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Robert Skidelsky

Robert Skidelsky

Writing for PS since 2003
216 commentaries

Robert Skidelsky is a member of the British House of Lords, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy at Warwick University, and the author of a prize-winning three-volume biography of John Maynard Keynes. He began his political career in the Labour party, was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party, and served as the Conservative Party’s spokesman for Treasury affairs in the House of Lords until he was sacked for his opposition to NATO’s 1999 bombing of Kosovo. Since 2001, he has sat in the House of Lords as an independent. He has also served as a non-executive director of the American mutual fund Janus (2001-11) and the private Russian oil company PJSC Russneft (2016-21). He is the author of The Machine Age: An Idea, a History, a Warning (Allen Lane, 2023).

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  1. The Language of Political Control
    skidelsky200_Getty Images_speech Getty Images

    The Language of Political Control

    Apr 19, 2024 Robert Skidelsky views recent linguistic innovations as manipulative efforts to compel “correct” thought and perception.

  2. Post-Capitalist Pessimism
    skidelsky199_In Pictures Ltd.Corbis via Getty Images_capitalismprotest In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images

    Post-Capitalist Pessimism

    Mar 21, 2024 Robert Skidelsky laments the absence of a redemptive political vision adequate to the public's growing economic disillusionment.

  3. The UK Labour Party’s Green-Energy Debacle
    skidelsky197_Leon NealGetty Images_UKgreen Leon Neal/Getty Images

    The UK Labour Party’s Green-Energy Debacle

    Feb 19, 2024 Robert Skidelsky explains why the threat of climate change outweighs the risks of increased public spending.

  4. Robert Skidelsky on Keynes, AI, the future of work, and more
    mmuniz2_Malte MuellerGetty Images_AIrobot Malte Mueller/Getty Images

    Robert Skidelsky on Keynes, AI, the future of work, and more

    Feb 6, 2024 Robert Skidelsky argues that the best way to secure supply chains is peace, highlights three grave risks posed by artificial intelligence, challenges the notion that science and religion should be regarded as opposites, and more.

  5. Britain’s Post Office Scandal and the Rule of Law
    skidelsky195_ Dan KitwoodGetty Images_post office Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

    Britain’s Post Office Scandal and the Rule of Law

    Jan 18, 2024 Robert Skidelsky explains why Western countries are finding it increasingly hard to address official misconduct.

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  1. ginsberg1_Tayfun CoskunAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_january6journalistviolence Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    Our Freedoms Depend on Press Freedom

    Jodie Ginsberg warns that the increased targeting of journalists and the media is a key indicator of democratic erosion.
  2. balasegaram2_JOHN WESSELSAFP via Getty Images_africaflood John Wessels/AFP via Getty Images

    Climate Change Is a Worse Health Threat Than We Think

    Manica Balasegaram warns that the world is underestimating the extent to which global warming will fuel antimicrobial resistance.
  3. delong259_ChesnotGetty Images_musk Omar Marques/Getty Images

    Musk Has Made Tesla a Meme Stock

    J. Bradford DeLong worries that the first mover in electric vehicles is increasingly running on bucket-shop hype.
  4. buchholz15_Al Drago-PoolGetty Images_yellen Al Drago/Pool/Getty Images

    The US Treasury’s Bond Blunder Will Cost Gen Z Dearly

    Todd G. Buchholz & James Carter thinks the US should have locked in favorable borrowing rates when it had the chance.
  5. james217_ Christopher FurlongGetty Images_gold Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

    What’s Driving the Global Gold Rush?

    Harold James considers the political factors pushing the price of the “barbarous relic” to all-time highs.
  6. stiglitz333_ Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_bidentrump Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Global Elections in the Shadow of Neoliberalism

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    While scandals, culture wars, and threats to democracy dominate the headlines, the biggest issues in this super election year ultimately concern economic policies. After all, the rise of anti-democratic populist authoritarianism is itself the legacy of a misbegotten economic ideology.

    considers what 40 years of anti-government, low-tax, deregulatory advocacy have wrought around the world.
  7. terzi6_green transition degrowth Getty Images

    Averting Climate Catastrophe Requires Economic Growth

    Alessio Terzi & Gernot Wagner show why shrinking the global economy, as envisaged by advocates of degrowth, is a bad way to cut emissions.
  8. varoufakis114_KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEVAFP via Getty Images_germany protests KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

    Banned By Germany

    Yanis Varoufakis

    Germany recently prohibited a Palestinian Congress from taking place in Berlin, arrested its Jewish supporters, and barred one of its organizers, Greece’s former finance minister, from entering the country. But the turn to repression is powerful evidence that the country’s pro-Israel political consensus is breaking down.

    sees in his case an effort to enforce with repression a pro-Israel political consensus that is breaking down.
  9. sheng147_ Annabelle ChihGetty Images_taiwansemiconductors Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

    China Should Emulate Taiwan’s Tech Policies

    Andrew Sheng & Xiao Geng urge the Chinese government to follow the island's lead by embracing the financialization of innovation.

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