Simon Johnson
speaker
295 appearances
3 recordings
2 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 7 Jul
Simon Johnson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 3.
Appearances
everybody's favorite at the moment, but it's actually got real strong lasting power to deliver what you care about, which is the rule of law and opportunities for entrepreneurs, enough competition, protection for property rights, and so on.
As long as your democracy can continue to deliver prosperity, which is a key part about, I think, our modern issues, I think democracy is the winner.
But there's a lot of variation, different types of democracy.
The French version and the British versions are different.
Can you become prosperous without democracy?
Yeah, I think to some extent you can if you fix the economic institutions and if you can keep those stable and favouring prosperity.
But that's hard if it's not a proper democratic framework.
Well, a bit of both, I'd say, Steph.
So let me talk about a West Indian island, but I won't name it because I don't want anybody to particularly get upset.
So on this island, there was a lot of slavery, there were sugar plantations, and there were rich people as a result.
And then when the country ended slavery, a lot of the distribution of wealth remained.
And when it became independent, of course, that...
fed through into the political system.
So the economic power that arises from money and wealth is part of the persistence mechanism, Steph.
Now, of course, there are accommodations, including with people who get elected, and it's not the same situation in this island today as it was in 1950, let alone 1850.
But...
The fact is that the same families, actually, if you can trace it back, the same families are substantially in control of the island and making the big decisions on the island, as was the case during slavery.
Well, I think it's a stress test for the institutions right now, Robert.
So in this last 12 months, I've signed five amicus briefs to the Supreme Court of the United States.
So at least in the American judicial system, particularly when cases reach the appeal stage or the Supreme Court for the ultimate decision, independent experts are not exactly invited, but invite themselves to provide information
Showing 121–140 of 295 · page 7 of 15
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