Kate Alexander-Shaw
@katealexandershaw.bsky.social
Political economist at LSE European Institute. Reports and Surveys co-editor at Political Quarterly. Into narrative, economic ideas and the comparative politics of crisis. Views all mine
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
This is exactly what the recent Trump-BBC 'scandal' was designed to achieve. The BBC is now self-censoring criticisms of Trump in the name of "impartiality"
Just...
utterly grim.
utterly grim.
The emails have Summers reporting to Epstein about his attempts to date a Harvard economics student & to hit on her during a seminar she was giving.
November 19, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Just...
utterly grim.
utterly grim.
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
The catastrophic illegal waste dumping in Oxfordshire (see next post) is a direct result of the deregulation-by-stealth I wrote about in 2021, when my dead goldfish became a registered waste disposer. I warned it would let the mafia in. And here we are.🧵
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Britain through the looking glass: my dead goldfish is now a registered waste disposer | George Monbiot
Algernon Goldfish is long gone, but I was able to sign him up. No wonder so many crooks are illegally dumping and ruining our environment, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:11 AM
The catastrophic illegal waste dumping in Oxfordshire (see next post) is a direct result of the deregulation-by-stealth I wrote about in 2021, when my dead goldfish became a registered waste disposer. I warned it would let the mafia in. And here we are.🧵
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Astonishing piece by the brilliant @alisonkilling.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Astonishing piece by the brilliant @alisonkilling.bsky.social
I REALLY need to finish my paper on how we can understand "fiscal headroom" as a politically constructed space bounded by an invisible electric fence
I guess I must have imagined a decade of austerity premised on the claim that the bond markets leave us no alternative.
October 31, 2025 at 10:13 AM
I REALLY need to finish my paper on how we can understand "fiscal headroom" as a politically constructed space bounded by an invisible electric fence
Exciting to see this in print - the first article of our special issue on EU crisis politics and polity formation, by Hanspeter Kriesi in @jeppjournal.bsky.social. Lots more to follow...
🍵 Keep calm and avoid polity politicisation
🤝 Hanspeter Kriesi examines policy politicisation during COVID-19 and finds that, despite tensions, de-escalation and polity-maintenance mechanisms prevented a spillover into polity politicisation 👇
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
🤝 Hanspeter Kriesi examines policy politicisation during COVID-19 and finds that, despite tensions, de-escalation and polity-maintenance mechanisms prevented a spillover into polity politicisation 👇
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The dynamics of EU policymaking in the COVID-19 crisis
In the compound EU polity, the escalation potential of policy politicisation into polity politicisation is high. However, this very challenge induces key actors to focus their attention on the de-e...
www.tandfonline.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Exciting to see this in print - the first article of our special issue on EU crisis politics and polity formation, by Hanspeter Kriesi in @jeppjournal.bsky.social. Lots more to follow...
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
If you care about geopolitics, decarbonization, and why Europe seems lost, you can do a lot worse than subscribing to this blog. It's brilliant: substack.com/inbox/post/1...
The Smelter and the Sovereign
The critical minerals story is another way in which Europe’s green transition is a loser in the geoeconomic turn
substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
If you care about geopolitics, decarbonization, and why Europe seems lost, you can do a lot worse than subscribing to this blog. It's brilliant: substack.com/inbox/post/1...
New tariffs for Venezuela in 3...2...1...
Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
Last year, Nash Colundalur interviewed Machado, who is in exile, for Prospect: “Is there a risk that I could be put in prison? Yes, certainly.”
Last year, Nash Colundalur interviewed Machado, who is in exile, for Prospect: “Is there a risk that I could be put in prison? Yes, certainly.”
Venezuela’s opposition leader: ‘The main challenge is to stay alive’
From hiding, María Corina Machado still believes the fight for Venezuelan democracy and freedom is making progress
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
October 10, 2025 at 10:19 AM
New tariffs for Venezuela in 3...2...1...
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
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.
October 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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.
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/...
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
September 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
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/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
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
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.
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
September 16, 2025 at 8:10 AM
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
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"
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
August 28, 2025 at 10:49 AM
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"
I’m reminded of Andrew Marr’s observation that when a headline contains a question, the answer is nearly always ‘no’
Can AIs suffer? Big tech and users grapple with one of most unsettling questions of our times
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
August 26, 2025 at 11:52 AM
I’m reminded of Andrew Marr’s observation that when a headline contains a question, the answer is nearly always ‘no’
The political economy of the 2020s can all be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis - discuss
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"
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
August 26, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The political economy of the 2020s can all be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis - discuss
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
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"
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
August 9, 2025 at 8:02 AM
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"
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...
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
Also me: pack the good teabags, while there is breath in my body I will not entertain Lipton Yellow Label
July 30, 2025 at 11:59 AM
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
Also me: pack the good teabags, while there is breath in my body I will not entertain Lipton Yellow Label
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
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....
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
June 13, 2025 at 7:58 PM
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
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
Had so many messages from people across Whitehall this week saying this spending review has been exactly as set out in this post...
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...
"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...
June 6, 2025 at 8:47 AM
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
📢 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
‼️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‼️
June 2, 2025 at 8:38 AM
📢 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
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
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.
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.
May 14, 2025 at 10:50 AM
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.
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.
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
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
As the stock market continues to tank because of Trump’s policies, he blames Fed Chair Powell today, calling him “a major loser.”
April 22, 2025 at 12:55 PM
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
"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
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...
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
April 1, 2025 at 10:07 AM
"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
Reposted by Kate Alexander-Shaw
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
March 31, 2025 at 4:42 PM
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."
Really thought-provoking, especially on whether Trump’s kick-over-the-sandcastles economic strategy is a paradigm shift or just a mess
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?...
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
March 19, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Really thought-provoking, especially on whether Trump’s kick-over-the-sandcastles economic strategy is a paradigm shift or just a mess