Today on Volts: I talk with Tim Sahay (@70sbachchan.bsky.social) & Kate Mackenzie (@katemac.bsky.social), who run @thepolycrisis.bsky.social newsletter & podcast, about the current oil crisis & the need for US energy wonks to grapple more with international finance & politics. Fun!

Against Money, the new book by Mason and Jayadev, goes straight for the jugular of mainstream economics. I reviewed it here: jacobin.com/2026/05/agai...

On 28 May, @equatormag.bsky.social will host a free online event featuring @newlefteviews.bsky.social and @mona-ali.bsky.social – about the fallout of the war in the Middle East and the end of American hegemony. Register here! equator.org/events/after...

"Hormuz does not yet signal the end of this hydrocarbon dollar complex, which has always been a combustible mix of power and volatility. But it does reveal the structural changes that would be needed for a hegemonic transition." Absolute banger from @mona-ali.bsky.social

“Hormuz does not yet signal the end of this hydrocarbon dollar complex, which has always been a combustible mix of power and volatility. But it does reveal the structural changes that would be needed for a hegemonic transition.” www.equator.org/articles/the...

"Hormuz has made the end of American hegemony imaginable. It has also shown that, perhaps for the first time, the Global South possesses the political will and ideas needed to build a new international order.” @mona-ali.bsky.social on Suez, Hormuz, the petrodollar, & what might come next

The Hormuz oil shock has made it possible to see how American hegemony ends. A brilliant new essay by @mona-ali.bsky.social on the ‘hydrocarbon dollar complex’ and the emergence of a new international order:

1/ Disruptions mean countries will rush to exit US-led oil order Worst case scenario for oil companies (best for rest of us) is that people permanently shift...what they call “demand destruction“ i.e short term pain but Long: Iran war will accelerate ongoing STRUCTURAL shift to solar+EVs+batteries

Beautiful cobalt blue graphs @karl-schamotta.bsky.social I wrote up a US BoP analysis on these issues back in November. transitionsecurity.org/rebalancing-...

"Rather than being a clash between democracy and authoritarianism, the standoff between Trump and the Fed is one between an imperious US president and an independent bureaucratic agency that sits atop of the global financial system." - @mona-ali.bsky.social jacobin.com/2026/01/trum...

The US and China have agreed to a one-year truce in their trade war. What lies behind this conflict and what does it mean for the world economy? Read @mona-ali.bsky.social on Washington’s assault on global trade and the alliances emerging in response. transitionsecurity.org/rebalancing-...

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

An illuminating and incisive interview with @mona-ali.bsky.social on dollar dominance. “The dollar is perhaps the preeminent source of US hegemony. Like dark matter in the physical universe, dollar balance sheets are largely invisible to the public eye. They exist mainly in private hands.”

<A history of the hydrocarbon dollar> Wrote about the triangulation between external debt, energy infrastructure, and sovereignty. Thanks very much to Colin Powers for his brilliant editing. noria-research.com/mena/debt-en...

@phenomenalworld.bsky.social still very actual this from @mona-ali.bsky.social re-echo De Cecco analysis on sterling power (no it was not the gold standard) and fall of status as global currency. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/reg...

Like the Sally Rooney school of political economy? www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p.... Then here's a reader just for you with two brilliant essays on capitalism and the climate crisis and much more besides. www.routledge.com/Radical-Poli...

Vista above the traffic jam

Like the Sally Rooney school of political economy? www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p.... Then here's a reader just for you with two brilliant essays on capitalism and the climate crisis and much more besides. www.routledge.com/Radical-Poli...

I love how giggly this conversation amongst cosmologists is: on Newton’s legacy, sheets in spacetime, wormholes and other excitements of the universe.

Nile River delta at night | NASA

Du Bois wrapped/serpentine bar chart seemed apt for this one. Code: observablehq.com/d/a207f5c57a...