Skip to main content

Lenny Mendonca

Lenny Mendonca

54 commentaries
1 videos & podcasts

Lenny Mendonca, Senior Partner Emeritus at McKinsey & Company, is a former chief economic and business adviser to Governor Gavin Newsom of California and chair of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

Sort by: Show:
  1. Readying the Resistance, Again
    tyson122_Andrew HarnikGettyImages_gavin_newsom Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    Readying the Resistance, Again

    Jan 22, 2025 Laura Tyson & Lenny Mendonca see Democrat-controlled states as a potential check on Donald Trump’s far-right agenda.

  2. Why DOGE and Musk Will Fail
    tyson121_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_musk_ramaswamy Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Why DOGE and Musk Will Fail

    Dec 9, 2024 Laura Tyson & Lenny Mendonca identify a fundamental flaw in the design of Elon Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency.”

  3. Harnessing AI for the Common Good
    mendonca52_Constanza Hevia H. for The Washington Post via Getty Images_aieducation Constanza Hevia H. for The Washington Post via Getty Images

    Harnessing AI for the Common Good

    Jun 20, 2024 Lenny Mendonca urges policymakers to play a more active role in shaping the future of emerging technologies.

  4. What Critics of American Higher Education Get Wrong
    tyson117_Eros HoaglandGetty Images_UScollege Eros Hoagland/Getty Images

    What Critics of American Higher Education Get Wrong

    Mar 19, 2024 Laura Tyson & Lenny Mendonca show that a college degree is still a wise investment and a key driver of economic mobility in America.

  5. California Leads the Way on Climate
    tyson116_Kevork DjansezianGetty Images_california Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

    California Leads the Way on Climate

    Dec 28, 2023 Laura Tyson & Lenny Mendonca show how the Golden State has made meaningful progress within and beyond its borders by testing new ideas.

  1. rodrik231_Andrej IvanovGettyImages_us_canda_border Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images

    How Not to Respond to Trump’s Tariffs

    Dani Rodrik advises America’s trade partners not to embrace retaliation, because that would harm mainly themselves.
  2. landau5_Thierry MonasseGettyImages_eu_competitiveness_compass Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

    Europe Found Its Values and Lost Its Way

    Jean-Pierre Landau

    European integration – and the stability and prosperity it supports – has always depended on a pragmatic, incremental approach. If the EU is to navigate today’s challenging geopolitical environment, it must again embrace this approach, rather than continue to allow high-level principles to dictate policy.

    warns that the EU’s focus on high-level principles is undermining its economic dynamism and global influence.
  3. cferguson4_Patrick T. FallonGettyImages_jensen_huang Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

    The Crisis in Western AI Is Real

    Charles Ferguson

    Given the risks involved in the race for AI dominance, maintaining a strong lead within democratic advanced economies justifies a public-private strategic mobilization on the scale of the Manhattan Project. Yet the West is doing the opposite, largely owing to its own AI industry’s arrogance, shortsightedness, and greed.

    thinks the US industry bears a considerable share of the blame for China’s DeepSeek breakthrough.
  4. singer239_Andrew HarnikGetty Images_americafirst Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

    “America First” in Action

    Peter Singer assesses the damage Donald Trump has already done to long-term US interests since returning to the White House.
  5. varoufakis124_Luke SharrettGettyImages_palantir_demo Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

    Technofeudalism Is War’s Handmaiden

    Yanis Varoufakis explains how the rise of cloud capital is steering the world toward well-known strategic traps.
  6. buiter54_FABRICE COFFRINIAFP via Getty Images_swissnationalbank Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images

    The Positive Case for Negative Rates

    Willem H. Buiter & Ebrahim Rahbari see the widely scorned monetary-policy tool as a necessary option in the absence of fiscal alternatives.
  7. ahzhang20_PETER CATTERALLAFP via Getty Images_deepseek Peter Catterall/AFP via Getty Images

    Will DeepSeek Upend US Tech Dominance?

    Angela Huyue Zhang says the firm’s disruption of the AI industry is about market – not great-power – competition.
  8. buruma222_Anna MoneymakerGettyImages_donald_trump_cross Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    Breaking US Democracy Beyond Repair

    Ian Buruma warns that Donald Trump’s efforts to tear down America’s “civic religion” will be difficult to reverse.
  9. patten172_Scott OlsonGetty Images_trump Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Can the Liberal International Order Survive Without America?

    Chris Patten urges Western countries to safeguard the institutions that have underpinned their postwar stability.

Edit Newsletter Preferences

Set up Notification

To receive email updates regarding this {entity_type}, please enter your email below.

If you are not already registered, this will create a PS account for you. You should receive an activation email shortly.