"by doing these three things simultaneously, albeit in different proportions at different times, that the government may hope to keep the increase in inequality (due to technology) within acceptable bounds". open.substack.com/pub/branko2f...

AI comes for Ronald Coase's theories. How a new ecosystem of personal “advocate agents”, can dramatically reduce the transaction costs that prevent useful negotiations from taking place across society –– and reduce the need for regulation. www.aipolicyperspectives.com/p/coasean-ba...

I think Ezra’s position on Kirk’s politics was silly and badly articulated. But his viewthat the Dems need to get better at politics seems to me correct. And his insistence on the need for a ‘third space’ beyond the spiralling polarisation seems to me courageous.

Hear me out. We can’t commit to defend you now, while you have the goose that lays the golden egg. It’s just—we can’t! We’d be totally devastated without them eggs. So listen, here’s the deal. You split the goose in two, and teach us how to breed more, and I promise we’ll say we’ll protect you.

Worth a read.

Lecornu left the door open to measures that could affect the richest, saying it’s impossible not to hear French people’s demands for “tax justice.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

So much for stakeholder capitalism. Turns out, big business’s values is procyclical and often not principled: mere weathervanes for views and values of whoever is in power.

The AfD qualified for three mayoral run-offs in cities in North Rhine-Westphalia today, and lost all by big margins. The lesson is not that we have overdone the AfD's rise, but that we do perhaps sometimes underestimate the counter-mobilisation effects - including in east Germany, incidentally.

In July, Ms. Greene became the first Republican in Congress to describe the situation in Gaza as a “genocide,” breaking sharply with her party. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/u...

New dataset that describes social media activity of a very large group of US elected officials: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A new CNN poll shows 44% of Americans now identify as independents compared to 28% for Republican and 27% Democratic.

Ta-Nehisi Coats pulls up Ezra Klein about Kirk doing “politics exactly the right way.” Bigger question intensely discussed but unanswered: how do you engage with people that preach hate, deny humanity? podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

1/This is Transatlantic leadership! In historic move, German Chancellor Merz calls out US: “democracy is under pressure, freedom of expression is being questioned, and the independence of the judiciary is being repressed“. www.reuters.com/technology/g...

French investigators believe Russia involved in dumping of pig heads at mosques

70% of vehicles sold in Nepal is electric. 40% in Vietman. Ethiopia has banned combustion engines to improve it's balance of payments (not having to import to oil). Fascinating stuff. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/z...

The US Army’s former commanding general in Europe likens Hegseth’s plan to summon top military brass from around the world for a meeting in Virginia next week to a Nazi-era pressure campaign to force German generals to swear allegiance to Hitler

Some big implications for journalism, too, where reporters often mistake trending posts as a reasonable reflection of public opinion.

Together, political predators and digital conquistadors have decided to wipe out the old elites and their rules. If they succeed, it will not only be the parties of lawyers and technocrats that will be swept away, but also liberal democracy as we have known it until today ↘️ on.ft.com/4nVwSII

TikTok brengt racistische en extreemrechtse boodschappen onder de aandacht van publiek dat er niet naar op zoek is. Het verdient fors aan de donaties die de extremistische livestreams opleveren. buff.ly/Atatx8n

Agree. Ezra Klein is a top notch public intellectual, and his interests range far wider than just politics. (Though I think his framing of the Kirk story was poor.)

10 years after the initial idea, Artificial Humanities is here! Thanks so much to all who have preordered it. I hope you enjoy reading it and find this research approach as generative as I do. More to come!

Starmer is timid, struggles to see the big picture and has very little talent as a communicator. That is why. Miliband perhaps the only thinker in this Labour cabinet.

🔴 Reform UK’s Crypto Donations Put Under Spotlight as Experts Warn It’s ‘Impossible to Trace’ Foreign Cash Anti-corruption campaigners raise the alarm over loopholes that could allow large sums of untraceable money to slip past checks bylinetimes.com/2025/09/26/r...

ChatGPT Pulse say some vague wish during chat, and Pulse will try to make it happen while you sleep like a personal assistant

Voice over: few signed up for it.

