Scam stage of capitalism

The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory

Peak-Profit

2025 war ein Wahnsinnsjahr für die deutschen Milliardäre: Ihr Vermögen wuchs mit 30 % fast doppelt (!) so schnell, wie das Vermögen des Globalen Durchschnittsmilliardärs mit 16 %. Dieses Wachstum ist absurd gefährlich, weil es die Ungleichheitskrise weiter verschärft.

This week I had a welcome excuse to be in Venice during the semester while visiting the Analytical Sociology seminar at VIU. I especially enjoyed the conversations during the poster sessions.

I spent the last two days at the ISI Wealth Conference. All the talks I attended were super insightful and it was great to hear so many different perspectives and see the exciting new research on wealth inequality! @isi-munich.bsky.social

Day 1. #isiwealthconference2025 #isimunich

Had a great time at my first summer school at the LMU Open Science Center @lmu-osc.bsky.social. I learned a lot of new things that I hope to implement in my master's thesis and beyond. And of course I hope to see more Open Science in Sociology :)

First day of the Open Science Summer School 2025 complete ✅ Participants learned a lot today but there’s still a lot more in store, you can join in for the public lectures by registering here: www.pretix.osc.lmu.de/lmu-osc/OSSS... #OpenScience #OSSS25 #LMUOSC

Ultra-late capitalism in a nutshell. (Source: FT)

July 4th, 2025

Bildungschancen hängen in Deutschland vom Wohnort ab. Eine neue Studie von @iwkoeln.bsky.social und MPIfG zeigt: In wohlhabenden Stadtteilen gibt es ein Drittel mehr Kitas als in ärmeren Vierteln – ausgerechnet dort, wo frühkindliche Bildung am dringendsten gebraucht wird. s.gwdg.de/yTozrZ

"A 2% tax on billionaires is a first step – but it’s important not to stop there. Building public confidence in the idea that it's truly possible to target the ultra-wealthy - billionaires in particular - is essential.", said @thomaspiketty.bsky.social at #TaxingBillionaires conference [1/2]

@ingridrobeyns.bsky.social urged us to grasp today’s wealth concentration by converting the fortune of the world’s richest person into the number of homes it could buy. In Chicago, that is approx. 1.3 million homes – more than all the homes in the city. Watch: bit.ly/3DFoATQ Read: bit.ly/3DJntTa

About 3 months ago, the print version of this article had this lead: "Elon Musk has 240 billion in wealth [...] is there no upper limit?" Today, the same article came online with a small update: "Elon Musk has 400 billion in wealth [...] is there no upper limit?" www.lmu.de/en/newsroom/...

Yes! Taxing the super-rich is possible. 💪 🌍 Some governments are already doing it. 📜 The G20 has made a historic commitment. 🇺🇳 Most countries support new global tax rules at the UN. Let’s make it happen: https://buff.ly/42uqfp8 #TaxTheSuperRich

"The gap between the richest and poorest may not be widening, but it is not irrational for the middle classes to feel their position in society is in decline." As always, an excellent piece by @jburnmurdoch.bsky.social

📉Since 1980, global inequality between countries has dropped👉The income gap between the richest 10% of countries & the poorest 50% shrank from 20x to 9x. 📈 But within countries, inequality soared👉The gap between the top 10% & bottom 50% nearly doubled from 10x to 18x. wid.world #inequalitydata

An incentivized redistribution experiment with university students in China and France reveals differences in the way merit- and luck-based inequalities are perceived. Read the WP by Margot Belguise, @yuchenhuang.bsky.social & GC Stone Center postdoc @zhexunmo.bsky.social. #econsky bit.ly/4fQ1DLp

Coverage of our opening event last week "Extreme inequality isn't inevitable. There have been times when wealth inequality in Germany shrunk, such as after WWII [...] also driven by the 'Lastenausgleich,' likely the most radical redistribution effort of Germany" www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/v...