Ben Clift

@benclift.bsky.social

710 followers 430 following 8 posts

Political economist at Warwick University
Politics of economic ideas; IMF; climate politics; comparative capitalisms; politics of economic expertise

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=5n4wvocAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Videos

Political science 48%

Economics 40%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Luke Moffett, Ben Clift

Climate Policy @climate-policy.bsky.social · Sep 29

🚨 NEW ISSUE: Issue 8 is out now, with the latest on #climatefinance, agro-pastoral #adaptation, the gap between #mitigation targets and #climatepolicy, the IMF's #climatepolicy approach, & more 💡

📣 Insights from @benclift.bsky.social @aliceclimate.bsky.social @lukemoffett.bsky.social & more ⬇️

Climate Policy, Volume 25, Issue 8 (2025)

www.tandfonline.com

Reposted by John Hogan, Ben Clift

Agenda Publishing @agendapub.bsky.social · Sep 26

Just arrived:

The Social Foundations of Global Finance
edited by @chris-clarke.bsky.social & @benclift.bsky.social

Chapters by @johannespetry.bsky.social, @hozic.bsky.social, Randall Germain, Magnus Ryner, Matthew Watson & others...

#OpenAccess eBook available 👇
www.agendapub.com/page/detail/...

Ben Clift @benclift.bsky.social · Aug 15

“DONALD IS FINISHED—HE IS NO LONGER “HOT.” FIRST THE HANDS (SO TINY) AND NOW ME—GAVIN C. NEWSOM—HAVE TAKEN AWAY HIS “STEP.” MANY ARE SAYING HE CAN’T EVEN DO THE “BIG STAIRS” ON AIR FORCE ONE ANYMORE—USES THE LITTLE BABY STAIRS NOW. SAD!”

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe?ut...

Subscribe to Letters from an American

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics. Click to read Letters from an American, by Heather Cox Richardson, a Substack publication with millions of subscribers.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Cristina F. Fominaya, Jesse H. Kroll , and 2 more Stephen M. Walt, Cristina F. Fominaya, Jesse H. Kroll, Ben Clift, Bonnie N. Field

Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · Jun 28

We are dismantling American higher education & scientific research & health care & all the other things to fund concentration camps

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Jun 28

If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:

- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · Jun 28

‼️‼️

Reposted by Archon Fung, Ben Clift, Fernando Andrés Rubia

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · Jun 12

I'm on my way to the Senate floor to talk about the assault on my colleague, Senator Alex Padilla.

This is a horrifying moment in our nation’s history.

Ben Clift @benclift.bsky.social · Jul 18

We are Hiring! We have a 3-year teaching fellow position in IPE. Come and work with an amazing group of IPE scholars and fabulous students in the Department of Politics and International Studies.

warwick-careers.tal.net/vx/lang-en-G...

deadline is approaching - July 31st.

Please spread the word

Reposted by Ben Clift

Matt Bishop @matthewlbishop.bsky.social · Jul 10

It’s remarkable how rarely our “public service broadcaster” now asks serious questions about the “small boats crisis” that do not reflect Farageist framing

One is: how can refugees fleeing persecution actually get to the UK safely so that we can uphold our commitments under international law?

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Ben Clift

Marios Richards @mariosrichards.bsky.social · Jul 8

The problem with "policy-consultancy-by-polling" is not that the public are stupid or uninformed ...

... the problem is *it's not their job*.

Reposted by Ben Clift

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · Jun 26

Great to host this workshop on Epistemic Politics with @benclift.bsky.social at Warwick yesterday

Reposted by Ben Clift

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · Jun 24

Jacqui Smith: Levy on international student fees ‘would show value of foreign students’

Smith said that if the government went ahead with the levy, it would “really demonstrate that [contribution] in terms of money that could then…be reinvested”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Jacqui Smith: Levy on fees ‘would show value of foreign students’ - Research Professional News

Skills minister says “there has been an over-dependence on international students” for higher education funding

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

Reposted by David Britain, Ben Clift, Kate Bradley , and 1 more David Britain, Ben Clift, Kate Bradley, José Pina-Sánchez

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Jun 24

Counterpoint: new Public First research shows every UK resident working adult (on a full time equivalent basis) is £466 a year better off on average as a result of international students. So let’s just publicise that instead of levying them
www.publicfirst.co.uk/calculating-...

