Ideas Made to Matter
To 'build back better,' invest in R&D, researchers say
Roads and bridges are a start, but 21st century job creation needs federal research and development in U.S. cities with potential, these authors say.
Aug 11, 2021
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Simon Johnson
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SIMON JOHNSON is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is head of the Global Economics and Management group. In 2007-08 he was chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and he currently co-chairs the CFA Institute® Systemic Risk Council. In February 2021, Johnson joined the board of directors of Fannie Mae.
Johnson’s most recent book, with Jon Gruber, Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream, explains how to create millions of good new jobs around the U.S., through renewed public investment in research and development. This proposal has attracted bipartisan support.
Johnson was previously a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., a cofounder of BaselineScenario.com, and a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. From July 2014 to 2017, Johnson was a member of the Financial Research Advisory Committee of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Financial Research (OFR), within which he chaired the Global Vulnerabilities Working Group.
“The Quiet Coup” received over a million views when it appeared in The Atlantic in early 2009. His book 13 Bankers: the Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown (with James Kwak), was an immediate bestseller and has become one of the mostly highly regarded books on the financial crisis. Their follow-up book on U.S. fiscal policy, White House Burning: The Founding Fathers, Our National Debt, and Why It Matters for You, won praise across the political spectrum. Johnson’s academic research on economic development, corporate finance, political economy, and public health is widely cited.
“For his articulate and outspoken support for public policies to end too-big-to-fail”, Johnson was named a Main Street Hero by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) in 2013.
IMPORTANT: For any media or appointment requests to Professor Johnson please be sure to copy Michelle Fiorenza: fiorenza@mit.edu.
Honors
Johnson wins Jamieson Prize
Publications
13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and The Next Financial Meltdown.
Johnson, Simon H. and James Kwak. New York: Pantheon , 2010.
African Successes, Volume I: Government and Institutions.
Edwards, Sebastian, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil (Eds.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
African Successes, Volume II: Human Capital.
Edwards, Sebastian, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil (Eds.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
African Successes, Volume III: Modernization and Development.
Edwards, Sebastian, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil (Eds.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
African Successes: Volume IV: Sustainable Growth.
Edwards, Sebastian, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weils (Eds.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
"An Africa Success Story: Botswana."
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon H. Johnson and Jim Robinson. In In Search of Prosperity: Analytic Development Narratives, edited by Dani Rodrik , 80-120. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.
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Media Highlights
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Los Angeles Times (Opinion Piece)
Put a price cap on Russian oil while the EU hammers out an embargo
"Promising to gradually curtail future Russian energy exports to the EU raises uncertainty about future supply and boosts the price of oil now."
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Project Syndicate (Opinion Piece)
Europe is its own enemy in Ukraine
"Europe is fighting a war against itself in Ukraine, and the only way to end it is to stop all oil imports from Russia for at least 45 days."
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Wall Street Journal
The West is still buying Russian oil, but it's now harder to track
"The fact that they are buying more than before the invasion suggests that it's not just because of long-term contracts."
Press
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CEPR | VOX EU (Opinion Piece)
How to implement an EU embargo on Russian oil
"The only logical next step is ... to prohibit all Russian oil and oil product exports, and to make it illegal to carry such cargo."
Executive Education
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Economics for Business
This eight-week online program offers you the opportunity to explore macroeconomics from a business perspective, guided by renowned economist Professor Roberto Rigobon.
- Jul 20–Sep 20, 2022
- Oct 5–Dec 6, 2022