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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · 3d

I just have no idea who the Tories think the audience is for full bore authoritarianism plus austerity. Very few who want the former want the latter.

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · 13d

As the new academic year begins, here's an important and bracing read on the crisis in UK universities, by Glen O'Hara for @politicalquarterly.bsky.social

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Where now for Britain's Universities?

Although the financial crisis facing the United Kingdom's universities is by now well known, the detailed reasons behind it have been less prominent in public and political debate. It is true that fr...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · 22d

A must-read this morning - JRF's @alfie-stirling.bsky.social on the crisis in UK living standards, and how politicians can (and must) respond

Alfie Stirling @alfie-stirling.bsky.social · 23d

The latest OBR forecasts suggest the average family may end the current parliament financially worse off than they were at the start.

That's unlikely to be a survivable record to defend at the ballot box, but there may be a way to turn it around.

New piece from me for Political Quarterly.

Before the Boil: Addressing the UK's Living Standards Crisis

The UK faces a crisis in living standards. The current outlook for real disposable incomes is unprecedented, including rising inequality and the risk of a first parliament on record where the average...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Aug 28

Excellent from @dandrezner.bsky.social on Wall Street's under-reaction to Trump's erratic economic policies: "in this scenario, markets are not leading indicators but lagging indicators of how government policy affects the real economy"

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · Aug 27

The word of the day is “equifinality.” danieldrezner.substack.com/p/worst-econ...

Worst Economic Experiment Ever

No matter how this plays out, America will lose

danieldrezner.substack.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Aug 26

I’m reminded of Andrew Marr’s observation that when a headline contains a question, the answer is nearly always ‘no’

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 26

Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times

As first AI-led rights advocacy group is founded, industry is divided on whether models are, or can be, sentient

www.theguardian.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Aug 26

Side note: the new crop of undergrads were born in 2006-07, so teaching this stuff means finding ways to bring the pre-crisis era to life, for a generation who haven't seen either the politics or the economy be better

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Aug 26

The political economy of the 2020s can all be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis - discuss

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Aug 26

New post just out:

"The financial crisis theory of everything"

Why the 2008 crash was the WW1 of our generation that led to nearly all of the problems we have today - from the rise of the radical right to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

The financial crisis theory of everything

Last month there was a fascinating poll from More in Common asking people to pick the main reason Britain is “on the wrong track”.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Aug 9

New post just out:

"The Great VAT Panic"

The claims made by the right-wing press about VAT on private school fees were wildly wrong.

Why? What are the lessons about about (how not to) run a lobbying campaign? And what can government learn?

(£/free)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...

The Great VAT Panic

Or how not to run a campaign

open.substack.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jul 30

Me: let’s take the kids travelling, I want them to be citizens of the world

Also me: pack the good teabags, while there is breath in my body I will not entertain Lipton Yellow Label

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jun 13

Brand new research findings from my clever colleagues - and the best “Check out my paper it is V Good” thread you will read all year

Zbigniew Truchlewski @ztruchlewski.bsky.social · Jun 13

Congrats to @nenaoana.bsky.social, Marcello Natili and his moustache for new smarticle in @jeppjournal.bsky.social on public support for the EU during crises. A short 🧵:

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Understanding public support for EU polity building in hard times: the role of territorial, functional, and crisis politics

Between 2005 and 2025, repeated European crises spurred various forms of EU polity building in a process we call ‘binding’ (i.e., the development of capacity by the centre to provide public goods)....

www.tandfonline.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jun 13

This thread is a masterpiece - chapeau, Zbig 😂

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jun 6

One additional observation: a process this dysfunctional burns so much goodwill between HMT officials and their departmental oppos. Once the dust settles you spend the next year trying to rebuild relationships and then do it all again

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jun 6

Essential reading for Whitehall nerds. I worked on SR2004 and it was exactly this bonkers, and that's when there was lots of money in the system

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Jun 5

Had so many messages from people across Whitehall this week saying this spending review has been exactly as set out in this post...

