and may require a similarly bold policy response. | Continue reading
If the Sino-American relationship were a hand of poker, Americans would recognize that they have been dealt a good hand and avoid succumbing to fear or belief in the decline of the US. But even a good hand can lose if it is played badly. | Continue reading
Although neoclassical economics relies on assumptions that should have been discarded long ago, it remains the mainstream orthodoxy. Three recent books, and one older one, help to show why its staying power should be regarded as a scandal. | Continue reading
The past 30 years should have taught Democrats to put their own economic policy priorities before symbolic gestures of "bipartisanship." If US President Joe Biden does not replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell with Lael Brainard, he will almost certainly regret it. | Continue reading
By around 2035, China will be doing worse than the United States on all demographic metrics, and in terms of economic growth, owing to its declining population and fertility rates. China’s leaders must recognize this and take a strategic step back. | Continue reading
By siding with major food corporations over six Malian former child slaves who were seeking compensation under US tort laws, the US Supreme Court has sent a dangerous message. Apparently, US corporations will not be held to the same standards of decency and human rights abroad as … | Continue reading
The claim that capitalism is being toppled by a new economic model comes on the heels of many premature forecasts of capitalism’s demise, especially from the left. But this time it may well be true, and the signs that it is have been visible for a while. | Continue reading
With the explosive proliferation of cryptocurrencies, including China's introduction of a digital renminbi, it is not surprising to hear panicked warnings about the looming decline of the dollar. But the truth is that the greenback is the prime beneficiary of today's market devel … | Continue reading
While economic observers have long worried about the growing dominance of Big Tech, few have apprehended the sheer scale of the problem. Today's technologies have handed exorbitant market power to dominant players across all sectors, to the detriment of the vast majority of peopl … | Continue reading
The story of Facebook's failed effort to launch a global digital currency and payment system is reminiscent of the historic struggle between secular and religious authorities. One clear lesson for other monetary aspirants is that it is risky business to reach for the crown jewel … | Continue reading
Almost five years after the Brexit referendum, and five months after Britain's exit from the European Union, the future of London as a global financial center seems secure. But although the City will remain Europe’s largest financial marketplace, its Golden Age as Europe’s financ … | Continue reading
Lost in the debate over whether today's ultra-loose fiscal and monetary policies will trigger painful inflation is the broader risk posed by potential negative supply shocks. From trade wars and de-globalization to aging populations and populist politics, there is no shortage of … | Continue reading
In Japan, local followers of QAnon, the far-right US conspiracy theory, are adding their own zany fabulations to the shared belief that Donald Trump was robbed of his presidency. For better or worse, the influence of American culture remains as strong as ever. | Continue reading
Across the West, politicians are increasingly condemning and attempting to restrict research in academic fields that challenge their own worldviews. The threat to academic freedom demands intellectual resistance, starting with an effort to develop a common understanding of the co … | Continue reading
Rich countries' failure to lead a coordinated global response to the pandemic has been regarded as a moral failure. But now that the continued spread of the virus elsewhere is producing new variants, it has turned out to be a practical failure, too. | Continue reading
Understanding the advantages and limitations of economists’ methods clarifies the value they can add to analysis of non-economic questions. Equally important, it underscores how economists’ approach can complement but never replace alternative, often qualitative methods used in o … | Continue reading
Recently, the idea of a digital greenback elicited support from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell. Ultimately, the advantages of a digital dollar will need to be weighed against the potentially high costs and significant risks to the financia … | Continue reading
By conspiring to drive up struggling companies’ stock prices, GameStop investors believe they beat Wall Street at its own game. But there are no clear-cut heroes or villains in this story, just some investors who will be able to weather their losses better than others. | Continue reading
It is comforting to imagine the Arctic as a snowy faraway place, populated by reindeer and polar bears. In fact, it is a cornerstone of the climate system that keeps our weather stable, our communities habitable, and our economies prosperous – and it is under immense pressure. | Continue reading
According to the conventional wisdom, the twenty-first century will be characterized by the global shift from American hegemony to Sino-American rivalry. But a bipolar international order is neither inevitable nor desirable, and we should start imagining and working toward altern … | Continue reading
