Benjamin Braun

@benbraun.bsky.social

9.1K followers 960 following 830 posts

Political economist @ LSE | Finance, central banking & more | benjaminbraun.org

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Economics 77%

Political science 12%

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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · Jul 1

🚨New article🚨 The consensus is that contestation pushed central banks to talk 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 about inequality & climate.

Our theory: At first, CBs seek to ward off politicization by talking 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 about controversial topics.

We tested this 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬.🧵
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Screenshot of the title page of linked article:
"Noisy Politics, Quiet Technocrats: Strategic Silence by Central Banks"
By Benjamin Braun and Maximilian Düsterhöft

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Top of the pre-theme reading list :)

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Reading now. The opening chapters are so relentless. Fear and loathing everywhere and all at once.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

🤦‍♂️

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Serious blockbuster alert

Will Bateman @wabateman.bsky.social · 3d

Happy to share that my next book 'The Fiscal Fed' will be published by University of Chicago Press in Fall 2026!

Cover design pending: happy to share this beautiful poster from the Harvard Law and Political Economy Project (2023).

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Will Bateman @wabateman.bsky.social · 3d

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Not the worst thing that happened in 2025. But close to the worst.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Article by Bart Cammaerts. The 12 mentions:

The Guardian: 4 mentions (20 Oct, 18 Nov, 26 Nov, 2 Dec)
The Daily Telegraph: 2 mentions (20 Oct, 21Oct)
The Independent: 1 mention (28 Oct)
The Observer: 2 mentions (16 Nov, 7 Dec)
The Daily Mail: 2 mentions (9 Nov, 15 Nov)
The Evening Standard: 1 mention (22 Nov)
The Times: no mentions
The Sun: no mentions
The Daily Express: no mentions
The Financial Times: no mentions

Reposted by Aurélien Mondon

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

“Since the announcement of their hunger strike on 20 October till 10 December 2025, the hunger strike by jailed Palestine Action activists was mentioned a total of 12 times in the British mainstream newspapers.”

That is so damning and grim.

The UK media’s silence on the Palestine Action activists’ hunger strikes is a deliberate editorial choice - Media@LSE

LSE's Professor Bart Cammaerts discusses the lack of coverage of the hunger strikes of imprisoned Palestine Action activists in the UK media.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 6d

“We are now being told, at a central level, that we are not permitted to perform any university work from abroad … without explicit, prior authorization from a manager.” 🤯

Alexandre Afonso @alexandreafonso.bsky.social · 6d

Not exactly a Xmas merrymaking post, but I wrote something on the changing environment for international academics in the Netherlands and how it has changed over the last 10 years: open.substack.com/pub/alexandr...

Reposted by Patrick A. Jansen, Steven Van de Walle, Leo Lucassen , and 6 more Patrick A. Jansen, Steven Van de Walle, Leo Lucassen, Simon Otjes, Benjamin Braun, Damien Bol, Jonathan Hopkin, Ben Tonra, Dionyssis G. Dimitrakopoulos

Alexandre Afonso @alexandreafonso.bsky.social · 6d

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 6d

It’s looking good, too!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 6d

Rare case of book where the title will sound even better in German.

Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 6d

proof(s)!

Reposted by Sven T. Beckert, Benjamin Braun, Robert C. Richards

Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 6d

proof(s)!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 6d

Amazing.

Victor Gay @victorgayeco.bsky.social · 7d

There is growing interest in HPE about social conflict in the run-up to the French Revolution.

In a new article at Data & Corpus, I describe the Jean Nicolas Database, a database of 8,516 rebellions in France (1661-1789)

👉Article: doi.org/10.46298/dc....
👉Database: doi.org/10.7910/DVN/...

🧵1/6

Reposted by Justin H. Kirkland, Benjamin Braun, Baptiste Coulmont , and 2 more Justin H. Kirkland, Benjamin Braun, Baptiste Coulmont, Krzysztof Krakowski, Jeff Carter

Victor Gay @victorgayeco.bsky.social · 7d

Reposted by Tim Bale, Kim Oosterlinck, Benjamin Braun , and 8 more Tim Bale, Kim Oosterlinck, Benjamin Braun, Markus Wagner, Ariadne Vromen, Isabelle Guinaudeau, Federica Genovese, Stuart J. Turnbull‐Dugarte, Tom Louwerse, Cyril Benoît, Mihail Chiru

Florence Faucher @ffaucher.bsky.social · 7d

Come and join us at the CEE - Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée: we are looking for a new assistant professor in political science working on ecological transitions.
www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etude...

