Professor Ian Inkster is a global historian and political economist at SOAS University of London, who has taught and researched at universities in Britain, Australia, Taiwan and Japan. He is the author of 13 books on Asian and global dynamics with a particular focus on industrial and technological development, and the editor of History of Technology since 2000. Forthcoming books are Distraction Capitalism: The World Since 1971, and Invasive Technology and Indigenous Frontiers. Case Studies of Accelerated Change in History, with David Pretel. Follow him on Twitter at @inksterian
Latest posts by Ian Inkster
Queen Elizabeth II and British capitalism: The role of tropes and distractions
"[T]here are serious things to say about Queen Elizabeth II and her passing, but most of this will not be said, or will not be readily debated within the routine cultures of civil society."
What the world needs now: A new deal in a reformed global economic system
"The prosperous East Asian nations (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, and China at the lower income margins) have been the greatest assets for growth of the world system for some time now."
COVID-19, vaccination and the progress of the global healthcare system
“ … obesity might soon be recognised as a vitally strategic global element in explaining varying COVID-19 levels between rich and poor.”
France, Turkey, Poland: The reality of the new COVID-19 spike crisis
“The figures serve to discount the Western implication that Indian democracy and civil society have failed in the last analysis to match the achievements of the richer nations.”
Income, age and obesity: South Asia's advantages in the COVID-19 pandemic
Poverty, lack of public medical facilities, lower levels of adult literacy, and less medical expertise would, it was assumed, work strongly against the ability of South Asia to weather the COVID-19 storm.
COVID Christmas: Was it truly like no other?
For our world and the faiths we have, hasn't this Christmas been like all others—painful, often sordid, sometimes deadly?
Exemplary governance: Which countries should high-COVID nations follow?
"What seems clear is that global exemplars do not have to look the same in terms of political structures, incomes, or economic ideology."
How the world's six largest economies are faring amidst the global political economy of COVID-19
"The political economy of any one nation, however, is interlinked with the global economy, and because of this the scale of activities in the largest economies really does matter."
COVID-19 in Europe: The price of being rich
“ … higher incomes mean fewer children and more elderly people, and this age distribution runs smack into the face of an overwhelming force of nature.”
