Unbelievably bleak to see journalists quoting an LLM bot's output as if it's an agent capable of making statements that mean something.

New in @bjpols.bsky.social! Dave Hope, @lhaffert.bsky.social and I show that low taxes on the rich have a hidden cost: They undermine public support for broad-based taxation. 🖋️ cup.org/45lgPwN

2025 in review: hegemonic suicide, medieval peasant brain, and other highlights from a very long year hegemon.substack.com/p/2025-hegem...

Ich sitze im Zug und lese die Verkrempelung der Welt von @yoran.com und der Typ neben mir entwirft an seinem Laptop eine Roll-Hundeleine mit eingebautem Touchscreen und Schrittzähler im Plastikgehäuse.

Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252: Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email. Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Merz sagt, man habe die Anzahl der Asylbewerber in Deutschland „in etwa halbiert“, und er erwarte, dass Trump diese „Kurskorrektur“ anerkennen und begrüßen werde. Dann wiederholt er seine Bitte an Trump, doch Deutschland als Partner zu sehen, wenn dieser die EU nicht möge.

Tahsim Durgun. Das Video braucht keinen Kommentar. Was für ein Glück, die Stimme dieses Mannes im öffentlichen Diskurs zu haben.

Wes Streeting accuses welfare state disabilty benefits of 'trapping people, not just in poverty, but out of work.' But where is the recognition that disability benefits are often what makes it possible for people with higher living and transport costs to work? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Katherina Reiche und Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg: Bundeswirtschaftsministerium fördert Firma mit Guttenberg-Beteiligung: Das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium hat ein Unternehmen mit einer sechsstelligen Summe gefördert. Unter den Gesellschaftern: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Lebensgefährte von Ministerin…

📕 I had the pleasure to be invited to review Quinn Slobodian’s new book Hayek’s Bastards: Race, Gold, IQ, and the Capitalism of the Far Right for the Czech Journal of International Relations.

Zipcar is shutting down its UK operations, basically the only car club that worked in London. Massive kick to anyone who tries to live in capital without owning a car. Having been a customer for 17 years and used Zipvans to move house repeatedly, this is.... very bad! (Zipcar is owned by Avis)

Bad news for German public broadcaster ARD and a bit bittersweet for me on some bizarre personal level. London bureau chief Annette Dittert @annettedittert.bsky.social leaves the ARD at the end of the year to focus on other projects after almost two decades in her role. bsky.app/profile/anne...

Rightly lots of debates about growth this weekend - rightly because it was low productivity growth that saw wages entirely flatline during the 2010s.

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture. They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

If as Home Secretary you are looking at the significant reduction in people choosing to live and work in the UK and deciding it's a good idea to "go further" you've conclusively shown you aren't basing your policies on anything resembling reality. The repercussions would be devastating for everyone.

Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action... (from my presentation at the IMF last week)

this is one of the reasons not to do policy by poll or focus group

This is excellent news! Congratulations, Alex (and NYC)!

"A 10:1 pay ratio between the highest and lowest-paid staff is the bare minimum that we need. It would ensure that bosses can only raise their own salaries by also improving the salaries of their lowest paid staff too" greens.scot/news/greens-...

It's focus-group disease reinforcing UK state managers' belief that the only legitimate expression of state capacity is through punitiveness. This has a long history, but post-financial crisis austerity has cemented it. Ironically, such displays of strength are destablilising both govt and society.

It's focus-group disease reinforcing UK state managers' belief that the only legitimate expression of state capacity is through punitiveness. This has a long history, but post-financial crisis austerity has cemented it. Ironically, such displays of strength are destablilising both govt and society.

Coming soon in RIPE Series in Global Political Economy - War Economy: Gendered Circuits of Violence and Capital, co-edited with Jacqui True. More at: www.routledge.com/War-Economy-...

Two and a half thoughts on Hegseth and his war on beardos as expressed here: bsky.app/profile/atru...

no question that hegseth hates guys with beards because they make him feel insecure

This is great fun. (Nigel Biggar does not come out of it especially well.)

