One of the more depressing paragraphs in a throughly depressing read. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b...

Fantastic use of AI. Untangling the ideas of Donald Trump’s Fed nominee economist.com/finance-and-...

My unpopular opinion: releasing the emails & messages surrounding Mandelson’s appointment is entirely reasonable. Releasing every communication between Mandelson and any ministers or Spads over the course of his ambassadorship is disproportionate, unnecessary and sets a really bad precedent.

BRB, just googling “what happens if you get rid of your lightning rod and there is more lightning?”

My gut feeling is that Trump’s ability to browbeat US media - which looked strong 12 months ago - has faded sharply. Because booking Green Day for the Super Bowl isn’t the action of an entirely cowed media complex.

Boring opinion: if people know the name of the Downing Street Chief of Staff, the CoS is not doing a good job.

Getting very nervous about this Nepal performance.

Wow

Love cricket pre-match analysis. Something relaxing about watching an in-depth discussion of moisture levels in the ground.

T20 World Cup in this time zone is an absolute joy. Great to get up on a Sunday, make a coffee and stick New Zealand/Afghanistan on.

Checked the India-USA score. Put the cricket back on. Family groaned.

A good example of how strangely unpolitical this government is at times. The Economist is fretting that trade union laws have been tilted (sharply!) back towards strengthening unions. But is the government making an argument around this to progressive voters? No. economist.com/britain/2026...

It’s not working. But I think Scotland are right to just try and slog some boundaries here.

800 words on newspaper economics in a era where no one will pulp a magazine

Don’t understand reviewing a decision and then basically walking off before the review is in.

Hhhmmm. Can’t see any of the likely successors making *major* changes to borrowing. You might get more taxes & more spending. And don’t rule out a more pro-growth attitude to immigration. www.ft.com/content/c855... Starmer camp warns leadership challenge risks economic chaos

Delighted to have a Blood and Treasure extract in Foreign Policy today. foreignpolicy.com/2026/02/06/b...

Not sure how big the UK TV audience for Netherlands-Pakistan is. But I’m adding to it.

The value bet here is Ed Miliband. A competent minister, has an agenda, possesses politics. Who might succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Britain’s prime minister? economist.com/britain/2026... from The Economist

I have somehow made yahoo the default search engine in chrome? This is like living in 2004.

The argument for Kindle/other e-readers in one picture.

I’d be more concerned by this plan if it wasn’t coupled with putting tariffs on Europe and occasionally threatening Greenland.

T20 World Cup starts tomorrow. 6 games this weekend. I reckon West Indies/Scotland might be fun tomorrow and New Zealand/Afghanistan on Sunday should be a decent match.

We consider politeness a form of hypocrisy.

Very much enjoying how much more direct the players in Irish Traitors are. I’d love to see the Dutch version. I’ve worked with Dutch people. They are, in my experience, quite direct.

credit rating agencies, you're up before the Anthropic business judge:

Curious about the impact of a crypto crash on (1) Dubai in general and (2) oddly enough, the dynamics of the British BTL market.

Think you can take central-bank transparency too far, and reading nine different accounts of what is happening in the UK economy does it for me.. instantly headache-inducing

Mad chart from NYT which might be of interest to folks comparing marginal tax rates across countries (yes, I know it's not a tax) www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

What’s the opposite of being “data dependent”?

I’m not interested in the soap opera aspect of politics I say. As I read a fourth insider-y bit of reporting of the day.

The only way Labour can win the next election is by governing well. That might not be enough, but it’s the bare minimum. The questions to be asking about any potential new PM are “what is their agenda and can they achieve it?” Not “do they currently poll well?” Or “can they handle a media round?”

The latest S&P Global UK Construction PMI was 46.4 in January 2026, vs 40.1 in December. 50=no monthly change, so construction activity fell again in January, a 13th consecutive decline, but it was a slower decline than December's 5.5-year low. (1/n) #ukhousing #ukconstruction

Hearing it might be Ben Swain.

uh, what?! *ALPHABET 4Q CAPEX $91.45B, EST. $28.17B *ALPHABET 4Q REV. EX-TAC $97.23B, EST. $95.17B *ALPHABET 4Q OPER INCOME $35.93B, EST. $36.95B

Have no idea how curling works. But I appear to watching Team GB vs Norway.

Reminded of the reason why all UK spread betting adverts have a disclaimer noting most clients lose money.

obviously read MW on this www.ft.com/content/93b4...

Classic. Email from a reading club, saying they were reading Blood & Treasure. Would I like to join a session? Wondered if it was a scam. Couldn’t see how. Replied saying I’d be happy to join a zoom. Spoiler: the follow-up arrived. A scam.

I’m not sure ‘our national security developed vetting technique can be beaten if a candidate is prepared to lie’ is an especially helpful line to push.

I wasn’t a huge user of the Google Books search function. But it was occasionally very useful. It being suddenly turned off with no explanation is quite a useful reminder about trying to avoid being dependent on the whims of one firm and its management.

This is preying on my mind a bit. Jeffrey Epstein was not primarily a British scandal! So far we've removed a Prince from the Royal family, fired our US ambassador who was one of the most important political figures of the last few decades and banned the CEO of Barclays from the financial industry..

There’s a Schumpeter quote that’s something like “the achievement of capitalism is not the manufacture of silk stockings; queen Elizabeth had silk stockings. The achievement of capitalism is to put them in reach of factory girls.”

V interesting. And well done Anthropic for being upfront on the trade-offs here. www.anthropic.com/research/AI-...

Today’s boringly conventional opinion for a man of my age: the Manic’s Holy Bible is an excellent album.

For every additional £100 a Plan 2 graduate earns they repay an extra £9 - but their debt also accrues an additional £7.20 in interest, due to the rising interest rate. www.edrith.co.uk/p/rage-rage-...

I’d really like to know the average entry price of BTC holders.

Less convinced about the virtue of work - as a good in and of itself - than @stephenkb.bsky.social but an interesting read. 1/2 www.ft.com/content/18ee... UBI fans must remember a job is about more than the money

The eldest just did a careers quiz. She is less amused than me by the results.