Project Syndicate

The Future of Development Finance Is Not Primarily About Money

Tanu M. Goyal — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:32:11 GMT

Multilateral development banks have not kept pace with changes to the global financial environment. For middle-income countries like India, accessing knowledge and technology is now a bigger challenge than raising capital, which suggests that these institutions must rethink their operating model.

Nigeria’s Perilous French Gambit

Adekeye Adebajo — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:37:06 GMT

Nigeria’s increasingly close relationship with France marks a departure from six decades of foreign policy aimed at reducing French influence in West Africa. An increasingly close relationship with a power that has long sought to undermine Nigerian influence in West Africa will benefit only politically connected business elites.

Autocracy Is Fueling Mexico’s Fiscal Deterioration

Guillermo Ortiz — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:08:32 GMT

Mexico’s recent ratings downgrades are merely a symptom of a more serious malady: the ruling Morena party’s efforts to consolidate power permanently. To ensure the legal predictability foreign investors require, President Claudia Sheinbaum would need to confront Morena’s ideological legacy and, more importantly, its cartel ties.

The Trump Economy Is Bad News for Republicans

Desmond Lachman — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:18:55 GMT

Donald Trump triumphed in the 2024 election by continually hammering on the Biden administration’s dismal inflation record. If his party gets shellacked in this year’s midterm elections, it will be because he has made Americans even worse off.

SpaceX Is the New East India Company

Alessio Terzi — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:06:22 GMT

Although SpaceX is not about to rule over foreign subjects, as the chartered companies founded in the early modern era did, it, too, is operating beyond the reach of any sovereign. And like its predecessors, it has already accumulated immense powers that governments will struggle to reclaim.

The ECB Should Not Raise Interest Rates Yet

Philippe Legrain — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:21:07 GMT

Against a backdrop of acute uncertainty, weak growth, subdued wages, and elevated market interest rates, monetary tightening is warranted only when there is convincing evidence that higher inflation is becoming entrenched. No such evidence has yet materialized in Europe.

When Markets Run on Empty

Mohamed A. El-Erian — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:01:13 GMT

Markets are flying high despite geopolitical turmoil because a broad-based willingness to keep spending has been matched by an ability to keep doing so. But as more economic participants exhaust their means and rely on debt, a painful moment of truth will arrive—sooner rather than later if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.

The Pope and the AI Profiteers

Antara Haldar — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:24:07 GMT

In his first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV rightly rejects the idea that markets alone can be trusted to shape society’s technological future. Recognizing that AI raises questions that prices and profits cannot answer, the Chicago-born pope has posed a direct challenge to Chicago School economics.

AI Must Not Encroach on Human Dignity

Michael R. Strain — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 12:23:30 GMT

In a world captivated by technological advances, Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical seeks to shift attention away from the marvels and terrors of AI and toward the magnificence of humanity. The message that the technology lacks a “moral conscience” and is distinct from human cognition is necessary and welcome.

The Key Forces Now Shaping Markets and Geopolitics

Ian Bremmer — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:04:05 GMT

Three major factors are likely to shape economic and geopolitical outcomes over the next several years: politically unconstrained AI development, a shift from the logic of globalization to zero-sum thinking, and heightened international tail risks. Much could go right, or at least as expected—until it doesn’t.

The Living Ghosts of Violent Radicalism

Ian Buruma — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:52:18 GMT

Following World War II, the most militant student movements emerged in the former Axis powers as a way to cope with previous generations' complicity. But while the Red Army Faction and others were haunted by memories of past crimes, today's young people have mostly forgotten, and a growing number think far-right politics are cool.

Using AI to Test Policy Language

Monica de Bolle — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:34:37 GMT

Policymakers have long understood that language affects economic behavior, but until recently, there were few tools capable of systematically analyzing its effects. AI may now help close that gap, enabling officials to anticipate how framing and timing can move markets and shift public opinion.

Europe’s Competitiveness Bogeyman

Daniel Gros — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:15:54 GMT

Calls for European leaders to protect domestic industry from "unfairly" subsidized Chinese competition have lately grown louder. But while tariffs might offer temporary relief to a few sectors, they cannot restore Europe's technological leadership, industrial dynamism, or export competitiveness.

Putting American Science on a MAGA Leash

Stephen Holmes — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:41:38 GMT

A draft rule from US President Donald Trump’s White House Office of Management and Budget would subject all scientific research funding to the whims of political appointees, further undercutting a pillar of American power. The goal is to foreclose any future that is plural, contestable, and beyond the president’s control.

How Measles Came Roaring Back

M. Niaz Asadullah — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:39:59 GMT

Bangladesh is facing soaring measles cases not because of a single localized failure, but because of years of systemic erosion. Ultimately, maintaining herd immunity against highly contagious viruses requires relentless attention to supply and demand, as well as to the broader social and institutional foundations of public health.

Pete Hegseth’s Dangerous Call to Arms in Asia

Thitinan Pongsudhirak — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:53:58 GMT

Much like it did in Europe, the Trump administration has called on US allies in the Indo-Pacific to increase military spending to 3.5% of GDP. But a defense buildup on this scale would jeopardize economic growth and regional unity, and could lead Southeast Asian countries to gravitate toward China’s strategic orbit.

The Pope’s AI Vision and Its Limits

Peter Singer — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:51:26 GMT

Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on AI is clear-eyed about the limits of techno-utopianism. But its vision of technology directed toward human flourishing needs to be extended to include the interests of every sentient being, human and nonhuman, biological or—possibly—artificial.

The Iran War Is Fueling a Global Debt Shock

Moussa Faki Mahamat — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:31:01 GMT

Once again, a global crisis is disproportionately burdening countries that did not cause it. Across the Global South, the food- and energy-price shock triggered by the conflict in the Middle East has morphed into a debt shock that demands an urgent international response.

Democracy vs. Data Centers

Angela Huyue Zhang — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:32:38 GMT

As tech companies race to build data centers, communities and lawmakers across the United States are pushing back. Industry leaders frame local opposition as a threat to American competitiveness, but China’s experience shows that unchecked expansion carries serious risks of its own.

The Right Incentives for Climate Action

Paula Carvalho Pereda — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:34:24 GMT

As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to disrupt global oil and gas flows, countries are increasingly focusing on short-term energy priorities to the detriment of long-term decarbonization goals. In such a context, the difficult task of designing climate policies that realign incentives takes on new importance.