Benjamin Braun

@benbraun.bsky.social

8.9K followers 920 following 770 posts

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

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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 · 9h

Extremely solid lifestyle advice from John D: “It is remarkable how much we all could do if we avoid hustling, and go along at an even pace and keep from attempting too much.”

Gonna try that.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10h

That's a little scary tbh. Rooting for the Dutchman.

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Surplus | Das Wirtschaftsmagazin @surplusmagazin.bsky.social · 14h

Unter der Inflation haben viele Menschen gelitten. Andere fuhren große Profite ein, erklärt Wirtschaftsprofessor Gregor Semieniuk im Interview. www.surplusmagazin.de/energiekonze...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 14h

Every time you try to explain this to someone in Europe you're met with total incredulity: "What do you mean by you can't just press a button to send money from A to B through the banking system? What does that mean?"

Dan Rohde @danrohde.bsky.social · 15h

Paying my US student loans is reminding me that the US payment system is GARBAGE! Just trash. I know it's not surprising given how many aspects of American infrastructure are falling apart, but it's worth saying. The US payment system is like a collapsing highway, but too few are paying attention.

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Dan Rohde @danrohde.bsky.social · 15h

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 21h

Such as these, for instance.

www.canarymedia.com/articles/emi...

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 21h

Might the COP30 boss be so connected to reality that he's aware of a few things that have happened during the two short years since Dec 2023?

Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 22h

COP30 boss: "Rich countries have lost enthusiasm for tackling climate crisis" and praises China.

Chinese renewables are great, but you have to be disconnected from reality to miss the wrenching change EU in particular has signed up to & China's CO2 trajectory.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 22h

"Egan-Jones has just 20 or so analysts and managed to issue more than 3,600 ratings last year alone"

That's ... 0.7 ratings per analyst per working day. Good luck to all involved.

The new crop of rating agencies behind the private credit boom

Regulators and bankers are sounding the alarm about an explosion in privately-rated securities

www.ft.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Edgar Morgenroth

Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 22h

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Johannes Petry @johannespetry.bsky.social · 22h

How to make sense of China’s rise? For Phenomenal World I wrote something on its changing role in global finance.
China is not building a dollar-style empire of sprawling markets and speculative finance but something leaner, more functional & tightly managed.
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/a-s...

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Xan López @xanlopez.xyz · 22h

⚡️HEGEMONÍA ELÉCTRICA

Escribo sobre el enorme potencial y la abrumadora dimensión de la revolución electrotécnica y sobre qué puede significar buscar la hegemonía política en este momento exacto, mientras ocurre todo esto.

amalgama.ghost.io/hegemonia-el...

Hegemonía eléctrica

Tetxo de la intervención en las jornadas “Democracia Radical para un Mundo Habitable”, Murcia, 6 de noviembre de 2025. Es habitual, al hablar sobre la crisis ecológica, arrancar con una exposición má...

amalgama.ghost.io

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Listening now. Hoping to learn more about how the United States’ new growth model is going to work.

Cover image of Ron Chernow’s Rockefeller biography.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

We‘re pretty sure nothing bad is going to happen. And if it did how would we know?

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Amazing sequence of paragraphs in a piece on how dollar volatility has fallen to pre-election levels.
on.ft.com/3JAflat

“What else is there for President Trump to do to shock the market? We are struggling to come up with an answer ourselves.”

A lack of US macroeconomic data due to the country’s longest-ever government shutdown has also dulled volatility in the dollar and US Treasury markets, analysts say.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you, @institutomeridiano.org, for having us. Great to see so many people spend their weekend attending a climate political economy conference.

Héctor Tejero @htejero.bsky.social · 2d

Muy buena la charla de @danielagabor.bsky.social y @benbraun.bsky.social en lo de “Construir el futuro” de @institutomeridiano.org.

Se ha grabado y se colgará. Si os mola el tema de las finanzas y el cambio climático merece mucho la pena.

