📢📢"Positioning firms along the capabilities ladder" New paper in ICC [Open Access] with Nanditha Mathew and Emanuele Pugliese Paper: doi.org/10.1093/icc/... Youtube video [16m07]: youtu.be/Ls0uZb9fVN0 #EconSky

This - a battery drive train that inserts between a lorry cab and its trailer and can electrify existing lorries - seems like a cool idea. Business model rests on building a network of swapping stations and having them used often enough, sadly, which is v hard to pull off

Anyway , my favourite Odyssey bits were these bits

A longer version of this thread is here, complete with statutory references and an explanation of why the analogy is so close to how social care actually works. taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/07/27/s...

Call for papers! 4th New Thinking in Industrial Policy Conference @columbiauniversity.bsky.social, Nov. 6, 2026. Conference page: cdep.sipa.columbia.edu/content/new-.... Submit here (deadline Sept. 14): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F....

Misinformation is rife on social media and plays a key role in fuelling racist abuse, violence and even riots But the way we regulate it is - bluntly - rubbish In the second part of my look at social media regulation, I focus on our flawed approach to misinformation and how we might improve it:

How do you solve a problem like social media? Part II - misinformation

Misinformation and disinformation are among the worst online scourges, with huge real-world impacts. Why are our regulations so weak? And are there risks in making them stronger?

chamindajayanetti.substack.com

What is best way for Burnham to cut energy bills, could GB Energy or some state-owned entity finance parts of transmission and storage infrastructure on terms that allow lower user fees?

Fires are burning larger, hotter and fiercer. The Peak District blaze has set into the peat, meaning it can smoulder underground and flare up again easily. Severity indexes are off the charts.

I am sure Burnham falls short etc. but maybe everyone on the left could not create a miasma of criticism around him already? I would like Reform to lose. (I don't know how to balance things, "don't criticise your own side" is a bad rule, but "remember who the real bad guys are" is a good rule)

"We find that GLP-1 treatment reduces long-term sickness leave by 17.3%. We estimate total fiscal benefits of GLP-1 initiation of approximately 1.3–1.5% of annual labor income per employed individual" www.nber.org/papers/w35475

The Labor Market Impacts of GLP-1s

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

Has anyone seen any good work on balance of payments implications on AI? A lot of businesses around the world are going to be sending $s to the USA to use it, and if they jack prices it could be of macro significance.

Has someone modelled this forward and tried to predict date at which UK could flip into a housing surplus

Josiah Mortimer@josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 3w ago

Wow. The Department for Education has just published new projections which estimate that the number of pupils in state-funded schools in England will plummet by more than 9% by 2031 amid falling birth rates And yet this issue receives probably 1,000th of the coverage the immigration debate receives

I have a piece in the NYT today arguing that the law should permit victims of ICE abuse to sue not just individual officers, but supervisors and policymakers like Stephen Miller and Gregory Bovino. A Democratic president and Congress could do this in 2029. And they could make it retroactive.

Opinion | ICE Is Out of Control. Here’s What to Do About It.

Congress must push back against our inhumane immigration tactics.

nytimes.com

The UK gov wants asylum seekers to repay £10k of their accommodation costs. We ran the numbers, gov could raise 3.5x more in tax & lower support costs by asking asylum seekers to work instead (with @helen-dempster.bsky.social & @ianmitchell1.bsky.social) cgdev.org/blog/asking-...

The rollout of high speed internet in Uruguay worsended early childhood development. But not because the kids spent too much time in front of screens, because the parents did. cepr.org/voxeu/column...

High-speed internet and early childhood development: Causal evidence from a countrywide programme

The rapid expansion of high-speed internet has intensified concerns about how digital technologies affect early childhood. Using the staggered rollout of fibre optic to the home in Uruguay as a natura...

cepr.org

I don't know whether sitting deep like that is a tactical decision or a sort of collective panic and nobody is choosing to do it.

interesting evidence about the Brazillian healthcare model where hospital management is outsourced to private sector, but care is free at point of use and the state retains ownership. It seems to work well (productivity up, quality measures look OK, mortality decreases a little)

Public Services Under Private Management*

Abstract. Theory predicts that outsourcing public services to the private sector can reduce costs and improve efficiency but can also induce cost-cutting a

academic.oup.com

I'm doing the only rational thing and supporting France and Spain

big solar! 1GW round the clock (which takes 5.2GW of panels and 19GWh of battery) masdar.ae/en/news/news...

A Chinese start-up says it has a working superior alternative to the lithography machines that make computer chips (which China does not possess) . www.scmp.com/tech/big-tec...

Chinese chip start-up launches 8-inch production line pilot for 2D chips

The company says the production line launch marks a critical step towards China’s drive for tech self-sufficiency.

scmp.com

Just why does that Belgian supporter think he can dress up as Obelix?

I don't think anyone on here really follows me for my work output, but anyway here are two blogs about what more smaller bilateral DFIs can do on mobilization, and whether the securitisation that the MDBs are now doing would work: www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insi... www.bii.co.uk/en/news-insi...

Bilateral DFIs and mobilisation - British International Investment

bii.co.uk

When people say it's all about money, what income links Messi staying in the competition to FIFA? Does it take a % of TV ratings? Shirt sales?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... Why on earth say you're going to remove this on Monday, when he could have put us into the semis

Jude Bellingham station will keep name until Monday

The station was renamed to give England a boost before the match with Mexico - in which Jude Bellingham shone.

bbc.co.uk

Paddy Carter@paddycarter.bsky.social · last mo.

here is a UK start-up I wasn't aware of, trying to use SMRs in shipping: from a rather depressing survey of shipping fuels in FT: www.ft.com/content/2eb3... also features someone planning to build ammonia fueling Namibia (they have also ordered 12 ammonia capable ships) cmb.tech/namibia/ammo...

CORE POWER - What We Build

Ship-based nuclear energy systems that deliver reliable power where industry and nations need it most.

corepower.energy

A (virtually) free book from a great sci-fi writer

Paul McAuley@unlikelyworlds.bsky.social · last mo.

Reminder that the ebook of Loss Protocol (‘an eco-thriller like no other’ — the Guardian) can still be yours for just 0.99 GBP on Kobo, Amazon etc

The best outcome of the Mexico-England game for me was that it reminded me of the existence of this classic youtu.be/va6nPu-1auE

Fat Les - Vindaloo (Official HD Video)

YouTube video by Ultimate

youtu.be

Beautiful

I think we are missing Saka