Simon Johnson
Simon Johnson is an economist and author. He is former chief economist for the IMF, Ronald A Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is co-author, with James Kwak, of 13 Bankers and White House Burning. They also co-founded the economics blog The Baseline Scenario
Books by Simon Johnson
“A new book by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, Power and Progress, both economists who like to look at the lessons of history and the bigger picture (this book starts with a discussion of Jeremy Bentham and his panopticon). Power and Progress is above all a call to action. As the authors write, ‘Today’s ‘progress’ is again enriching a small group of entrepreneurs and investors, whereas most people are disempowered and benefit little…Confronting the prevailing vision and wresting the direction of technology away from the control of a narrow elite may even be more difficult today than it was in nineteenth-century Britain and America. But it is no less essential.'” Read more...
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023
Sophie Roell, Journalist
Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream
by Jonathan Gruber & Simon Johnson
Jump-Starting America is the ambitious new book written by two distinguished MIT economists, Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson. They examine why the US economy has stagnated over the past two decades, including in the innovation sector, because of the collapse in Cold War defense spending. They propose their nationwide plan to “jump-start” it again, creating more jobs and reducing inequality in the process.
As the full title — Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream — indicates, this book is a call to action for strategic investing in science and technology. This would amount to reversing the federal cuts undertaken in the 1980s, and if orchestrated in the right way, returning (or even exceeding) postwar levels of economic prosperity.
Jonathan Gruber spoke to Five Books about the best books on public policy.
Simon Johnson spoke to Five Books about the best books on why economic history matters.
13 Bankers
by Simon Johnson & Simon Johnson and James Kwak
One of the really big issues raised by this book is whether we are actually living in a kind of oligarchy of the sort we attribute to places like Russia.
Interviews with Simon Johnson
The best books on Why Economic History Matters, recommended by Simon Johnson
History contains useful warnings and lessons and today’s economic policymakers would do well to heed them, says the IMF’s former chief economist, Simon Johnson. He recommends books showing why economic history matters.
Interviews where books by Simon Johnson were recommended
-
1
The Race between Education and Technology
by Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F Katz -
2
Top Incomes in the Long Run of History
by Emmanuel Saez, Thomas Piketty & Tony Atkinson -
3
Why Nations Fail
by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson -
4
Unequal Democracy
by Larry M Bartels -
5
13 Bankers
by Simon Johnson & Simon Johnson and James Kwak
The best books on Inequality, recommended by Daron Acemoglu
The best books on Inequality, recommended by Daron Acemoglu
The US, the UK and many other countries around the globe have become far less equal over the past 30 years. It’s important we understand how and why this happened, and what it means for our societies, says Daron Acemoglu, a professor of economics at MIT. He recommends the best books to get a better understanding of inequality.
-
1
This Time Is Different
by Carmen Reinhart & Kenneth Rogoff -
2
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis -
3
Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten The World Economy
by Raghuram G Rajan -
4
13 Bankers
by Simon Johnson & Simon Johnson and James Kwak -
5
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Report
by FCIC
Francis Fukuyama recommends the best books on the The Financial Crisis
Francis Fukuyama recommends the best books on the The Financial Crisis
The author of “The End of History” says the financial crisis revealed a great deal about the nature of America’s political and economic system. The shame, he says, is that opportunities to change it are now being ignored.
-
1
The Russo-Ukrainian War
by Serhii Plokhy -
2
King: A Life
by Jonathan Eig -
3
Witchcraft: A History in Thirteen Trials
by Marion Gibson -
4
How to Flourish: An Ancient Guide to Living Well
by Aristotle & Susan Sauvé Meyer (translator) -
5
Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
by Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
Notable Nonfiction of Early Summer 2023, recommended by Sophie Roell
As high summer hits the northern hemisphere, Sophie Roell, editor of Five Books, takes a look at the many nonfiction books published over the last three months. With so many books coming out that are both readable and written by people who know what they’re talking about, reading remains one of the most enjoyable ways to make sense of the world around us.
