"procurement officials insisted on paper, rather than digital, documents. They routinely rejected drawings submitted in English." Mind-boggling tale of procurement insanity and, maybe, €2bn in sunk costs for the F126. Add to the long list of screw-ups that got von der Leyen 'promoted' to Brussels.

New report: The EU paid universities more than €100 million to build Europe’s border regime Universities provide research, analysis, data and technology for border and migration control - and lend an illusion of scientific legitimacy to ethically questionable policies. tni.org/borderlabs

A backsliding transition: towards renewables-with-coal.

Today we launch our new policy briefing - Popular Asset Commissions: Building a Green Democratic Haringey. Written with @kmilb.bsky.social & @kaiheron.bsky.social for @abundance-org.bsky.social, the briefing informs Haringey Green Party’s 2026 local election manifesto. 🔗 t.co/Amk6knck6u

Worst of times, best of times. Looming fertilizer shortages push the world into a new hunger crisis. But for the concentrated fertilizer market the war on Iran is an extraordinary profit opportunity. Stocks are shooting up.

(1/2) Peter Thiel, lecturing on the Antichrist, shares his pal Benjamin's troubles: "When I met Netanyahu early in 2024, about a year and a half ago, we talked about what he’s doing in Gaza, and the one-liner he had was:

I would say I’m fairly knowledgeable about the corruption, violence, coercive authority, and brutal imperial power that pervades extractive sectors and yet I am still in shock at this Trump admin move to secure Zambian minerals

(1/2) Peter Thiel, lecturing on the Antichrist, shares his pal Benjamin's troubles: "When I met Netanyahu early in 2024, about a year and a half ago, we talked about what he’s doing in Gaza, and the one-liner he had was:

"Overcapacity is also not automatically waste. In energy transition industries it functions as insurance.[...] The alternative system, tight capacity calibrated to current demand, would produce the exact opposite outcome: price spikes, project delays, and political backlash against the transition."

I'll be speaking at King's with @triofrancos.bsky.social and Adam Hanieh in a couple of weeks 23 March 2026 17:30 to 19:30 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/who-o...

Tackiing the polycrisis afresh with @abieler.bsky.social and Vincenzo Maccarrone in a new critical political economy book on the EU www.ppesydney.net/critical-pol... @yanisvaroufakis.bsky.social @adamtooze.bsky.social @alexcallinicos.bsky.social

There are journal issues...and then there are journal issues! The truly epic 25th Anniversary Special Issue of the GEP journal, titled "Continuity and Change in Global Environmental Politics," is now live and free to read for the next 90 days through @mitpress.bsky.social.

“Companies like BAE Systems ... rely on public money although they are privately owned, with institutional investors benefitting from surging government spending and direct subsidies for research and development.” Khem Rogaly in @irishexaminer.bsky.social 👇 🖋️ @colinivan.bsky.social

On-going global oil gluts (unless a US-Iran war) mean that even tax cuts cannot sustain profitability for US oil/gas companies as prices fall. So they need to shift externalities onto the public. NB oil firms were ≈ 9.0% of cumulative profit for the top 3000 US firms 1994-2019 but 2020-24 only 4.5%

"In the battle between fossil and electricity capital, there are good reasons to think the latter will win in the long run. Of course, in the long run, as JM Keynes said, we are all dead."

The vessel Sea Horse is expected to arrive in early March

Meanwhile, NYT analysis shows that the Trump administration has established an effective blockade of Cuba and is pushing it toward a humanitarian crisis.

what do we talk about when we talk about energy? my answer features (among many others) adorno, bogdanov, and the austrian communist wilhelm frank, who experimented with national exergy balances in the 1950s. out april 2026.

I've often wondered how Steven Pinker's amazingly sloppy research and baseless claims* have for so long received a free pass. I wonder whether it could have something to do with a. his connections with the rich and powerful; b. his claims often aligning with what they want to hear. *See next post.

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... our piece on Germany and the question of imperialism is out. An attempt at wrapping our heads around the political economy of Germany in times of genocide.

Two in three Germans have not gone mental, yet.

“The distant future can be a source of hope”, Jonathan White details in his book, In the Long Run, “but it can also be reason for passivity.” Noah Gordon on the three peaks of the climate transition, and the politics of promises www.break-down.org/three-peaks/

Good article in the Guardian today (with interactive graphics if you are looking online!) on post-growth economics www.theguardian.com/environment/...

