Over the years, I’ve written for numerous print publications and websites. Here are some of my favorite articles by subject.
Featured Articles
Maritime allies are America’s superpower, Engelsberg Ideas, December 17, 2025
The Man Who Put the World in a Box, The Free Press, October 15, 2025
Why the US’s New Shipbuilding Strategy is Unlikely to Work, Bloomberg, July 11, 2025
Congress Loved Tariffs Long Before President “Tariff Man” Trump, Bloomberg, April 25, 2025
Shipping and Logistics
The Stuck Container Ship on the Suez Canal Was a Metaphor, New York Times, April 1, 2021
The Now-Ubiquitous Shipping Container Was an Idea Before Its Time,Smithsonianmag.com, June 16, 2017
Abandon Ship, Foreign Affairs, October 5, 2016
“How a Box Transformed the World,” Financial Times, April 24, 2006
Globalization and Trade
A fourth globalisation, Aeon, August 12, 2021
We’ve entered into a new era of globalization — no matter what Joe Biden does, Washingtonpost.com, December 4, 2020
The Megaships that Broke Global Trade, Wall Street Journal, October 23, 2020
Freight Pain: The Rise and Fall of Globalization, Foreign Affairs, November-December 2008
Manufacturing
The Decline of Stuff, The Globe and Mail, May 25, 2024
“The Industrial Revolution that Never Was,” HBR.com, July 18, 2014
“How New York Lost the Apparel Business,” Bloomberg.com, April 18, 2012
“Japan’s Disaster and the Manufacturing Meltdown,” ForeignAffairs.com, April 17, 2011
Economic Policy and Politics
Political Capitalism, Business History Review, Spring 2023
Is Slow Productivity Growth Here to Stay? Foreign Affairs, June 12, 2017
End of a golden age, Aeon, February 22, 2017
Every U.S. president promises to boost economic growth. The catch: no one knows how. Vox, December 22, 2016
The Problem with the U.S. Economy Isn’t Something Politicians Can Fix, Harvard Business Review, November 29, 2016
Why the Economy Doesn’t Roar Anymore, The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2016
“Faulty Basel: Why More Diplomacy Won’t Keep the Financial System Safe,” Foreign Affairs, May-June, 2010
Retailing and Consumers
Two grocery giants want to merge. Why is the FTC so concerned? Washington Post, October 17, 2024
What Is a Supermarket? New York Review of Books, June 14, 2024
The FTC May Crack Down on Price Discrimination. Will It Matter? Washingtonpost.com, May 23, 2023
Can Amazon Be the Next Apple? New York Times, June 20, 2017
“When Creative Destruction Visited the Mom-and-Pops,” The Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2013
“How the Postal Service Revolutionized Retailing,” Bloomberg.com, August 23, 2012
“Why Retailers Don’t Recover from Bankruptcy,” Bloomberg.com, March 7, 2012
“Don’t Grieve for the Great A&P,” HBR.org, January 30, 2012
“Imagining a World Without Chain Stores,” The Washington Post, June 10, 2011