Brett Christophers
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brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers
@brettchristophers.bsky.social
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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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brettchristophers.bsky.social
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

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 14h
Well, clearly capitalists would actively oppose the idea of the socialization of production if they ever thought about it, which is to say, if they thought it was a remotely credible threat. But it isn't, and they know it. Doesn't even cross most of their minds

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 14h
Err, that article is not about profitability. It is about stock market returns. And it was published in 2021, since when renewables stocks have universally tanked, while fossil-fuel stocks have soared..................

Reposted by Brett Christophers, John Hogan

the-breakdown.bsky.social
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 14h
“The imperialists come anyway.”

This week the podcast is BACK and Adrienne speaks to
@sabrinafernandes.bsky.social about Brazilian ecological politics and Lula’s presidency as COP30 begins today in Belém.

Listen now to the full episode 👇
Lula’s Dilemma at COP30
Adrienne speaks to Sabrina Fernandes about the complexities of Brazilian ecological politics at the start of the COP30 climate conference.
break-down.org

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 15h
Not sure what you mean exactly by "development", but owning and operating solar and wind assets is a low-return business; countless studies attest to this

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 15h
Well, renewables returns _are_ generally low (by any meaningful measure; and way lower than average returns on oil and gas production) -- are you saying all the evidence supporting this is flawed?

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 15h
So you are saying that capitalist firms think/worry more about entirely hypothetical political threats (a shift to public, collective decisions about the organization of production) than entirely real threats to expected profits? Really?

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 15h
I know a book about this
jasonhickel.bsky.social Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 15h
Yes, this is correct. And the reason is because our capitalist classes have decided that it is not sufficiently profitable, so they're not going to do it.

We must understand this reality. Capital *cannot* be relied upon to address the climate crisis.

Reposted by Peter Thorne, James M. Bullock, Dominik Wiedenhofer , and 4 more

jasonhickel.bsky.social
Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 15h
Yes, this is correct. And the reason is because our capitalist classes have decided that it is not sufficiently profitable, so they're not going to do it.

We must understand this reality. Capital *cannot* be relied upon to address the climate crisis.

Reposted by Brett Christophers

maxjerneck.bsky.social
Max Jerneck @maxjerneck.bsky.social · 17h
They didn’t even do it to reduce inflation, which was at 2 % at the time. It was pure idiocy

Reposted by Brett Christophers

bjsociology.bsky.social
British Journal of Sociology @bjsociology.bsky.social · 21h
Read Benjamin H. Bradlow's review of "The Price Is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet" by Brett Christophers.

#EarlyView in #BJS ➡️ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Brett Christophers

julesbirch.bsky.social
Jules Birch @julesbirch.bsky.social · 1d
This is a curious argument, at least as far as housing is concerned. Treats the Renters Rights Act as though it’s a return to rent control rather than an extension of consumer rights 1/n

on.ft.com/4p2K1jM The disturbing victory of Old Labour over New Labour
The disturbing victory of Old Labour over New Labour
In education, labour and housing we risk going back towards what we know will not work
on.ft.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

alfonsson.bsky.social
Johan Alfonsson @alfonsson.bsky.social · 1d
I wrote a piece for @jacobinmag.bsky.social .

”The decline of Swedish social democracy is an illuminating case study in why the Left is losing the working class. It also offers clues as to how the Left might win workers back”
How Sweden’s Social Democrats Abandoned the Working Class
The decline of Swedish social democracy is an illuminating case study in why the Left is losing the working class. It also offers clues as to how the Left might win workers back.
jacobin.com

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 2d
This is heartbreaking and enraging in equal measure.

Most important piece I've read in the Guardian in a good while.
‘The ward felt like a prison. What had I let them do?’: how my daughter was crushed by a health service meant to help her
Ruth was 14 years old and being treated for an eating disorder when she died after being detained under the Mental Health Act. She wasn’t allowed to see her family for more than a few hours a week. Ho...
www.theguardian.com

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 2d
Given the stratospheric emissions from 50000-odd attendees, and the repeated lack of actual progress, it's surely the case that the annual COP circus is a net-negative for the climate?

Reposted by Brett Christophers

kendrawrites.com
Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 4d
Look, Exxon isn't stupid. Malevolent, sure, but not stupid. If they could make the type of money they could off of renewables they would jump, but they can't and they know it and we need to be honest about this.

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 4d
Striking Economist chart in the latest Tooze newsletter. Presumably NY's vertiginous rents would make NY's _real_ real wages (i.e. real wages post housing costs) look even worse by comparison. New mayor really has got a challenge on his hands

Reposted by Brett Christophers

benjgeo.bsky.social
Ben Johnson @benjgeo.bsky.social · 5d
Oil profits happen by harming people elsewhere in the world via climate change. You're "democratising" the profit of that damage among those not damaged.

Reposted by Brett Christophers

adriennebuller.bsky.social
Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 5d
You can read Sofia's essay here — a digital subscription is just over £1 a month and enables us to keep publishing these important stories

www.break-down.org/the-sunlight...
The Sunlight Managers
By deploying the language of objectivity while evading questions about the social relations that underlie the climate crisis, the science profession is granting legitimacy to a dangerous idea: solar g...
www.break-down.org

Reposted by Brett Christophers

adriennebuller.bsky.social
Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 5d
Recommended listen: with Sofia Menemenlis on @poltheoryother.bsky.social covering her superb essay on the science and politics of geoengineering for Issue 2 of @the-breakdown.bsky.social

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
The Sunlight Managers w/ Sofia Menemenlis
Podcast Episode · Politics Theory Other · 05/11/2025 · 46m
podcasts.apple.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

jiegson.bsky.social
Jennie Gustafsson @jiegson.bsky.social · 5d
New paper about institutional investors, maintenance of asset values, social struggles and rental housing in Sweden:
MAINTAINING RENTAL HOUSING AS AN ASSET: Exploring Institutional Investors in Sweden’s Rental Market
Institutional investors have asserted significant power over rental markets across the transatlantic. However, their stronghold has been contested after rising interest rates in 2022. In this article...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Ian Bruff

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 6d
Enjoying the irony of Norway's oil investment fund having "ethics rules". An oil fund!

It's like a serial killer having ethics rules about where he can and can't bury the bodies.
Norway suspends $2.1tn oil fund’s ethics rules to avoid selling Big Tech stakes
Jens Stoltenberg says move will avoid forced sale of shares in Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet over their work for Israel
www.ft.com

Reposted by Brett Christophers

danhancox.bsky.social
Dan Hancox @danhancox.bsky.social · 6d
🟡 MULTITUDES: How Crowds Made the Modern World is out in paperback from @versobooks.bsky.social today 🟡 www.versobooks.com/en-gb/produc...

Reposted by Brett Christophers

financialtimes.com
Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 7d
For the first time in a decade the majority of British adults believe the generosity of the welfare system stops people from supporting themselves, according to the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). on.ft.com/3X6VYbZ

Reposted by Brett Christophers

economyandspace.bsky.social
economyandspace.bsky.social @economyandspace.bsky.social · 8d
OnlineFirst - "Decarbonization debt and energy rents: On the limits of mobilizing private climate finance for housing decarbonization" by Julia Wagner:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Reposted by Brett Christophers

leodan.bsky.social
ett radikaliserat knytt @leodan.bsky.social · 8d
Shit, Kohei Saito kommer till Stockholm för att prata om marxism och degrowth?? Har helt missat. 8 november:

www.gnistor.se/event/2025-1...
Kohei Saito – Eco-Socialist Degrowth in Climate Collapse
We are thrilled to announce that distinguished philosopher and political economist Kohei Saito will be coming to Stockholm and ABF-huset in November to give this year’s Stockholm Archipelago Lecture. ...
www.gnistor.se

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 8d
There's never been much correlation between citation and quality in academic publication, in my view.

But social media has obliterated any such relationship: "those who post frequently about their own work" (yuck) see big citation uplift.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Social Media Participation and Scholarly Success in Law - Julian Nyarko, David E. Pozen, 2025
Using a novel dataset on Twitter activity as well as a novel corpus of law journal publications, this paper examines the impact of social media activity on the ...
journals.sagepub.com

Reposted by Susan J. Smith, Brett Christophers

benbraun.bsky.social
Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 10d
On the one hand: Interesting just how long post-imperial Britain could cling on to its relative economic position. On the other hand: Yikes.

www.ft.com/content/d70c...
Top incomes in the UK are no longer among the highest in the rich world Rank among developed countries for average post-tax income of top 10%

Reposted by Brett Christophers

equitablegrowth.bsky.social
Washington Center for Equitable Growth @equitablegrowth.bsky.social · 11d
"At the same time the market share of private credit funds grows, government regulations are exposing retirement savings to unregulated financial assets."

@lenorepalladino.bsky.social on how unregulated private credit funds can affect U.S. retirement accounts:
Risks escalate for U.S. retirement plans due to unregulated private credit funds and new rules opening them up to retirement savings accounts
Private credit funds heighten financial risks for average Americans investing their retirement savings in these unregulated banking vehicles.
equitablegrowth.org

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Brett Christophers

thebaffler.com
The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 12d
If Zohran Mamdani wins the mayoral race next month, he’ll face some major constraints funding his campaign promises. @schooldaves.bsky.social writes on the straitjacket of the municipal bond market.
Paying for It | David I. Backer
Should Zohran Mamdani become the next mayor of New York City, he will be restricted by the municipal bond market.
thebaffler.com

brettchristophers.bsky.social
Brett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 12d
Love the FT, but their reporting of the economics of energy transition remains so, so poor.

They've published effectively this same lazy, confused piece -- renewables are cheap, so must be taking over, but oh! they aren't -- every year for the past decade.
The global boom in solar — with or without the US
Despite the scepticism about renewables in Washington, falling prices for new panels are making a compelling business case around the world
www.ft.com