Peter Holmes
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pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes
@pholmes8.bsky.social
4.5K followers 1.6K following 430 posts

Semi-retired trade economist, Emeritus @ UKTPO Sussex. Posts about Brexit, Freeports, WTO and anything else that catches my fancy. Migrating across from other place. Tweeted as @pholmes8. Blogs with others at https://blogs.sussex.ac.uk/uktpo/blog/ .. more

Videos
Economics 44%
Political science 25%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Peter Holmes

tyleraking.com
Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 5h
“Holdings from the library at the Goddard Space Flight Center, which includes unique documents from the early 20th century to the Soviet space race, will be warehoused or thrown out.”

This is part of the larger closure of much of the Goddard campus that is destroying numerous labs.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

abenewman.bsky.social
Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 7h
1/Fascinating @nytimes.com reporting documenting rise of Trump’s neo-royalist regime. Foreign affairs -- chip deals, crypto, trade — used to extract wealth for insider cliques.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump’s Tangled Web of Deal-Making, Policy and Riches
The president, his family and some of their closest associates have engaged in a sprawling campaign of deals that stretches across industries and the globe.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Margot C. Finn

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 10h
Grok + X now seems to be awash with images undressing women, without consent. It is an issue with the potential for a very very broad coalition - across political divides - to insist the Musk platform gets back within the law, on all fronts, not just this example.
www.cnbctv18.com/technology/g...
Global outrage as X’s Grok morphs photos of women, children into explicit content - CNBC TV18
X is facing backlash after users exploited its Grok AI to morph photos of women and children into explicit images, sparking global concern over AI-driven sexual abuse and platform safety.
www.cnbctv18.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

pgkroegerbb.bsky.social
PG Kroeger @pgkroegerbb.bsky.social · 11h
"Martelaar van arbeidersklasse", aldus Wierd Duk.

Reposted by Steve Peers, Peter Holmes

404media.co
404 Media @404media.co · 21h
also, this happened this year:

Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrorism is far-right was disappeared.
www.404media.co/doj-deletes-...
DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing
Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrorism is far-right was disappeared.
www.404media.co

Reposted by Peter Holmes

jonasnahm.com
Jonas Nahm @jonasnahm.com · 1d
10/ The lesson for industrial policy: you can’t tariff your way to competitiveness. Competitiveness today is about where learning happens — and right now, much of it is happening in China.

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Paul Langley

premnsikka.bsky.social
Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 1d
Private equity struggles to value assets, sells assets to itself to pay investors.

Sold £79.2bn of assets to itself, to new entities under its control with money from new investors to pay earlier investors.

A ponzi scheme full of conflict of interests.
PE firms sell assets to themselves at a record rate in 2025
Private equity firms sold companies to themselves at a record rate this year, using a controversial tactic
www.cityam.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

uk.theconversation.com
The Conversation UK @uk.theconversation.com · 2d
When Americans insist "it can't happen here," they’re wrong. A sociologist who studies collective memory and identity examines how the U.S. forgot its own fascist movements and what that collective amnesia means today.
tcnv.link/gmQcWD9

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Sanford F. Schram, Scott A. Imberman , and 1 more

mrsbettybowers.bsky.social
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 5d
If this is true, it is the most impeachable offense ever.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

traumainformedcontent.com
Adrie van der Luijt @traumainformedcontent.com · 5d
Happy second anniversary of the Tory government’s announcement that pints of wine could be stocked on Britain’s shelves for the first time ever thanks to Brexit.
Press release: 'Pints' of wine stocked on Britain's shelves for the first time ever. 'Pint' size wine stocked on Britain's shelves for the first time ever thanks to new freedoms from leaving the European Union. From: Department for Business and Trade and Kevin Hollinrake MP, Published 27 December 2023.

Reposted by Will Jennings, Tim Bale, Dave O’Brien , and 4 more

oldtrotter.bsky.social
David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 6d
Important letter from an actual expert

Reposted by Peter Holmes

nialloconghaile.bsky.social
Niall Ó Conghaile @nialloconghaile.bsky.social · 7d
Nobody can read this from @davidallengreen.bsky.social and not think the UK's unwritten constitution is fit for purpose.

The UK is more exposed to authoritarianism that any established Western democracy.

Wake up!

You need a constitution. Even a revolution.

1
Yes, an incoming illiberal and radical UK government would have absolute constitutional power
27th August 2025 Only good fortune has prevented previous governments from misusing our constitutional arrangements more than they did * The constitution of the United Kingdom provides for two &#82…
davidallengreen.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 8d
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities.
Botched Epstein redactions trace back to Virgin Islands’ 2020 civil racketeering case against estate | CNN Politics
A botched redaction in the Epstein files revealed that government attorneys once accused his lawyers of paying over $400,000 to “young female models and actresses” to cover up his criminal activities
www.cnn.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

davidheniguk.bsky.social
David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 8d
Corporate concentration and resulting state capture is a huge ongoing global trend that's being largely ignored in both policy and trade worlds

Reposted by Peter Holmes

tinamur.bsky.social
Lady Tina Murphy @tinamur.bsky.social · 9d
Projection is straight from the Fascist handbook

Reposted by Steve Peers, Mary Feeney, Maarten Vink , and 6 more

keithboykin.bsky.social
Keith Boykin @keithboykin.bsky.social · 10d
The New York Times investigated 346 people who donated at least $250,000 to Trump and found that more than half of them (197) have received pardons, jobs, government contracts, special treatment, or favors.
Hundreds of Big Post-Election Donors Have Benefited From Trump’s Return to Office
Well into his second term, the president and his allies have continued aggressively raising money. Many donors have interests before his administration, The Times found.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Peter Holmes

alexisconran.com
Alexis Conran @alexisconran.com · 11d
Fascinating from Tom’s piece

Reposted by Peter Holmes

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 12d
Independent news report
www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...
Pressure on Farage to sack ‘racist’ Reform candidate after new attack on Lammy
‘Farage's refusal to take action against racism in his party shows what a dark place he's dragging politics to,’ says Labour Party chair as Reform’s Hampshire mayor candidate praises Enoch Powell
www.independent.co.uk

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Colin F. Camerer, Joe R. Feagin , and 4 more

meidastouch.com
MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 12d
WOW: The DOJ has DELETED an image from its release of the Epstein files that shows photos of Trump in a drawer.

