It's somewhat hard to believe but this blog turns three today. At the start, I was just a PhD student at the University of Birmingham who sought to add course materials online for my students. Despite some lulls, I've pretty much stuck with the programme. For something with such modest beginnings, I was rather astounded that this blog has managed to do well for itself in a world crowded with economics and political science sites. But, don't take my word for it. Perhaps because it is my third year of blogging here, my love/hate relationship with the blog directory Technorati is temporarily on the upswing: it currently ranks me #3,902 out of 1,181,017 blogs. As I am sure this won't last given the funky and undisclosed way Technorati determines these authority figures (and thus reverts to being Techno-ratty to yours truly), I figured I'd PrtSc the moment for posterity. I'll be able to tell my grandchildren, "Y'now, kids, grandpa was a pretty dab hand at blogging back in the day..."[I can hear it now: "grandpa, what is 'blaggin'?"]
It's also fairly surprising to me that I've managed to become the second-highest ranking Google search result after the Wikipedia entry for "international political economy" while still a PhD student. Even now, this holds. It's due either to (1) some people actually liking my stuff; (2) IPE being so little known that a minnow like yours truly can make it; or (3) bigger names not bothering to blog. While I like to think that the first factor is at play here, I highly suspect it's the second and third that deserve mention. I recently commiserated with our friends at IPE@UNC over the sad state of IPE awareness in the blogosphere, and I am not one to disagree that the public's knowledge of IPE is minimal to negligible. Such, of course, is a shame since IPE possesses far more analytical tools to understand today's global governance problems than economics--political economy's sterilized offspring. Revisit my first two posts [1, 2] on this point that are as valid--if not more valid--today than they were in those pre-global financial crisis times.At any rate, I enjoin all comers to blog about IPE so together we can raise public awareness of the discipline in the blogosphere and beyond. And, of course, it's good if others can keep me on my toes--like I do to others who aren't quick enough on theirs. Make no mistake: blogging is an ephemeral medium and I don't want to be caught sleeping on the blog. I firmly believe that competition improves the breed.
Finally, I wish to thank all my visitors, RSS feed readers, fellow bloggers, and other supporters in the wider digital realm. It's a cliche but I wouldn't have gotten here without your continued support over the years. Don't worry; there's always more in store as I can only post so much that comes to mind on a daily basis.