Recruitment - Assistant Professor (tenure track) in Political Science 2026

Recruitment 2026 - Sciences Po is recruiting two Assistant Professors (tenure track) in Political Science / Politics and Policy in/of Europe and the European Union

www.sciencespo.fr

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 8d

*🦋 meme* Is this industrial policy?

The Trump family media group has agreed to combine with Google-backed fusion energy company TAE Technologies in a deal valued at $6bn.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 8d

Whoopsies. Thanks for posting the correct link!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 8d

"The so-called Deutschlandfonds, which will be anchored in state development bank KfW, ... seeded with about €30bn in public money and loan guarantees."

Textbook derisking to ensure infrastructure will pay off for US private equity. Genius move by SPD finance ministry.
www.ft.com/content/52c7...

Berlin launches ‘Germany Fund’ to lure private equity investors
Initiative aims to raise €130bn in investments amid growing interest from firms including KKR and Apollo

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10d

Absolutely, it would have. I'm wondering about the coming years though. Given the electoral landscape and trends, couldn't ICE manufacturers see a 10% relaef in 2025 as a signal for another 10 percentage point relief in 2026? Etc?

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10d

There we go, glad I asked! Just not quite sure I'm as sanguine about this not being a politically slippery slope: largely still doing the right thing while ceding rhetorical ground.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10d

Alas, how am I going to explain this in my week 8 lecture on the political economy of technology bans? Please help, @jonasnahm.com!

Reposted by Jonas Nahm

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10d

Taking back control – sign me up!

Brussels plans to scrap 2035 combustion engine ban
Carmakers will be allowed to make a limited number of petrol and diesel-fuelled cars after deadline
https://www.ft.com/content/0e16b6ea-bf46-4ea6-820e-244b7a5bae1d

UK to stick with EV targets as EU looks to water down petrol ban
Britain plans to phase out all non-zero emission car and van sales by 2035
https://www.ft.com/content/ce5b937c-ed43-4b38-9928-34fb5f66f7c9

Reposted by Michiel van Meeteren, Dana Schmalz

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 11d

This is a real European Commission document, obtained via the right of access to documents. It instructs staff with management responsibilities to use AI to draft documents and formulate speaking points.

Whatever you think of technocracy, soon there'll be little 𝘵𝘦𝘬𝘩𝘯𝘦 (skill) left in Brussels.

Alexander Fanta @alexfanta.bsky.social · 11d

Bringing the disruption to Brussels: The European Commission encourages its managers to draft policy-making documents with AI, including "explaining/summarising legislative initiatives". According to a newly released Commission document, this will "boost your team's productivity". 🫢

AI Guide for Managers – adopting and integrating AI in your work
2
I. Identifying work processes for AI integration
AI is a welcome opportunity for Commission staff to become more effective and efficient in daily work processes,
including new services that would not have been possible up to now. In encouraging its use, AI must be an
instrument of support for staff and for human-centric policy making.
Encourage active participation from your staff . Their involvement is essential in
accurately identifying the specific needs that AI can support meeting (also see II)).
High-Impact Areas for AI Utilisation
You may already have a concrete use case – get in touch with the to take it
forward. Or you are starting from scratch – check out the below table for concrete help:
Work Process AI Benefits Tools/Applications
Elaborating
Briefings
Faster, comprehensive first drafts of briefings (possibility to use
SNC* data)
First drafts of
documents
Faster first drafts (time-saving), AI tool as
sparring partner for generating and checking
ideas
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
Brainstorming/
analysis
Faster brainstorming (time-saving), AI tool as
sparring partner for generating and checking
ideas
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
Minutes
(Transcription)
Accurate, time-saving transcription AI transcription tools (e.g.
)
Preparing
Background Notes
Efficient generation of speaking points e.g.
(possibility to use SNC* data)
Summaries Quick, accurate summaries Summarisation tools (e.g.
)
(possibility to use SNC* data)
Policymaking Early-stage brainstorming for identifying/
substantiating potential policy problems;
Explaining/summarising legislative initiatives;
Analysing/summarising consultation activities
(possibility to use
SNC* data)
*SNC: sensitive, non-classified data

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Will Jennings, Benjamin Braun , and 1 more Jonathan Portes, Will Jennings, Benjamin Braun, Christina Wolf

Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 11d

New research!

Austerity and the labour market in the UK.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Headline result: austerity reduced wages, increased employment rates, and contributed to weak productivity.

1/n

Estimating the effects of austerity on the labour market: Evidence from Great Britain

Between 2010 and 2019, in response to concern about the public finances, the UK government imposed substantial cuts to public spending. This austerity programme

papers.ssrn.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Margot C. Finn

Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 11d

This remains one of the most important articles to understand what is happening to higher ed. Open access! academic.oup.com/ser/article/...

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