A different game
On football’s extreme commercialization
Economics
Global Inequality and More.
Branko Milanovic on global inequality, economic systems, and geopolitical economy.
Recent essays
30 of 34Artificial intelligence and future of capitalism from a Marxist, and a neoclassical, point of view
What would be the likely effects of massive introduction of artificial intelligence in the economy, from the Marxist point of view?
99 percent Utopia and money
For full happiness is possible only in stagnation.
How the “virtues” of neoliberal globalization paved the way to its demise
Cosmopolitanism and competition find their nemesis
Asia’s Rise and the Self-Undermining Logic of Neoliberalism
My conversation with Alice Liu from the Carter Center
How severe is China’s growth slowdown (in historical perspective)?
There are many alarmist articles on China’s growth slowdown (for a nice specimen, see here).
The facts of the European (EU27) income convergence
How is Europe becoming more equal
Yuri Andropov: A man who could have become another Deng Xiaoping...or not
A review of Zhores Medvedev’s “Andropov”
“There is a great disorder under the heaven. The situation is excellent”
A review of Westad and Chen, The Great Transformation: China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
To work or not to work
Can nations not work hard and continue to prosper?
The ideological implications of China’s economic success
This essay is a (modest) attempt to look at the meaning of China’s experience as the country is being poised to become this year or the next, according to the official World Bank classification, a high-income economy.
A pedagogical tax
Why the rich should be Uber-taxed
Why We All Care About Inequality (But Are Loath to Admit It)
Is it envy or justice?
Intellectual narcissism or political relevance
Did imperialism just reappear yesterday?
The great puzzle of the Great Terror
As I mentioned on Twitter, I just finished reading the second volume of Aragon’s Histoire de l’URSS (published by Edition 10/18 in 1962).
Should comparative economics still exist?
How to teach economics of income distribution
The long-term political consequences of Mr. Putin
Regardless of how the Ukraine-Russia war ends, there would be, I believe, inevitably serious geopolitical consequences for Russia.
Was the world of the 1990s better than today’s?
It is a fundamental question.
The ways of empires
Review of Rana Dasgupta’s “After Nations”
How to frame an economic blueprint for the 21st century
My piece in "China Daily"
From under the rubble
A review of Grdešić and Žitko’s “Socialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History”
“J’avais toujours raison”
A review of Raymond Aron’s "Memoires" (a long read)
A strange encounter
It was a warm, almost Summer-like night in New York.
Russia: An ideology for domestic purposes and another for foreign
Nationalism or internationalism or both?
Defeated by reality
Why did neoliberalism, in its domestic and international components, fail?
Of fascination and addiction
Learned knowledge and deep knowledge
How to control increase of income inequality due to new technologies?
Spread, tax and ban
Note on new technologies in China and on our human future
No-one who travels to China can remain indifferent to the impact of new technologies.
The Age of Discord: Fragmented politics and unhinged discourse
Today I attended in New York, at Columbia University (which still looks a bit like a fortress because of the students protests that took place there about 1.5 years ago) a conference at the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Institute for Policy Dialogue.
Trump: Neoliberal agenda pursued by direct means
Forget for the moment the fuss between Trump and the Fed that is going on now.