Many congrats to Joel Mokyr for being selected as one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics. His work on technology and economic growth inspired me some years ago as a grad student. He is one of the shining lights working in Economic History.

These guys have gotten incredibly rich by fleecing the government with subpar tech that was designed for rentseeking rather than performance. A smart Dem agenda item would be to build internal tech capacity. The fact that it would punish these guys is just a silver lining.

German Finance Minister Klingbeil speaks at the Jacques Delors Centre at Hertie concerning Germany‘s role in Europe. He said the right things about the need for what would amount to a capital markets union.

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Interesting article, but something is missing here. German breads are more complex, often having little to no wheat in them. A bakery near us replaced all wheat with spelt. More generally white bread is rare. This may also explain the difference with the US. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/w...

Welcome @epssnet.bsky.social ! I plan to be in Belfast at the first conference next year.

The DFG Excellence Cluster @scripts-berlin.eu is hiring a key member of staff, our Managing Director. This person will work with a great group of academics across Berlin, including with me. Note that one needs both German and English. More here: www.fu-berlin.de/universitaet...

Berlusconi appointed himself as Treasury Minister. He even attended an ECOFIN meeting in this role. Why not an American President as Fed Chair? Especially one who has a lot of parallels to Berlusconi? (Just to be clear—I do NOT think this is a good idea. But Trump‘s comment does not surprise me.)

We are opening three full professor positions in beautiful Innsbruck!

Absolutely grotesque abuse of government power. Lying to educators in order to entrap children. No wonder they want to hide their identity.

This makes me so angry. You don’t call in the National Guard on a peaceful protest. A protest the THE POLICE say is a peaceful protest.

#Vorgestellt: Erforschen, wie die liberale Gesellschaftsordnung 🗽 als Grundlage der #Demokratie global und regional herausgefordert wird – dem widmet sich @scripts-berlin.eu : einer der fünf Berliner #Exzellenzcluster, die ab 2026 durch die @dfg.de gefördert werden. @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social

Great speech at the #HertieSchool from Christine Lagarde on what it would take for the euro to overtake the dollar as the world’s main reserve currency

Good news!

Japan and the EU are holding out for a fair, balanced deal with Trump even if it takes months. First to the finish line doesn’t always mean victory, as the UK showed by sealing a quick deal in which it caved to many US demands. on.ft.com/42XHzCW

Noch immer kommen Menschen zur Skalitzer Straße 32 in #Kreuzberg, legen Blumen nieder, zünden Kerzen an - und erinnern an Margot #Friedländer, die hier mit ihrer Familie lebte, bis am 20. Januar 1943 die Gestapo kam und sie sich im Untergrund verstecken musste.

So per @georgeeaton.bsky.social's useful insider account, it seems Labour's theory of growth is the Swedish export model of the late 20th century, which relied on squeezing low productivity manufacturing firms out of business so as to keep exports competitive. Quite bold for a service-led economy.

Don't miss out on this! We are very delighted to welcome Christine Lagarde at @delorsberlin.bsky.social on Monday, 26 May for a keynote speech on Europe's role and economic leadership in a fragmented world. Seats are limited, link for registration here: www.delorscentre.eu/en/events-at...

To start off our new event series “Remaking America?” with @scripts-berlin.eu, we will welcome Mark DiPlacido on 15 May to discuss Donald Trump's tariffs & 🇺🇸 #trade policy. His remarks will be further discussed with @mhallerberg.bsky.social & the event moderated by @thousandfriend.bsky.social.

"The Agriculture Department will not require poultry companies to limit salmonella bacteria in their products, halting a Biden Administration effort to prevent food poisoning from contaminated meat." www.seattletimes.com/business/usd...

Tech is where Europe is most vulnerable. Initiatives like this one are a good start.

