{{Short description|Scottish-American political scientist (born 1967)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2026}}
{{use British English|date=July 2026}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = Mark Blyth
| image             = The Crash 2008 Ten Years On--part 1 of 4 9.30.jpg
| caption           = Blyth in 2018
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|9|29}}
| birth_place       = [[Dundee]], Scotland
| death_date        = 
| death_place       = 
| citizenship       = United Kingdom, United States
| fields            = [[Political economy]]
| workplaces        = [[Watson School of International and Public Affairs]] and the Department of Political Science, Brown University
| alma_mater        = 
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/304500648
| education         = [[University of Strathclyde|Strathclyde University]]<small> ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])</small><br>[[Columbia University]]<small> ([[Master of Arts|MA]], [[Master of Philosophy|MPhil]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])</small>
| thesis_title      = ''Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Political Change in the Twentieth Century''
| thesis_year       = 1999
| doctoral_advisor  = Mark Kesselman,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/mark-j-kesselman|title=Mark J. Kesselman, Political Science, Columbia University|website=polisci.columbia.edu|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref> Hendrick Spruyt<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/hendrik-spruyt.html|title=Hendrik Spruyt, Department of Political Science, Northwestern University|website=www.polisci.northwestern.edu|language=en|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref><ref>''Great Transformations'', Acknowledgments, ''"Special thanks must go to the principal members of my dissertation committee at Columbia University, Mark Kesselman and Henrick Spruyt."''</ref>
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = Global [[Trumpism]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-11-15/global-trumpism|title=Global Trumpism|last=Blyth|first=Mark|date=15 November 2016|work=Foreign Affairs|access-date=17 February 2019|language=en-US|issn=0015-7120}}</ref>
| awards            = Financial Times' 'Books of the Year 2013' for ''[[Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea|Austerity]]''
| website           = {{URL|1=https://polisci.brown.edu/people/mark-blyth}}
| religion          = 
| signature         = 
| footnotes         = 
}}

'''Mark McGann Blyth''' (born 29 September 1967)<ref>{{cite web |title=Blyth, Mark, 1967- |url=https://lccn.loc.gov/n2002100994 |website=Library of Congress Authorities |accessdate=20 September 2018}}</ref> is a [[Scottish-American]] [[political economist]]. He is currently the William R. Rhodes Professor of [[International economics|International Economics]] and Professor of International and Public Affairs at [[Brown University]]. At Brown, Blyth additionally directs the William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance at the [[Watson School of International and Public Affairs]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Blyth, Mark|url=https://vivo.brown.edu/display/mblyth|access-date=17 December 2021|website=vivo.brown.edu|language=en}}</ref>

==Early life==
Blyth grew up in [[Dundee]], Scotland and was raised by his grandmother after his mother died shortly after childbirth.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mark Blyth - Understanding the rise of populist politics in the West|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dDBavztVI8|website=Mark Blyth - Understanding the rise of populist politics in the West.|accessdate=24 April 2017}}</ref> He had a lisp and a stammer as a kid: later played bass in rock bands and noted in an interview that "I was a musician from age 14 to 28. I've released five or six albums, but all with independent labels that never went anywhere. If they had, I wouldn't be here. I'd be lying on a beach with [[Heidi Klum]]."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Nevils |first1=Brooke |title=Things I've learned: Prof. Mark Blyth |url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2006/10/things-ive-learned-prof-mark-blyth-26651 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins News-Letter |date=12 October 2006}}</ref>

==Education and career==
Blyth received a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree in [[political science]] from the [[University of Strathclyde]] in 1990. In 1991, Blyth received a Walker Bequest award from the University of Strathclyde and a Scottish International Educational Trust Award for Study in the United States. He eventually became a US citizen.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schwartzapfel |first1=Beth |title=Capitalism With Airbags |url=https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2013-10-30/capitalism-with-airbags |website=Brown Alumni Magazine |accessdate=30 October 2013}}</ref> He went on to complete post-graduate studies in the field, being awarded an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in 1993, an [[Master of Philosophy|MPhil]] in 1995, and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in 1999 at [[Columbia University]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BLYTH Mark McGann |url=http://www.worldwhoswho.com/public/views/entry.html?id=sl2174460 |website=World Who's Who |accessdate=28 December 2018 |archive-date=28 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228130719/http://www.worldwhoswho.com/public/views/entry.html?id=sl2174460 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He later joined the Faculty of Political Science at [[Johns Hopkins University]] as Assistant Professor in 1997, then Associate Professor from 2005 to 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=Happy Hour with Mark Blyth |url=https://www.alumni.jhu.edu/event/markblyth |website=Johns Hopkins Office of Alumni Relations|accessdate=12 July 2017}}</ref>

