Milan Babic
@mbabic.bsky.social
climate politics, state & corporate power | author 'The Rise of State Capital': http://t.ly/MfSm & 'Geoökonomie' (2025): https://t.ly/4nUBl | contact: milanbabic.com
Pinned
Reposted by Milan Babic
Another gentle reminder.
The only way for Germany to stop the meltdown in its auto sector is by working with Europe.
Germany is too small to go it alone. Anyone with half an econ brain can see that.
The only way for Germany to stop the meltdown in its auto sector is by working with Europe.
Germany is too small to go it alone. Anyone with half an econ brain can see that.
A chart Berlin‘s economic policy-makers should think hard about.
Doing a buy-German clause in new EV subsidies would be an own goal.
The German market is simply too small, and lacks sufficient premium demand.
1/
Doing a buy-German clause in new EV subsidies would be an own goal.
The German market is simply too small, and lacks sufficient premium demand.
1/
November 12, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Another gentle reminder.
The only way for Germany to stop the meltdown in its auto sector is by working with Europe.
Germany is too small to go it alone. Anyone with half an econ brain can see that.
The only way for Germany to stop the meltdown in its auto sector is by working with Europe.
Germany is too small to go it alone. Anyone with half an econ brain can see that.
this is just such a stark contrast to the general Western mood that climate politics is dead. THIS is what climate politics is about (the political economy of decarbonization). Everything else follows.
Ethiopia last year banned the import of new gasoline-powered cars. Nepal reduced import duties on EVs so much that they are now cheaper than cars with internal combustion engines. Brazil raised tariffs on car imports to compel Chinese automakers to set up plants inside Brazil. Etc
A Flood of Green Tech From China Is Upending Global Climate Politics
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:04 AM
this is just such a stark contrast to the general Western mood that climate politics is dead. THIS is what climate politics is about (the political economy of decarbonization). Everything else follows.
Reposted by Milan Babic
This is the way to deal with Trump.
Zohran Mamdani: "So Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up."
November 5, 2025 at 7:29 AM
This is the way to deal with Trump.
Reposted by Milan Babic
Zohran Mamdani will be the 111th mayor of New York City. He represents everyday people who struggle to pay rent and bills, let alone save or get ahead. Yes, you can build affordable cities. Vienna did it a hundred years ago, and there is no reason we cannot do it again today. 1/4
November 5, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Zohran Mamdani will be the 111th mayor of New York City. He represents everyday people who struggle to pay rent and bills, let alone save or get ahead. Yes, you can build affordable cities. Vienna did it a hundred years ago, and there is no reason we cannot do it again today. 1/4
check our network and submit a paper for Bordeaux 2026!
🌍📈 Introducing Network V: Geoeconomics
SASE welcomes a new research network exploring the intersections of geopolitics, international political economy, and national capitalist systems in a time of global transformation.
🔗 Learn more about the new network: sase.org/networks/v-geoeconomics
SASE welcomes a new research network exploring the intersections of geopolitics, international political economy, and national capitalist systems in a time of global transformation.
🔗 Learn more about the new network: sase.org/networks/v-geoeconomics
Network V: Geoeconomics | SASE | The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics
This network explores empirical and theoretical puzzles at the intersection of geopolitics, international political economy, and national capitalist systems in an era of ongoing global…
sase.org
November 4, 2025 at 6:52 PM
check our network and submit a paper for Bordeaux 2026!
Reposted by Milan Babic
Sam Altman gonna single-handedly cause the Second Great Depression
"Many of the deals OpenAI has struck — with chipmakers, cloud computing companies and others — are strangely circular. OpenAI receives billions from tech companies before sending those billions back to the same companies to pay for computing power and other services." www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
How OpenAI Uses Complex and Circular Deals to Fuel Its Multibillion-Dollar Rise
Here are seven unusual financial agreements helping to drive the ambitions of the poster child of the A.I. revolution.
www.nytimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Sam Altman gonna single-handedly cause the Second Great Depression
Mamdani: hey man, maybe we should use a fraction of the $1 billion the guy I am running against gave to Elon Musk when he was governor for something else instead. Maybe for fast and affordable buses in the city?
FAZ: Yep, definitely Klassenkampfrhetorik
www.faz.net/aktuell/wirt...
