Indeed, any city that is not considering a pro-cycling agenda must have ample fiscal space.

Why LCOE is meaningless, in one chart (from Spain). Not much good your electricity being a bit cheaper to produce, if it earns just 10% of the revenue of other electricity....

This is a great PHOTO ESSAY on “solar hockey stick of hope”, and countries breaking free of oil and gas dependence. IF your country's media isn't telling you about the renewables global boom, then consider why.... www.science.org/content/arti... bsky.app/profile/scie...

Dazu muss man wissen, dass zweimal die Amtsleiter des Finanzministeriums von Bayern, welches für Steuererhebungen zuständig ist, direkt zu August von Finck (Mises-Institut: "Steuern sind Raub!") wechselten und dort Geschäftsführer zahlreicher Finck-Unternehmen wurden. www.br.de/nachrichten/...

"We’ve got roughly 120 kWh sitting in our garage, thanks to our Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Ioniq. And we’ve got almost 40 kW of solar on the roof. So we’re already at the delicious point where we don’t get power bills - the energy company pays us." www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/colour-...

Though worth noting the French and Italians argue that in bouncing the Germans and Finns into accepting a path towards Eurobonds they have put EU Europe's geopolitical ambitions on a more sustainable long term footing

To translate for the EU policy bubble, it’s now: Green VS digital transition

Cycling: 1. Climate protection 2. Resource independence 3. Health

Efficiency first

Deutschland in einer Headline

The perspective of the Trump regime on Europe resembles that of the Putin regime on Ukraine: They cannot tolerate a political system that is culturally very close but less corrupt at their doorstep. There must be no alternative.

There is still a significant knowledge gap when it comes to industrial electrification. As I noted in a recent interview and now covered by Table.Briefings, most companies are “unclear about the options and costs.” table.media/en/climate/f...

With the Progressive Politics Research Network, we have published 8 new research briefs on the politics of housing. What does a progressive agenda on housing look like? Which elements are important? What the hurdles are and how can they be overcome? politicscentre.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/progressive-...

I'm kind of baffled how the "moderates" have apparently all decided to turn against climate policy at once, just as China reaches green electrostate liftoff mode. I thought these people were all about National Greatness and making Hard Choices

Germany's big business dynasties - many of whom have their own history of 'capital accumulation' during the Third Reich - are opening up towards the extreme right.

Pretty visualisation tool for mobility shares - choose your city/country: vis.csh.ac.at/citiesmoving/ @olivier-rbxl.bsky.social

Disturbing read with striking charts, especially on the new capital goods trade deficit with China and on the share of sectors in which DE and CN share a comparative advantage. People have been warning that the export-led model was headed for this wall for many years... www.ft.com/content/239e...

“Perhaps we should finally force states to share sovereignty and resources not just with the EU, but with a broader group of actors that I call the fifth estate of democracy. Perhaps we should give real meaning to the term European multi-level governance.” www.ips-journal.eu/topics/europ...

“[we are] putting too much emphasis on long-term decline because we use outdated economic indicators that were developed to measure growth during the Fordist phase of capitalism.” Katrina Forrester reviews Melinda Cooper’s Counterrevolutions www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

How can Europe keep up?

I guess it was just a matter of time before xAI was added to this web. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Many thanks to @regstud.bsky.social and @rsablog.bsky.social for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on designing better maps in academia. And to @cchlebna.bsky.social for encouragement and feedback.

This is how the separation of powers works in Brussels: Just build two highways through the European Quarter right between Commission, Council and Parliament.

I assume you saw this, but ICYMI, and for others here: www.theatlantic.com/photography/...

Brussels might seem chaotic and dirty sometimes but it has so many great urban designs!

🚨 New publication out: “The Anatomy of Chinese Capitalism” (Competition & Change / Köncke, Erlbacher & Schmalz, 2025) How and to what extent does the party-state govern top Chinese firms? We unpack this with new data and a sectoral lens. 🔗 doi.org/10.1177/1024... @sfb294.bsky.social

By re-allocating funds that were previously earmarked for investments in climate, environment and people to an ominous "Competitiveness Fund", the European Commission's proposal for the new budget seems to effectively represent a huge transfer of resources from labour (people) to capital.

Scharfsinniges Update zur politischen Ökonomie des russischen Geheimdienstkartenhauses www.republik.ch/2025/07/24/d...

Another example of our new era where China is not only supplying us with cheap consumer goods but dominates strategic sectors. We were really sleepwalking into this across the board from energy to mobility to military technology. And now it comes down all at once.

Rational voting theory is hitting the wall

The fight against climate crisis in @janeaflegal.bsky.social ‘s framing: A fight between feedback loops, that is, of the climatic feedback loops triggered by our emissions and driving us deeper into crisis versus the societal/political feedback loops that we try to unleash to get to net zero.

mostly I want people to think of quantitative data as a specific subset of qualitative data, which it is (qualitative data on the reaction of a measuring device to empirical experience, whether numerical or in other form)

🚲🚲There is nothing more efficient in the world of machines and animals than a human on a bicycle. The humble bicycle is an amazing machine. www.jstor.org/stable/24923...

This Vienna street isn’t “closed” because cars have been removed. It’s been opened to everything else, to a diverse and invigorated civic life for people, because cars have been replaced by a multitude of wonderful things. Language matters. HT @dmoser.bsky.social for the pic. #OpenStreets

100 percent! Chinese cars now dominate the market almost everywhere but North America. Very clear in my recent travels to East Asia and the Middle East, for example. Easily a 9:1 ratio!

Good point here: as global trade plunges into chaos, it is all the more important to closely align the policy environment steering demand for green tech with the industrial policies that try to expand their production.

1 witz

"[..]Geld spart der Staat dadurch nicht. Denn der Bund kann sich am Anleihemarkt Kapital für unter 3% Zinsen beschaffen. Private Investoren erwarten mindestens das Doppelte[..]. Die zahlen am Ende in jedem Fall die Bürgerinnen und Bürger" /2

While German politicians and car manufacturers are busy whining about „the need for technological openness“, Vietnam is advancing electrification in big steps by banning ICE motorcycles, soon cars. electrek.co/2025/07/20/v...

Schon gewusst, „dass dem Staat 28,5 Milliarden Euro durch illegale CumCum-Geschäften entzogen wurden? Jetzt bewegt sich Finanzminister Klingbeil endlich […]. Aber das Geld ist noch längst nicht zurück: Dafür braucht es den Einsatz von mehr Personal. Jetzt unterzeichnen ✍️ und teilen!“

Fascinating survey data on the missing Biden voters by Lake Research. The voters who sat out in '24 weren't looking for a centrist or turned off by trans rights. They want a genuine economic populist agenda: take on corporate greed, lower costs, and make the wealthy pay their fair share.

Graphic from the Monde article this cites. Would want to show this to all the anti-bike lane politicians out there. Parisians are using bikes as commuting vehicles, avoiding massive amounts of additional cars and metro crowding at peak periods.

Die Bundesregierung sagt, Sie könne den Kommissions-Vorschlag zum neuen EU-Haushalt nicht akzeptieren, weil ein "umfassender Aufwuchs" in Zeiten der Konsolidierung nationaler Haushalte nicht vermittelbar sei. Ich halte das aus ein paar Gründen für keine kluge deutsche Position:

The growing system of detention camps in the USA is really scary. Superb reporting by FT. ig.ft.com/us-immigrati...

We proudly present: The Fiscal Space

I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

To remember the good news