Reposted by Ben Clift

Marielle Papin @mariellepm.bsky.social · Jun 17

How I'm thinking about gen-AI in a university context. Thoughts?

Tools like ChatGPT are known to often provide imprecise, incorrect or even blatantly false information. If you ask those tools to provide sources, they might invent them.
There are a lot of ethical challenges with using generative AI tools. Those are related to, for instance, data privacy (how the data were obtained or where the data you are feeding the tools come from and whether you are authorized to share them) and environmental costs (how energy-intensive the use of gen-AI is).
I do not believe generative AI will make you a better student or a better professional. Maybe in the short run it will help you conduct some tasks more quickly, which could be useful. As a non-native English speaker, I sometimes use it to rewrite my sentences because the right word doesn’t always come to my mind quickly enough. But my (AI-free) training and career have taught me enough to know whether the sentences proposed have the meaning I want to give them.
Doing research is inherently about taking the time to find the right data, sitting with them to come up with an accurate analysis and then taking more time to reflect on it. Research is supposed to be slow.
In the long run, using generative AI will disincentivize you to analyze what you read, to write, or to think. Those activities are what you learn in a political science programme. If you are just here to get a degree to get a job, maybe you don’t think you need to acquire those skills (after all, you have generative AI). And at the junior level, maybe you don’t. But at the senior level, you most certainly do. Again, think long-term.
Also, if you stop using your brain, well, let’s just say that probably won’t lead to a favourable outcome.

Reposted by Ben Clift

Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · Jun 12

Sen. Padilla thrown to the ground, manhandled, brutally taken down, handcuffed

It's disgusting
Reeks of totalitarianism
Un-American
Not what democracies do

Sen. Padilla was in that building to ask questions of what's going on in California, doing his duty to his constituents

We need answers now

Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · Jun 12

Senator Padilla’s office sends me this video of his take-down and detention at Sec. Noem’s press conference in L.A.

Reposted by Ben Clift

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · Jun 12

US Senator Alex Padilla was wrestled to ground after raising questions during US Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem's press conference, in a dramatic escalation of tensions in California. www.ft.com/content/93f1...

Reposted by Ben Clift

Maxwell Frost @maxwellfrost.bsky.social · Jun 12

We are marching to Senator Thune’s office. There must be accountability for the detainment of a Senator. This is not normal.

Reposted by Ben Clift

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · Jun 12

As a four-decade veteran of the daily journalism business, let me tell you: Every competent political reporter in this country knows that Trump is trying to establish a dictatorship. The industry's shame is that so few journalists will say so, and the ones who do lose their jobs.

Reposted by Jamie Morgan, Robert S. Chang, Melissa R. Michelson , and 3 more Jamie Morgan, Robert S. Chang, Melissa R. Michelson, Lena Näre, Ben Clift, Halley E. Froehlich

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · Jun 12

Sitting US Senator Alex Padilla forcibly wrestled to the ground and arrested by the FBI for attempting to ask a question of DHS secretary Kristin Noem.

Reposted by Rex Brynen, Ben Clift

Ed Boooooo-mila @edburmila.bsky.social · Jun 12

When a cabinet member announces "We are using the military to liberate an American city from its elected leaders," where do you go from there. What is left to say. The idea of that being anything short of a near-universal "Wait, what the fuck is going on" moment proves how far we've backslid.

Ben Clift @benclift.bsky.social · Jun 10

I’m looking forward to presenting my research (co-authored with Sahil Dutta at City University) on the IMF and Climate Finance at Science Po in Paris this Thursday, 12.30-2 CET. Also on Zoom.

thanks to Matthias Thiemann for organising

You can register here:-
www.sciencespo.fr/centre-etude...

[Séminaire d'axe] The Disappointments of ‘Billions into Trillions’ & IMF Contradictions on Climate Finance

In 2015 the IMF and World Bank announced its ‘billions to trillions agenda’ a developmental framework which recognised that market forces alone would fail to build crucial infrastructure in Developing...

www.sciencespo.fr

Reposted by Ben Clift

50501 New York @50501newyork.bsky.social · Jun 3

“They are building a techno-authoritarian surveillance state. We can see that happening in real time. This is huge amounts of data on every single person in America that can and will be used in opaque & unaccountable ways—and it is terrifying.”