FAZ: Yep, definitely Klassenkampfrhetorik
www.faz.net/aktuell/wirt...
Bürgermeisterwahl in New York: Der Antikapitalist Zohran Mamdani
Zohran Mamdani kam aus dem Nirgendwo und ist jetzt der große Favorit für die Wahl zum Stadtoberhaupt in New York. Die Wirtschaftselite der Stadt macht er mit seiner Klassenkampfrhetorik mächtig nervös...
www.faz.net
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Mamdani: hey man, maybe we should use a fraction of the $1 billion the guy I am running against gave to Elon Musk when he was governor for something else instead. Maybe for fast and affordable buses in the city?
FAZ: Yep, definitely Klassenkampfrhetorik
www.faz.net/aktuell/wirt...
FAZ: Yep, definitely Klassenkampfrhetorik
www.faz.net/aktuell/wirt...
ich finde das ein gutes Beispiel für die begrenzte Aussagekraft der 'Populismus'-Kategorie: die einen wollen das Ende der liberalen Demokratie, die anderen einen höheren Mindestlohn.
Wenn man beide in einen Topf wirft, kommt so etwas dabei raus (nevermind d. empirische Unhaltbarkeit solcher Ideen)
Wenn man beide in einen Topf wirft, kommt so etwas dabei raus (nevermind d. empirische Unhaltbarkeit solcher Ideen)
Er macht doch seit einer Weile wenig anderes. Wobei „die Brandmauer nützt nur der AfD“ selbst für Manow spektakulär ist.
October 29, 2025 at 2:45 PM
ich finde das ein gutes Beispiel für die begrenzte Aussagekraft der 'Populismus'-Kategorie: die einen wollen das Ende der liberalen Demokratie, die anderen einen höheren Mindestlohn.
Wenn man beide in einen Topf wirft, kommt so etwas dabei raus (nevermind d. empirische Unhaltbarkeit solcher Ideen)
Wenn man beide in einen Topf wirft, kommt so etwas dabei raus (nevermind d. empirische Unhaltbarkeit solcher Ideen)
Reposted by Milan Babic
Might be a useful companion piece to @ulrichbrand.bsky.social and co-authors recent, excellent article in Nature Climate Change: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... I think we largely agree, but we see more scope for bureaucratic agency to overcome the structural limitations of the #environmentalstate.
Structural limitations of the decarbonization state - Nature Climate Change
The implementation gap between national climate targets and actual policies has been seen as a main barrier for decarbonization. Here researchers show it is rooted in the structural limitation of stat...
www.nature.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Might be a useful companion piece to @ulrichbrand.bsky.social and co-authors recent, excellent article in Nature Climate Change: www.nature.com/articles/s41.... I think we largely agree, but we see more scope for bureaucratic agency to overcome the structural limitations of the #environmentalstate.
With Caroline Ahler Christesen and @jhasselbalch.bsky.social, we asked: what can the environmental state actually do?
The answer is out now with @gepjournal.bsky.social 👇
If you ever wondered about this, check our paper and let us know what you think: direct.mit.edu/glep/article...
The answer is out now with @gepjournal.bsky.social 👇
If you ever wondered about this, check our paper and let us know what you think: direct.mit.edu/glep/article...
What Can the Environmental State Actually Do? Three Critiques and Their Limits
Abstract. Three critiques of the environmental state shape the discussion of its possibilities and limits. First, states are deemed structurally unable to mitigate climate change due to the “glass cei...
direct.mit.edu
October 29, 2025 at 1:25 PM
With Caroline Ahler Christesen and @jhasselbalch.bsky.social, we asked: what can the environmental state actually do?
The answer is out now with @gepjournal.bsky.social 👇
If you ever wondered about this, check our paper and let us know what you think: direct.mit.edu/glep/article...
The answer is out now with @gepjournal.bsky.social 👇
If you ever wondered about this, check our paper and let us know what you think: direct.mit.edu/glep/article...