Reposted by John Hogan

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

This is what deindustrialization in a carbon shock therapy setting looks like. If the state doesn’t do the planning and redistribute any remaining surpluses downward, private equity will do the planning and redistribute any remaining surpluses upward (and out of country).
on.ft.com/3WNWnA9

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, James Connelly

Jonathan Hopkin @jonathanhopkin.bsky.social · 1d

We can’t afford to do what every other country did years ago for our railways, but people need to drive their kids to school in a tank

Brynley Heaven @brynleyheaven.bsky.social · 2d

Govt scraps all electrification investment. Midland Main Line to stay forever diesel Leicester Nottingham Derby Sheffield. Hugely embarrassing and inexplicable
www.ft.com/content/5ecd...

UK transport secretary says full electrification of railways ‘not affordable right now’

Heidi Alexander says focus will be on other projects such as HS2

www.ft.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Héctor Tejero @htejero.bsky.social · 2d

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Are you saying this somehow might pertain to the present ... um ... situation?

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Iñaki Aldasoro @aldasoro.bsky.social · 3d

on.ft.com/49dRS9z Non-bank lenders may be fair-weather friends

Check out this piece @financialtimes.com where we discuss our recent research on nonbank lending during crises

Non-bank lenders may be fair-weather friends

Research shows they don’t just retreat in a crisis — they run for the exit

on.ft.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Ntina Tzouvala @ntinatzouvala.bsky.social · 3d

China winning the new Cold War on account of its leadership not having developed internet addictions

Reposted by Steven S. Smith, Benjamin Braun, Sebastian Karcher , and 1 more Steven S. Smith, Benjamin Braun, Sebastian Karcher, William Myers

Adam Bonica @adambonica.bsky.social · 3d

Did you know gov shutdowns aren’t in the Constitution, any law, or Court ruling?
They exist because of a 1980 OLC memo—a lawyer’s opinion that everyone just went along with. Before 1980, funding gaps didn’t cause shutdowns.

What one memo created, another can undo. How the next D admin can undo it:

Why America’s Government Shutdowns Exist and How to End Them

One Legal Memo Created The Shutdown Era. Another Can End It.

open.substack.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 4d

Here's a staffer from a UK pension fund suggesting that the PE push into retail/defined contribution plans is already allowing them to offload funds easier... (1/3)

"The U.S. interest has given Railpen, which manages about £34 billion of assets for the Railways Pension Scheme, London...

Investor interest in private markets grows, but education needed, WPS panelists say

Interest in private markets is growing, but experts said the subject isn’t black and white and investor education will be crucial.

www.pionline.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Robin Celikates, William A. Allen , and 2 more Benjamin Braun, Robin Celikates, William A. Allen, Els Torreele, Sylvain Genevois

Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 4d

If guaranteeing essentials sounds radical in 2025, it speaks to how far we’ve drifted from democracy’s core promise. Markets will not save democracy.

My new piece for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Zohran Mamdani shows how Democrats can defeat authoritarians like Trump | Isabella Weber

Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritarians

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Naomi Klein, Benjamin Braun

Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 4d

“My friends, the world is changing. It's not a question of whether that change will come. It's a question of who will change it.” @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

People are choosing real alternatives instead of continuity. Mamdani stands for an antifascist economics in the name of the many. 🧵

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 4d

We have just published the call for the Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics. These are 3-year fully-funded postdocs that will allow you to focus on your research in a great academic environment. (And with excellent food)

www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/the-college/...

Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowships in Politics - Nuffield College Oxford University

www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Cecilia Rikap

Kai Koddenbrock @kaikodden.bsky.social · 4d

At my new working group on International Relations and Political Economy @Universität Bielefeld, I have a full postdoc position for 3 years (plus x) to offer. Do apply and ask if you have any questions: uni-bielefeld.hr4you.org/job/view/459... in German here: uni-bielefeld.hr4you.org/job/view/459...

Research Position in the working group “Internat...

<div style="text-align: justify;">We are looking for an engaged and socially aware social scientist with a PhD or very close to comple...

uni-bielefeld.hr4you.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

That plot on real exports is brutal. Like a live view of the ECB going through the five stages of grief over the death of export-led growth. Seems we're one projection away from acceptance.

Jordi Schröder Bosch @jordischroeder.bsky.social · 4d

Interesting figures from Philip Lane. The constant downward revision to real exports is quite telling.

Reposted by Benjamin Braun

Jordi Schröder Bosch @jordischroeder.bsky.social · 4d

Interesting figures from Philip Lane. The constant downward revision to real exports is quite telling.

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