NEW: EU said to be preparing to hit China with 20 new anti-dumping probes They will be ‘opened consecutively in the coming weeks’, according to former European trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom

The Brits and ID cards are like the USA with guns. Irrational arguments about... uhm... freedom. (While private banks and utility companies have to be leaned on by citizens to get things done.)

This other foreigner is equally perplexed.

Excellent. They should have launched tokenised deposits long ago. But without a wholesale CBDC, some of it's usefulness will be absent.

It is going to be Euro denominated. Good that they are doing it together, a greater chance of success. Prediction: It will be moderately successful at best none the less. Banca Sella, KBC, DekaBank, Danske Bank, SEB, Caixabank, and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Huge. Just huge. This is Eurobonds for Ukraine and it’s exactly what is needed. German leadership in Europe appears back. Credit to Merz. on.ft.com/42GQDve

A clear message to Hungary. Europe is going to get this done even if Orban tries to block. Merz: “That decision should, ideally, be unanimous — failing that, it should be adopted by the large majority of member states committed to Ukraine.” The money mainly sits in Belgium ;)

Boom. There it is. Europe is on the cusp of making €140 billion available to fund Ukraine’s defence for years to come, lending against Russias assets. Chancellor Merz is stepping up to the plate — singing a very hymn from his overly cautious predecessor. 1/2

Great but concerning discussion about the far right, in particular the AfD in Germany. And how the European Union will be the first target. Agree, that liberals and the left are not taking things seriously enough. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Crucial article by German chancellor Merz “Now I am advocating the mobilisation of financial resources on a scale that will secure Ukraine’s military resilience for several years.” on.ft.com/3IBBcxy A new financial impetus for peace in Ukraine

Sources: Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has spoken to TSMC CEO C.C. Wei about a partnership or a joint venture; he also met with Tim Cook this year; INTC is up 9%+ (Wall Street Journal) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

At the Department of Political Science (University of Amsterdam, @uva-fmg.bsky.social), we are looking for a new Assistant Professor to join our team. Interested? You can find all details and apply here: werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies....

Fantastic interview by @martinsandbu.ft.com with @michaelpettis.bsky.social Arguably Pettis's understanding of the impact of Chinese industrial policy through trade is the single most important thing in economics you need to get to understand the world right now podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

These very true words from Steve Hely have given me tremendous comfort over the years.

Sources: Meta poached Yang Song, who led OpenAI's strategic explorations team, to be the research principal of Meta Superintelligence Labs earlier this month (Wired) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

This resonates for me - both my kids have been following the Charlie Kirk and Jimmy Kimmel stories blow by blow, while knowing next to nothing about what is happening in British politics. TikTok is the reason.

But in Thiel's latest lectures he fears a "one world government". Anybody with the faintest familiarity with the struggles of the European Union to act government like, despite Europeans best intentions, will know how ridiculous this is.

Recently in the NYTimes he even said that, in our world, the Antichrist is far more likely to be Greta Thunberg than a Strangelove-style technocrat, and muses we may already live under a “moderate rule” of peace-and-safety stagnation via global regulators.

Apple said it has had to delay certain features in Europe, such as live translation via its AirPods, to make sure they comply with the DMA’s requirement for “interoperability”.

What’s Europe’s public sentiment? Here’s ⁦‪ECFR data confirming what we’ve been perceiving since early 2025: an unprecedented support for EU action, criticism for its inaction, against the backdrop of a cultural war brought by the US ecfr.eu/publication/...

My latest column for Weiss Ratings Daily: weissratings.com/en/weiss-rat... #Gold

Kind of amazing how UK news media still remains obsessed with the structurally limited impact in economic terms of small boats even as this potentially terminal havoc works its way through key UK industrial supply chains on.ft.com/3Ihb8YF

New: Short EU readout from VDL-Li Qiang meeting. Notably cooperative tone - leads with collaboration on climate. On COP30, note the use of "WE" "Ahead of COP30, the world is watching Europe & China, and WE are committed to delivering results"

This would be something: tariffs that make Russian oil prohibitively expensive for Hungary and Slovakia www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...