The @ecb.europa.eu looks set to raise interest rates on Thursday. But that would be a mistake, I argue in my latest column for @projectsyndicate.bsky.social 🧵 #econsky www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...

The ECB Should Not Raise Interest Rates Yet

Philippe Legrain argues that while the data are cause for vigilance, monetary tightening would be dangerously premature.

project-syndicate.org

#Brexit was not just stupid, it was spectacularly badly timed. Stupid, cos disrupting trade with your main trading partner is inevitably costly. Badly timed, cos Brexiteers envisaged the UK embracing the US & a free-trading (and peaceful) global future. 🧵 www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/2...

Ten years on from the Brexit referendum, is Trump pushing the UK back into the arms of the EU?

British economist Philippe Legrain explains the shifting sands in the UK's relationship with the EU.

brusselstimes.com

Will the #IranWar plunge Europe into recession? Amid unprecedented disruption to global oil and gas supplies, it now faces a triple blow of higher energy costs, inflated borrowing costs and increased uncertainty. 🧵 #econsky www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/2...

Will the Iran war plunge Europe into recession?

In the 1970s, two big oil shocks sent inflation soaring and depressed Europe’s economy. Could history be about to repeat itself?

brusselstimes.com

Employment rates for non-EU born are now *above* those for the UK born. Gap used be nearly 10 percentage points. A tribute to the success of UK immigration/immigrants and labour market integration, especially in recent years. Something government should celebrate..

#EU leaders have just gathered for yet another discussion on how to make Europe's economy more "competitive". That's the wrong target; the aim should be to make the EU more dynamic. 🧵#econsky www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

How to revitalise Europe’s economy

"Europe’s core problem is that it has a corporatist economic model that favours big established companies."

brusselstimes.com

The price of #gold has plunged over the past week, but is still up more than 10% this year and has nearly doubled since the start of 2025. Is it just a #bubble? Or are there sound reasons for gold's safe-haven appeal? www.brusselstimes.com/1949906/the-...

The new gold rush: Why investors are suddenly flocking to buy gold

The price of gold recently hit a record high, before falling back. Is it a bubble, or are there valid reasons for this rally?

brusselstimes.com

My guide to getting over reading block in @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/12c0...

Sathnam Sanghera: Help! I’ve fallen out of love with reading

The writer stopped picking up a book for pleasure some time ago, choosing box sets and social media instead. Here’s how he got over his reader’s block

thetimes.com

After the #Greenland crisis, Europeans need to face facts: they can't rely on #Trump to protect them from #Russia; indeed, he too poses a threat. It's time to accelerate plans to reduce Europe’s military, economic & tech dependence on Trump’s America. www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/1937...

Europe needs independence from Trump’s America

"The storm over Greenland may have abated for now, but Europe’s relations with Donald Trump remain grim."

brusselstimes.com

Good ideas from @martinsandbu.ft.com on what Europe needs to do to put more pressure on Putin, and be indispensable to talks about #Ukraine www.ft.com/content/7409...

Europe must turn the tables on Putin before talking

The priority should be to maximise strategic leverage — and only then pursue communication channels

ft.com

When in 2019 Trump first suggested the US acquire #Greenland, Europeans dismissed the idea as a bad joke. But they’re not laughing now. My @brusselstimes.com column explains why Trump wants it, how he might gain control & what that would mean for Europe. www.brusselstimes.com/1910890/afte...

Europe braces as Trump targets Greenland

Trump has three options on how to acquire Greenland.

brusselstimes.com

Superb @mortenmorland.bsky.social 🤣

Good piece by @plegrain.bsky.social - thanks for mentioning my "bad bank" proposal for the blocked Russian reserves.

#EU leaders are quick to tweet that they #StandWithUkraine But talk is cheap. Unless they're willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are 'all mouth and no trousers'. www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ that Donald Trump wants to trade for peace Known as the Donbas, the region has become the fulcrum of fraught US-led diplomacy to end Russia’s full-scale invasion. A bit of history, the recent past & present in my @financialtimes.com piece today www.ft.com/content/ec49...

Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ that Donald Trump wants to trade for peace

Known as the Donbas, the region has become the fulcrum of fraught US-led diplomacy to end Russia’s full-scale invasion

ft.com

#EU leaders are quick to tweet that they #StandWithUkraine But talk is cheap. Unless they're willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are 'all mouth and no trousers'. www.brusselstimes.com/eu-affairs/1...

Europe must stand with Ukraine, or they will fall together

"EU leaders are quick to tweet that they 'stand with Ukraine'. But talk is cheap. Unless they are willing to follow words with action, Putin will rightly conclude that they are all mouth and no trouse...

brusselstimes.com

Trump & #Putin negotiating on #Ukraine without consulting Europeans #EU capitulating to #Trump on trade EU factories choked by #China's rare-earth curbs Now global decisions dictated by hard-power realities not technocratic rules, once-mighty EU is puny. www.brusselstimes.com/column/18342...

Why the EU isn’t a superpower yet

The EU has four big weaknesses that prevent it standing up to superpowers such as the US and China.

brusselstimes.com

www.gov.uk/government/s...

I ran an experiment, simultaneously posting articles on Bluesky and X, and then testing to see how many people actually clicked and read them. The numbers on Bluesky are higher, both because the X algorithm downranks journalism, and because Bluesky attracts readers, not just shitposters.

Trump on Ukraine's attack on russian airbases and russia’s attack on Ukrainian cities: “They gave Putin a reason to go and bomb the hell out of them… When I saw it, I said, here we go, now it’s going to be a strike…” (Russia has been bombing Ukraine nonstop for over 3 years.)

Later this month, #NATO is set to agree targets for higher #defence spending, by some future date. But Europe needs to rearm massively, right now. The threat from Putin is imminent, as is the risk that Trump abandons #Europe, or betrays it. 🧵 philippelegrain.substack.com/p/europe-nee...

Europe needs to rearm much faster

How to overcome the three constraints: fiscal rules, financial borrowing power and political feasibility

philippelegrain.substack.com

Merz getting out of Washington with Trump too distracted to target Brussels, Berlin or Kyiv with stupid shit is a win for Germany

Nicolai von Ondarza@nvondarza.bsky.social · last yr.

All the preparation Merz Put into the meeting with Trump today, and nothing he said will have stuck, with Trump and Musk now entering full blown war.

Elon Musk is going to end up getting deported.

The EU has an extensive sanctions regime against Russia - but it is constantly under threat of a veto from Hungary and Slovakia as it requires unanimity to be extended .In my latest piece I argue that the EU can overcome this by accusing Russia of economic coercion 1/n) www.cer.eu/insights/cas...

The case for using the Anti-Coercion Instrument against Russia

The EU sanctions regime against Russia is threatened by a Hungarian veto. The Anti-Coercion Instrument would allow the EU to bypass Budapest.

cer.eu

Yes, this was very powerful. This woman facing deportation after living 20 years in a Missouri town told me about cleaning an older man's house for free when his wife was sick. She spoke powerfully about her relationships with Trump voters. Now she's in jail and facing removal:

Charles Herold@cherold.bsky.social · last yr.

While monsters like Mike Johnson cosplay Christian prayer while gleefully destroying lives, this lady, who Trump is deporting, cleaned a stranger's house for free because he was melting down. She apparently didn't get the memo that Christianity is now the religion of hate. #DeportMikeJohnson

Poles seem to have forgotten that their country once disappeared from the map of Europe; that their national security depends on competent, responsible government, @sierakowski.bsky.social writes.

Poland’s War Against Itself | by Sławomir Sierakowski - Project Syndicate

Sławomir Sierakowski considers the implications of the right-wing presidential candidate’s narrow victory.

project-syndicate.org

Not the most reassuring message from Scott Bessent on the risks of a US default: “We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall” on.ft.com/4ju6see

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent insists US will ‘never default’ on its debt

Trump administration official seeks to assuage growing investor concern over the country’s public finances

on.ft.com

I wrote this about AI. We hear a lot about the importance of the "human touch" in the age of of machine intelligence. But the depressing truth is a lot of people just love AI slop. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Let’s be real, some people prefer the artificial

Biggest shock about AI is not the dire poetry it produces, but that many favour it precisely for the ways it isn’t human

thetimes.com