Nick Johnson
@nickfj.bsky.social
Blogging at peofdev.wordpress.com, mainly on heterodox economics, development, political economy | Former grad student at SOAS, London Uni
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Some takeaways from the ‘Rethinking Marxism’ project
Marx’s writings, and those of many of the thinkers he has inspired, can be a rich source of ideas for understanding capitalism as a historically specific system. But they are not the final wo…
peofdev.wordpress.com
New post: Some takeaways from the 'Rethinking Marxism' project peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/s...
New post: Quote of the week - Geoffrey Hodgson questions the nature of a socialist future peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/q...
Quote of the week: Geoffrey Hodgson questions the nature of a socialist future
Geoffrey Hodgson is a distinguished economist working in the (old) institutional and evolutionary economics traditions. His recent autobiography, From Marx to Markets: An Intellectual Odyssey, deta…
peofdev.wordpress.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:51 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Geoffrey Hodgson questions the nature of a socialist future peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/09/q...
New post: Some takeaways from the 'Rethinking Marxism' project peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/s...
Some takeaways from the ‘Rethinking Marxism’ project
Marx’s writings, and those of many of the thinkers he has inspired, can be a rich source of ideas for understanding capitalism as a historically specific system. But they are not the final wo…
peofdev.wordpress.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:05 AM
New post: Some takeaways from the 'Rethinking Marxism' project peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/04/s...
New post: Quote of the week - Michael Hudson on individualism peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/q...
Quote of the week: Michael Hudson on individualism
This week’s extract continues my occasional posts in a series drawing on Michael Hudson’s excellent, iconoclastic “dictionary” J is for Junk Economics. “Individualism:…
peofdev.wordpress.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Michael Hudson on individualism peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/q...
Reposted by Nick Johnson
I wrote yesterday about Kevin Warsh, saying what everyone who really follows monetary debates knows: he's a bullshitter who uses big words to make incoherent arguments that always amount to stimulus for Republicans, austerity for Dems 1/
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-bad-heir...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-bad-heir...
A Bad Heir Day at the Fed
No, Kevin Warsh isn’t qualified
paulkrugman.substack.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:39 PM
I wrote yesterday about Kevin Warsh, saying what everyone who really follows monetary debates knows: he's a bullshitter who uses big words to make incoherent arguments that always amount to stimulus for Republicans, austerity for Dems 1/
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-bad-heir...
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-bad-heir...
New post: Some reflections on financial imbalances and global economic performance
Basic economic data and Godley's sectoral balances approach can yield key insights into the health of national and international capitalisms. peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/s...
Basic economic data and Godley's sectoral balances approach can yield key insights into the health of national and international capitalisms. peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/s...
Some reflections on financial imbalances and global economic performance
Basic economic data and Godley’s sectoral balances approach can yield key insights into the health of national and international capitalisms and point to ways in which it could be improved. T…
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:03 AM
New post: Some reflections on financial imbalances and global economic performance
Basic economic data and Godley's sectoral balances approach can yield key insights into the health of national and international capitalisms. peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/s...
Basic economic data and Godley's sectoral balances approach can yield key insights into the health of national and international capitalisms. peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/s...
New post: Quote of the week - Responding to Marxism peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/q...
Quote of the week: Responding to Marxism
Following on from last week’s quote, here is another from Marxists Richard Wolff and Stephen Resnick’s excellent, provocative and accessible book, Contending Economic Theories. “M…
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 26, 2026 at 10:01 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Responding to Marxism peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/26/q...
New post: The perils and promise of a holistic approach peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/t...
The perils and promise of a holistic approach
First of all, my apologies to regular readers of this blog for the delay in publishing this week’s longer post, which is normally out on Wednesdays. I have been a bit under the weather, so th…
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:06 AM
New post: The perils and promise of a holistic approach peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/23/t...
New post: Quote of the week - The peculiarity of an intolerant economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/q...
Quote of the week: The peculiarity of an intolerant economics
Richard Wolff is possibly the best known Marxist economist in the US. Together with his late colleague Stephen Resnick, he has developed a unique form of Marxism which incorporates ideas and insigh…
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - The peculiarity of an intolerant economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/q...
