The perils of centrist economics in a polarised world | Kenneth Rogoff

<p>A decade ago, a prominent analysis was falsely cast as a call for austerity. Our real offence was suggesting there might be a trade-off between debt and growth</p><p>It’s not easy being a centrist economist in today’s polarised, social media-driven world, where every idea is quickly forced into one ideological camp or another. To paraphrase a remark often <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/152853-you-may-not-be-interested-in-war-but-war-is">attributed</a> to Leon Trotsky, centrist economists may not be interested in war but war is interested in them.</p><p>My 2016 book <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691178363/the-curse-of-cash">The Curse of Cash</a>, which explored the past, present and future of money, is a case in point. After its publication, I received more than 20 death threats, some clearly from drug dealers and gun owners outraged by my call to phase out $100 bills, and others from crypto evangelists who considered my support for regulation an act of treason.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/oct/27/the-perils-of-economic-centrism-in-a-polarised-world">Continue reading...</a>