News and views from the Blavatnik School of Government community 
Free-market capitalism is on trial. In the United Kingdom, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn accuses neoliberalism of increasing homelessness, throwing children into poverty, and causing wages to fall below subsistence level. For the defence, Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May cites the immense potential of an open, innovative, free-market economy. Similar “proceedings” are taking place […]
There is something special about the Blavatnik School’s students. During the 2016-17 year, when I took a sabbatical from my regular position at the University of California Los Angeles to spend the year in Oxford, the Blavatnik MPP class included 124 students from 70 countries. Without exception, every student I […]
The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union no doubt carries many risks. But, if British politicians and business leaders are right, it also creates an important opportunity: the possibility of building a safer, greener, more efficient, and more innovative farming sector. If the UK manages to seize this opportunity, […]
As Prime Minister Theresa May seeks to form a new government, following an election in which her Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority, she knows that, within days, she will also need to get down to the nitty-gritty of negotiating Britain’s exit from the European Union. Preparations for the Brexit […]
With the Trump administration thinking about taking the US out of the Paris Agreement and already rolling back domestic climate policies, all eyes have turned to China and whether the world’s largest emitter can occupy the leadership void left by the US. President Xi Jinping has called the 2015 Paris […]
As the world’s financial leaders gather for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, many working people around the world are demanding radical change, because they sense that their voices are not being heard. Those who are supposed to represent them should not ignore this anger and frustration […]
The past three weeks have given the world a stunning role reversal in global governance. The United States, the world’s long-time leader in forging international cooperation, has begun to express a unilateralist creed, striking fear into the hearts of many countries worldwide. And China, long reticent about multilateralism, has committed […]
“Take back control” has been an intoxicating rallying call to voters not just in Britain, but in the United States, and many other parts of the world. People are “making themselves heard” in elections and referendums. Their votes are signalling that they no longer trust or feel linked to establishment […]