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Brett Christophers

Brett Christophers

@brettchristophers.bsky.social

3.8K followers 370 following 76 posts

Geographer

Brett Christophers is an economic geographer who is professor at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research at Uppsala University. He has written extensively on the history of the modern financial sector, the financial management of real economic assets, and the effect on the environment from financial management of land and natural resources. .. more

Economics 66%

Political science 16%

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Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · May 20

UK paperback of The Price is Wrong available from today, @versobooks.bsky.social

The Price is Wrong

RECENT TECHNICAL ADVANCES mean it is typically cheaper to produce electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. Yet, around the world, the transition to green energy is happening too slow...

www.versobooks.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Paul Langley @paullangley.bsky.social · 2d

Largesse for the few, austerity for the rest. Spending at UK universities mirroring the UK fiscal state

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

Ulster University senior management spends freely in the skies

Three trips to Qatar cost £83114, attended by Vice-Chancellor & other senior figures including pro-VCs

St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington added another £61000 — or ~£12400 per head

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/educati...

Ulster University under fire for £83k cost of Qatar trips after telling Stormont it is ‘feeling the squeeze’ of cuts

Ulster University has been criticised over an £83,000 bill for trips to Qatar.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · 2d

Surely you’ve all been waiting for the Enlightened Economist book prize long list for 2025? www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p...

The Enlightened Economist Prize 2025 – Longlist | The Enlightened Economist

www.enlightenmenteconomics.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 7d

The great Jim Hansen predicts that global average temperatures will jump 0.23 degrees Celsius in a single year, between 2026 (which he projects will see warming of 1.47 degrees C) to 2027 (which he projects will see 1.70 degrees C). open.substack.com/pub/jimehans...

Global Temperature in 2025, 2026, 2027

James Hansen, Pushker Kharecha, Dylan Morgan and Jasen Vest

open.substack.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Verso Books @versobooks.bsky.social · 7d

Now available for preorder: The Alibi of Capital by Timothy Mitchell

Stealing the future and concealing the theft – capitalism’s method, as examined by the author of the acclaimed Carbon Democracy

The Alibi of Capital

Today, extraordinary wealth seems to arrive from nowhere. The trick of conjuring this unearned wealth is, in fact, the key to understanding capitalism’s origins and a clue to why the catastrophe of c...

www.versobooks.com

Reposted by Markus Jäntti, Brett Christophers

Simon Kuper @simonkuper.bsky.social · 8d

European states need immigrants but don't want them. How to square that circle? Posture against immigrants while taking in more than ever before but treating them as a permanent second-class serving caste with few rights. Me @financialtimes.com on European kafala as.ft.com/r/7e2026f8-5...

Europe’s second-class citizens

[FREE TO READ] Countries that looked down on the Gulf’s ‘kafala’ system are edging closer to creating their own

Reposted by Brett Christophers

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 8d

📚 In this week's newsletter, our favourite writers and contributors tell us the best books they read this year 👇

📚 Books of the Year '25

From the late Mike Davis’s opus, 'Ecology of Fear', to works of sci-fi and essays about the landscape of Essex.

open.substack.com

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 9d

"Energy transition"? None of these seven has ever used much fossil fuel to generate power, as far as I am aware...

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 9d

Very funny that between Clegg as VC and Osborne at OpenAI, the British have somehow found an unlikely place in the imperial order as techno-plenipotentiaries.

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 13d

It was at 67% in 1985 ..... 😂😂

Cheryl in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦🍁🍁 @minibubbly.bsky.social · 14d

Countries that rely the most on Renewable Power - I was happy to see the huge increase for #Canada at 70% - 2022 data

Link: www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-re...

Link with breakdown % by country: www.voronoiapp.com/energy/Renew...

Canada 70%
USA avg 23%
European countries low 20's up to 100% in some smaller countries

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Matt Farish @mattfarish.bsky.social · 14d

Join us in Toronto for the 10th @antipodeonline.bsky.social Institute, in June! antipodeonline.org/institute-fo...

About the Institute - Antipode Online

Antipode’s 10th Institute for the Geographies of Justice (IGJ):“Organizing and Solidarity in a Polycrisis” Toronto, Ontario, Canadathe traditional territory of the Huron Wendat, the Seneca and the Mis...

antipodeonline.org

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Cheryl in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦🍁🍁 @minibubbly.bsky.social · 14d

Countries that rely the most on Renewable Power - I was happy to see the huge increase for #Canada at 70% - 2022 data

Link: www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/mapped-re...

Link with breakdown % by country: www.voronoiapp.com/energy/Renew...

Canada 70%
USA avg 23%
European countries low 20's up to 100% in some smaller countries

Reposted by Brett Christophers

James Dart @jamesdart.bsky.social · 14d

This is great: Stephen Bunting with @jonathanliew.bsky.social

‘I messaged Sia on Instagram. She didn’t get back to me’: cult darts hero Stephen Bunting on his viral walk-on

The world No 4’s entrance to the song Titanium has become an iconic moment in darts, but while he loves the attention what he really wants is the world title

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers, John Hogan, Michiel van Meeteren

Chris Muellerleile @muellerleile.bsky.social · 14d

I wrote a paper about Cryptofinance, and the ways the U.S. state has negotiated the consolidation of cryptocurrency trading in large platform firms. It traces the rise of FTX (Sam Bankman-Fried's firm) as it moves from Berkeley to Hong Kong to the Bahamas.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

From cryptocurrency to cryptofinance: FTX, disintermediation and the US state

During the first decade of cryptocurrencies (2008–2017) there were few connections established between crypto and the conventional finance sector, but in the US in 2025 the integration of these two...

www.tandfonline.com

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 14d

Indeed I do. Yes, part of the issue is the very labels we use. What is a "tax" and what isn't?