Must watch interview with @carolecadwalla.bsky.social.

Carole Cadwalladr - Broligarchs, AI, and a Techno-Authoritarian Surveillance State | The Daily Show

YouTube video by The Daily Show

youtu.be

Reposted by Ben Clift

Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · May 20

They don’t fear questions.   They fear an end to the gravy train.   The only way to stop the rip off is to return water to where it belongs: public essentials run for public benefit.

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Thames Water chair could face questions after comments to MPs on bonuses

Exclusive: Sir Adrian Montague told select committee paying bonuses out of emergency £3bn loan was insisted upon by creditors

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Ben Clift

Anand Menon @anandmenon.bsky.social · May 15

Hear, hear once again, @johnmct.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

Why Labour shouldn’t shift right

The answer to these bruising election results is to govern as the party of social democracy.

www.newstatesman.com

Reposted by Ben Clift

Nadia Whittome MP @nadiawhittomemp.bsky.social · May 14

The government is legitimising Reform with anti-migrant rhetoric while alienating long-time Labour voters by shifting to the right.

This won't defeat the far right, nor will it improve lives ruined by austerity - it's clearly a lose-lose strategy.

Reposted by Emiliano Grossman, Jean Bonnet, Heike Krieger , and 2 more Emiliano Grossman, Jean Bonnet, Heike Krieger, Ben Clift, Jennifer Thomson

Cas Ⓜ️udde @casmudde.bsky.social · May 14

This obsession is with “young men turning to the right” is everything that is wrong with the discussion about the far right.

It is not just an inadequate read of what is happening, and a bias towards the male norm, but it also normalizes the far right and obscures support for inclusive politics. 🧵

Reposted by Ben Clift

Common Wealth @cmmonwealth.bsky.social · May 9

“Public development of renewable capacity ... isn't a suspension of the profit imperative but its subordination to social need”

@brusselermel.bsky.social @chrismwhayes.bsky.social on the UK’s CfD scheme & derisking energy.

🔗 @phenomenalworld.bsky.social
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/nod...

Nodes for Socialization | Melanie Brusseler & Chris Hayes

The UK’s carbon for difference scheme and the future of derisking energy

www.phenomenalworld.org

Reposted by Ben Clift

Rosie Collington @rosiecollington.bsky.social · May 9

Wall Street won’t rewild the planet. Or decarbonize mining. Or defossilize agriculture.

For @phenomenalworld.bsky.social I unpack why chasing investability harms climate goals in sectors beyond energy & transport - & what states can do with derisking failures www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/unb...

Unbankable Transitions | Rosie Collington

How the politics of investability determine climate financing

www.phenomenalworld.org

Reposted by Ben Clift

Jacob Hasselbalch @jhasselbalch.bsky.social · May 9

"The green state must rise from the ashes of the derisking state... plan for a future of resilience or resign ourselves to chaos and the perils of climate adaptation under authoritarianism." www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/ind.... @cornelban.bsky.social #decarbonization #planning #ClimateSky

Green Indicative Planning | Phenomenal World

With derisking regimes falling short of meeting governments' pledges to reach net zero carbon emissions, what lessons can we learn from governance through indicative planning? Historically strong coor...

www.phenomenalworld.org

Reposted by Ben Clift

Department of Politics and International Studies (PAIS) @warwickpais.bsky.social · May 7

PAIS recently hosted a half-day conference for UG and PG students on Big Questions in Climate Politics.

The event, held at the University of Warwick, featured panels on the economy and democracy. PAIS academics took part alongside external speakers working on climate policy.

Image of the Climate Politics ‘Big Questions’ Conference

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · Apr 17

The Trump regime is now using US Attorneys to intimidate academic journals by sending them letters demanding they explain how they ensure ‘viewpoint diversity.’ Journal editors should be public about this and coordinate to refuse to comply with these fascist tactics.

Reposted by Ben Clift

Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · Mar 20

*Gold standard vibe intensifies* www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Reeves to reveal biggest UK spending cuts since austerity in spring statement

Labour MPs uneasy as chancellor prepares even deeper reductions that economists say will harm key services

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