Visitor to Senior Combination Room, St. Edmunds College, University of Cambridge
I am a political economist at the University of Cambridge. I have made a vocation of working, and living, at the frontier where theory meets practice.
After beginning my career at Oxford University's International Development Centre, I left for the developing world, where I spent two decades working as an academic, journalist and ultimately the co-creator and director of a policy think tank. Along the way, I lectured at universities in Britain, the US, Canada, France, Germany, South Africa and the Caribbean. I last taught in Cambridge's Centre of Development Studies, and now devote myself fully to my writing. In amidst lecture-series and fellowships abroad, I now divide my time between New York and London.
My most recent books are Twilight of the Money Gods: Economics as a Religion and How it all Went Wrong (Simon & Schuster, 2017) and, with Peter Heather, The Lives of Empires (Penguin, forthcoming 2019).
Donald Trump's economic gamble with trade wars and tax cuts – he could win big or lose everything
Aug 28, 2018 12:45 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Picture the US-China trade spat as a boxing match (Donald Trump probably has). The US is the slugger the pulverising champion and China is the fast-rising challenger. A bit like George Foreman against Muhammad Ali in the...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Why Germany ditched nuclear before coal – and why it won’t go back
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight