John Springford
@johnspringford.bsky.social
Economist and occasional politics dabbler. Working on a project to improve labour markets. Associate fellow, Centre for European Reform. Visiting fellow, Institute for Policy Research, Bath University.
Death Of Stalin stuff. It's the gravitas of the staging and the ludicrousness of the words
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2h agoholy shit -- Schiff ties Trump's judicial nominees in knots by asking them who won the 2016 before *before* asking them who won in 2020, which results in them sounding like election deniers about Trump's victories!
at the stack, I talk rent again, and explain the One Weird Trick behind the Zohranmarket backofmind.substack.com/p/rent-alway...
rent, always rent
economics of the Zohranmarket
backofmind.substack.com
My thoughts on where Andy Burnham’s (and the Left’s in general) priorities on the economy should be futureoftheleft.substack.com/p/the-left-m...
The Left must focus on where the jobs will be, not where it wishes they would be
A series on the politics of production.
futureoftheleft.substack.com
Interesting passage in the mea culpa on antisemitism from Tory council candidate at centre of selection row, supporting the view - fiercely denied by most on left at the time - that Corbyn was a magnet drawing antisemitic cranks into Labour.
No mention of anti-Muslim hatred. This isn't mere whataboutery - if the argument is former neo-Nazis should be selected having renounced their antisemitic views, it'd be stronger if it mentioned a form of hate that is as prevalent and dangerous. conservativehome.com/2026/08/05/j...
Joshua Bonehill-Paine: Britain is failing its Jews. I know where this hatred leads | Conservative Home
The Government, police, universities and political parties must stop treating this as a passing controversy. Those who threaten Jews or attack Jewish institutions must face serious consequences, and t...
conservativehome.com
You can/should read Emily Wilson's latest take on the Odyssey, but I'm logging on to convey my hairdresser's reaction. She was AGHAST that Nolan, with his million $ budget, gave Matt Damon ONLY 6 hair extensions. As a result, his hair did not blow around properly, & that ruined the film for her.
Evans-Pritchard once accused me of malpractice, and this is typically overstated, but he's worth reading. Forecasts of UK net electricity exports may be wrong, given higher capital costs/UK's suitability for solar. But the North Sea will be crucial for north-west Europe www.cer.eu/publications...
Power losses: What's holding back European electricity trade?
The EU is falling behind in its push to create a European power market. This analysis sets out a five-point plan for the EU and national governments to hasten integration.
cer.eu
Roland Smith@rolandmcs.bsky.social · 12h agoAnother upbeat energy article by Ambrose E-P in the Telegraph that also slaps the Tories over their green energy stance. archive.ph/Ypxmt
New piece from me: Getting over the 2030 energy bill bump On how we're in a period of unusually high energy bills that we should be able to escape from - but only if we start making serious progress on electrification www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-ene...
The energy edit: getting over the 2030 energy bill bump
Every six weeks Andrew Sissons assesses the most important signals and trends underpinning the UK’s energy transition.
nesta.org.uk
EU home affairs ministers do/say they'll do this list. www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/...
Informal video conference of home affairs ministers
Over video conference, ministers of home affairs addressed current developments in Ceuta.
consilium.europa.eu
John Springford@johnspringford.bsky.social · 3d agoMy advice to EU leaders (who aren't far right): Offer help to the country concerned if it’s asked for, express sorrow for the deaths of people who are being manipulated into crossing borders illegally. Investigate and publish any co-ordination. Remove benefits to countries that weaponise migration.
This is what happens when anti-racism norms erode, and elites bear a lot of the responsibility for norm erosion, as they have disproportionate power to set and enforce norms
Charles EP Murphy@cepmurphy.bsky.social · yesterdaynews.sky.com/story/nhs-st... stereotypically this has been seen as Old People, but not only would the old people of now have often been born post-Windrush, lot of this will be younger people who've always lived in a diverse Britain. The guy with a pregnant wife likely millennial at oldest
"One of the things that is quite refreshing about Andy Burnham compared to his predecessor is that he is at least interested in policy." 💬 @jillongovt.bsky.social on differences between Burnham and Starmer when it comes to both tax reform and policy For more 👉 ukandeu.ac.uk/events/ukice...
Bluesky doesn't work that well for me because all the serious economists/public policy/politics people aren't on here, from whatever persuasion, so the discussion is less productive. But I can find their views on the issues of the day elsewhere. Quality newspapers, eg.