New post: Keynesians versus Marxists on saving capitalism from itself (or not) peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/k...
Keynesians versus Marxists on saving capitalism from itself (or not)
Today’s post explores some of the ideas and attitudes of two significant economic approaches to what they see as a flawed capitalism. In following their intellectual standard-bearers, both se…
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:01 AM
New post: Keynesians versus Marxists on saving capitalism from itself (or not) peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/k...
New post: Quote of the week - The promise of quantum economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/q...
Quote of the week: The promise of quantum economics
This week’s quote comes from David Orrell’s 2018 book Quantum Economics: The New Science of Money, which explores recent advances in economics that employ insights from quantum theory. …
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - The promise of quantum economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/12/q...
New post: Quote of the week - Kaldor on the use of maths in economics
The eminent post-Keynesian critiques the modern approach to economic theory in one of his final lectures.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/q...
The eminent post-Keynesian critiques the modern approach to economic theory in one of his final lectures.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/q...
Quote of the week: Kaldor on the use of maths in economics
Nicholas Kaldor was a colleague and follower of Keynes at Cambridge University, a brilliantly original theoretician and applied economist, and an advisor to governments during the post-war period. …
peofdev.wordpress.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Kaldor on the use of maths in economics
The eminent post-Keynesian critiques the modern approach to economic theory in one of his final lectures.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/q...
The eminent post-Keynesian critiques the modern approach to economic theory in one of his final lectures.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/q...
New post: Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 - Part 2
Continuing last week's theme, looking at a handful of key ideas in economics that I find of particular interest and which will feature in my blog in the new year.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/b...
Continuing last week's theme, looking at a handful of key ideas in economics that I find of particular interest and which will feature in my blog in the new year.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/b...
Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 – Part 2
Today’s post is a continuation of last week’s theme, which looked at a few key ideas in economics that I find particularly intellectually stimulating and relevant to the state of the wo…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 31, 2025 at 10:14 AM
New post: Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 - Part 2
Continuing last week's theme, looking at a handful of key ideas in economics that I find of particular interest and which will feature in my blog in the new year.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/b...
Continuing last week's theme, looking at a handful of key ideas in economics that I find of particular interest and which will feature in my blog in the new year.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/b...
New post: Quote of the week - The biophysical foundation of society and the economy peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/q...
Quote of the week: The biophysical foundation of society and the economy
Here is the latest extract in this current series of posts taken from Entropy Economics, an innovative new book which aims to establish an economic theory with a firm basis in the laws of physics a…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 29, 2025 at 10:01 AM
New post: Quote of the week - The biophysical foundation of society and the economy peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/q...
New post: Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 - Part 1
Some topics of great and continuing personal interest. More in Part 2 next week. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/24/b...
Some topics of great and continuing personal interest. More in Part 2 next week. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/24/b...
Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 – Part 1
Some topics of great and continuing personal interest. More in Part 2 next week. Judging by overall views, in 2025 this blog has generated the most interest since 2020, the year of the pandemic. It…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 24, 2025 at 10:05 AM
New post: Blogging on economics and political economy in 2026 - Part 1
Some topics of great and continuing personal interest. More in Part 2 next week. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/24/b...
Some topics of great and continuing personal interest. More in Part 2 next week. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/24/b...
New post: Quote of the week - Economic theories as propaganda peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/q...
Quote of the week: Economic theories as propaganda
Here is a third extract from James Galbraith and Jing Chen’s new book Entropy Economics, which is proving to be a rich and highly quotable resource. “When we discuss rival theories R…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:44 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Economic theories as propaganda peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/22/q...
New post: China must rebalance for all our sakes
Three reasons why the country's massive current account surplus is a problem for the world.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
Three reasons why the country's massive current account surplus is a problem for the world.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
China must rebalance for all our sakes
Three reasons why the country’s massive current account surplus is a problem for the world China’s economy is struggling. But it is selling more than ever to the rest of the world. Its …
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:04 AM
New post: China must rebalance for all our sakes
Three reasons why the country's massive current account surplus is a problem for the world.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
Three reasons why the country's massive current account surplus is a problem for the world.
