April 19, 2023, Central European University LONDON – In Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, scientist Victor Frankenstein famously uses dead body parts to create a hyperintelligent “superhuman” monster that – driven mad by human cruelty and isolation – ultimately turns on its creator. Since its publication in 1818, Shelley’s story of scientific research … Continue reading FrankenTech
Tag: Journalism
Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?
Mar 28, 2023 ROBERT SKIDELSKY Inflation and growth rates are increasingly determined by global events over which national policymakers have no control. Instead of clinging to the illusion that they can control the uncontrollable, governments should use fiscal policy to protect their most vulnerable citizens from disruptive external shocks. LONDON – In 1969, the British … Continue reading Can Governments Still Steer the Economy?
Globalization’s Latest Last Stand
February 20, 2023 With the world increasingly turning away from economic integration and cooperation, the second wave of globalization is threatening to give way to fragmentation and conflict, as the first wave did in 1914. Averting catastrophe requires developing strong political foundations capable of sustaining a stable international order. LONDON – Is the world economy … Continue reading Globalization’s Latest Last Stand
The Return of Thoughtcrime
The UK’s draconian Public Order Bill, which seeks to restrict certain forms of protest used by climate activists, will expand the state’s ability to detain people deemed disruptive and limit the courts’ ability to restrain it. This will align the British legal system with those of authoritarian countries like Russia. LONDON – In December 1939, … Continue reading The Return of Thoughtcrime
Too Poor for War
Nov 8, 2022 ROBERT SKIDELSKY and PHILIP PILKINGTON Decades of deindustrialization have hollowed out the UK economy and made it woefully ill-prepared for wartime disruptions. As the financial speculators who funded its current-account deficits turn against the pound, policymakers should consider Keynesian taxes and increasing public investment. LONDON – A wartime economy is inherently a shortage economy: … Continue reading Too Poor for War
Gorbachev’s Tragic Legacy
Oct 19, 2022ROBERT SKIDELSKY Admired in the West but loathed by his countrymen as a harbinger of Russia’s post-Cold War misfortune, Mikhail Gorbachev fully grasped the immense challenges of reforming the ailing Soviet Union. Today’s Russia largely reflects the anti-Western grievances stemming from his failure. LONDON – Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader, was buried last month … Continue reading Gorbachev’s Tragic Legacy
Requiem for an Empire
Sep 12, 2022 ROBERT SKIDELSKY Since World War II, Britain’s influence in the world has relied on its “special relationship” with the United States, its position as head of the Commonwealth (the British Empire’s successor), and its position in Europe. The Americans are still there, but Europe isn't, and now the head of the Commonwealth … Continue reading Requiem for an Empire
Mind the Policy Gaps
Aug 22, 2022 ROBERT SKIDELSKY The widening gaps in policy formation nowadays reflect the division of labor and increasing specialization that has taken us from the sixteenth-century ideal of the Renaissance man. And today’s biggest policymaking gap has grown so large that it threatens global catastrophe. LONDON – Just as the insistent demand for more … Continue reading Mind the Policy Gaps
Russia’s Path to Premodernity
Jun 14, 2022 ROBERT SKIDELSKY The Stalinist retreat from science and logic persisted following the Soviet Union’s collapse and is now the main tendency of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule. With his faith-based mythology, warping of history, and denial of facts, Putin’s withdrawal from contemporary Europe could not be starker. LONDON – The Russian writer … Continue reading Russia’s Path to Premodernity
The Guardian view on a four-day week: policies needed to make it a reality
After the first world war, workers wanted a peace dividend for their sacrifices. Within three years they got it. Almost every industrialised nation – with the exception of Japan – accepted the newly established International Labour Organization’s call to limit working hours to eight a day and 48 a week. While most developed countries enacted … Continue reading The Guardian view on a four-day week: policies needed to make it a reality
Robert Skidelsky 