The Big Picture

Months of high inflation, both in the United States and globally, have fueled intense debates about both root causes and potential solutions. Here, Jason Furman of Harvard University and James K. Galbraith of the University of Texas, Austin, offer opposing perspectives on what has become the year’s biggest economic-policy challenge.

Recent data from the United States, the eurozone, and other major economies suggest that policymakers are losing their grip on price stability. Given rising inflationary expectations and the increasing threat of recession, what options do central banks and governments have – and how worried should the rest of us be?

The record-high temperatures across the northern hemisphere this summer offer yet another preview of what lies in store as global warming continues. With the need to tackle extreme heat becoming ever more urgent, especially in poorer countries, we asked PS commentators whether and how the world can cope.

By the time scandal-plagued Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally called it quits, most of those who helped him gain control of the Conservative Party and lead the United Kingdom out of the European Union had abandoned him. But Johnson’s personal peccadilloes explain neither why he fell nor why his three-year stint in power has left behind a political vacuum.

Around the world, low- and middle-income countries are facing multiple challenges: soaring food and energy prices, unsustainable debt burdens, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and increasingly frequent climate-related disasters. With the threat of severe social and political instability growing fast, we asked PS commentators what will happen as more countries are pushed to the brink.

The assassination of Abe Shinzō has deprived Japan of its greatest postwar leader, and Asia of a visionary who was leading the construction of a viable framework for regional peace. But no bullet can diminish Abe’s impact on his country and the world, as his recent call for greater US clarity on Taiwan, his other commentaries for Project Syndicate, and Minxin Pei’s, Bill Emmott’s, and Takatoshi Ito’s discussions of his seminal influence on Asia show.

The United States’ culture wars and political polarization are intensifying in the wake of a Supreme Court term studded by a series of controversial landmark decisions. Are the Court’s critics justified in claiming that a right-wing legal insurgency threatens individual rights and even American democracy itself?

Some have long argued that private digital money and the technology underpinning it will revolutionize finance in the long term. But with Bitcoin plunging, stablecoins collapsing, and crypto lenders freezing withdrawals, we asked PS commentators whether the industry has a future.

The Alliance’s leaders are preparing to gather for a summit at a critical moment for European security. But even if Turkish opposition to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids can eventually be overcome, is Europe adequately prepared to serve as a capable military partner for NATO?

Many argue that the boom in environmental, social, and governance investing has given the lie to Milton Friedman’s view that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits.” But with financial regulators, activists, and journalists increasingly on the lookout for greenwashing, we asked PS commentators if there is more to the ESG phenomenon than hype.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further disrupted global food supplies and delivered another price shock to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. How can policymakers best tackle the immediate threat of hunger while also taking steps to make food systems more resilient and sustainable in the long term?

Shanghai’s two-month COVID-19 lockdown may finally be easing, but the highly uncertain prognosis for China’s battered economy could have major domestic and international implications. We asked PS commentators whether the country’s consistently high growth rates are now a thing of the past.