Today my book on the Dutch neoliberal turn is officially out with Verso Books! Thanks for the wonderful blurbs from @quinnslobodian.com, @mkonings.bsky.social, Stephanie Mudge, Niklas Olsen and @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social. Will be presenting the book in september. More info below

No Nonsense

In the 1980s, Dutch politics underwent a neoliberal turn overseen by the Christian Democrat Ruud Lubbers. It formed part of an interna­tional trend, famously spearheaded by Reagan and Thatcher. What w...

versobooks.com

Details for the 2026 Wheelwright Lecture, the marquee event of the year for Political Economy, at the University of Sydney with Geoff Mann on *Climates of Uncertainty* @geoffmann.bsky.social @garethbryant.bsky.social @sydney.edu.au @mkonings.bsky.social @clairerhiannon.bsky.social

2026 Wheelwright Lecture | Geoff Mann | Climates of Uncertainty - Progress in Political Economy (PPE)

What can the ways we wrestle with uncertain futures—like climate models, prediction markets, high-tech promises, or reactionary revanchism—tell us about a world without a “normal”?

ppesydney.net

Over @ppesydney.bsky.social we are celebrating Martijn Koning's new book *The Bailout State* with this interview on state theory, the Minsky “moment”, the Keynesian revolution, Modern Monetary Theory and so much more @politybooks.bsky.social @mkonings.bsky.social

The Bailout State - Progress in Political Economy (PPE)

How did we end up in a world where social programs are routinely cut in the name of market discipline and fiscal austerity, yet large banks get bailed out whenever they get into trouble?

ppesydney.net

“The regulatory state is so compromised, and wealth so concentrated, that the investor-class just keeps pumping money in. The endgame seems to be that the AI industry achieves too-big-to-fail status, &… can demand a bailout once the whole thing implodes.” davekarpf.beehiiv.com/p/the-data-c...

The Data Center Bankshot

The

davekarpf.beehiiv.com

"What makes universities particularly valuable as a ‘space for exceptions’ is the same thing that makes people hate them." newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...

Lorna Finlayson, Irreversible — Sidecar

On Britain’s universities.

newleftreview.org

My best guess re the near future: Warsh and Bessent will push for inflation to be managed with more direct instruments like price controls, freeing the Fed up to be responsive to Trump's demands for lower (or at least not higher) interest rates. From 2029, a Democratic administration 1/3

Robert Owen@petit-a.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Excellent article. Any speculation on what this means for the Asset Economy? Despite Bessent's populist rhetoric, I find it hard to believe that a Warsh/Bessent partnership means anything good for working people -- or bad for asset prices.

Wrote on the twilight of independent central banking (always a myth, but a plausible one for some time) for Jacobin. While central bankers "may want to stay out of politics, they simply have no moves left that do not contradict the neutrality they profess." jacobin.com/2026/05/wars...

The Era of Central Bank Independence Is Coming to an End

Central bank independence has been a sacred cow for the last generation in the major capitalist economies. Donald Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair symbolizes the beginning of a new era ...

jacobin.com

get caught up on the backstory while you can't get caught up on grading theamericanvandal.substack.com/p/historyofc...

The Secret History of Canvas LMS, Corporate Raiders, & The Chatbot Bubble (Vandal Live at UVU)

Listen now (112 mins) | with Christa Albrecht-Crane, Angie McKinnon Carter, and Chiler Moore

theamericanvandal.substack.com

My new book Currency of Nihilism is officially out today! In it, I develop a history and theory of financial nihilism that speaks directly to the ongoing merger of digital technology with finance. Use the code SAMMAN20 for 20% off: www.sup.org/books/politi... mngbookshop.co.uk/978150364586...

It's not Marxism. It's not post-structuralism. It's a secret third thing. 🥸 The Ontology of the Monetary Image (Wonkish)

Money on the Left@moneyontheleft.bsky.social · 5mo ago

✨ New essay! ✨ In his latest piece, @greenbackbetter.bsky.social complicates both Marxist & deconstructive critiques of money-as-failed-identity to affirm what he terms "référance"—a practice of open public reference, analogy & reconstructive coordination. Please read & share! 👩‍💻 🙌

A lot of the money behind the AI boom is coming from pension funds of working class people and when parts of the AI bubble burst, private capital gets protected, while ordinary people can be left with the losses. The AI Data Center Gold Rush: The Bailout State Behind It - youtu.be/fHwYIFa1mNE

Terrifying thought, just imagine - "Without solutions, America’s anxiety will become rage — and political backlash will follow" www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/o...

