LSE Comment

In this section you can read recent expert commentary from LSE academics on important issues around American Politics and Policy. This section also contains reviews of recent books by LSE academics and book reviews from LSE staff and alumni.

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    Break up big tech? Make it fairer? Sure, but let’s support our right to refuse what technology companies offer us

Break up big tech? Make it fairer? Sure, but let’s support our right to refuse what technology companies offer us

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With billions of people now members of social media networks such as Facebook and the all-pervasiveness of big tech throughout many aspects of our lives, conversations about digital citizenship have never been more important. Seeta Peña Gangadharan writes that despite efforts by the Obama administration in the late 2000s to improve digital citizenship, the US information economy has now […]

June 17th, 2019|Democracy and culture, Featured, LSE Comment, Seeta Peña Gangadharan|0 Comments|
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    Here are three strategies of deceptive communication to be on the lookout for as the 2020 presidential election rolls forward

Here are three strategies of deceptive communication to be on the lookout for as the 2020 presidential election rolls forward

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As we head into the 2020 presidential election, Gustav Meibauer and Jörg Meibauer reflect on how many candidates are often not always completely truthful or accurate in what they say to prospective voters. They give an overview of the different types of deceptive communication candidates may engage in in order to cultivate a favorable impression. From lying to bullshitting to […]

June 12th, 2019|Elections and party politics across the US, Gustav Meibauer, Jörg Meibauer, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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    New US airstrikes obscure a dramatic development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine 

New US airstrikes obscure a dramatic development in the Afghan drugs industry – the proliferation of low cost methamphetamine 

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Earlier this month US and Afghan forces bombed 68 drugs labs in South-western Afghanistan, claiming that they caused the Taliban losses of over $1 million per day. David Mansfield and Alexander Soderholm write that not only have the effects of these strikes been exaggerated, their promotion obscures a new reality on the ground: a dramatic growth in the methamphetamine […]

May 28th, 2019|Alexander Soderholm, David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
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    The US shows the unequal world we are heading for – and we don’t seem to care

The US shows the unequal world we are heading for – and we don’t seem to care

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Income inequality is on the rise, a fact which many academics and commentators suggest is an important part of the election of populist figures like Donald Trump. And yet, studies show that people are actually becoming less concerned about inequality as it increases. In new research, Jonathan Mijs describes how inequality has reshaped the social landscape and how, as […]

May 28th, 2019|Democracy and culture, Jonathan Mijs, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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    Will Dysfunctional Politics Finally End the American Century?

Will Dysfunctional Politics Finally End the American Century?

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The United States has dominated international politics since the end of the Second World War. And while it retains tremendous wealth and military strength, the domestic hyper-partisanship which has characterized the post-Cold War era is draining the country’s ‘usable power’ argue Peter Trubowitz and Peter Harris.

Can the United States continue to shape international politics as it has done for the […]

May 20th, 2019|LSE Comment, Peter Harris, Peter Trubowitz, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|0 Comments|
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    Despite claims to the contrary, US air raids against Afghanistan’s drugs labs have had little to no impact

Despite claims to the contrary, US air raids against Afghanistan’s drugs labs have had little to no impact

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In 2017 and 2018 US forces based in Afghanistan mounted air raids against drug processing facilities. While it was hoped that targeting these facilities would starve the Taliban of revenue – much as similar operations against Islamic State in Syria had done previously – new research from David Mansfield concludes that this has not been the case, despite their very high cost. Using a […]

April 25th, 2019|David Mansfield, LSE Comment, US foreign affairs and the North American neighbourhood|1 Comment|
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    Financial innovation in mortgage products spurred the rapid increase in credit and house price growth during the last housing boom

Financial innovation in mortgage products spurred the rapid increase in credit and house price growth during the last housing boom

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Ahead of the global financial crisis of 2007-08, house sales and prices boomed. In new research, Lindsay Relihan and coauthors examine whether this boom was the cause or result of the large increase in take-up of non-traditional mortgage products around the same time. Comparing house prices and the use of alternative mortgage products in housing markets across the US, […]

April 15th, 2019|LSE Comment, Urban, rural and regional policies|0 Comments|
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    Five minutes with Peter Trubowitz: “Mueller has left a big question mark hanging over the president’s head“

Five minutes with Peter Trubowitz: “Mueller has left a big question mark hanging over the president’s head“

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Last Friday, Special Counsel Robert Mueller delivered his final report to the US Attorney General, William Barr, who then sent a short summary of the report to Congress. LSE US Centre Director, Peter Trubowitz writes that while Trump has avoided the worst – charges of collusion between his 2016 election campaign and Russia were found to be without merit […]

March 25th, 2019|Elections and party politics across the US, LSE Comment, Peter Trubowitz|1 Comment|
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    Trump is learning the wrong lessons from Ronald Reagan – innovation policy is better than protectionism

Trump is learning the wrong lessons from Ronald Reagan – innovation policy is better than protectionism

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Donald Trump has cited the example of one of his US presidential predecessors, Ronald Reagan, in support of his protectionist policies. But as research by Ufuk Akcigit, Sina Ates and Giammario Impullitti shows, it was the Reagan administration’s innovation policy – not a retreat from globalisation – that promoted long-run growth in the US economy.

In March 2018, […]

March 19th, 2019|Economy, Giammario Impullitti, LSE CEP, LSE Comment, Sina Ates, Ufuk Akcigit|0 Comments|
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    Book Review: Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime by Jonathan Lusthaus

Book Review: Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime by Jonathan Lusthaus

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In Industry of Anonymity: Inside the Business of Cybercrime, Jonathan Lusthaus deftly unveils how the industrialisation of cybercrime has occurred despite some of the challenges of functioning behind a shield of anonymity for cybercriminals. This is an appealingly non-technical work that will inspire readers to rethink some of their assumptions about the operations of cybercriminals and will be of interest […]

March 3rd, 2019|Book Reviews, Democracy and culture, LSE Comment|0 Comments|
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