Reposted by Milan Babic
You think your elections are nail biters? In the last poll of the polls, the @peilingwijzer.bsky.social produced by @tomlouwerse.nl, before election day in the Netherlands tomorrow, three parties are tied for first place
peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl
peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl
Laatste Peilingwijzer – Peilingwijzer
De Peilingwijzer combineert de Tweede Kamerpeilingen van Ipsos I&O & Verian/EenVandaag
peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl
October 28, 2025 at 5:01 PM
You think your elections are nail biters? In the last poll of the polls, the @peilingwijzer.bsky.social produced by @tomlouwerse.nl, before election day in the Netherlands tomorrow, three parties are tied for first place
peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl
peilingwijzer.tomlouwerse.nl
Maslows Hammer gilt auch hier usw., aber es ist doch erstaunlich, wie sehr die Dramatik der Diagnose - Deutschland wird bald Italien - von der Popeligkeit der Lösung - schafft die Mütterrente (wtf?) ab - konterkariert wird.
Es liegt nahe, dass weder die Diagnose noch die Medizin helfen werden.
Es liegt nahe, dass weder die Diagnose noch die Medizin helfen werden.
Natürlich weiss Clemens Fuest, dass Bürokratie nicht *der* Krisengrund ist, eher 10% aller Probleme ausmacht...
Doch wenn Ifo-Forscher ihm sagen, dass der Rest grösstenteils eine Nachfragekrise ist, verschliesst er sich im Gegensatz zu Odysseus selbst die Ohren mit Wachs... 🤷♀️🤷
Doch wenn Ifo-Forscher ihm sagen, dass der Rest grösstenteils eine Nachfragekrise ist, verschliesst er sich im Gegensatz zu Odysseus selbst die Ohren mit Wachs... 🤷♀️🤷
October 26, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Maslows Hammer gilt auch hier usw., aber es ist doch erstaunlich, wie sehr die Dramatik der Diagnose - Deutschland wird bald Italien - von der Popeligkeit der Lösung - schafft die Mütterrente (wtf?) ab - konterkariert wird.
Es liegt nahe, dass weder die Diagnose noch die Medizin helfen werden.
Es liegt nahe, dass weder die Diagnose noch die Medizin helfen werden.
Reposted by Milan Babic
Auch dieses Semester gibt’s an unserem Arbeitsbereich ein spannendes #Kolloquium u.a. mit @mbabic.bsky.social, @bettikohlrausch.bsky.social, Stefanie Hürtgen, Heiner Dribbusch sowie mit einem Vortrag von mir. Heute Abend stellt @stefanschmalz.bsky.social seine Thesen zum #Teslaismus vor. Seit dabei!
Ganz vergessen anzukündigen: anbei die Werbung zu unserem Forschungskolloquium für das WS 25/26.
Ich darf heute Abend den Anfang machen zu „Vom Fordismus zum Teslaismus? Eine Analyse zum Wandel des Produktionsmodells“. (Login auf Plakat). Später kommen Gäste wie B. Kohlrausch oder M. Babic.
Ich darf heute Abend den Anfang machen zu „Vom Fordismus zum Teslaismus? Eine Analyse zum Wandel des Produktionsmodells“. (Login auf Plakat). Später kommen Gäste wie B. Kohlrausch oder M. Babic.
October 15, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Auch dieses Semester gibt’s an unserem Arbeitsbereich ein spannendes #Kolloquium u.a. mit @mbabic.bsky.social, @bettikohlrausch.bsky.social, Stefanie Hürtgen, Heiner Dribbusch sowie mit einem Vortrag von mir. Heute Abend stellt @stefanschmalz.bsky.social seine Thesen zum #Teslaismus vor. Seit dabei!
Reposted by Milan Babic
Ein von Michael Zürn und mir verfasster Nachruf auf Claus Offe. Ein bemerkenswerter Mensch und Wissenschaftler www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...
Sozialwissenschaftler Claus Offe gestorben
Claus Offe prägte die Sozialwissenschaften mit scharfsinnigen Analysen und gesellschaftskritischen Perspektiven. Als Grenzgänger zwischen Soziologie und Politologie bleibt sein Werk wegweisend.
www.faz.net
October 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Ein von Michael Zürn und mir verfasster Nachruf auf Claus Offe. Ein bemerkenswerter Mensch und Wissenschaftler www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...
a bit late to the party, but Krugman's take on the Argentina drama is worth your time: paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-is-tru...
Why Is Trump Bailing Out Argentina?