Opinion | America Cannot Withstand the Economic Shock That’s Coming

nytimes.com

“Much of the American public associates abundance with the ideas put forth by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson...While they are certainly part of the picture, the incomplete policy ideas championed in the airplane book are only a glimpse of the entire abundance universe." Read the report. If you can. 🤢

Who is Behind the Growing Abundance Movement? | Revolving Door Project

Who is behind the fast-growing abundance movement? Who are the billionaires and media figures helping it gain popularity?

therevolvingdoorproject.org

People referring to Claude Code in fifty years.

Martijn Konings@mkonings.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Once nostalgia starts, it's unstoppable..

Once nostalgia starts, it's unstoppable..

Like 99% of people on here, I now have a stake in the financial future of Anthropic - so I feel deeply conflicted about their surprisingly ethical stance. Will have to learn to live with this unresolvable tension.

So good - "In a bit of profound irony, data-center construction has broken free of the choke points decried by abundance to the point that it is now bidding up land value and resulting in further constraints on the supply of housing" newrepublic.com/article/2064...

The Abundance Gang Has a Big AI Problem

The faddish political movement’s ties to industry figures may help attract funding, but it comes with a political cost.

newrepublic.com

@dylangyauchl.bsky.social could you follow me so I can message you? (Can't seem to find an email address).

Go read my latest in the monthly about affordability politics and why it's deeper than just price levels!

Washington Monthly@washingtonmonthly.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Beyond lowering prices, an affordability agenda needs to reckon with how the economy actually feels, @dylangyauchl.bsky.social writes. washingtonmonthly.com/2026/02/11/w...

The abundance clique has an AI problem. Beyond being funded by Silicon Valley, the ecosystem features an array of tech libertarians, a smattering of technofascism, and no answers for our anti-AI moment. Read @dylangyauchl.bsky.social in @newrepublic.com! newrepublic.com/article/2064...

The Abundance Gang Has a Big AI Problem

The faddish political movement’s ties to industry figures may help attract funding, but it comes with a political cost.

newrepublic.com

"what the politics of private finance teaches is the inadequacy of considering only what we can achieve in the short term, given the political constraints" www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/fin...

Finance in the Dark | Lenore Palladino | Finance in the Dark

An opaque sector is reshaping the US. Only ambitious regulatory reform can check its power.

phenomenalworld.org

nil impact no use case fortune.com/2026/02/17/a...

Thousands of CEOs just admitted AI had no impact on employment or productivity—and it has economists resurrecting a paradox from 40 years ago | Fortune

In the 1980s, economist Robert Solow made an observation that reminded economists of today’s AI boom: “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.”

fortune.com

It wasn’t just the child tax credit. And it’s not just the Republicans.

@7z7z7z.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Pretty much all of this is the expansion (by Democrats) of the Child Tax Credit, followed by its expiry (by Republicans). While it was in place there was no positive movement in economic sentiment, when it was taken away republicans paid no electoral penalty.

“Any discussion of rent regulation has to grapple with the fact that owners of residential buildings pay most of their rent earnings not on maintenance or operations, but to service their debts to their creditors.” NEW by @jwmason.bsky.social www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/aft...

After the Rent Freeze | JW Mason

The cost of affordable housing in New York City

phenomenalworld.org

The Oxford Handbook of Constituent Power is out today! Peter Niesen (based @politikuhh.bsky.social), Lucia Rubinelli (@luxirubsi.bsky.social) and I consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to be able to publish the contributions of so many wonderful colleagues. global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Oren Cass or David Harvey?

What Jeffrey Epstein knew about money Epstein’s emails show how the financial elite consolidated their wealth amid global turmoil 🖊️ @willdunn.bsky.social

What Jeffrey Epstein knew about money

Epstein's emails show how the financial elite consolidated their wealth in global turmoil

newstatesman.com

Democratic elites chose donors over workers. Without an aggressive economic agenda they risk becoming the permanent minority party, warns Thomas Ferguson. @bostonreview.bsky.social  www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

Macroeconomics is the driver, not median voters.

Thomas Ferguson responds in a forum on “How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism.”

bostonreview.net

I often wonder if the tendency to mistake basic emotions (whether cruelty or despair) for deep insight is a distinctive feature of our era or something of all times. It seems to require both a definite capacity for critical thinking and a willingness to abuse it.

Aaron Ross Powell@aaronrosspowell.com · 6mo ago

A statement against doomerism as some kind of intellectually elevated, clued-in reaction to the horrors of our political moment.