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Michael R. Strain

Michael R. Strain

Writing for PS since 2022
12 commentaries

Michael R. Strain, Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author, most recently, of The American Dream Is Not Dead: (But Populism Could Kill It) (Templeton Press, 2020).

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  1. The Fed Must Not Flinch
    strain11_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_fed Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    The Fed Must Not Flinch

    Mar 21, 2023 Michael R. Strain urges the US central bank to continue raising interest rates, despite signs of financial-sector fragility.

  2. Populist Joe
    strain10_ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP via Getty Images_state of the union ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    Populist Joe

    Feb 20, 2023 Michael R. Strain hears too much Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the president’s recent rhetoric.

  3. Averting a Debt-Ceiling Disaster
    strain9_Win McNameeGetty Images_house debt ceiling Win McNamee/Getty Images

    Averting a Debt-Ceiling Disaster

    Jan 11, 2023 Michael R. Strain explains what needs to happen to prevent a financial crisis and an irreversible loss of US credibility.

  4. The Myth of Income Stagnation
    strain8_Klaus VedfeltGetty Images_wageincrease Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

    The Myth of Income Stagnation

    Dec 15, 2022 Michael R. Strain shows how new data refute the conventional wisdom about wages and inequality in the United States.

  5. The Republicans Lose with Trump
    strain_Win McNameeGetty Images_trump Win McNamee/Getty Images

    The Republicans Lose with Trump

    Nov 11, 2022 Michael R. Strain urges the party to draw the right conclusions from its lackluster performance in the US midterm elections.

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  1. afrasmussen17_TOFIK BABAYEVAFP via Getty Images_armeniaazerbaijanconflict Tofik Babayev/AFP via Getty Images
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    The Other Conflict on Europe’s Doorstep

    Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Azerbaijan may be preparing to renew its military aggression against neighboring Armenia.
  2. varoufakis101_Justin SullivanGetty Images_svb Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
    1

    Let the Banks Burn

    Yanis Varoufakis

    The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.

     shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
  3. roach151_ TIMOTHY A. CLARYAFP via Getty Images)_svb collapse TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
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    How China Benefits from Another US Banking Crisis

    Stephen S. Roach thinks America’s latest financial trouble will reinforce a narrative of terminal national decline.
  4. op_schell1_Andrea VerdelliGetty Images_xijinping Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images
    5

    Xi Jinping’s Chinese Tragedy

    Orville Schell interviewed by Irena Grudzińska Gross

    Like Vladimir Putin, China's leader is so steeped in a narrative of victimhood and fearful of appearing weak that it is hard to imagine him ever leading China out of the mess he has created. He could well be remembered as the leader who squandered history's most remarkable economic success story.

     about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.
  5. zizek16_ Frank Rumpenhorstpicture alliance via Getty Images_chatbot Frank Rumpenhorst/picture alliance via Getty Images
    2

    Artificial Idiocy

    Slavoj Žižek fears that the rise of powerful chatbots will spell the death of irony and nuance in human thought.
  6. kabubomariara1_Per-Anders Pettersson Contributor Getty Images_research africa Per-Anders Pettersson / Contributor Getty Images
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    Localizing Development Research

    Julia Kaufman & Jane Wanjiku Mariara explain why funders should be providing more long-term resources to researchers in developing countries.
  7. eeckhout1_Feature ChinaFuture Publishing via Getty Images_digitalrenminbi Feature China/Future Publishing via Getty Images
    1

    The Simplest Fix for Banking

    Jan Eeckhout explains how central bank digital currencies would end bank runs and banks' excessive risk-taking.
  8. chellaney161_ARUN SANKARAFP via Getty Images_blinken lavrov ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images
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    America’s Interest in Ending the Ukraine Crisis

    Brahma Chellaney explains why prolonging the conflict risks realizing the West’s worst geopolitical nightmare.
  9. krueger61_Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images_Intelsemicronductors Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
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    America’s Industrial Policy Is Counterproductive

    Anne O. Krueger laments that the Biden administration is adding red tape to an inefficient subsidy program.

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