NEW – Analysis: Clean energy drove more than a third of China’s GDP growth in 2025 | @laurimyllyvirta.bsky.social @belindaschaepe.bsky.social Read here: buff.ly/M7N4yjx

Applications are open for the Finance Summer School 2026. Last two have been at Brown. This one is at LSE thanks to LSE European Institute and Huth Initiative, plus the Berkeley Program on Finance and Democracy. Stellar Line up. Apps open: forms.gle/WsEVk4Yy52Dn...

Spain's constitution promises democracy at work. Last year, @yolandadiaz.bsky.social convened an expert group to study how to make good on that promise. Lead by @isabelleferreras.bsky.social, we have delivered what is, we think, the highest-level 400-page report on economic democracy out there. 1/2

Coal power in China: most new coal plants in a decade went online in 2025; plans for new projects reached a record high, with the equivalent of >150 large coal plants proposed. Thankfully permitting slowed so the government is limiting the expansion to a degree. What's going on?

1/7 SCMP: "Chinese scholars have called for greater urgency in reducing reliance on US dollar assets, particularly after Washington and its allies froze about US$300 billion in Russian foreign exchange reserves in 2022." www.scmp.com/economy/glob...

In case this goes over some heads, the 'black and tans' were Britain's paramilitary police in Ireland during the War of Independence. After years of burning out whole towns and murdering innocent people, many went straight to Palestine to do the very same, preparing the way for Israeli takeover.

Dear friends, We at the Center for European Studies @sciencespo-cee.bsky.social are opening a position of Assistant Professor in political science, with a focus on climate transition policies. Please apply if you're super good (and not afraid to work with me ;). www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etude...

¿Veis lo rojo? Es el empleo creado en España respecto a otros países de la UE. Hacer políticas que protegen los derechos de los y las trabajadoras tiene resultados visibles.

According to ECB data, Germany has the highest wealth inequality of all EU countries. The top 10% own 67% of total wealth, while the bottom half own 1.3%. The countries ranking next in wealth inequality are Spain, Ireland, Estonia, France, and Austria.

EU Commission asked about comments on loss of life by ICE. “No comment” Follow-up: You condemned killing of Floyd, what is it now? “No comment. We condemn all loss of lives”. Follow-up: clarify “innocent lives.. you see these as innocent lives?” “We didn’t say innocent, it’s for US Gov to decide.”

In case the Olympic hockey rink isn't ready on time... the US is sending its own ICE to Milan.

1/2 SCMP: "Twenty-seven of the mainland’s 31 provincial-level jurisdictions have increased monthly minimum wages over the past year, with half introducing double-digit rises – outpacing China’s 5 per cent gross domestic product growth rate in 2025." www.scmp.com/economy/chin...

WHO removing Us Flag

Gonna hit you with my Board of Peace

wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage

feels like this doesn't even qualify as a metaphor at this point!

1/ Is it about oil, the Nobel peace prize, Bidenomics, the hysterical whims of an old geezer, or what?

Sorry to keep everyone waiting. Here it is. @thepolycrisis.bsky.social take on venezuela. Ofc it’s about oil. No, not like that @katemac.bsky.social buttondown.com/polycrisisdi...

Just started a postdoc at the University of Amsterdam with a writing retreat. The hotel dedicates each room to a thinker. I got... good ol' Karl. No pressure.

Not sure what's more embarrassing: the gesture itself or the mention of Bolívar and Lafayette.

Does Machado get it back when he… you know.

Welcome to the age of sustainable nuclear warfare!

Something in the latest LRB. It's not the cheeriest of pieces but I hope some find it worthwhile. Thanks for reading.

The EU has found the worthy successor of J C Juncker.

👇🏼100%. In the EU, this represents a critical pivot, from re-power to re-arm: www.intereconomics.eu/contents/yea...

While the US & Europe ramp up military spending, millions live in poverty. Today, we launch Transition Security Project, investigating how militarisation makes us poorer and less safe amid climate crisis — and what genuine security could look like. 🧵 transitionsecurity.org

Jon Stewart can’t ignore the irony of Trump threatening to bomb Iran for shooting protesters