57% of Britons would rather have the EU as a close trading partner than the US, amid suggestion that closer alignment with Europe could endanger a trade deal with the US EU: 57% (+4 from 21 Jan) US: 16% (-5) yougov.co.uk/topics/econo...

A top scientist at Harvard who has spent years unraveling the mysteries of tuberculosis woke up Tuesday morning and discovered an order from the federal government telling her to halt her research. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/m...

This is very cool. I hope others copy this excellent work, and that we all learn from greater data transparency

This agreement on the citizenship laws is a big deal, and the right decision. It is also against what Merz said on the campaign.

Finally, we are stepping up our work to lift barriers in our own single market. This crisis has made one thing clear: in times of uncertainty, the single market is our anchor of stability and resilience.

Excellent piece from @andrearoemmele.bsky.social in @spiegel.de today. Indeed, time to change the status quo in Germany’s democracy

What has Trump's 2nd term delivered in terms of economic policy so far? Join the discussion on 11/4, 1pm at the Hertie School. With @benbraun.bsky.social @mhallerberg.bsky.social @claraweinhardt.bsky.social and other experts: 100 Tage Trump II: Eine erste Bilanz der neuen Wirtschaft | Hertie School

„Germany and Europe need to become more independent from other continents. Also in the field of health“ —Berlins Mayor Kai Wegner at the New Year Reception at Charité in Berlin

This is an important point. If this all morphs into a financial crisis the nature of the game is different, and more dangerous. The question is whether Trump can calm markets. The response might have to come from the Fed.

Wheeee! on.ft.com/4i69pBi

I wonder why…

This is indeed the best way forward—a free trade coalition of the willing, to include the UK , EU, Japan, Canada, and (he notes) even China. I would add that the domestic politics to do this are tough. I would still encourage the leaders of these countries to try. www.thetimes.com/article/06e1...

I have been hearing the Chinese perspective on the US too. It is that the US is having its Mao Moment, it’s Cultural Revolution. Consistent in both is deep skepticism of academics. Friedman goes through the geopolitical consequences and why this time is a lot worse for the rest of the world.

‘Now economists know how scientists felt when he said “inject bleach”’ - Prof. Joseph Allen

On the tariffs @strangeloopcanon.com over at the other place has pretty convincing evidence that the White House may have used LLMs to come up with its tariff model and that that evidence may have come from LLM scraping of a Peter Navarro book. We are in the dumbest AI timeline.

Wow, this is truly scathing.

Trump has been able to operate with impunity at home. But there will be consequences abroad. The idea that you can attack allies economically, intervene in their politics, and ignore their security concerns, all while expecting them to buy your products like nothing has changed is laughable

This is an intriguing piece that argues how US policy will hurt American tech, and American factories. Just when China moves ahead in some tech fields the US cracks down on researchers at home and makes inputs from abroad more expensive. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/o...

Evil *and* incompetent.

DOGE is disproportionately targeting grants in blue states that voted for Harris. This is about political retribution.

🇨🇦This is awesome🙂🇨🇦 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Anyone who plans to fly into the US should check the advice from the ACLU on what types of actions against you are legal. www.aclu.org/know-your-ri...

Something in common in these stories is that one’s phone is checked. As university leadership we have an obligation to protect our people. European universities routinely make burner phones available for staff going to China. One should consider this for staff headed to the US as well.

This is the fourth story I have seen about different Germans with seemingly correct paperwork either being sent back or detained this week. I have heard two personal stories. It is getting to the point where it is hard to recommend to German friends to go to the US. www.spiegel.de/panorama/cel...

This is where EVs need to go. I hope the claim is true, and that this becomes standard for all EVs in the coming years.

Indeed. This is one reason why a Masters in Data Science for Public Policy literally pays off. And you do work that benefits the public.

🚨 Deadline is tomorrow 🚨

There was a time when the Germans would have been front and center as well. Lame duck Chancellor? This time it is about security? Germans wouldn’t be expected to contribute troops on the ground in any peace deal?