Yesterday, we noted that this image — file 468 — likely slipped through the cracks while officials were attempting to hide materials pertaining to Trump.

Now, it’s gone.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

acjsissons.bsky.social
Andrew Sissons @acjsissons.bsky.social · 12d
I agree with this piece by Luke (Don’t pit YIMBYs against NIMBYs), but I think there is a trade off being ducked here.

If you want new housing to integrate with nature and come with GPs and schools, you either need to make developers pay more, or you need more public investment…
This is not a sign to down tools. Rather, the public think that any new housebuilding ought to go hand in hand with protecting nature: 72 per cent of people say they are more likely to think positively of a politician who argues that new housing should "integrate with the natural world". They want developers to be caretakers not just concrete-pourers; they also want homes built alongside the GPs and schools and other amenities necessary to sustain them.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Kim L. Scheppele, Joe R. Feagin , and 6 more

hamiltonnolan.bsky.social
Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 12d
Woman comes to US at age 6. Graduates nursing school. Work permit. No criminal record. Snatched and imprisoned by ICE for 6 months now. About to be forced back to Honduras. A life destroyed and one less nurse. Merry Christmas.

www.nola.com/news/educati...

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Steve Peers, Dirk Pilat , and 5 more

duncanweldon.bsky.social
Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 12d
Quite the chart. www.ft.com/content/30a4...

Reposted by Peter Holmes

doctorkarl.bsky.social
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki @doctorkarl.bsky.social · 12d
"This year, renewables surpassed coal as a source of electricity worldwide, and solar and wind energy grew fast enough to cover the entire increase in global electricity use from January to June"
www.science.org/content/arti...
Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy
Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way
www.science.org

pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes @pholmes8.bsky.social · 14d
Great fun doing this. My own contribution was largely historic. I argued that the failure of WTO international competition policy negotiations was a great pity. The need is even greater now but the political will even less.
thecitp.bsky.social CITP @thecitp.bsky.social · 15d
New podcast! Is a level playing field a luxury that we can no longer afford in these days of geopolitical contention? Listen to the discussion with @weforum.org @pholmes8.bsky.social @uktpo.org @sussex.ac.uk @chrishorseman.bsky.social @borderlex.net soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

pholmes8.bsky.social
Peter Holmes @pholmes8.bsky.social · 14d
Different bits seemed to have different authors. Some parts were a grok word-salad from Trump and Vance's ramblings, while Asia was written up by someone who seemed to know about geography. All grim, but not sure if it was a single vision or a chorus of courtiers beseeching the King.
williamcb.bsky.social William Cullerne Bown @williamcb.bsky.social · 14d
That's good for US oil companies and, given the scope for huge payoffs, good for Trump and, given that it makes Europe yet more dependent on the US for energy, good for a certain idea of US power, and good for those seeking a broader harmonisation between the US and Russian authoritarianism.

Reposted by Peter Holmes

williamcb.bsky.social
William Cullerne Bown @williamcb.bsky.social · 14d
That's good for US oil companies and, given the scope for huge payoffs, good for Trump and, given that it makes Europe yet more dependent on the US for energy, good for a certain idea of US power, and good for those seeking a broader harmonisation between the US and Russian authoritarianism.

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Jonathan Portes, Will Jennings , and 3 more

jenwilliamsft.bsky.social
Jennifer Williams @jenwilliamsft.bsky.social · 14d
Auditors and new officials have been turning over stones at the body in charge of Teesworks. Turns out the Tees Valley Combined Authority has been lending hundreds of millions of £ to connected orgs, without loan agreements, and those orgs are now struggling to repay

as.ft.com/r/ac457745-4...
Auditors raise red flags at public body run by Ben Houchen
[FREE TO READ] EY said errors included ‘material misstatements’ in latest setback for Conservative metro mayor Lord Houchen
as.ft.com

Reposted by Juliet Lodge, Peter Holmes

davidheniguk.bsky.social
David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 14d
Most definitively ruled myself out of contention of visiting the US in the next three years by saying what trade folk and I suspect most in UK government know, that any trade deal with Trump could be renounced by him tomorrow. Worry that some are still naive. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
MPs warn that UK agreements with Donald Trump are ‘built on sand’
Exclusive: Health select committee chair says UK government’s ‘naive belief’ Trump is a good faith actor ‘could cost UK taxpayer billions’
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Peter Holmes

thecitp.bsky.social
CITP @thecitp.bsky.social · 15d
New podcast! Is a level playing field a luxury that we can no longer afford in these days of geopolitical contention? Listen to the discussion with @weforum.org @pholmes8.bsky.social @uktpo.org @sussex.ac.uk @chrishorseman.bsky.social @borderlex.net soundcloud.com/uktpo-tradeb...

Reposted by Peter Holmes

elliechowns.bsky.social
Dr Ellie Chowns MP @elliechowns.bsky.social · 15d
Welcome news that the UK will re-join Erasmus, providing life-changing opportunities for students to study across Europe.

We must continue rebuilding our relationship with Europe: secure the youth mobility scheme, re-join the customs union, and begin talks to re-join the EU.