School of Social and Political Science

Dr David Yarrow

Lecturer in Political Economy

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david.yarrow@ed.ac.uk
B0.8
16-19, George Square
Edinburgh
UK

Research interests

Data & Digital Finance and economic sociology International Political Economy Research Group Work & Economy

International Political Economy; Comparative Political Economy; Constructivism; Politics of Economic Ideas; Macroeconomic Models; Macroeconomic Forecasting; Political Economy of Digital Capitalism; 

Theoretically, my research draws on constructivist approaches to international and comparative political economy. My work focuses on the politics of economic ideas, seeking to understand post-crisis patterns of ideational continuity and change in global economic governance, and to explain how macroeconomic ideas and expert practices delineate the policy space available to governments in navigating the varied crises facing advanced capitalist democracies. Empirically, this research has emphasised the importance of understanding the ideas and methodologies that underpin macroeconomic modelling practices, including inflation and growth forecasting, and how these shape financial market behaviour and thus political outcomes. Increasingly, my work looks to analyse the rise of the digital economy, big tech and artificial intelligence, mapping how established traditions of economic thought (with distinctive intellectual histories and normative underpinnings) inform contested diagnoses of the economic implications of digital technologies and thus frame emergent policy responses across the ideological spectrum. 

My research has been published in leading journals including Review of International Political Economy, New Political Economy, Economy and Society, and the British Journal of Politics and International Relations. 

Research Groups

International Political Economy

Centre for Science, Knowledge and Policy (SKAPE)

Social Studies of Finance

Critical Data Studies

If you are interested in being supervised by David Yarrow, please see the links below (open in new windows) for more information:

Background

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Political Economy and Programme Director of the MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in the School of Social and Political Science. I currently convene the International Political Economy research group. Prior to my current role I was a post-doctoral Research Fellow in SPS, having completed ESRC-funded doctoral research at the University of Warwick in 2018.

Qualifications

  • PhD, Politics and International Relations (Warwick)
  • MSc, International Relations (Bristol)
  • BA, History (Bristol)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Social Science Research (ESRC)

Teaching (2025-26)

The Political Economy of Digital Capitalism (PLIT10183) - Course Convenor

International Political Economy (UG) (PLIT08020) - Lecturer

International Political Economy (PG) (PGSP11171) - Lecturer

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Yarrow, D. (2025) 'Rethinking the Ideational Shaping of Structural Power: The Case of Trussonomics', Review of International Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2025.2476739

Yarrow, D. and Kranke, M. (2024) 'Constructing National Policy Space: Forecasting, Macroeconomic ‘Gaps’ and Technocratic Governance', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 26(3), 668–693. https://doi.org/10.1177/13691481231191914.

Yarrow, D. and Holmes, C. (2023) 'Global Environmental Accounting and the Remaking of the Economy-Environment Boundary', Economy and Society, 52(3), 449-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2023.2237350.

Yarrow, D. (2022) 'Valuing Knowledge: The Political Economy of Human Capital Accounting', Review of International Political Economy, 29(1), 227-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2020.1796751.

Niker, F. and Yarrow, D. (2021) 'Regulating the Public Sphere in a Post-Truth World', The Political Quarterly, 92 (4), 594-597. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.13030.

Yarrow, D. (2021) 'Normative Reasoning in the New Public Sphere', The Political Quarterly, 92 (4), 621-628. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12999.

Yarrow, D. and Kranke, M. (2019) 'The Global Governance of Systemic Risk: How Measurement Practices Tame Macroprudential Politics', New Political Economy, 24 (6), 816-832. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2018.1545754.

Yarrow, D. (2017) 'Progressive Responses to Populism: A Polanyian Critique of Liberal Discourse', Political Quarterly, 88 (4), 570-578. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923X.12370.

Book Chapters

Yarrow, D. (2025) 'Green Markets', in Wissenburg, M. and Machin, A. (eds.), Handbook of Environmental Political Theory in the Anthropocene. Edward Elgar.

Yarrow, D. (2021) 'Intergenerational Justice, Neoliberal Welfare and COVID-19' in F. Niker and A. Bhattacharya (Eds.), The Political Philosophy of the Pandemic. Bloomsbury.

Holmes, C. and Yarrow, D. (2019) 'Economic Ideas', in G. Dale, C. Holmes and M. Markantonatou (Eds.), Karl Polanyi's Economic and Political Thought: A Critical Guide, London: Agenda, 7-26.

PhD Thesis

Yarrow, D. (2019) 'Accounting Against the Economy: Beyond GDP and the Limits of the Market Mentality', PhD Thesis: University of Warwick.

Works within

My office hours for 2025/6 are Tuesdays, 9.30 - 12.00 during the teaching semester. Please use the link below if you wish to book an appointment: Book time with David Yarrow: Office Hours 

NOTE: I will be in my office (B08, 19 George Square) during this time if you wish to meet in person - please still book a meeting slot using the link above as this avoids double booking with other students.