Wherever you look, alarm bells ring about government #debt seemingly spinning out of control. But is it really? Or might, as so often, some political agenda setting be at work here? jakobsteffen.substack.com/p/is-governm... #economics #PostKeynesianism #PKE #money

Is government debt really out of control?

And is inflation inevitably to follow?

jakobsteffen.substack.com

Fascinating symposium papers in the Review of Keynesian Economics on the matter of #hysteresis/path-dependence in #economics - Thread 🧵 https://www.elgaronline.com/view/journals/roke/11/4/roke.11.issue-4.xml

Review of Keynesian Economics Volume 11 Issue 4 (2023)

"Volume 11 (2023): Issue 4 (Nov 2023)" published on 14 Nov 2023 by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

elgaronline.com

These questions about the #IndustrialRevolution as presented by Robert Tombs in his "The English and Their History" will always remain a guideline for the social sciences - since the answers to them inevitably depend on the individual theoretical approach. #economics

Mills and Moors, by Charles Ernest Cundall, 1890-1971 (Kirklees Museums and Galleries). #NorthernArt

The notion of the state crowding out the private sector by its #deficitspending is currently trending. On my blog, I point out why it's a fallacy: #economics #PostKeynesianism #PKE #debt #rates jakobsteffen.substack.com/p/the-nonsen...

The nonsense of crowding out - by Jakob Steffen

Why a key term bandied about in academia and media is simply erroneous

jakobsteffen.substack.com

Used autos reduced core CPI by -0.3%-pt at annual rates in June. For context, Manheim's used auto price index is +19% ann. over the last three months vs +2% ann. for CPI used autos/trucks. Ex used auto, core prices up 3.1% ann., highest since the residual seasonality-impacted Jan spike to 5.5% ann.

🤩

Edinburgh O'Clock@edinburghclock.bsky.social · last yr.

Edinburgh O'Clock - 3 minutes to every hour. - we run fast so you don't miss your train. A new hourly image to brighten your day taken in #Scotland very often #Edinburgh and shared with love by Tom Duffin @tomduffinphotos.bsky.social. Please repost with your own caption.

'(...) he is an opportunist exploiting a nihilist moment of moral despair and cultural disorientation to install an anti-liberal value system that many millions perceive as a cure for nihilism itself.' This description of Trump by Sasha Mudd is the best I've read so far.

#Sunday observation: It would seem the purpose of all that modern communication technology is to enslave ourselves to the most irrelevant information. We expose us to a bombardment of messages clamouring for our attention real-time, even if it's only some friend passing on a not-really-funny meme 1/

Excellent analysis of the #altright trap #Tories are walking into these days by @samfr.bsky.social #Reform #UK #Badenoch app.prospectmagazine.co.uk/story/69424/...

Kemi Badenoch’s alt-right trap

The revolutionary authoritarianism of the online right, in which the Tory leader has got herself caught up, is anathema to people who just want a quiet life

app.prospectmagazine.co.uk

#Servicepost With #Trump's #tariffs unveiled, we're now unequivocally in the lower-left corner of this chart posted in January.

Jakob Steffen@jjsteffen.bsky.social · 2y ago

With Donald #Trump being inaugurated on Monday, I kick off my presence here with an analysis for my firm of various #tradewar scenarios, depending on how the 47th president chooses to implement his threats. Thread 🧵 1/

"The beginning of a productive #disagreement is #curiosity, not persuasion" - writes @adamgrant.bsky.social in Saturday's Financial Times. Or, even more condensed: #Listening is gold, perennial talking silver.

Now he schmoozes, now he threats: We're used to Donald #Trump's erratic behaviour. But is this madman theory reloaded, and can it work? Excellent article by Daniel Drezner in @foreignpolicy.com https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/madman-theory-international-relations-unpredictability/

Bang-on - and accurate for centre-left parties elsewhere. If they continue to fail to act against social injustice, this will only get worse #austerity #inequality https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/mar/28/fascism-britain-neoliberalism-opened-door-for-it-labour?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Elon #Musk's X is not so much about free speech - it's about unchecked power.

POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · last yr.

Elon Musk's social media platform X has suspended several accounts belonging to opposition figures in Turkey amid widespread civil unrest in the country.

Government agencies' market share is the extent of their remit. - JS #witticism

This is almost ludicrous - yet exactly what #Keynes meant with his famous 'animal spirits': German investor sentiment skyrockets past expectations on the massive deficit spending programme to be passed by the #Bundestag today. 1/ https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/zew-economic-sentiment-index

#Fashion advice: Beautiful, charismatic pocket handkerchiefs flourish from the pocket like a flower; aggressive, uniform-like ones take the angular form popular today.

