New column for The Guardian, on the “animal spirits” that drove up Johnson’s value, and could quickly abandon him.
‘If Boris Johnson were a stock, canny investors would be looking to unload’
Review of The Assault on Truth
I reviewed Peter Oborne’s new book, The Assault on Truth: Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and the Emergence of a New Moral Barbarism, for The Guardian.
Review of Brexitland
I reviewed Maria Sobolewska and Robert Ford’s Brexitland, on the rise of Remain/Leave identities, for the London Review of Books.
The decline of the ‘state effect’
Comment piece on the crisis of trust in British government, originally drafted in October, now shared on the PERC blog.
What was Corbynism?
Blogpost at PERC, seeking to relocate Corbynism in the political and economic context that gave rise to it: Osbornite austerity.
‘Woke conspiracies’
Piece for the London Review of Books on the forces mobilising against the BBC and what they actually want.
Discussing behaviourism, economic policy and the pandemic
This event was hosted by the Politics of Economics project of the Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.
The politics of like and dislike
Essay in the London Review of Books, on how media and new technologies are harnessed to trigger ‘culture wars’.
The case for more progressive taxes
Piece written for Discover Society, on why the current mood of solidarity and empathy for the vulnerable should be converted into a new era of progressive fiscal policy.
‘A startlingly radical manifesto’
I was asked to review the Labour manifesto for The Guardian Review, alongside other writers on the other manifestos.
Review of Douglas Murray’s book
I reviewed The Madness of Crowds by Douglas Murray for The Guardian Review.
‘How to be Prime Minister’
Article published in The London Review of Books, on Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Dominic Cummings.
‘Reasons to be cheerful’
My piece in London Review of Books, on the Tory leadership contest and the lies that it generates.
William Davies 