Paul Langley
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paullangley.bsky.social
Paul Langley
@paullangley.bsky.social

Prof. Economic Geography, Durham, UK.
Managing Editor @econsocjournal.bsky.social
Finance, money, FinTech, and more.
https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/paul-langley/

Economics 63%
Political science 15%
Pinned
Co-authored with @andrewleyshon.bsky.social for a forthcoming special issue of @finandsoc.bsky.social, this essay takes Elon Musk's planned FinTech makeover of X as a provocation for a critical analysis of so-called 'embedded finance' and the evolution of FinTech
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Embedded finance and FinTech disappearance | Finance and Society | Cambridge Core
Embedded finance and FinTech disappearance
www.cambridge.org

Reposted by Brett Christophers

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

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

Stormy

Reposted by Paul Langley

Drum roll ... Our final Issue of 2025 is a very Special Issue on (Post-)Growth Infrastructures, edited by Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn and Matthias Kranke.
This was one of two winners supported by funding from our Special Issue Competition.

www.tandfonline.com/toc/reso20/c...
Economy and Society
(Post-)Growth Infrastructures. Guest Editors: Malcolm Campbell-Verduyn and Matthias Kranke. Volume 54, Issue 4 of Economy and Society
www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by Paul Langley

Spotted in Seoul subway - Korea Fintech Week 2025 “Towards more fintech x AI finance” sponsored by Korean financial regulation authority and ministry of finance

What could go wrong… 😑

Tagging @paullangley.bsky.social

Also, FinTech startups: no credit history, no problem - your face can be analysed to determine your creditworthiness
Computer scientists: "So with machine learning we can extract subtle patterns from massive datasets. What shall we do with it?"

Business school professors, every single time: "You know, I think phrenology got a raw deal in the late 1800s."
Can Your Face Predict Your Salary? Using AI Personality Assessments in Hiring
A new study from Wharton faculty explores how AI can extract personality traits from facial images — and what that means for your career.
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Blowing new, new economy bubbles
Computer scientists: "So with machine learning we can extract subtle patterns from massive datasets. What shall we do with it?"

Business school professors, every single time: "You know, I think phrenology got a raw deal in the late 1800s."
Can Your Face Predict Your Salary? Using AI Personality Assessments in Hiring
A new study from Wharton faculty explores how AI can extract personality traits from facial images — and what that means for your career.
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

Reposted by Paul Langley

Get ready for a spectacular IPO boom from the big beasts of Silicon Valley on.ft.com/4q1ytxo | opinion
Get ready for a spectacular IPO boom from the big beasts of Silicon Valley
SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic will break new ground — potentially with the scale of their losses
on.ft.com

You know that two academics really, really, really disagree when one describes the other's viewpoint as 'myopic'.

Reposted by Paul Langley

Reposted by John Hogan

It appears that not enough people in UK universities are listening, or have chosen to put their fingers in their ears (as recommended by the wellbeing session they attended)
Just in case anyone is listening, please note that UK universities cannot operate successfully on the basis of continuous reduction of academic staff and academic staff pay. No amount of staff wellness sessions will change this.
Excited to announce @leverhulmecal.bsky.social posts - we are looking for 7 interdisciplinary fellows to join our Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life, closing date 30 January 2026 (1/3) durham.taleo.net/careersectio...
Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life Fellows - Assistant Professor (Research) G7 - G8
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
durham.taleo.net

AI models are trained on books, journal articles, teaching materials without agreement of academic authors who then have to redesign their courses to try to minimise inappropriate use of AI models embedded in software provided by universities for students to use. Go figure
“exiting the market”

UK universities sinking faster than expected under the weight of contradictions that are too many to list on a standard SWOT form

Reposted by John Hogan

Show me a major US company that isn't like Enron. The financial tail wags the dog of US corporations and private equity owned firms
In the memo, “Nvidia also responds to claims that the ‘current situation is analogous to historical accounting frauds (Enron, WorldCom, Lucent) that featured vendor financing and SPVs [special purpose vehicles.)’”

@barrons.com $NVDA
@firstadopter.bsky.social
www.barrons.com/articles/nvi...
In the memo, “Nvidia also responds to claims that the ‘current situation is analogous to historical accounting frauds (Enron, WorldCom, Lucent) that featured vendor financing and SPVs [special purpose vehicles.)’”

@barrons.com $NVDA
@firstadopter.bsky.social
www.barrons.com/articles/nvi...

Chinese state capitalism = protected and regulated tech monopoly capital at home, supported and expanded tech capital reach across the globe
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Mosaic of state power: How ‘New’ state capitalism shapes global tech capital - Weidi Zheng, 2025
This article investigates how China's platform and data infrastructure expand globally amid shifting state-capital relations at home and abroad. Moving bey...
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by John Hogan

Fit blackout blinds in their bedroom and cross your fingers for luck

Not to mention a functioning higher education system

I'd rather not be posting yet more @FT content today, but right now it's more a question of when (not if) something big breaks ... on.ft.com/3LCuVDb via @FT
If private credit breaks, insurers will fall under the microscope
Rising holdings of the asset class could lead to problems when the next downturn comes
on.ft.com

Reposted by Paul Langley

Setting the stage for "we were all in this together so no one is to blame" when the bubble bursts.

Who’s funding Silicon Valley’s data-centre dream? It might be you. - on.ft.com/47X4I9U via @FT
Who’s funding Silicon Valley’s data-centre dream? It might be you.
A large part of the investment pouring into AI is being financed by debt of the kind that lines millions of nest eggs
on.ft.com

Miran Rides into Town on the $ Hegemony Pony
on.ft.com/48eg8qU via @FT
Why Trump’s team is betting on stablecoins
The administration sees these digital assets as a tool in the fight against de-dollarisation
on.ft.com

An FT editorial against a British government is usually a marker of the displeasure of the City
on.ft.com/4nZWdke via @FT
Labour has shredded its claim to competence
A chaotic week has raised the risks around this month’s crucial Budget
on.ft.com

Recommended reading and timely, too, as the British Chancellor continues to falsely assume that pandering to financial fractions in the City will result in the investment which is so desperately needed across economy and society

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Subordinating ‘alt-finance’: How British venture capital became dependent on the US | Finance and Society | Cambridge Core
Subordinating ‘alt-finance’: How British venture capital became dependent on the US
www.cambridge.org