“Build back better” has become a popular slogan precisely because most people want to look forward and create a brighter future after the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving this will require governments to increase investment and recalibrate national balance sheets by doing more to nur … | Continue reading
Many have been puzzled that the world’s stock markets haven’t collapsed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic downturn it has wrought. But with interest rates low and likely to stay there, equities will continue to look attractive, particularly when compared to bo … | Continue reading
Patents are intended to disclose information about new technologies and who owns the rights to them, but they often fail on both counts. The good news is that the United States Patent and Trademark Office can address both shortcomings without waiting for congressional action. | Continue reading
Although US President Donald Trump has long hid his tax records and history of business failings, he has never made any secret of his willingness to destroy the US constitutional order if doing so will give him a political advantage. Not since the eve of the Civil War has America … | Continue reading
The best explanation for why stock markets remain so bullish despite a massive recession is that major publicly traded companies have not borne the brunt of the pandemic's economic fallout. But having been spared by the virus, they could soon find themselves squarely in the sight … | Continue reading
The presumption that Republicans are better than Democrats at economic stewardship is a longstanding myth that must be debunked. For all Americans who care about their and their children’s future, the right choice this November could not be clearer. | Continue reading
Even if the latest scandals in banking reveal nothing new about the financial industry's ethical standards, they have put a spotlight on a bigger emerging problem: the complicity of law enforcement agencies in white-collar crime. The watchdogs are not only shirking their duties; … | Continue reading
Although the European Union already has a lot on its hands as it confronts a new wave of COVID-19 infections and seeks to position itself for a sustainable recovery, it must not ignore another crisis looming on the horizon. The bloc is rapidly and inexcusably falling behind China … | Continue reading
Now that the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the diffusion of digital technologies, international rules and standards governing data urgently need to catch up. The more that policymaking remains stuck at the national level, the fewer benefits the Fourth Industrial Revolution wi … | Continue reading
At the start of the year, when COVID-19 was barely on anyone's radar outside of China, the global economy was entering a fraught phase, facing a range of potentially devastating tail risks. And though the pandemic has since turned the world on its head, all of these threats remai … | Continue reading
Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered an anti-China speech that was extremist, simplistic, and dangerous. If biblical literalists like Pompeo remain in power past November, they could well bring the world to the brink of a war that they expect and perhaps even seek … | Continue reading
Armed with big-data analytics, machine learning, and other novel methods, US Big Tech firms are getting into the health-care game, promising vast improvements in health outcomes and efficiency. What could possibly go wrong? | Continue reading
The worse economic fundamentals and forecasts become, the more mysterious stock-market outcomes in the US appear. At a time when genuine news suggests that equity prices should be tanking, not hitting record highs, explanations based on crowd psychology, the virality of ideas, an … | Continue reading
The praise in America for low-paid essential workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic is long overdue, but it should be followed with meaningful reforms. Beyond raising the federal minimum wage, the United States desperately needs to overhaul its approach to technologi … | Continue reading
The historic protests sweeping America were long overdue, not just as a response to racism and police violence, but also as a revolt against entrenched plutocracy. With a growing number of Americans falling into unemployment and economic insecurity, while major corporations take … | Continue reading
As the world enters a new decade, research and development into artificial intelligence and its many applications are barreling forward, and nowhere more so than in China. Although popular narratives tend to focus on the threats posed by AI, the truth is that many of the technolo … | Continue reading
To those already predisposed to favor domestic production over international trade, the COVID-19 pandemic seems like a case in point. Yet a closer look at the facts shows that, if anything, the current crisis offers powerful evidence of why we need global supply chains and widely … | Continue reading
Only monetary policy addresses credit throughout the economy. Until inflation and real interest rates rise from the grave, only a policy of effective deep negative interest rates, backed up by measures to prevent cash hoarding by financial firms, can do the job. | Continue reading