Relying on LLMs to get your diploma and is similar to forging PhD research for boosting your political career in Germany You think it creates shortcuts and notability for getting the top job. But as you are only interested in the CV line, you don't learn anything. And one day, you are exposed.

-a week until the deadline!

You’ve heard from all the people who think the AI boom is like the dotcom bubble. Now meet the guy who argues the AI boom is actually crazier. www.reuters.com/commentary/b...

This conversation between ChatGPT and the young man it encouraged to commit suicide is just...my god www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/u...

“Part of a fascist project to offload the work of thinking, especially the reflective kind of thinking that reading, study, and community engagement provide.”

The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort: www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...

If you liked the 2008 bank bailout, you're going to LOVE the 2026 AI (and crypto) bailout garymarcus.substack.com/p/if-you-tho...

Can see why Labour waited for Lords stages before adding THIS to the Crime and Policing Bill. Extending protest suppression to include vague ‘cumulative’ impacts (that could include OTHER protests!) will clearly be misused by police. Lords must oppose this attack on our rights.

Very true. Mamdani's election win is truly historic, something that the post-World War II Left has hoped for for decades (Detroit's Kenneth Cockrel, Sr. comes to mind as a socialist who had mayoral aspirations). I hope folks study the challenges Kucinich, Harold Washington, and Dinkins experienced

I'm happy to have joined the editorial board of @gpejournal.bsky.social as an associate editor! I'm looking forward to working with great people on exciting research. If you have ideas for articles, commentaries, or debate pieces, get in touch! bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

I'm happy to have joined the editorial board of @gpejournal.bsky.social as an associate editor! I'm looking forward to working with great people on exciting research. If you have ideas for articles, commentaries, or debate pieces, get in touch! bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

Labour government preparing to hike income taxes - blaming bond markets. not one adult in the room will say the obvious: 1. Britain's fiscal rules are shambles 2. Bank of England has too much power over fiscal decisions 3. ignore bond vigilantes www.ft.com/content/5c8f...

I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today. If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....

Happening this Thursday! Join us to discuss the relation between capitalism and the global water crisis 🌊

A reminder that my book on the history of protest is now published. It is superbly produced with a great cover. Buy it now from @reaktionbooks.bsky.social

This is quite the speech (starting about ten minutes from the end of this live stream).

Die Frageformulierung ist so natürlich schon komplett bodenlos. Aber es dann so verkürzt darzustellen ist schlicht Irreführung. Vollkommen inakzeptabel.

Incredibly minor point in the grand scheme of the horror of this policy, but this would mean that many women with ILR would be unable to go on maternity leave unless they had a very high salary or an amazing employer package.

it's important to call things what they are "mass deportations of legal residents for cultural homogeneity" is an ethnic cleansing policy

Its genuinely exhausting for everyone involved that the cycle is 1- BNP style policy gets announced 2- Labour comms say something like well yes but also no.... 3-Labour MPs and others clearly have a freak out about it behind the scenes 4-Labour comes out with a clearer condemnation of said policy

Ich kotze. „Fragen Sie mal Ihre Töchter“, entgegnet Merz einen Journalisten, der nachfragt, ob eine Entschuldigung angemessen wäre. Zur Erinnerung: Junge Frauen haben die CDU kaum gewählt. Die Merz-Regierung macht keinerlei Gleichstellungspolitik. Aber Frauen für Rassismus instrumentalisieren.

How is it taking them this long to work this out?

Quite possible. I discussed AI with students, and some were concerned they were losing skills by relying on AI, and many were deeply offended when I asked them to consider the hypothetical scenario of me using AI to write my lectures and mark their essays. They said they’d want their money back.

I remember, many years ago now (with ny transport strategist hat on) being asked in a BBC interview if Crossrail would be Khan's biggest legacy. The thing that had the biggest impact on London. I said: "No. It'll be ULEZ." (The low emissions zone)