Fabian Schmidt
@fabschmidt.bsky.social
Political economist // Industrial policy for future // Brussels // Rail ultra
“in “a worst-case scenario … we have to have much more of an online presence than an offline one”” hahahahaha www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
‘Attack on civil society’: why Viktor Orbán’s favourite thinktank is in crisis
MCC Brussels received lavish funding from Budapest, but Hungary’s new PM is launching an investigation
theguardian.com
Few know this but almost all the economic news coming out of China for the past half decade -- Domestic Growth Slowdown! EVs! Solar! Exports! China Shock 2.0 etc etc -- is about this dramatic policy driven gear-shift of the domestic economy out of the property sector.
von mir aus darf sich jens spahn jederzeit auch ohne krankschreibung arbeitsunfähig melden
Good explanation why spending more on defence doesn’t mean we need to cut back on infrastructure, care, etc. Money is not the constraint, real resources are what matters.
Richard Murphy@richardjmurphy.bsky.social · last mo.Why politicians keep getting the economy wrong youtu.be/MyVsdntYWj4?... Politicians keep claiming there is a shortage of money - but that's nonsense. If there are resources to buy, they can always create the money to put them to use.
For centuries, Bedouins across the Middle East and North Africa have covered their entire body in the heat. They remain comfortable — or as comfortable as one can be in such temperatures — because their clothing is loose, thus allowing for airflow. This way, your body can breathe.
+39,5% market share for BEVs in Germany 🇩🇪 over the past 12 months -7,6% overall for vehicles that still run on fossil fuels If you don’t believe the narrative, check the facts. Electrification of transportation will only grow. It’s cheaper overall and reduces geopolitical exposure.
LeRaffl@leraffl.bsky.social · last mo.🇩🇪 Germany - TTM Market Split Jul24–Jun25 vs Jul25–Jun26 +6.4pp BEV (16.2% → 22.6%) +2.7pp PHEV (8.8% → 11.4%) −0.1pp HEV (28.8% → 28.7%) −9.0pp ICE (46.2% → 37.2%) If the last 6 months continued linearly, BEV would become the largest powertrain in 2027-05. leraffl.github.io/LeRaffl-Gall...
Ein paar Updates aus dem BMF: 1. Welche KTF-Programme wie stark gekürzt werden, wird bis zum 15. Juli entschieden. 2. In den nächsten Jahren wird die Abführung aus dem KTF eher noch höher ausfallen als 2027. 3. Kritik an diesem Vorgehen kann man im BMF absolut nicht nachvollziehen.
Incredible moment where Fox News puts up a graphic with all the reasons it opposes the DSA and why people should be afraid of them
A kick-ass chart by Matt McLean in @sondreus.bsky.social's fantastic retrospective of 250 years of American power www.economist.com/interactive/...
Portugal-Croatia showed again how ridiculous the whole VAR thing is. We cannot see with our naked eyes if the player touched the ball or not but we destroy the whole dynamic of the game with the crushing weight of a meaningless bureacratic act. VAR must go, so that football can live.
Die Bundesregierung will per Gesetz eine Vergesellschaftung von Wohnungen unterbinden. Das widerspricht den Möglichkeiten, die Art. 15 Grundgesetz bietet. Dass die SPD dies mitträgt ist historisch bemerkenswert: Denn die SPD machte damals ihre Zustimmung zum Grundgesetz von Art. 15 GG abhängig.
“The Commission estimates that the measure exempting companies from withholding tax alone will save corporations around €5.3 billion per year. These are direct tax cuts, not administrative savings.” … when ‘simplification’ just means handing it over to the multinationals
EPSU@epsu.bsky.social · last mo.Tax omnibus: blank cheque for multinationals! It brings new tax breaks for corporations and weaker safeguards against avoidance! And of course, less revenue for public services already under pressure.
😍this is my politics electric school buses for kids turning into even more of a public utility than they already are by helping the grid out....
Patrick Siegman@siegman.biz · last mo.Parked but not idle: The buses “will charge up their nearly 200-kilowatt-hour batteries overnight, when the power supply is at its cleanest & cheapest, then send energy back to the grid from 4 pm to 7 pm on days when the grid is strained. The district will earn revenue for the power it shares…”
It's hot as balls in the city. Good thing we've got all these glass and metal hotboxes everywhere instead of trees
Bei Rente via Umlageverfahren: Lohnsteigerungen sind gut für die Rentenfinanzierung. Arbeitende 🤝 Renter*innen Bei Rente via Kapitaldeckung: Lohnsteigerungen, so sie die Profite und damit die Aktienpreise mindern, sind schlecht für die Rentenfinanzierung. Arbeitende⚡️ Renter*innen.
