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James A. Robinson

James A. Robinson

8 commentaries

James A. Robinson, Institute Director of the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, is University Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He is the co-author (with Daron Acemoglu) of The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty, and Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.

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  1. Why Taiwan Matters
    acemoglu51_ Central News AgencyHandoutGetty Images_pelositaiwan Central News Agency/Handout/Getty Images

    Why Taiwan Matters

    Aug 9, 2022 Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson see the island as evidence against culturally deterministic explanations of authoritarianism and democracy.

  2. Why Trumpian Populism Failed
    jarobinson7_Joe RaedleGetty Images_trump cpac rally Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    Why Trumpian Populism Failed

    Mar 9, 2021 James A. Robinson shows how US democratic institutions prevailed, and why they remain vulnerable to wannabe autocrats.

  3. How to Stem Ukraine’s Corruption
    acemoglu11_Spencer PlattGetty Images_ukrainegirlflowerstape Spencer Platt/Getty Images

    How to Stem Ukraine’s Corruption

    Oct 14, 2019 Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson show that it takes a society-wide effort for countries to escape the grip of kleptocratic institutions.

  4. The Constitution Won’t Save American Democracy
    acemoglu10_Brendan SmialowskiGetty Images_constitution Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

    The Constitution Won’t Save American Democracy

    Sep 24, 2019 Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson argue that only social mobilization can remove the threat President Donald Trump poses to US institutions.

  5. Istanbul Shows How Democracy Is Won
    acemoglu8_ Burak KaraGetty Images_imamoglu istanbul Burak Kara/Getty Images

    Istanbul Shows How Democracy Is Won

    Jun 25, 2019 Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson draw lessons from the opposition's victory over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian party.

  1. buiter45_Jabin BotsfordThe Washington Post via Getty Image_jeromepowell Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
    3

    Price Stability vs. Financial Stability?

    Willem H. Buiter

    If the US Federal Reserve raises its policy interest rate by as much as is necessary to rein in inflation, it will most likely further depress the market value of the long-duration securities parked on many banks' balance sheets. So be it.

     thinks central banks can achieve both, despite the occurrence of a liquidity crisis amid high inflation.
  2. frankel145_ Richard Baker In Pictures via Getty Images_exchangerates Richard Baker/In Pictures via Getty Images
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    Fifty Years of Floating Currencies

    Jeffrey Frankel explains why the shift toward exchange-rate flexibility after 1973 was not a policy failure, as many believed.
  3. harrington34_Drew AngererGetty Images_avril haines Drew Angerer/Getty Images
    0

    What Do America’s Spies Really Think About China?

    Kent Harrington thinks the intelligence community’s annual threat assessment should have delved deeper on the issue.
  4. grafton2_ SIMON MAINAAFP via Getty Images_water SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images
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    Waking Up to the World’s Water Crisis

    Quentin Grafton, et al. see three overarching priorities for the first global water conference in almost a half-century.
  5. benami199_BULENT KILICAFP via Getty Images_ukraine BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images
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    Peace Requires Betrayal

    Shlomo Ben-Ami shows why Ukraine and Russia will most likely have to pursue an unpopular endgame to stop the bloodshed.
  6. reichlin29_David L. RyanThe Boston Globe via Getty Images_svb David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
    2

    Lessons from the SVB Collapse

    Lucrezia Reichlin

    Although Silicon Valley Bank was not deemed to be systemically important, its insolvency forced the US Federal Reserve to head off systemic contagion and exposed the inadequacy of the FDIC’s partial deposit insurance regime. The financial-stability framework adopted after the 2008 crisis obviously needs another overhaul.

     considers what the bank’s failure should mean for the current financial-stability framework.
  7. foglia4_kentohGetty Images_bankingregulations kentoh/Getty Images
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    It’s the Banking Regulations, Stupid

    Antonio Foglia traces the Silicon Valley Bank failure back to fundamental flaws in the prevailing governance framework.
  8. mazzucato52_Mario TamaGetty Images_water agriculture drought Mario Tama/Getty Images
    5

    Confronting the Global Water Crisis

    Mariana Mazzucato, et al. offer a seven-point blueprint for preserving one of the planet’s most important natural systems.
  9. op_haass3_Chris HondrosGetty Images_iraqwar Chris Hondros/Getty Images
    10

    Revisiting America’s War of Choice in Iraq

    Richard Haass considers the enduring lessons from a foreign intervention that was both ill-conceived and poorly executed.

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