Thinkers & Ideas Shared Prosperity in a Fractured World with Dani Rodrik
Jan 20, 2026
Dani Rodrik, Harvard political economist and author focused on globalization and development. He tackles the trilemma of democracy, prosperity, and sustainability. He critiques hyper-globalization, explains why manufacturing no longer guarantees development, and spotlights services, national climate action, and experimental productivist policies.
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Trilemma Is Not Inevitable
- Democracy, prosperity, and sustainability need not be a trilemma; they can be achieved together with new policies.
- Dani Rodrik argues national and subnational actions and scaled experiments already point the way forward.
Hyperglobalization's Paradox
- Hyper-globalization inverted Bretton Woods by subordinating domestic policy to global integration.
- That produced domestic social disintegration and political polarization even as trade expanded.
China Played By Different Rules
- China succeeded under a different set of rules by keeping policy space for industrial strategy while engaging global markets.
- Rodrik uses China as an example of a country that benefited from Bretton Woods–style autonomy, not hyper-globalization.