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 14d

BBC Radio 4 / @benchu.bsky.social recently did a good series (3 episodes, called the Tax Conundrum) exploring, inter alia, precisely this disjuncture between how the UK's tax system actually works (income taxation has gotten much more progressive) and how most Brits think it works

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 14d

I understand what marginal tax rates and how they work, but (with apologies for naive point) the fact that someone on a median income only pays this much tax - given the general state of the discourse on this - is surprising to me

Reposted by Brett Christophers, Paul Nightingale

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 14d

I understand what marginal tax rates and how they work, but (with apologies for naive point) the fact that someone on a median income only pays this much tax - given the general state of the discourse on this - is surprising to me

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Housing, Theory and Society @housingtheory.bsky.social · 14d

📢 📖 New book review!

Mika Hyötyläinen discusses Chua Beng Huat's book "Public Subsidy/Private Accumulation: The Political Economy of Singapore’s Public Housing" ➡️ "it offers a compelling, accessible introduction to one of the most intriguing alternative models of housing provision".

Public Subsidy/Private Accumulation: The Political Economy of Singapore’s Public Housing

Published in Housing, Theory and Society (Ahead of Print, 2025)

www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Jonathan Liew @jonathanliew.bsky.social · 15d

gian van veen is third favourite for the world darts championships, and also a fascinating guy: brilliant and brittle, open about his struggles, a thinking man in a fiercely anti-intellectual sport. we talked about doubt, and dartitis, and aviation engineering

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...

‘It can be brutal’: Gian van Veen, the anti-Luke Littler, on overcoming teenage dartitis

Dutch rising star has gone from not knowing ‘how to grip the dart’ to a dark horse for the PDC world championship

www.theguardian.com

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 15d

Money always decides.

“It was the finance guy who would come in and say, ‘I don’t get it. I don’t know why we are investing in this, the returns are low.’ And the lawyers, and the treasury. Everyone had an opinion.”

Inside the failed green revolutions at BP and Shell

How the energy giants tried to transform their businesses — but ended up dramatically scaling back those plans and writing off billions of dollars

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 16d

Fascinating guest post on how the “democratisation” of private equity could end up biting the industry. www.ft.com/content/c460...

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Jonathan Liew @jonathanliew.bsky.social · 17d

fantastic michael van gerwen interview by @donmcrae.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...

Michael van Gerwen: ‘Of course I love darts, but I love my kids much more’

The former world No 1 tells Donald McRae how a traumatic year has shaped him as a darts player and a father and insists he can recapture his glory days at the world championship

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · 18d

“The decarbonization project is a matter of investment and divestment.”

For a successful transition, these decisions must prioritize systemic social outcomes and avoid disruptions — regardless of whether doing so will generate profit.

👇
https://www.common-wealth.org/green-planning-commission

Reposted by Brett Christophers, John Hogan

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 18d

NEW EPISODE: Markets, Freedom and the Politics of Nature with Alyssa Battistoni

@adriennebuller.bsky.social speaks to @alybatt.bsky.social about value, the politics of nature, and how we might live freely in a finite world.

Listen now 👇

www.break-down.org/politics-of-...

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 19d

Yes and no. Renewables are "cheap" in large part because installed where land is cheapest, far away from demand -- hence the grid bottlenecks.

I.e. the legendary "cheapness" is artificial. Include the cost of (a) land near demand, or (b) the necessary grid upgrades, and it doesn't look so good.

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 20d

Grid bottlenecks aren’t a failure of the energy transition — they’re proof it’s working.

Renewables got cheap fast, and now the grid has to catch up. Time to build the wires for the clean energy system we already have.

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 20d

I bet about half didn't even respond

Reposted by Brett Christophers, Tom Griffin

Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 20d

Grid bottlenecks aren’t a failure of the energy transition — they’re proof it’s working.

Renewables got cheap fast, and now the grid has to catch up. Time to build the wires for the clean energy system we already have.

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 21d

nailed-on generational bear market

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 21d

Wall Street banks expect US stocks to post another year of double-digit gains in 2026, defying recent investor jitters over Big Tech companies’ huge spending plans and a potential bubble in the artificial intelligence sector on.ft.com/3MhLjcw

Reposted by Brett Christophers, Bessma Momani

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 21d

Wall Street banks expect US stocks to post another year of double-digit gains in 2026, defying recent investor jitters over Big Tech companies’ huge spending plans and a potential bubble in the artificial intelligence sector on.ft.com/3MhLjcw

Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 22d

who could have guessed it, there's no money to be made in capturing carbon

Lead developer of major Scottish carbon capture project to sell stake

Decision raises questions about project’s future and fuels concern over declining industrial base

Reposted by Brett Christophers

The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 22d

In Case You Missed It!

Every other week, we share our favourite essays, reviews and listens on climate and capitalism that you might have missed—handpicked by the BREAK–DOWN editors.

Read now and subscribe on Substack 👇

ICYMI + get 4 issues for the price of 2!

Essential reading on the climate and capitalism that you might have missed—handpicked by the BREAK–DOWN editors!

breakdownjournal.substack.com