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/17/c...
New post: Quote of the week - Equilibrium doesn't exist
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/q...
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/q...
Quote of the week: Equilibrium doesn’t exist
Following on from last week’s quote, here is another choice extract from my current reading, Entropy Economics. When questioning any concept, one should always be aware that words are not ide…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 15, 2025 at 10:02 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Equilibrium doesn't exist
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/q...
peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/15/q...
New post: Beyond the individual - forces which shape our behaviour peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/03/b...
Beyond the individual: forces which shape our behaviour
As has been described many times on this blog, the foundations of mainstream, largely neoclassical economics depend greatly on the behaviour of the ostensibly rational individual. Economic outcomes…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:16 AM
New post: Beyond the individual - forces which shape our behaviour peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/03/b...
New post: Quote of the week - Successful industrialisation needs industrial policy peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/q...
Quote of the week: Successful industrialisation needs industrial policy
This week’s quote needs little elaboration and speaks for itself. It sums up quite nicely the case for industrial policy in its broadest sense, based on the history of economic, social and po…
peofdev.wordpress.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:01 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Successful industrialisation needs industrial policy peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/12/01/q...
New post: Ways "the system" gets me - some controversial economic outcomes peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/w...
Ways “the system” gets me: some controversial economic outcomes
I have been studying economics, on and off, for more than 30 years, since I was a schoolboy. Back then, it didn’t take me too long to become attracted to controversial approaches to the subje…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:15 AM
New post: Ways "the system" gets me - some controversial economic outcomes peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/26/w...
New post: Quote of the week - Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics - No.3 peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/q...
Quote of the week: Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics – No.3
Today’s quote is the third and final part of a short series of extracts taken from “erratic Marxist” Yanis Varoufakis’ useful and iconoclastic book Foundations of Economics.…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics - No.3 peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/q...
New post: Taiwan's successful but imbalanced economy, and what it tells us about the global system
The country’s remarkable rise as a high-tech powerhouse masks deep structural imbalances that reveal much about the dysfunctions of today’s global economy. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/t...
The country’s remarkable rise as a high-tech powerhouse masks deep structural imbalances that reveal much about the dysfunctions of today’s global economy. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/t...
Taiwan’s successful but imbalanced economy – and what it tells us about the global system
The country’s remarkable rise as a high-tech powerhouse masks deep structural imbalances that reveal much about the hidden dysfunctions of today’s global economy. Taiwan is one of the great economi…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:57 AM
New post: Taiwan's successful but imbalanced economy, and what it tells us about the global system
The country’s remarkable rise as a high-tech powerhouse masks deep structural imbalances that reveal much about the dysfunctions of today’s global economy. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/t...
The country’s remarkable rise as a high-tech powerhouse masks deep structural imbalances that reveal much about the dysfunctions of today’s global economy. peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/19/t...
New post: Quote of the week - Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics - No. 2 peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/q...
Quote of the week: Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics – No. 2
Following the quote from two weeks ago (tendency No. 1), here is another from “erratic Marxist” Yanis Varoufakis on what he identifies as three key tendencies of neoclassical economics.…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:01 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Three key imperialist tendencies of neoclassical economics - No. 2 peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/17/q...
New post: Carlota Perez and the AI boom - where are we in the cycle? peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/c...
Carlota Pérez and the AI boom – where are we in the cycle?
The explosion of investment and excitement around artificial intelligence feels like a new technological dawn — but history suggests it may also mark a familiar turning point. Drawing on Carlota Pé…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM
New post: Carlota Perez and the AI boom - where are we in the cycle? peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/c...
New post: Quote of the week - Martin Wolf on the nature of economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/q...
Quote of the week: Martin Wolf on the nature of economics
Martin Wolf is the Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times and after long being a champion of free markets and globalisation, has since the crisis of 2008 become more critical of mainstr…
peofdev.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:03 AM
New post: Quote of the week - Martin Wolf on the nature of economics peofdev.wordpress.com/2025/11/10/q...