This is about ideology and Trumpian fealty, not America’s interests
paulkrugman.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
a bit late to the party, but Krugman's take on the Argentina drama is worth your time: paulkrugman.substack.com/p/why-is-tru...
Reposted by Milan Babic
Today is the day!!! Existential Politics is out in the world!
Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.
Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.
Existential Politics
A new way to tackle the real politics of climate change through asset revaluation
press.princeton.edu
October 7, 2025 at 12:03 PM
Today is the day!!! Existential Politics is out in the world!
Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.
Read about why we’re doing climate policy wrong (too focused on measuring emissions) & what we should do instead (focus on $$ to constrain fossil asset owners & expand green asset owners). Just in time for #COP30.
Reposted by Milan Babic
No words
Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
No words
as someone working with the demographic affected by this on a daily basis, I see two ways out:
either the AI bubble bursts and we get back to a pre-pandemic graduate job market (lol)-
or soft neo-luddism becomes a political idea progressives should seriously consider
www.ft.com/content/62e7...
either the AI bubble bursts and we get back to a pre-pandemic graduate job market (lol)-
or soft neo-luddism becomes a political idea progressives should seriously consider
www.ft.com/content/62e7...
The graduate ‘jobpocalypse’: Where have all the entry-level jobs gone? | FT Working It
The promise of AI’s workplace abilities amid economic uncertainties have caused many companies to take pause
www.ft.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:36 AM
as someone working with the demographic affected by this on a daily basis, I see two ways out:
either the AI bubble bursts and we get back to a pre-pandemic graduate job market (lol)-
or soft neo-luddism becomes a political idea progressives should seriously consider
www.ft.com/content/62e7...
either the AI bubble bursts and we get back to a pre-pandemic graduate job market (lol)-
or soft neo-luddism becomes a political idea progressives should seriously consider
www.ft.com/content/62e7...
Reposted by Milan Babic
Uruguay, y'all. I been sayin.
He got an entire country running on clean energy. Can he do it again?
Ramón Méndez Galain helped Uruguay decarbonize its grid in just five years, with 98 percent of its energy coming from renewable sources.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 24, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Uruguay, y'all. I been sayin.
good article by Wallace-Wells on the diminishing salience of climate politics and how geoeconomic competition is reshaping decarbonization: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...
It Isn’t Just the U.S. The Whole World Has Soured on Climate Politics.
www.nytimes.com
September 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
good article by Wallace-Wells on the diminishing salience of climate politics and how geoeconomic competition is reshaping decarbonization: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...
Reposted by Milan Babic
the history will continue until morale improves
September 19, 2025 at 2:47 AM
the history will continue until morale improves
Reposted by Milan Babic
Thrilled that my first article is out in @jeppjournal.bsky.social ☺️
It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...
It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...
Short 🧵 ...
It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...
It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...
Short 🧵 ...
September 10, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Thrilled that my first article is out in @jeppjournal.bsky.social ☺️
It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...
It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...
Short 🧵 ...
It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...
It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...
Short 🧵 ...
Reposted by Milan Babic
let's fucking go
NEW: The first evidence of a solar take-off in Africa☀️✈️
x33 rise in Algeria solar panel imports in the 12 mths to June 2025, compared to previous 12 mths.
x8 in Zambia
x7 in Botswana
x6 in Sudan
x3 in each of Liberia, DRC, Benin, Angola, Ethiopia
🧵
x33 rise in Algeria solar panel imports in the 12 mths to June 2025, compared to previous 12 mths.
x8 in Zambia
x7 in Botswana
x6 in Sudan
x3 in each of Liberia, DRC, Benin, Angola, Ethiopia
🧵
August 26, 2025 at 10:55 AM
let's fucking go
Reposted by Milan Babic
At first I thought GPT 5 had got this right then I saw things like "Tonnessee," "Mississipo" and my personal favourite "West Wigina." Please do not respond just saying the different typos to me we can all read the joke, we all know about "Distrricke"
August 8, 2025 at 2:42 AM
At first I thought GPT 5 had got this right then I saw things like "Tonnessee," "Mississipo" and my personal favourite "West Wigina." Please do not respond just saying the different typos to me we can all read the joke, we all know about "Distrricke"
Reposted by Milan Babic
