Biography
Mark Blyth is a political economist whose research focuses upon how uncertainty and randomness impact complex systems, particularly economic systems, and why people continue to believe stupid economic ideas despite buckets of evidence to the contrary. He is the author of several books, including Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Institutional Change in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2002, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (Oxford University Press 2013, and The Future of the Euro (with Matthias Matthijs) (Oxford University Press 2015)
Research
Currently trying to stop talking about the macroeconomics of austerity but bad ideas never seem to go out of fashion so it's hard to stop. New projects on economic knowledge as a macro-structural property rather than as an individual property; why the Baby-Boomers constitute a threat to future prosperity and political stability; and why long and low inflation rates and interest rates are here to stay for much longer than we think.
Publications
"The Global Economics of European Populism: Growth Regimes and Party System Change in Europe (The Government and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture 2017)," Government and Opposition. 54 (2) (2019) pp. 193-225, with Jonathan Hopkin.
"From Big Bang to Big Crash: The Early Origins of the UK's Finance-led Growth Model and the Persistence of Bad Policy Ideas," New Political Economy. 24 (5) (2018) pp. 605-622, with Tami Oren.
“When is it Rational to Learn the Wrong Lessons? Technocratic Authority, Social Learning, and Euro Fragility,” Perspectives on Politics. Volume 16 (1) March 2018, pp. 110-126. doi:10.1017/S1537592717002171
“Black Swans, Lame Ducks, and the Mystery of IPE’s Missing Macro-Economy,” The Review of International Political Economy, 24 (2) (2017) pp. 203-231, with Matthias Matthijs.
“After the Brits Have Gone: How to Turn a Drama into a Crisis that Will Not go to Waste.” The Review of European Economic Policy, 50th Anniversary Issue, Winter 2016.
“Policies to Overcome Stagnation: The Crisis, and the Possible Futures, of All Things Euro.” European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies, Vol. 13 No. 2, 2016, pp. 215–228.
“Capitalism in Crisis: What Went Wrong and What Comes Next” Foreign Affairs, July/August 2016.
Teaching
POLS 2175 – Ideas, Institutions and Politics.
POLS 2050 and 2051 – Preparing the Prospectus
POLS 1420 – Money and Power in the International Political Economy
PLCY 2730 – The Political Economy of Hard Policy Problems
POLS 2160 – International Political Economy
News|Recent News
July 16, 2019
Deutsche Welle
Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the allegations that Nigel Farage may have influenced markets to help hedge funds on Brexit referendum night in 2016, and if it could happen again on October 31. "If you have a leading politician pushing in that direction, this gives the hedge funds a one-way bet, with insurance against failure. And that's the type of 'option' hedgies love the most."
more
March 15, 2019
Supply Chain Drive
Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the British Parliament's votes toward Brexit, saying "It’s an example of what happens when democracies delegate responsibility for making serious decisions to the public and then they have to live with the consequences without ever thinking through what they’re doing."
more
March 7, 2019
RTE
Political economist Mark Blyth joined RTE to discuss Brexit and British Prime Minister Theresa May.
more
February 22, 2019
The New York Times
Political economist Mark Blyth comments on the US dollar, saying "There is no alternative to the dollar...We’re stuck with the dollar, which gives the United States astonishing structural power."
more
February 6, 2019
CNBC
Political economist Mark Blyth joined CNBC to discuss President Trump's State of the Union address.
more
January 29, 2019
PRI
Political economist Mark Blyth discusses the creation of the European Union and the Brexit referendum. "An interesting aspect of the story is how the United States itself was not just present at the beginning, [but] was actually quite generative of the project."
more
January 11, 2019
Cambridge University Press
Professors Peter Andreas and Mark Blyth are mentioned in an article published by the Cambridge University Press that "identifies the 100 currently most-cited scholars, the 25 most-cited in each PhD cohort and subfield, the 40 most cited-women scholars, and the 25 most-cited emeriti."
more
All News
Events
Apr 15, 2019
Mar 18, 2019
Feb 25, 2019
Feb 6, 2019
Feb 1, 2019
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. The Agora, 1st Floor, Stephen Robert '62 Hall, 280 Brook Street
Politics in Action, Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance
More
Feb 12, 2018
All Events
