Niall Ferguson

Milbank Family Senior Fellow
Biography: 

Niall Ferguson, MA, DPhil, FRSE, is the Milbank Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a senior faculty fellow of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard. He is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is the author of sixteen books, including The Pity of WarThe House of RothschildEmpireCivilization, and Kissinger, 1923–1968: The Idealist, which won the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Prize. He is an award-making filmmaker, too, having won an international Emmy for his PBS series The Ascent of Money. In 2020 he joined Bloomberg Opinion as a columnist. In addition, he is the founder and managing director of Greenmantle LLC, a New York–based advisory firm; a cofounding board member of Ualá, a Latin American financial technology company; and a trustee of both the New-York Historical Society and the London-based Centre for Policy Studies. His most recent book, The Square and the Tower, was published in the United States in 2018 and was a New York Times best seller. A three-part television adaptation, Niall Ferguson’s Networld, aired on PBS in March 2020. His next book, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe, will be published in May 2021.

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Recent Commentary

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One Nation Under A Groove

with John H. Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, Bill Whalenvia GoodFellows: Conversations From The Hoover Institution
Wednesday, December 9, 2020

In the final episode of the series for 2020, Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane reflect on lessons learned from the pandemic, Donald Trump’s future, the ruinous state of the Golden State, how society will differ in 2021, plus what gets them through their daily routines—a mixtape of UK punk, Philly-brand funk, and the soothing sounds of “Sweet Baby James” Taylor.

World Puzzle
Interviews

Niall Ferguson - Deciphering Today’s Political And Economic Jigsaw Through A Historic Lens

interview with Niall Fergusonvia The Money Maze Podcast
Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Hoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson explains how much has changed since Henry Kissinger’s historic mission to China in 1971, why belatedly Western Governments are increasingly recognizing this, as well as why the US remains a magnet for human talent, unlike China.

Interviews

Niall Ferguson On Why Bitcoin And China Are Winning The Monetary Revolution

interview with Niall Fergusonvia CoinDesk
Sunday, December 6, 2020

Hoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson discusses his Bloomberg article "Bitcoin Is Winning the Covid-19 Monetary Revolution."

Interviews

Niall Ferguson - Deciphering Today's Political And Economic Complexities Through A Historic Lens

interview with Niall Fergusonvia The Money Maze Podcast
Friday, December 4, 2020

Hoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson analyses the current pandemic when compared with the historical precedents of other catastrophes. He talks about failure of many western Countries to learn lessons from those, many in Asia, who acted with coherent policies, and where the fault lines lie.

Featured

Cold War II

by Niall Fergusonvia National Review
Thursday, December 3, 2020

There was a first world war. Then there was a second. They were not identical. But they were sufficiently similar for no one to argue about the nomenclature. Similarly, there was Cold War I, which lasted from the late 1940s until the late 1980s. And now we are in Cold War II. This new Cold War is not the same as Cold War I. But it is sufficiently similar to deserve the name. It was George Orwell who coined the phrase “Cold War,” in a column published in the (London) Tribune on October 19, 1945, with the title “You and the Atomic Bomb.”

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“Covidiocy”

with John H. Cochrane, Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, Bill Whalenvia GoodFellows: Conversations From The Hoover Institution
Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Blend “COVID” and “idiocy” and the result is “covidiocy”—the irrational and hypocritical underside of this pandemic. Hoover senior fellows Niall Ferguson, H. R. McMaster, and John Cochrane discuss what “covidiocy” says about personal responsibility and bureaucratic dictates. They also share their thoughts on the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist and the significance of Joe Biden’s top economic and national security appointments.

In the News

Historian Niall Ferguson Says Bitcoin Is Winning The Covid-19 Monetary Revolution

featuring Niall Fergusonvia Bitcoin.com
Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Historian and senior fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Niall Ferguson says bitcoin is winning the Covid-19 monetary revolution. Hailing the virtual currency as a great place for the rich to store their wealth, Ferguson also notes that the bitcoin’s resilience has forced critics as well as institutional investors to alter their views about the leading crypto.

In the News

Niall Ferguson Wants To See Bitcoin In The US Financial System

featuring Niall Fergusonvia CryptoCoin.News
Monday, November 30, 2020
Over the last several years — and especially since crypto recovery from the 2018 crash had started — many crypto skeptics’ voices started to soften and disappear. Meanwhile, the crypto community started gaining more and more supporters from respected individuals of the finance world.
Featured

Bitcoin Is Winning The Covid-19 Monetary Revolution

by Niall Fergusonvia Bloomberg
Sunday, November 29, 2020

The virtual currency is scarce, sovereign and a great place for the rich to store their wealth.

Interviews

Niall Ferguson: What History Can Tell Us About Biden's Win

interview with Niall Fergusonvia CNN
Sunday, November 29, 2020

Hoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson discusses the presidential election.

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