With her own life's protagonist Lyuba Sobol, leading figure of the Russian opposition. Shortly before an invited screening of "Lyubas Hope", a film of the award-winning director Marianna Yarovskaya. With compliments of Irwin Collier.

Inaugural Workshop of the Standing Committee for Political Economy of the German Economic Association (Verein für Socialpolitik e.V.), @vfsecon.bsky.social Call for Papers below! Maik T. Schneider, @steinhardt.bsky.social @theocharisgr.bsky.social and I hope to see you in Berlin, March 26-27!

With @marvinsuesse.bsky.social Financing Late Industrialization: Evidence from the State Bank of the Russian Empire. Or how the State Bank of the Russian Empire mattered for the industrialization of its economy. Journal of Economic History. doi.org/10.1017/S002...

The middle class remains trapped between the populists and the aristocrats of money. The two extremes find their way into representation, while the middle class cannot. The future of democracy will depend on this. Or else an enlightened and meritocratic oligarchy will be better.

Instead of the Teilung of Ukraine, maybe the meeting between Trump and Putin is a wonderful opportunity for the Teilung of Alaska. This is the subtext of the pre-failed meeting.

The bullshit agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is wrong, unjust and an emblem of cynicism from all sides. Pashinyan: after his humiliating defeat and the expulsion of Karabakh Armenians he seeks U.S. protection from a Russia-led military coup.

Russia leads you to paradise. www.spiegel.de/ausland/russ...

Our paper with Alise Vitola. In Economic History Review. How Sweden & Poland-Lithuania have left their long-run socio-economic imprint in the Baltic region. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Mobility. The essence of democracy in any context. Since the time of Aristotle. Happy Labor Day!

Breakfast with the Ukrainian ambassador.

Our paper with @marvinsuesse.bsky.social on imperial Russian central banking and industrialization. Verifying the Gerschenkron hypothesis with data. Already accepted in the Journal of Economic History. refubium.fu-berlin.de/handle/fub18...

Our new DAAD-DSG certificate program in Energy and Sustainability Studies with the University for World Economy and Diplomacy of the Uzbek Foreign Ministry!!! www.uwed.uz/en/news/621

newuu.uz/news/view/215 Amazing talk at New Uzbekistan University!!!

Κουλιστάν--υποκλοπές. Κουλιστάν--Τέμπη. Κουλιστάν--Πύλος. Κουλιστάν--Σαρακήνικο Μήλου. Τρασοποίηση, ολιγαρχία και ο ψευτομπαμπούλας του Σύριζα.

What is the difference between the 50 K dead of Mariupol and the 50 K dead of Gaza? NONE. What is the difference between Russian policies in Ukraine and Israel policies in Gaza? NONE.

Gifts & Spa

My research data collection on surveillance and repression in the Russian Empire, now open access! From Hoover and St. Petersburg. "Data on Surveillance & Repression in the Russian Empire, 1886-1912". OstData (Bavarian State Library) 2024. www.osmikon.de/forschungsda...

At the international meeting between Freie Universitaet Berlin and Palestine's elite Birzeit University.

Freedom, Democracy, Europe!!! Streets of Tbilisi show the way!!!

Capital of the Caucasus. Struggle for Europe.

Amazing talk by Oleh Nivievskyi (Freie Universitaet Berlin & Kyiv School of Economics) on the economics of war and recovery in Ukraine. At the KIU Frankfurt (O)-Berlin Lecture Series 2024-25.

Congratulations to this year’s fantastic graduation cohort at the School of Business and Economics at Freie Universität Berlin! 👏👏👏All the best to all of you! Always a very special and proud moment - also for the members of the faculty! ☺️🎉🍾 @fu-berlin-vwl.bsky.social

Signed. For Georgia in the European Union. libmod.de/offener-brie...

One can only speculate why the West agreed to cooperate with (former) terrorists. The pressure on Moscow in the light of Putins nuclear threats left no other alternative but to cooperate with the devil. Whether this will lead to a new Syria is unclear.

Ex Oriente Lux. Happy Nikolaus Day!!!

So happy to host @pbukowski.bsky.social at FU Berlin today! Pawel is sharing an introduction to the history of inequality in Central and Eastern Europe with our students. Looking forward for the conversation and perspectives!