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Michael J. Boskin

Michael J. Boskin

Writing for PS since 2009
94 commentaries

Michael J. Boskin is Professor of Economics at Stanford University and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He was Chairman of George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1989 to 1993, and headed the so-called Boskin Commission, a congressional advisory body that highlighted errors in official US inflation estimates.

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  1. Why Voters Are Unhappy About the Biden Economy
    boskin94_Elijah NouvelageGetty Images_voting ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images

    Why Voters Are Unhappy About the Biden Economy

    May 2, 2024 Michael J. Boskin explains why Americans do not share the White House’s rosy assessment of its economic track record.

  2. The Anatomy of the Biden-Trump Rematch
    boskin93_Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images_election Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

    The Anatomy of the Biden-Trump Rematch

    Mar 12, 2024 Michael J. Boskin surveys the complicated mix of economic and other issues that will likely decide the 2024 election.

  3. The Most Important Developments of 2023
    boskin92_JOSEPH PREZIOSOAFP via Getty Images_harvardprotest Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

    The Most Important Developments of 2023

    Dec 21, 2023 Michael J. Boskin reflects on the year's major economic, political, and technological events and trends.

  4. Advanced Economies Must Face Fiscal Reality
    rajan83_Kevin DietschGetty Images_federalreserve Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    Advanced Economies Must Face Fiscal Reality

    Oct 18, 2023 Michael J. Boskin argues that reforms to support growth and reduce unsustainable spending are more urgent than ever.

  5. Restless America
    boskin90_Drew AngererGetty Images_biden Drew AngererGetty Images

    Restless America

    Sep 11, 2023 Michael J. Boskin worries that the country’s likely presidential candidates are not equal to its most pressing challenges.

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  1. zizek30_Fatima ShbairGetty Images_gaza Fatima Shbair/Getty Images

    Protests of Despair

    Slavoj Žižek sees the pro-Palestinian student demonstrations as a signal of a much deeper, widespread malaise.
  2. carstens5_Getty Images_finternet Getty Images

    The Rise of the Finternet

    Agustín Carstens & Nandan Nilekani foresee a world in which cheap, secure, and near-instantaneous financial transactions are available to all.
  3. rodrik222_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china solar panel Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    Don’t Fret About Green Subsidies

    Dani Rodrik sees no good argument against industrial policies that accelerate growth in decarbonization industries.
  4. gros186_Sean GallupGetty Images_euro Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    Europe’s Geoeconomic Competitiveness Challenge

    Daniel Gros highlights the security risks raised by the prolonged decline of the EU’s relative economic power.
  5. op_ang1_retrorocketGetty Images_corruption retrorocket/Getty Images

    How Exceptional Is China’s Crony-Capitalist Boom?

    Yuen Yuen Ang

    While both the American and Chinese Gilded Ages raised material standards of living for hundreds of millions of people, their endemic corruption produced radically unequal and unsustainable growth. Ultimately, both periods offer cautionary tales about unbridled crony capitalism, not models for blind emulation.

    explains how corruption both drove the country's GDP growth and sowed the seeds for its current economic problems.
  6. bp india election Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images

    Will India’s Election Destroy Its Democracy?

    Since taking power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have stoked Hindu nationalism, hollowed out India’s democracy, and overseen an economy that is probably performing far worse than official figures suggest. And yet Modi and the BJP are genuinely popular, making them likely – though not certain – to emerge victorious when the ongoing parliamentary election concludes in June.

  7. benami213_YEHUDA RAIZNERAFP via Getty Images_israelflag Yehuda Raizner/AFP via Getty Images

    The Unbearable Lightness of Anti-Zionism

    Shlomo Ben-Ami warns that demonizing all Israelis will only make peace less likely – though that may be the point.
  8. alfredsdottir1_Getty Images_pay gap Getty Images

    How to Close the Gender Wage Gap

    Lilja Dögg Alfreðsdóttir argues that Iceland’s experience lends further support to Nobel laureate economist Claudia Goldin’s research.
  9. brown107_Jeff J Mitchell - Pool Getty Images_covidvaccine Jeff J. Mitchell/Pool/Getty Images

    Getting the Pandemic Treaty Across the Finish Line

    Gordon Brown hopes negotiations will conclude this month, and pushes back on a last-minute wave of misinformation.

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