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The newest issue of our magazine, PS Quarterly: Profit and Peril, is here. To gain digital access to all of the magazine’s content, and receive your print copy, subscribe to PS Premium now. 

  1. zizek29_Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images_palestine congress germany Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images
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    Canceling Palestine

    Slavoj Žižek

    Current debates about Israeli policy are rife with double standards, leading to absurd decisions like Germany’s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestinian gathering. By quashing legitimate speech and assembly, an Israel-aligned establishment risks inciting precisely the kind of anti-Semitism that it wants to prevent.

     worries that the double standards applied on Israel’s behalf will lead to an anti-Semitic backlash.
  2. posner31_Spencer PlattGetty Images_trumptrial Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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    What to Look for in Trump’s First Trial

    Eric Posner

    The intricate legal issues and colorful characters in Donald Trump's criminal trials will undoubtedly keep the media and the viewing public enraptured for months to come. But when it comes to the 2024 election, all that really matters is how the defendant appears to a narrow sliver of undecided voters.

     points out that optics, more than the law or the facts, will be what matters most for the election.
  3. acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.
  4. ackerman2_Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times via Getty Images_preschool Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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    America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age

    Bruce Ackerman urges US President Joe Biden to put universal preschool at the center of his re-election campaign.
  5. kirchschlager1_Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_AI Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images
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    AI Needs UN Oversight

    Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for the creation of a watchdog – similar to the IAEA – that employs a human rights-based approach.
  6. lboone2_Celestino ArceNurPhoto via Getty Images_ukraine Celestino Arce/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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    Europe’s Red Tape Is Helping Russia

    Laurence Boone & Nicu Popescu propose a European Defense Production Act to help fast-track processes for public procurement and spending.
  7. mattei1 Getty Images
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    Saving Economics from the Economists

    Clara Mattei & Aditya Singh trace the roots of the discipline’s indifference to social justice to early-twentieth-century Italy.
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    The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline

    Brahma Chellaney argues that the unprecedented US and European sanctions against Russia are backfiring.
  9. op_roach3_ Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china lagging consumption Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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    China’s Rebalancing Imperative

    Stephen S. Roach explains why the Chinese authorities should switch to a consumption- and productivity-led growth model.
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Latest

  1. AI Needs UN Oversight
    kirchschlager1_Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_AI Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images

    AI Needs UN Oversight

    Apr 24, 2024 Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for the creation of a watchdog – similar to the IAEA – that employs a human rights-based approach.

  2. The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline
    chellaney_VCGVCG via Getty Images_china military VCG/VCG via Getty Images

    The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline

    Apr 24, 2024 Brahma Chellaney argues that the unprecedented US and European sanctions against Russia are backfiring.

  3. Canceling Palestine
    zizek29_Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images_palestine congress germany Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images

    Canceling Palestine

    Apr 23, 2024 Slavoj Žižek worries that the double standards applied on Israel’s behalf will lead to an anti-Semitic backlash.

  4. America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age
    ackerman2_Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times via Getty Images_preschool Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

    America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age

    Apr 23, 2024 Bruce Ackerman urges US President Joe Biden to put universal preschool at the center of his re-election campaign.

  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.

Trending

OnPoint is our suite of subscriber-exclusive content. Get long-read commentaries, thematic deep dives, interviews with world leaders, and much more. Learn more.  

  1. op_roach3_ Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china lagging consumption Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
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    China’s Rebalancing Imperative

    Stephen S. Roach explains why the Chinese authorities should switch to a consumption- and productivity-led growth model.
  2. GettyImages-148081044
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    Minxin Pei on China’s economy, surveillance state, repression of dissent, and more

    Minxin Pei doubts China’s government is willing to do what is needed to restore growth, describes the low-tech approaches taken by the country’s vast security apparatus, considers the Chinese social-credit system’s repressive potential, and more.
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    Governments Must Shape AI’s Future

    Mariana Mazzucato & Fausto Gernone urge policymakers to see themselves as proactive participants in technological innovation and market-making.
  4. op_janeway15_AMY OSBORNEAFP via Getty Images_googlecampus Amy Osborne/AFP via Getty Images
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    Is Techno-Monopoly Inevitable?

