Now available to pre-order www.waterstones.com/book/the-inc...

The great graduate job drought - www.ft.com/content/c894... brilliant piece, somewhat terrifying for this father of three

Offshoring universities seems a bit short sighted. Like when industry was off shored, what could possibly go wrong?UK drops target for international student recruitment - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Designed by Grok

Scoop: The EPA will no longer estimate the lives saved by reducing air pollution when writing clean-air regulations, according to documents reviewed by @nytimes.com. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...

UK grocers begin to feel impact of appetite-suppressing drugs reut.rs/3NeUsD5

I've always liked Jesse Ventura as a wrestling legend, but he's a real American www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Nice piece on the possible collapse of demand from automation but surprisingly doesn't mention Marx (collapse of effective demand from the substitution of capital for labour) aleximas.substack.com/p/will-advan...

Editorial from Irish Economic and Social History congratulating Joel Mokyr for his Nobel recognition and highlighting the link between his studies on Ireland and his later work on the industrial revolution (it was only in print, not online but latest issue is here journals.sagepub.com/home/ies)

My first piece for @theconversation.com is now online! Is it weird to have a favourite natural disaster? Mine is the Night of the Big Wind. theconversation.com/how-a-feroci...

This was out last year and is more relevant today, it highlights the danger of dependence on an unreliable ally www.chathamhouse.org/2025/03/uks-...

Gunboat diplomacy and "spheres of influence" are back www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/u...

THIS THIS THIS. ALL OF THIS THIS is why faculty resist technological strategies for teaching. There is no engaging with Edtech without this context

Some festive economic reading on the "British Disease ": theconversation.com/whether-its-...

A tale of "two" cities: ‘The gap is widening’: inside Donald Trump’s K-shaped economy  - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT

Resource constraints (not just energy*) strike again: The hunt for copper to wire the AI boom - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Terms of trade shock on the horizon for the UK? Currency traders bet against sterling ahead of Budget - on.ft.com/4ppSrli via @FT

Fresh off the printing press, Mary O’Sullivan’s Connell lecture on the Irish woolen industry before and after the Union: A Sheepish Account of Ireland's Changing Role in an Imperial Age, 1780–1824. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Best (worst?) graph I've ever seen: Who’s right about AI: economists or technologists? - on.ft.com/43oaD6n via @FT

An example of free riding (if another is needed) www.thejournal.ie/eu-presidenc...

Shrinkflation is back! www.theguardian.com/business/202...

After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results: - AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2% - ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1% - ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%

@seanekh.bsky.social’s @ucc.ie paper presents a new improved Quarterly Irish GDP series from 1950, written with @rebstuart.bsky.social, as part of this @researchireland.ie pathways project on “External Shocks and Fiscal Sustainability”

@eoinaldo.bsky.social kicks of the Irish Macrohist workshop 2025 in @ucc.ie “Explaining the retreat of the Irish Language Fronteir”, paper with @cliochris.bsky.social and Alan Fernihough

Manuscript done ✅ Off to production at Bloomsbury! The book revisits Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations at 250, rethinking prosperity through inclusive wealth & sustainability More soon… 📖✨

NWO: Internal consistency of the Trump sovereignty doctrine www.spectator.co.uk/article/dona...

So its now harder to get into the US but NZ have relaxed rules, will there be any change in flows? www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

'As universities close courses and departments in response to financial pressures...students in parts of the North, South West and East of England, as well as large areas of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, are losing access to social sciences, humanities and arts (SHAPE) courses.' 1/2

Another issue with UK national statistics: Office for National Statistics in crisis after another data error www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/market...

Oh. The stochastic parrot does not boost productivity. www.theregister.com/2025/09/04/m...

Long bond yields rise, gold hits record on fiscal concerns reut.rs/4n5v1Au

If I had said, in 2005, that 20 years later the Republican Party would be even *more* systematically opposed, not only to domestic action on climate change, but to action on climate change anywhere in the world, I would have been dismissed as a hysterical partisan.

The shakedown isn't on paper... cohen489.substack.com/p/i-promise-...

Very 18th century policy playbook: Scott Bessent floats rolling out export tax to more industries - on.ft.com/3Hd76Qx via @FT

Droughts in England www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The end of reliable US statistics? Donald Trump picks Heritage economist to head US Bureau of Labor Statistics - on.ft.com/3JazKSY via @FT

'given that the middle class has already lost vast amounts of wealth and that...the economic slowdown will endure for several more years yet, it does seem that the era when large numbers of Chinese students sought overseas education is coming to an end'.

My goto is to ask LLMs how many states have R in their name. They always fail. GPT 5 included Indiana, Illinois, and Texas in its list. It then asked me if I wanted an alphabetical highlighted map. Sure, why not.

Or the Daily Mail... www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/art...

How changes in height show health effects of the Famine. Analysis of new data by @eoinaldo.bsky.social @heriotwattuni.bsky.social @researchireland.ie & @cliochris.bsky.social @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Tune in to RTE Radio 1 at 13:30 today to hear our associate director of outreach @cliochris.bsky.social discuss his paper (co-authored with Matthias Blum and @eoinaldo.bsky.social) on outcomes and impacts of the Great Famine. www.irishnews.com/news/norther... #econhist #econsky

Never thought I'd get quoted in the Mirror ( the paper my grandmother still reads) www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-n...

Tomatoes/Potatoes might share a common ancestor www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/t...

Good point on public good of education (less discussed these days unfortunately) observer.co.uk/news/opinion...

Global AI rivalry is a dangerous game - on.ft.com/476VM2L via @FT

Pre-AI contaminated web archive arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/w...

Could strikes on Iran cause a nuclear disaster? - on.ft.com/445Bqnv via @FT

Video abstract of our (with @cliochris.bsky.social & Matthias Blum) paper on the long-term health impact of being born during the Irish famine: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fptL...

Some controversial choices here: ‘Oh no! It’s a Gruffalo!’ Julia Donaldson’s 15 best books – ranked! www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...