Sometimes nothing beats a Twirl and a can of lemonade. There, I said it
Wrote about the deafening silence on our summer of climate impacts from Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens, business leaders, and even some campaign groups. The dominant climate discourse from the past week has been from those who want to ditch net zero targets and trash decarbonisation policies.
Jessica Elgot@jessicaelgot.bsky.social · 2d agoWe are in the third drought in five years. We have the National Trust and NFU - those radical types - sounding the alarm on unprecedented temperatures. But so little from any single figure in politics talking about the climate crisis.
a) begs the question- the Commission cannot just say "zap" and stop Moroccans in the water b) on its own terms, it is high on its own supply - the Commission is in fact big into restrictions on migration via the asylum pact and return regulation, fine with Polish pushbacks, Libya deals etc
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 3d agoThis piece was published Sat afternoon. It could win awards for incoherence. Its big point is the EU Commission had no interest in stopping these people going into Europe By the time it was published it was clear none had done so www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Good piece. A thread on some comments I made yesterday on Times Radio. Two things can be true at the same time: 1. It’s very bad to have 60,000 people storm a border, and 70+ deaths. 2. European leaders' responses were opportunistic and disproportionate, and made incidents like this more likely.
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 3d agoVance, Farage and Weidel posted fear-mongering messages about a Spanish migrant crisis that weren't true. They haven't retracted them. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The absence of spillovers from higher energy prices into broader inflation explains why central banks remain cautious. open.substack.com/pub/gerlachm...
Why Central Banks Aren’t Raising Rates
Short comment
open.substack.com
"Europe has never been serious about stopping migration", says Camilla Long in an entirely research-free piece. She claims that Spain/the EU are lying about the fact that most people in Ceuta have returned to Morocco. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Ceuta is what happens when you’re not serious about migration
Ursula von der Leyen doesn’t seem to care about the tide of people rushing the Spanish border. Voters in Britain will
thetimes.com
Three thoughts on the pandemic discourse. 1) you can't reach a view on what to do next time because next time the infectiousness and mortality will be different from last time. 2) presumably we'd start out thinking a vaccine will arrive much faster, because of the new technologies and experience.
The ST leader is even worse. No realism on adaptation costs and how they will rise indefinitely until net zero is reached. No question about who pays these costs. No understanding of the marginal nature of N Sea gas. No acceptance of the risks of continued gas reliance. bsky.app/profile/jes1...
Jason Scott-Warren@jes1003.bsky.social · 3d agoSunday Times leader today. petition.parliament.uk/petitions/76...
Agree. This is the point of having enquiries, so we can make better political decisions in another airborne pandemic (earlier lockdowns for adults to crush transmission, much more investment in keeping schools safe eg)
The News Agents@thenewsagents.co.uk · 5d ago“I’m glad we live in a country that is deferential to expertise - but at times in the pandemic, that did go too far.” “I’m not sure school closures were a price worth paying.” Lewis on how ‘legitimate questions’ have emerged - and should be asked - about how we handled Covid.
Definitely medical. I'd go with the covid vaccination programme. ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccin...
Matthew Downhour @matthewdownhour.bsky.social · 5d agoI like this brainstorm: greatest achievements since 1969. Number one for me: eradicating smallpox What else?
The Ceuta 'crisis' is just political fuckery from Morocco in retaliation for Sánchez' visit to Algeria in July. It's all related to the conflict in Western Sahara. It has nothing to do with Spain's enforcement of the EU's external border. Amazing how thin EU solidarity is on this issue.
Learned a lot from this. Also Sam's point about keeping options open reinforces the view that we specialise too early in *academic* subjects. Numeracy and literacy are very useful, but you can stop doing any maths/stats/humanities at 16.
Sam Freedman@samfr.bsky.social · 4d agoNew post just out: "Burnham's first mistake" Splitting 14 year olds into academic and vocational paths seems intuitive. But it's a terrible idea that risks increasing inequality, and closing down options for the young people that need them most. (£/free trial) open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/b...
A fascist party founded just months ago polled 8.7%, ahead of the Conservatives, in the Manchester mayoral election. What’s happening on the right of British politics is terrifying.
Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk · 5d agoGreater Manchester Mayoral By-Election Result: 🌹 Craig | LAB: 47.2% ➡️ Astley | RFM: 21.0% 🌍 Coggins | GRN: 12.2% ◼️ West | RES: 8.7% 🌳 Eckersley | CON: 7.7% 🔶 Kilpatrick | LDM: 2.2% 🙋 Farmer | Ind: 0.6% 2nd Round: 🌹 Craig | LAB: 66.3% ➡️ Astley | RFM: 33.7% Labour HOLD.