    William H. Janeway assesses a new theory of “technological market power” and its effects on the modern economy.
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    Joseph S. Nye, Jr., on nuclear risk, American hubris, great-power competition, and more

    Joseph S. Nye, Jr. calls for restoring the credibility of the US nuclear umbrella, highlights the role of nongovernmental agencies in international relations, worries that the US will play its cards poorly vis-à-vis China, and more.
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    The Struggle for Currency Supremacy

    Paolo Tasca expects that digital assets will accelerate efforts to create alternatives to the US dollar.

“It is better to ask forgiveness than permission” has been the mantra of the digital revolution so far, and one should not expect that to change with artificial intelligence. For those already in a position to dominate this potentially groundbreaking sector, the opportunities are too enticing to miss.

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  1. nixonsaintil2_shark_749Getty Images_AIdataclimatecity shark_749/Getty Images
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    AI Holds the Key to Resilient Cities

    Justina Nixon-Saintil surveys the technology's foreseeable applications in promoting urban sustainable development.
  2. nasheed3_MANDEL NGANAFP via Getty Images_georgieva MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
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    What a Climate-Aligned IMF Would Look Like

    Mohamed Nasheed & Rakesh Mohan explain how the managing director can fully position the institution to help the most vulnerable countries.
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    The Ozone Layer’s Recovery Shows How to Protect the Planet

    Robert Redford & Xiye Bastida highlight the critical role of international cooperation in preserving the planet’s habitability.

Opinion that Moves

  1. William L. Silber Trump and the Risk of a US Debt Default
  2. Takatoshi Ito How Risky Is Japan’s Monetary-Policy Normalization?
  3. Neha Bansal As Families Change, So Must the Safety Net
  4. Diane Coyle The West’s New Infrastructure Imperative

  1. Brahma Chellaney The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline
  2. Bruce Ackerman America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age
  3. Laurence Boone, et al. Europe’s Red Tape Is Helping Russia
  4. Eric Posner What to Look for in Trump’s First Trial

  1. Jayati Ghosh The Key to Transforming African Health
  2. Iván Duque Márquez How Guyana Became Latin America’s Leading Development Lab
  3. Michael R. Bloomberg What Can Stop the Shortening of American Lives?
  4. Jane Kabubo-Mariara Africa’s Prosperity Depends on Achieving Gender Equality

  1. Justina Nixon-Saintil AI Holds the Key to Resilient Cities
  2. Mohamed Nasheed, et al. What a Climate-Aligned IMF Would Look Like
  3. Robert Redford, et al. The Ozone Layer’s Recovery Shows How to Protect the Planet
  4. Laurence Tubiana Taxing Polluters Is the Key to Climate Justice

  1. Daron Acemoglu, et al. History Already Tells Us the Future of AI
  2. Amar Bhidé The Boring Truth About AI
  3. Daron Acemoglu Are We Ready for AI Creative Destruction?
  4. Antara Haldar Can AI Learn to Obey the Law?

  1. Slavoj Žižek Canceling Palestine
  2. Robert Skidelsky The Language of Political Control
  3. Jorge G. Castañeda, et al. From Welfare State to Safe State in Latin America
  4. Anya Schiffrin, et al. Quality Journalism Is More Important than Ever

Africa’s economic rise is a world-changing development, but the sources of its emerging strength – and lingering weaknesses – are little understood. W…

  1. Jayati Ghosh The Key to Transforming African Health
  2. Ishac Diwan, et al. Developing Countries’ Liquidity Crisis Is Not Over
  3. Peter Doyle Leaving Africa’s Colonial-Era Currency Will Be Hard, But May Be Wise

Today’s media landscape is littered with landmines: open hostility from illiberal and autocratic regimes, mounting censorship in countries such as Hungary, Turkey,…

  1. Anya Schiffrin, et al. Quality Journalism Is More Important than Ever
  2. Natalie Dunleavy Campbell, et al. The US Is Jeopardizing the Open Internet
  3. Mark Esposito, et al. The Threat of Persuasive AI

As the COVID-19 crisis escalates, PS commentators assess its implications for the economy, propose policy responses, and consider what might – and sho…

  1. Mariana Mazzucato How to Save the Pandemic Treaty
  2. Helen Clark, et al. Delivering the Pandemic Accord the World Needs
  3. Gordon Brown Empowering the Pandemic Accord