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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. nsofor9_ Zhu Huanan CFOTOFuture Publishing via Getty Images_hpv vaccine Zhu Huanan / CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images
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    Governments Must Step Up to Prevent Cervical Cancer

    Ifeanyi M. Nsofor urges policymakers worldwide to commit to administering the HPV vaccine as widely as possible.
  2. op_ghilarducci1_Jeffrey GreenbergUniversal Images Group via Getty Images_USelderlyworker Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
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    The Perils of Retirement in America

    Teresa Ghilarducci

    The US retirement system is failing American workers. But after decades of pushing fake fixes – especially forcing people to work longer – US policymakers have an opportunity to make real progress in bolstering Americans' economic security in old age.

     proposes a Grey New Deal that would boost economic security for all US workers in old age.
  3. nishtar8_AMAURY HAUCHARDAFP via Getty Images_africavaccine Amaury Hauchard/AFP via Getty Images
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    Fifty Years of Immunization Success Call for 50 More

    Sania Nishtar touts the remarkable results of global collaboration on routine vaccination and foresees continued progress.
  4. GettyImages-2149550584 Photo by MARK PETERSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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    Trump on Trial

    From a long list of criminal indictments to unfavorable voter demographics, there is plenty standing between presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and a second term in the White House. But a Trump victory in the November election remains a distinct possibility – and a cause for serious economic concern.

  5. woods56_Alex WongGetty Images_georgieva Alex Wong/Getty Images
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    The IMF Chose the Right Leader the Wrong Way

    Ngaire Woods thinks the Fund’s process for selecting its managing director is woefully out of step with today’s world.
  6. bildt122_Mikhail SvetlovGetty Images_trumpputin Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
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    Trump Is Putin’s Only Hope Now

    Carl Bildt considers the implications of Ukraine finally receiving the Western military aid it has been waiting for.
  7. frankel159_Getty Images_customer service Getty Images
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    How to Rebuild Trust in Public Institutions

    Eleanor Carter & Carolyn J. Heinrich highlight the value of face-to-face interactions at a time when governments are phasing out in-person services.
  8. isenberg1_TIMOTHY A. CLARYPOOLAFP via Getty Images_trumptrial Timothy A. Clary/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    Is Trump Above the Law?

    Nancy Isenberg

    Contrary to what former US President Donald Trump would have the American public believe, no president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution. To suggest otherwise is to reject a bedrock principle of American democracy: the president is not a monarch.

     explains why the US Supreme Court must reject the former president's claim to immunity from prosecution.
  9. deryugina1_BEN BIRCHALLPOOLAFP via Getty Images_ukraineflagsoldier Ben Birchall/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    Ukraine Is Far From Doomed

    Tatyana Deryugina & Anastassia Fedyk compare Russia's full-scale invasion to World War II and see reason to hope – as long as aid keeps flowing.

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