Deadline extended, January 16

For the JHI Blog’s forum on political economy, Ibanca Anand recounts how midcentury US growth economists' influential models of "multi-factor productivity" in agriculture systematically occluded the role of labor and supported narrow, warped criteria of economic health.

And so with a wimper, the EU scraps the ban on internal-combustion engines from 2035. The new rules are an incomprehensible fudge that only lobbyists will understand. Saying "the climate matters, here is something tangible we are doing about it" was a big deal. Whatever this is, it's a little sad.

Every new hire at an Italian university has to follow courses on workplace safety. they are awful. the content is absurd (a sort of long history of Italy's laws on work safety), and the way the course is administered is even worse: endless videos summarizing the relevant laws... why?!

In a new piece for the JHI forum on political economy, Federico D’Onofrio discusses the rise of a class of "agricultural economists" as part of a broader trend intersecting with and going beyond "rural modernism" in twentieth-century Europe. @fdonoff.bsky.social

Call for Applications — DEADLINE: JANUARY 31, 2026 Fourth Lake Como Summer School in Philosophy of Economics Como, Italy, 8–12 June 2026 Sponsored by INEM, U. of Insubria, and U. of Milan Full information at: phileco4.lakecomoschool.org phileco4.lakecomoschool.org/application/

And, of course, both @ec.europa.eu and @europarl.europa.eu are still creating content for Elon Musk's site. Rule of thumb for representatives of democratic institutions: If you wouldn't give an interview to an ultranationalist far-right newspaper, you shouldn't be on X either.

She s waiting for reactions from member states

Festival Parade: Twenty-four Formations https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/235804

We are testing the Morning Post Europe Today’s analysis by me: “Von der Leyen II: A Year of Slow Agony”. Don’t miss our brief: a new delay on the Russian assets, the Uk will not be in Safe. With @cspillmann.bsky.social and @grimmse.bsky.social👇 europemorningpost.substack.com/p/copy-lack-...

This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started

I really hope that one day researchers will revolt against the OA scam, the worst idea ever, enforced by institutions that know nothing about the incentives and constraints of researchers and only wish for more bureaucratic power over research

The article I wrote with Niccolò Mignemi on how governments tried to make markets more efficient by publishing international data on world supply is finally out: muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/articl... in the Journal of World History! #datarev

We are testing La Matinale Européenne in English. Today’s pilot by me: “Omnibus Politics: Killing Legal Certainty, Stalling Investment” Don’t miss our brief. And let we know what you think. With @grimmse.bsky.social and @cspillmann.bsky.social 👇 europemorningpost.substack.com/p/omnibus-po...

Now online! Giulio Talini (Università Bocconi) reviews "Science and Political Economy in Enlightenment Milan, 1760-1805" (@oxunienl.bsky.social @livunipress.bsky.social, 2024) by Lavinia Maddaluno www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Ormai le muraglie toscane hanno perso i loro cocci di bottiglia e il meriggiare è solo frane e puntelli

Gegen die anlasslose Massenüberwachung privater Nachrichten per Gesetz chat-kontrolle.eu/index.php/20...

We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...

This woman is on fire in the EU parliament.

Sometimes, reading bluesky one could have the impression that the hopes of the American left are already pinned on a military takeover

3 cheers for Gabriele Macron's Honorable Mention from the SIHS Prize in Medieval and Early Modern Italian History for his @isisjournal.bsky.social article "The Boundaries of Knowledge: Books, Experts, and Readers in Early Modern Mines." More here: www.italianhistoricalstudies.org/events-award...

Interessante il quesito sulle tasse sulla rendita immobiliare

Regular reminder: the 1920s quotas that cut immigration to the U.S. by more than 80% "did not result in higher wages for U.S.-born workers. Instead, wages fell for U.S. workers in labor markets that were most affected by the decline in immigrant numbers." economics.princeton.edu/working-pape...

RIP Professor Malcolm Rutherford (1948-2025) web.uvic.ca/~rutherfo/

1/ New @lut.fi study in collaboration with European partners finds prioritising nuclear power expansion over renewable energy (RE) leads to 71–84% higher annual system costs in Finland by 2050 compared to a cost-optimised RE system. doi.org/10.1016/j.en...