In 2009, Blyth became a Professor of International Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at [[Brown University]]. In 2014, he was appointed as the Eastman Professor of Political Economy as part of a joint appointment between Brown's [[Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs|Watson Institute for International Studies]] and Department of Political Science. {{As of|2020}}, he served as both Director and [[William R. Rhodes]] '57 Professor at the Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance.<ref>{{cite web |title=Researchers@Brown |url=https://vivo.brown.edu/display/mblyth |website=Brown University |accessdate=8 September 2020}}</ref>

Blyth is known for his scholarship on economic ideas<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/5465 |title=Ideas and Politics in Social Science Research |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199736430.001.0001|isbn=978-0-19-973643-0 |editor-last1=Béland |editor-last2=Cox |editor-first1=Daniel |editor-first2=Robert Henry }}</ref> having contributed to an "ideational turn" in International Political Economy by offering sociologically informed approaches to markets and politics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McNamara |first=Kathleen R. |date=2009 |title=Of Intellectual Monocultures and the Study of IPE |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27756144 |journal=Review of International Political Economy |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=72–84 |doi=10.1080/09692290802524117 |jstor=27756144 |s2cid=145476039 |issn=0969-2290|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Blyth is a vociferous critic of [[austerity]], particularly in his 2013 book, ''[[Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea]]'' – described by ''[[Salon (website)|Salon's]]'' Elias Esquith as "necessary reading," a [[primer (textbook)|primer]] in economics, and polemical history of the austerity. Esquith praised Blyth's work for its "insight into austerity's lineage, its theories, its champions and its failures...[where Blyth] explains the damaging consequences of austerity in Europe and the U.S." In the book, Blyth criticises the argument advanced by austerity advocates as "a canard" and "complete horseshit".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Esquith |first1=Elias |title=Austerity Is 'Complete Horsesh*t': Ivy League Prof Dismantles the Conservative Lie |journal=Salon |date=11 February 2015 |url=https://www.alternet.org/2015/02/austerity-complete-horsesht-ivy-league-prof-dismantles-conservative-lie/ |accessdate=8 September 2020|via=AlterNet}}</ref> 

In 2016, Blyth compared "[[Trumpism]]" to similar anti-establishment movements across the developed world.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-11-15/global-trumpism|title=Global Trumpism|first=Mark|last=Blyth|date=15 November 2016|journal=Foreign Affairs|accessdate=8 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs|title=Mark Blyth ─ Global Trumpism|date=29 September 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkm2Vfj42FY|format=Video|access-date=17 February 2019}}</ref> In August 2020, he expressed support for [[Scottish independence]] from the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite web|title="Economist Mark Blyth: 'I'm now a convert to Scottish independence'" (Interview with Mark Blyth) {{!}} Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy|url=https://watson.brown.edu/taubman/news/2020/economist-mark-blyth-m-now-convert-scottish-independence-interview-mark-blyth|access-date=19 July 2021|website=watson.brown.edu}}</ref> and currently sits on the [[Scottish Government]]'s Advisory Council for the transformation of Scotland's economy, chaired by Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, [[Kate Forbes]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Delivering economic transformation - gov.scot|url=https://www.gov.scot/news/delivering-economic-transformation/|access-date=19 July 2021|website=www.gov.scot}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Blyth is married.<ref name="jhune">{{Cite news |title=Things I've learned: Prof. Mark Blyth |url=https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2006/10/things-ive-learned-prof-mark-blyth-26651 |access-date=15 May 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Works==
===Books===
* {{cite book |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |title=Great Transformations: Economic Ideas and Institutional Change in the Twentieth Century |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-81176-7 |edition=Hardcover |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sNXT0rpJuDkC |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Blyth |editor1-first=Mark |title=Routledge Handbook of International Political Economy (IPE): IPE as a Global Conversation |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135984007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=682TAgAAQBAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Abdelal |editor1-first=Rawi |editor2-last=Blyth |editor2-first=Mark |editor3-last=Parsons |editor3-first=Craig |title=Constructing the International Economy |date=2010 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801475887 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iW32cAAACAAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |title=[[Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea]] |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-982830-2 |edition=Hardcover}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Boyd |editor1-first=William Lowe |editor2-last=Kerchner |editor2-first=Charles T. |editor3-last=Blyth |editor3-first=Mark |title=The Transformation of Great American School Districts: How Big Cities are Reshaping Public Education |date=2008 |publisher=Harvard Education Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9781891792939 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-GLuAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
*{{cite book |editor1-last=Matthijs |editor1-first=Matthias |editor2-last=Blyth |editor2-first=Mark |title=The Future of the Euro |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780190233235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCDXoQEACAAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |author1=Abdelel, Rawi |author2=Blyth, Mark |editor1-last=Cooley |editor1-first=Alexander |editor2-last=Snyder |editor2-first=Jack |title=Ranking the World; Grading States as a Tool of Global Governance|date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-1-107-09813-8 |pages=39–59 |edition=Hardcover |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZA7UBwAAQBAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020 |chapter=Just who put you in charge? We did: CRAs and the politics of ratings}}
* {{cite book |last1=Lonergan |first1=Eric |last2=Blyth |first2=Mark |title=Angrynomics |date=2020 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9781788212786 |edition=Hardcover |url=https://cup.columbia.edu/book/angrynomics/9781788212793 |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |title=Diminishing Returns: The New Politics of Growth and Stagnation |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780197607855 |edition= |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/44862 |accessdate= |editor-first=Mark |editor-last=Blyth |editor-first2=Jonas |editor-last2=Pontusson |editor-first3=Lucio |editor-last3=Baccaro |year=2022 |language=En}}+
* {{Cite book |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |last2=Fraccaroli |first2=Nicolò |title=Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers |date=2025 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated |isbn=978-1-324-10614-2 |edition=1st |url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324106159 |access-date=16 October 2025}}