Benjamin Braun@benbraun.eurosky.social · last mo.Die Koalition will einen Rentenfonds nach 🇸🇪 Vorbild, in den 2% des Lohns fließen. Wie schon bei Lindners Aktienrente (remember him?) greift die progressive Kritik an diesem Element der #rentenreform viel zu kurz. Internationale Evidenz zeigt: Kapitaldeckung = Finanzialisierungsmaschine. 🧵
"China's electricity system is now roughly 1.7× larger than the US and EU combined." Combined.
Chris Meder@evcurvefuturist.com · last mo.🚨 China just became the first country in history to surpass 4 TW of installed electricity capacity. • 4.01 TW total capacity • 62% non-fossil • 61% renewable • ~1.5% nuclear • 32% coal (down from 61% in 2010) China's electricity system is now roughly 1.7× larger than the US and EU combined.
The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking is right
Tarik Abou-Chadi@tabouchadi.bsky.social · last mo.The fact that people are treating Morocco winning against the Netherlands as a huge sensation tells you so much about how we look at football. Morocco: semi-finalist at the last world cup, Africa cup winner, 6th in the Fifa world ranking. I wonder what makes people treat them differently.
France is actively pushing for new revenue sources in the EU budget 2028–2034 as a way to avoid politically toxic debates about higher national contributions. Good! We have just completed a study analysing various options for new own resources 🧵
Italian manufacturers have excellent capabilities in electrolyser &heat pump equipment. High competitive advantage per our Hopkins NZIPL lab's CICE model. More generally, can use this 2 by 2 to prioritize EU's strategy on what to compete, see Carnegie report. carnegieendowment.org/europe/resea...
a lot of people have heard about the rooftop solar boom in Pakistan Looks like same thing is now unfolding in the Philippines www.reuters.com/business/ene...
Philippines leads the world in rush to solar as power prices soar
People in the Philippines are flocking to install solar power on rooftops and escape the burden of soaring electricity prices, making it the world's biggest spender on solar panels since the war in ...
reuters.com
Electrification Electrification Electrification
Jeremy Cliffe@jeremycliffe.bsky.social · last mo.8) Double down on net zero, but as economic policy not climate policy. Stop talking about net zero and start talking about electrification. UK was fast to digital tech where others clung to fax machines; now it is fast to electric industry where others cling to clunky old fossil fuels. Own it.
3) Move the capital to Manchester. I've been banging on about this for almost a decade (see below) but the point stands: devolution is good but creating a viable second centre to UK would be much, much better. www.economist.com/bagehots-not...
The pragmatic case for moving Britain’s capital to Manchester
The vast Victorian complex by the Thames is in a dreadful state
economist.com
Übrigens gab' es in Frankreich während dieser Hitzewelle eine Ansprache des Premierministers, einen angeordneten "Sommer ohne Urlaub" für alle Kabinettsmitglieder, 100 Mios Soforthilfen für Hitzeschutz für Kliniken, Altenheime und andere sensible Spots, eine sofortige Verdopplung des geplanten
Tooze's hate for oligarchic German industrial families is so pure. Chartbook on EU's China Shock 2.0 argues 1 This is 'mercantilist on mercantilist violence'. EU surpluses to rest of the world vs CN surpluses to EU 2 Germany's car industry REFUSAL to invest. adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-...
Nächste Woche kommt der #Bundeshaushalt 2027. Sich darin zurecht zu finden, ist kompliziert. Wir helfen dabei: mit unserem Haushaltstracker. Er ist der erste Datensatz, der die Bundesfinanzen komplett erfasst und an einer Stelle bündelt. /1
They tried their best to give it the real American vibe
Dave Keating@davekeating.substack.com · last mo.Two European Correspondent journalists who had been invited as press to cover the Trump-themed "Freedom 250" celebration in the heart of the EU Quarter yesterday say they were kicked out after asking the US ambassador a question he didn't like. europeancorrespondent.com/en/r/the-us-...
At the Cycle-Race Track by Jean Metzinger, 1912 https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137890
A strange thing, the expansion of electrification: it will come sooner or later, but it is VERY important that it comes sooner.
Georg Weizsäcker@georgweizsaecker.bsky.social · 2mo agoA letter from mainstream economists to the 🇩🇪 government, with a simple message: Renew and Electrify, to counter the energy crisis. www.bundeswirtschaftsministerium.de/Redaktion/DE... 1/n