What a marvel of a metaphor (and spot-on into the addition): 'Trump is so obsessed with free riders, he forgets that it has been in the US interest to drive the bus.' - Joseph Nye in the @financialtimes.com of March 8th

Exactly! Together with Starmer's newly-found purpose as co-leader of a self-reliant Europe taking care of Ukraine, this is the moment to confront the public with the uncomfortable things to come - and I believe the public will be far more understanding than many might think.

James Ball@jamesrball.com · last yr.

Labour will need to raise taxes to rearm, just like they already would've had to raise taxes to properly deliver public services. They are better having this conversation with voters now, before a narrative that public services are being cut to fund defence takes hold.

Die neue Episode meines Podcasts mit Thomas ist da 📯 Dieses Mal sprechen wir über die ambivalentr dt. Haltung zur #Sicherheitspolitik durch die Jahrzehnte - und warum sie so besonders erschüttert worden ist. #Zeitenwende https://www.buzzsprout.com/1549213/episodes/16676880

Episode #21 - Zeitenwende 2.0, Neorealismus und Kriegstüchtigkeit – die deutsche Wahrnehmung von Sicherheitspolitik seit Gründung der BRD

Deutschland steht vor der kritischsten sicherheitspolitischen Herausforderung seit den 1970er Jahren. Das Schlagwort von der Zeitenwende hat durch die Politik der neuen Trump-Administration in den USA eine noch größere Dimension erhalten; und Vert...

buzzsprout.com

Very thought-provoking blog post by Dan on a highly controversial subject (for full disclosure: I tend to side with him). This is a key part of where '#woke' (for want of a better label) went into self-destruction mode. #philosophy

Dan Williams@danwphilosophy.bsky.social · last yr.

I wrote about what Karl Popper called "conspiracy theories of ignorance": www.conspicuouscognition.com/p/on-conspir...

Looking for some brain fodder on your Sunday? Here, I demonstrate the compatibility of Knut #Wicksell and J.M. #Keynes, underlining there are two fundamentally different types of interest #rates, the interaction of which is essential for macro-#economics analysis as well as policy.

Truly mad king stuff www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/c...

Trump officials fired nuclear staff not realizing they oversee the country’s weapons stockpile, sources say | CNN

Some of the fired probationary employees included on-the-ground staff at facilities where nuclear weapons are built.

cnn.com

If you exclude #power from economic analysis, you define away what is a constituent in the #market #economy, crystallised in #money: 1/ #EconSky https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nvqkeyhynfszsg6z7gxj6ork/post/3lg3iaqydhh2t

🎙 Nächste Woche ist #Bundestagswahl - die Folge meines Podcasts mit Thomas Lämmer-Gamp zur letzten Wahl bietet noch immer eine gute polit-historische Einordnung dazu. #BTW25 🗳 https://open.spotify.com/episode/6tfmGNSwsymx2fcSs9SJgU

Episode #8 - Die Bundestagswahlen 1969 und 1998 - Epochenbrüche und dazwischen die "geistig-moralische Wende"? Die Wahl 2021 am roten Faden der Geschichte. - Weitreichend - der lange Arm der Geschichte | Podcast on Spotify

Weitreichend - der lange Arm der Geschichte · Episode

open.spotify.com

NB: You got to apply a #polarisation filter to every survey in the #US if you are to get any valid information. #EconSky

Menzie Chinn@mchinn.bsky.social · last yr.

Does zero y/y inflation as of Jan 2026 make sense? That's Republican response from Michigan survey #econsky econbrowser.com/archives/202...

True.

Nic Houghton @40percentgerman.bsky.social · last yr.

A difference between UK and #Germany is queuing. The British have serious rep, but really it's just quiet standing. In Germany, queuing is full contact sport. If you've never been flipped off by an Oma or felt the breath of the person behind on your neck, have you even queued?

After an attempt at a liberal, rules-based order, neo-realism takes over: In the clash between two superpowers and faced with a 'frenemy' who thinks but in terms of relative power, Europe (again) has the choice between bandwagoning or antagonising the US by appeasing China. @constelz.bsky.social

Good Lord - Chaminda seems to have been positively chafing while writing this 😅 I endorse this scathing thread and commend it to all #Labour adherents suffering out there: #UKpolitics #UK #Starmer

Chaminda Jayanetti@cjayanetti.bsky.social · last yr.

*sighs* A big reason Rishi Sunak crashed so heavily as PM was because he didn't lean into his image, reputation, or strong suits. His natural appeal was to liberal Cameronites in the Home Counties but instead he tried to out-Farage Farage with Rwanda, convincing nobody and alienating everyone