Sam Freedman @samfr.bsky.social · Jun 1

New post just out:

"What spending reviews are like from the inside"

I explain how demented they are.

And why this is the hardest one there's been so far.

(£/free trial)

open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/w...

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Jun 2

📢 Coming this Wednesday - the next in this online series, with Quinn Slobodian. Really looking forward to this one - do sign up if you haven't already

Valentina Ausserladscheider @vapunkt.bsky.social · May 19

‼️Save the date: Wednesday 4th of June we'll have Quinn Slobodian talk about his work at our @psabcpe.bsky.social online seminar series - sign up and share widely‼️

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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · May 14

Starmer doesn't seem to realise that, if you consistently accept the way your opponents frame a question, you'll find it hard to reject the answers that they give.

If you keep telling voters that Farage is right in his analysis, it will be hard to persuade them that he's wrong in his prescriptions.

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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

Abby Innes @abbyinnes.bsky.social · May 14

🎯
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Keir Starmer is caught in yet another trap of his own making | Rafael Behr

The prime minister’s immigration approach follows a now-familiar pattern: letting fear of a difficult argument get in the way of policy that might work, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

www.theguardian.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · May 14

Wow. Every line of this

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Apr 22

If the renewable fuel of your politics is keeping people angry, your main goal is not to make things better; it's to win the blame game over why they are bad

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · Apr 21

As the stock market continues to tank because of Trump’s policies, he blames Fed Chair Powell today, calling him “a major loser.”

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Apr 2

This initial wrecking phase may dismantle federal agencies, but I suspect next phase replaces them with privately-owned firms delivering what used to be public functions (thinking here of Brett Christophers' chapter on contract rents in the UK). So macro impact may be reduced, but social impact...

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Apr 1

"The electorate needs to believe that Labour is governing in pursuit of a shared purpose, not simply governing because it won." Good stuff from @craigpberry.bsky.social

Craig Berry @craigpberry.bsky.social · Apr 1

Power without purpose?

My new essay, interrogating social-democratic ideology in order to explain the nature and fate of the Starmer government

craigberry.substack.com/p/power-with...

Power without purpose? Social democracy is not what you think it is

The Starmer government’s ideological constraints help to explain why it appears to be making so many unforced errors and callous decisions

craigberry.substack.com

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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Mar 31

The Constitution is clear that Donald Trump cannot run for a third term as president, Jonathan Chait writes. "But as Trump has repeatedly demonstrated, questions of the law and the Constitution ultimately reduce to power struggles."

Why Trump Says He’s ‘Not Joking’ About a Third Term

The prospect of smashing imagined limits on his power gives him an obvious thrill.

www.theatlantic.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Mar 19

Really thought-provoking, especially on whether Trump’s kick-over-the-sandcastles economic strategy is a paradigm shift or just a mess

Ezra Klein @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social · Mar 14

Today’s episode of The Ezra Klein Show.

The Financial Times columnist Gillian Tett on Trump's poisoning of the economy.
open.spotify.com/episode/1RPk...

youtu.be/3PXVrLH4zSU?...

Is Trump ‘Detoxing’ the Economy or Poisoning It? | The Ezra Klein Show

YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show

youtu.be

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Mar 18

Really excellent seminar series coming up - first session tomorrow!

Valentina Ausserladscheider @vapunkt.bsky.social · Mar 10

📢 Next week is our first seminar of the @psabcpe.bsky.social online series with fantastic @ankehassel.bsky.social talking about Growth Strategies And Welfare Reforms: How Nations Cope With Economic Transitions💡Please sign up 💻 & share widely ‼️

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Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw

Daniel Drezner @dandrezner.bsky.social · Mar 17

Drezner's World has never published anything not written by the hard-working staff. Until now. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/guest-post...

GUEST POST: We Are Professors at Columbia. Here is How We Would Respond.

Five Columbia University political scientists offer their unofficial response to the Trump administration's demands on their university.

danieldrezner.substack.com

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Kate Alexander-Shaw @katealexandershaw.bsky.social · Mar 17

Congrats to all three of you!