Six reasons why it’s easier to impose austerity
Following the launch of When The Party’s Over in London last week, I thought I would write this short note on Medium: Six Reasons Why It’s Easier To Impose Austerity. Comments welcomed.
Feb 10
Launch of book on politics of fiscal squeeze
I participated in a roundtable conversation this afternoon at the British Academy to launch When The Party’s Over: The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze edited by Christopher Hood, David Heald and Rozana Himaz. I have contributed a chapter on the politics of the US depression in the 1840s.
Bookforum mentions “Four Crises of Democracy”
Bookforum mentions my “Four Crises of Democracy” paper in a round-up of recent works on the state of democracy.
IMF blog reviews “Politics of Fiscal Squeeze”
An IMF blog features a review of “The Politics of Fiscal Squeeze,” an edited volume that includes my chapter on the United States’ financial difficulties in 1837-1848.
End of Protest now $1.99 on Amazon, intro on Medium
The introduction to The End of Protest can now be read on Medium. Cornell University Press has reduced the price on Amazon to $1.99.
New paper: why the nation-state is not dead yet
I’ve just posted a short paper on SSRN, “The Nation-State: Not Dead Yet.” It marks twenty years since the publication of several influential books (by Kenichi Ohmae, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, and Susan Strange) that predicted the end of the nation-state.
Charles Dickens and America’s First Great Depression
The Boston Globe discusses America’s First Great Depression as part of its story about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Open secrets and dirty hands
In light of the just-released report on CIA torture, this 2012 book chapter, “Open Secrets and Dirty Hands,” might be of interest. “Complaints about secretiveness were commonplace throughout the presidency of George W. Bush. Such complaints overestimated the capacity of a contemporary President to maintain secrecy. Moreover, they overlooked the reality that information about the worst abuses of the Bush administration was generally accessible to the public. We professed ignorance about governmental kidnapping, indefinite detention, and prisoner abuse, even though details about such practices were readily available.” Read on SSRN.
This chapter was published in The Secrets of Law (Stanford University Press, 2012). Kevin Wagner reviewed the book for Law and Politics Book Review in March 2014. “Alasdair Roberts’ ‘Open Secrets and Dirty Hands’ is an excellent look back at the secrecy conflict during the Bush Administration. He effectively presents the idea of a willing ignorance as a complicit element of perceived government secrecy.” Read the review.
Meeting of Administrative Conference of United States
I’ll be attending the plenary session of the Administrative Conference of the United States in Washington on December 4-5, as one of ACUS’ public members. Details about the 61st plenary session.
Lecture on “Large Forces” at George Mason University
I’ll be discussing my monograph, Large Forces: What’s Missing in Public Administration, at George Mason University’s School of Policy, Government and International Affairs on December 2. Details about the lecture here.
Alasdair S. Roberts 