===Selected articles===
A more complete list can be found on Mark Blyth's [[curriculum vitae]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mark Blyth CV December 2018 |url=https://vivo.brown.edu/docs/m/mblyth_cv.pdf?dt=335110101 |publisher=Brown University |accessdate=8 September 2020}}</ref>

* {{cite journal |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |title='Austerity' as ideology: A reply to my critics |journal=Comparative European Politics |date=2 September 2013 |volume=11|issue=6|pages=737–751|doi=10.1057/cep.2013.25|s2cid=144461892 }} 
* {{cite journal |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |last2=Lonergan |first2=Eric |title=Print Less but Transfer More; Why Central Banks Should Give Money Directly to the People |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=2014 |volume=93 |issue=September/October 2014 |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2014-08-11/print-less-transfer-more |accessdate=9 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |last2=Helgadóttir |first2=Oddný |last3=Kring |first3=William |editor1-last=Fioretos|editor1-first=Orfeo|editor2-last=Falleti |editor2-first=Tulia G |editor3-last=Sheingate |editor3-first=Adam D |title=The Oxford Handbook of Historical Institutionalism |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-966281-4 |pages=142–162 |edition=1st |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KO3nCwAAQBAJ |accessdate=9 September 2020 |chapter=Ideas and Historical Institutionalism}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Blyth |first1=Mark |title=Policies to overcome stagnation: the crisis, and the possible futures, of all things euro |journal=European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention |date=1 September 2016 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=215–228|url=https://www.elgaronline.com/view/journals/ejeep/13-2/ejeep.2016.02.06.xml|doi=10.4337/ejeep.2016.02.06|doi-access=free|accessdate=8 September 2020|hdl=10419/277361 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/09692290.2017.1308417|title = Black Swans, Lame Ducks, and the mystery of IPE's missing macroeconomy|journal = Review of International Political Economy|volume = 24|issue = 2|pages = 203–231|date= 17 April 2017|last1 = Blyth|first1 = Mark|last2 = Matthijs|first2 = Matthias|s2cid = 157518024}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |last1=Matthews |first1=Dylan |title=To fix the economy, let's print money and mail it to everyone |url=https://www.vox.com/2014/9/9/6122517/helicopter-drop-money-print-fed-blyth-lonergan |website=Vox |accessdate=9 September 2020 |date=15 May 2015}}

==External links==
*[http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/chris_hedges_on_contact_the_cost_of_austerity_with_mark_blyth_20160912 Chris Hedges’ "On Contact: The Cost of Austerity", with economist Mark Blyth]. ''[[Truthdig]]''. 12 September 2016.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blyth, Mark}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni]]
[[Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty]]
[[Category:Brown University faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Dundee]]
[[Category:Scottish expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:Scottish economists]]
[[Category:Scottish political scientists]]
[[Category:American political scientists]]
[[Category:Political economists]]
[[Category:American economists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Strathclyde]]