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Kate McNamara

@katemcnamara.bsky.social

5.9K followers 1.1K following 380 posts

Money, markets, politics & culture; industrial policy; EU stuff. Prof at Georgetown University. Writings @kathleenrmcnamara.wordpress.com

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Apr 1

I don't know about you, but I am getting impatient waiting for the capitalists to save us. What happened to the whole "state as the managing committee of the bourgeoisie" thing? A political economy 🧵 1/

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

Jonas Nahm @jonasnahm.com · 26d

1/ New report from @bentleyallan.bsky.social's Net Zero Policy Lab: As the US withdraws from green tech industries and pressures allies to follow suit, China is stepping in to power the developing world's energy transition. The scale is staggering.

www.netzeropolicylab.com/china-green-...

China Green Leap Outward — Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab

A new China Low Carbon Technology FDI Database

www.netzeropolicylab.com

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 19d

He couldn't save himself by firing professors. The cultural revolution marches on. You won't escape it by cowardice.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/u...

Texas A&M President to Step Down After Controversy Over ‘Gender Ideology’

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

Hakeem Jefferson @hakeemjefferson.bsky.social · 20d

Political science has obsessed over polarization while largely neglecting extremism, and with few exceptions has been inattentive to the roots of it all—power, structures, and identities. Too many elites are just as unprepared. Thus, their takes are empty, trite, and naive.

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 23d

NEW: 77% of Americans say the US political system needs major changes or complete reform.

Those who say the same about their country
Nigeria 91%
Brazil 87%
S Korea 86%
Greece 83%
Kenya 80%
France 74%
UK 58%
Germany 48%
Canada 47%
Sweden 29%
www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

A bar chart showing that People in many countries say their political system needs major changes or complete reform

Majorities in most of the 25 countries surveyed say their political system needs major changes or complete reform.

About eight-in-ten adults or more in Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Kenya, Nigeria, South Korea and the U.S. say their system needs this type of change. In contrast, around three-in-ten share this view in the Netherlands and Sweden.

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 23d

Of course you did! When asked about political scientist Kathleen McNamara’s work, ChatGPT lists 3 completely made up articles in my 5 most “highly cited articles & chapters.” I use this in teaching, to caution students on how dumb AI is. And agree that it should be a CPS policy of automatic reject.

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

Oh snap.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 26d

Q: My condolences on the loss of your friend Charlie Kirk. How are you holding up?

TRUMP: I think very good. And by the way, right there you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been trying to get for about 150 years.

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

And funny how I am still surprised after 30 years of this.

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

YAAASSS!

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

Publishing requires giving up (some) of those high hopes while keeping enough of your original glorious vision so you are (somewhat) satisfied when you hit submit. Paul Valéry said "I never finish a poem, I just abandon it." Or perhaps better to see we are sending it on its way, into the world? FIN/

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

There is that point in a project where you realize you HAVE to throw some things overboard to keep the rowboat afloat, otherwise the whole thing will sink. Make the choices and keeping rowing to move forward (the imagery I inevitably share with my PhD students struggling to finish). 3/

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

I feel like we should have some sort of Kübler-Ross staging to capture the way we begin a research & writing project with such high hopes and ambitions in our heads, and then get knocked down, only to find a way through (God willing) by the end. 2/

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · 25d

Submitted a paper this afternoon (hooray!) but oh the painful & inevitable stages involved in writing--from the euphoria (this will be the Best Paper Ever!) to the depths of despair (wow, this thing is terrible) to the resignation phase (well, I guess I'll just cut out that idea and move on). 1/

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

George Dubya @itisgeorge.bsky.social · Aug 27

Chicago and NYC building their arsenals in case Trump gets any ideas

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 27

Well then.

Karl Schamotta @karl-schamotta.bsky.social · Aug 26

Apropos of nothing, a reminder that German stock markets kept climbing in an almost uninterrupted fashion in the run-up to WW2. Investors are really, really bad at pricing serious institutional and political risks.

Reposted by Kate McNamara

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · Aug 26

Horse race coverage, but the horses are democracy and authoritarianism

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · Aug 26

They’re not making the slightest pretense of doing anything but weaponizing a federal agency against Trump’s enemies, and the New York Times’ response is “Well played, sire!”

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 26

Well, this piece really stirred the pot, but I find it is more right than wrong about how to teach in the age of AI. Oral exams, in-class active learning & lots of structured interactions with students as they develop their papers seems to help, but I have the luxury of only teaching seminars...

Opinion | Students Hate Them. Universities Need Them. The Only Real Solution to the A.I. Cheating Crisis.

www.nytimes.com

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 25

From Swampdoodle to NoMa. YIMBY success story: building blocks of new apartments in DC has helped keep housing prices from rising as in comparative cities. (But designing around the politics of NIMBYism there was easier than most places).
economist.com/united-state...

Welcome to the YIMBYest neighbourhood in America

Lessons for the country, from a few blocks north of the Capitol

economist.com

Reposted by Kate McNamara

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · Aug 24

Just got round to watching Mario Draghi's speech in Rimini in the original Italian. It is easily the most important speech on Europe so far this year and I hope someone (@grandcontinent.bsky.social?‬) publishes it in English and other EU languages soon.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMME...

Mario Draghi’s Full Speech: Europe’s Harsh Reality — Powerless on the Global Stage! -ITALIAN-

YouTube video by EU Debates | eudebates.tv

www.youtube.com

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Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

Bubala, papi, habibi…

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

I only read it for the first time last year, and could not believe she wrote it as a law student. Incredible.

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

Iron Cage?

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

But, Lina Khan's writing this essay as a Yale law student, wow. www.yalelawjournal.org/pdf/e.710.Kh...

www.yalelawjournal.org

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

There is this too, though: Akerlof's Market for Lemons paper (and many other seminal works) were rejected multiple times. Another favorite: Princeton Econ denied tenure to Mancur Olsen, deeming The Logic of Collective Action not enough to be above the bar. pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/...

pubs.aeaweb.org

Kate McNamara @katemcnamara.bsky.social · Aug 14

Um... what? Believe me, the much bigger problem I have experienced driving in DC for 22 years is the inability of my fellow Washingtonians to understand how a 4-way stop sign works. Plus 'Dave Thomas' Circle--oh, and Chevy Chase Circle. Wear your damn seatbelt, snowflake. #DCStatehood

Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · Aug 14

A sitting Republican senator says he is so scared driving in DC that he doesn't wear a seatbelt out of fear he might get carjacked and won't be able to escape www.mediaite.com/media/tv/rep...

Republican Senator Says He Doesn’t Wear Seatbelt in D.C. Because He Fears Being Carjacked: ‘I Don’t Buckle Up’

Sen. Markwayne Mullin said he does not wear a seatbelt while driving in Washington, D.C., lest doing so prevent him from acting quickly in case he's carjacked.

www.mediaite.com

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Reposted by Kate McNamara

Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · Aug 12

Grossly irresponsible of the Times to have this ludicrous credulous spin as the top story the morning after a president who rules by fiat proclaims a totally specious emergency to militarize the capital - an editorial insult to our intelligence and our democracy.

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