📣 It's publication day! 🔥Burning Swamps🔥 is out with @universitypress.cambridge.org ! My book tells the forgotten history of peat in the context of Russia’s industrialization & electrification and points to the lingering presence of past extraction 1/5 #envhist #energysky

what is a good EU equivalent of academia edu for the humanities? (no, Zenodo is not a good replacement)

Il governo italiano si distingue ancora una volta per il desiderio di rendere inabitabili le nostre città. L'overtourism come modello di vita: www.corriere.it/economia/azi...

Bonus sempre agli stessi! cioè ai poveri. www.repubblica.it/politica/202...

After a week in the archives for @datarev.bsky.social , preparing for #ruralhistory2025 Coimbra doing vendemmia with friends in Umbria

Wow. The EU was ready to sanction Google for abusing its ad monopoly today. But it was blocked after pressure from EU Trade Commissioner @marossefcovic.bsky.social & the U.S. DoJ. Europe just chose Washington’s corporate interests over its own citizens. Unprecedented. Self-inflicted.

Traurige Nachricht: Heute gibt es keine neue Folge von „Was bisher geschah“. Denn bisher wurden wir von einem großen Medienhaus unterstützt. Das ist jetzt leider Geschichte. Aber der @nminkmar.bsky.social und ich wollen weitermachen. Dafür brauchen wir Eure Hilfe: linktr.ee/wasbisherges...

Since the start of von der Leyen's second mandate, EU sustainable finance norms face intense dismantling pressures. My new @JEPP article shows this started years ago when the fossil fuel industry “woke up” to the EU Taxonomy. 🧵 #EUTaxonomy #SustainableFinance👇 1/10

#ripassiamo 2/2024 Cosa dice l'accordo (rinnovato il 6 marzo 2022) che unisce il partito di Salvini e quello di Putin L’intesa tra Lega e il partito Russia Unita è stato rinnovato poco dopo l'invasione russa dell'Ucraina. Eppure Meloni non ha mai chiesto al suo vice di strappare quel contratto

can anyone explain why the British labour government is acting so stupidly on Europe and migration (and also the budget)? Do they really believe in their policies?

Earlier this morning, police forces in #Tirana — without any prior notice and in complete disregard of legal or administrative procedures—surrounded the offices of News24, BalkanWeb, Panorama, and Gazeta Shqiptare.

🤷🏻‍♂️

Our PhD student, Mariia Romanova, shared her dissertation poster «Capitalism Starts with a Balance Sheet» at WEHC 2025. Grateful for the chance to be part of the conversation in the global economic history community. #WEHC2025 #WEHC #datarev #EconomicHistory 1/n

How did accounting practice contribute to reshaping the (post-)soviet economy during the transition to capitalism, especially in its agricultural sector? In a way, a new take on the often postulated relationship between certain types of accounting and capitalism #WEHC2025 2/n

The HQ of the police in the Italian town of Lecce still admonishes "Everything within the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State": a fascist slogan to show citizens what the police actually think about democracy and the rule of law?

In an attempt at becoming independent from US tech companies, I'm experimenting with search engine Qwant, @qwant.bsky.social.results are poor, the main problem is that qwant really wants me to see local results and even translate them. Why this? I just want global results.

Can one explain what's the advantage of co-teaching in the humanities and social sciences? It seems like a terrible waste od time for coordination with no obvious advantages for the students

Has anyone seen an assessment of the effectiveness of Open Research Europe? It seems like an awful lot of money spent by the EU for something that researchers do not use

The Eu as a special representative for the Gulf region: the former Italian foreign minister Luigi di Maio, a non entity then and now

A large chunk of the @spdde.bsky.social demonstrates again its complete inability to grasp the current European predicament and shows its unwillingness to take Russia seriously: www.ralf-stegner.de/2025/06/13/f...

Nochmal der Reminder: Nicht nur die Zurückweisungen von Asylsuchenden sind rechtswidrig, auch die zugrundeliegenden Grenzkontrollen sind rechtswidrig. Die Regierung begeht fortwährend doppelten Rechtsbruch. www.lto.de/recht/nachri...

This month the book I edited with Nathalie Joly is finally coming out: boydellandbrewer.com/978183765100... Lots of new findings about accounting in farming businesses! #datarev

I've really enjoyed reading the article. Without Bridges' historiographical depth, together with N.Mignemi, we have been investigating the information infrastructure behind world commodity markets in the early 20th century, for instance in this special issue: journals.openedition.org/histoiremesu...

You say you feel depressed about the inhumane politics out there? You want to send a signal and are searching for the best antidote to powerlessness? Go out and vote.