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David Runciman

David Runciman’s new book is Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond.

From the London Review dated 1 April 2004

The Precautionary Principle

“’This is not a time to err on the side of caution,’ Blair said, ‘not a time to weigh the risks to an infinite balance; not a time for the cynicism of the worldly wise who favour playing it long.’ And yet he also argues exactly the opposite – that what matters is taking precautions against future disaster, seeing the big picture, weighing the overall balance of risks. In the very next paragraph, he remarks: ‘It is monstrously premature to think that the threat has passed. The risk remains in the balance here and abroad.’ This, then, is not a time to err on the side of caution and not a time to err on the side of incaution. Such an argument can be used to justify anything.” [ read more . . . ]

Selected bibliography

  • Political Hypocrisy: The Mask of Power from Hobbes to Orwell and Beyond (2008)  Buy this book
  • The Politics of Good Intentions: History, Fear and Hypocrisy in the New World Order (2006)
  • Pluralism and the Personality of the State (1997)

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In the LRB archive

The Cattle-Prod Election · 5 June 2008

This Way to the Ruin · 7 February 2008

subscriber-only content Brown and Friends · 3 January 2008

subscriber-only content In a Faraway Pond · 29 November 2007

subscriber-only content Diary: Dylan on the radio · 19 July 2007

Liars, Hypocrites and Crybabies · 2 November 2006

subscriber-only content Juiced · 3 August 2006

  • Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

He shoots! He scores! · 5 January 2006

  • Mourinho: Anatomy of a Winner by Patrick Barclay

Cricket’s Superpowers · 22 September 2005

Tax Breaks for Rich Murderers · 2 June 2005

  • Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth by Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro  Buy this book

subscriber-only content Institutional Hypocrisy · 21 April 2005

  • Restoring Responsibility: Ethics in Government, Business and Healthcare by Dennis Thompson  Buy this book
  • NHS plc: The Privatisation of Our Healthcare by Allyson Pollock  Buy this book
  • Brown’s Britain by Robert Peston  Buy this book

subscriber-only content Neo-Blairism · 21 October 2004

subscriber-only content How many jellybeans? · 5 August 2004

  • Profiles, Probabilities and Stereotypes by Frederick Schauer
  • The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few by James Surowiecki

subscriber-only content Betting big, winning small · 20 May 2004

The Precautionary Principle · 1 April 2004

Oh, the curse! · 19 February 2004

  • Triumph and Tragedy in Mudville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball by Stephen Jay Gould
  • Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

subscriber-only content Shockingly Worldly · 23 October 2003

  • Emmanuel Sieyès: Political Writings edited by Michael Sonenscher

subscriber-only content Politicians in a Fix · 10 July 2003

subscriber-only content The Politics of Good Intentions · 8 May 2003

A Bear Armed with a Gun · 3 April 2003

  • Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order by Robert Kagan

The Garden, the Park and the Meadow · 6 June 2002

  • The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace and the Course of History by Philip Bobbitt
  • Reordering the World: The Long-Term Implications of 11 September edited by Mark Leonard

11 September · 4 October 2001

Invented Communities · 19 July 2001

  • Democracy in Europe by Larry Siedentop  Buy this book
  • The Postnational Constellation: Political Essays by Jürgen Habermas, translated by Max Pensky

Not currently in the LRB archive

 not available in archive Creative Accounting · 4 June 1998

  • Artist Unknown: An Alternative History of the Arts Council by Richard Witts
  • In Praise of Commercial Culture by Tyler Cowen

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