Benjamin Braun | Lightnews

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 34m

Of course the first political economy Substack to try out @leaflet.pub is Jim and Samir's!

Do subscribe ("Subscribe via Bluesky" at the bottom of the post) and behold the possibilities for social publishing in the ATmosphere.

Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 1h

Our substack is now (also) a @leaflet.pub publication, which you can subscribe to via bluesky or rss.

So far, I've only ported the intro post, but will get around to the rest after finishing the severely overdue second BlackRock post.

This is Fine(ance Capital) @thisisfincap.bsky.social · 2h

Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 1h

Our substack is now (also) a @leaflet.pub publication, which you can subscribe to via bluesky or rss.

So far, I've only ported the intro post, but will get around to the rest after finishing the severely overdue second BlackRock post.

This is Fine(ance Capital) @thisisfincap.bsky.social · 2h

Welcome to This is Fine(ance Capital)

thisisfincap.leaflet.pub

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2h

That's right, the finance summer school is coming to Europe! June 4-5 at the LSE – applications are open until March 1.

SASE | The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics @sasemeeting.bsky.social · 2h

📢 Fully Funded "Summer School" Opportunity

The Berkeley Program on Finance & Democracy is hosting a Finance & Democracy Summer School on June 4–5, 2026 at the London School of Economics.

📅 Application deadline: March 1, 2026
📍 Location: London, UK
🔗 Learn more: sase.org/opportunitie...

SASE | The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics @sasemeeting.bsky.social · 2h

📢 Fully Funded "Summer School" Opportunity

The Berkeley Program on Finance & Democracy is hosting a Finance & Democracy Summer School on June 4–5, 2026 at the London School of Economics.

📅 Application deadline: March 1, 2026
📍 Location: London, UK
🔗 Learn more: sase.org/opportunitie...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4h

Meanwhile, the EU regime is moving further right, fast.

Europaparlament stimmt für leichtere Abschiebungen in Drittstaaten

Das EU-Parlament hat dafür gestimmt, dass künftig leichter und in mehr Länder abgeschoben werden soll. Außerdem stimmten sie für eine europaweite Liste von als sicher eingestuften Herkunftsländern.

www.spiegel.de

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 5h

A big share of future historians will conclude that the difference btw US und EU in the 2020s was not in the scale or violence of their respective deportation enforcement regimes but in the scale and ferocity of public opposition to it. On average, Europeans cared far less.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 5h

On the hellish detention and deportation system built by EU countries. With quotes from the current and the former German chancellors expressing their commitment to the inhumane cruelty of this apparatus, described here in forensic detail.

Inside a Detention Site at the Heart of Europe’s Harsh New Approach to Immigration

www.nytimes.com

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 15h

An feat achieved, of course, primarily by Chinese PV module makers.
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 16h

Energy system transformation week. Before we get into the Brett Christophers story about prices and profits, we take a moment to appreciate the solar PV module cost story.

Chart. Title = "Solar photovoltaic module prices vs. cumulative capacity",
Subtitle = "A monument to technological innovation and economies of scale"

Nils Redeker @nilsredeker.bsky.social · 22h

Also, the German car industry’s woes have sucked up most of the attention.

But another storm is brewing in machinery - the other core engine of Germany’s growth model.

Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 1d

Capitalism became more exploitative in the wake of sellers' inflation and Trump made sure it stayed that way.

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Jim Kane @kanejim.bsky.social · 1d

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
@benbraun.bsky.social

To Make Things Better for Labor, Make Them Worse for Labor’s Capital

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

More and more, less will be more. Degrowth, but for academic publishing.

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 1d

Two notes on our academic future:

1. You should probably experiment with these tools. They’re amazing. But do so with the goal of improving quality, not n_pub

2. As community members we have the power to shape incentives. Don’t reward mediocre ideas with mediocre execution produced en masse.

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 1d

I think ultimately the ”winners” will be those who use these tools to level up the quality and innovativeness of the work they do, rather than levelling up their productivity.

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 1d

Two notes on our academic future:

1. You should probably experiment with these tools. They’re amazing. But do so with the goal of improving quality, not n_pub

2. As community members we have the power to shape incentives. Don’t reward mediocre ideas with mediocre execution produced en masse.

Dan de Kadt @dandekadt.bsky.social · 1d

I think ultimately the ”winners” will be those who use these tools to level up the quality and innovativeness of the work they do, rather than levelling up their productivity.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Omg, so amazing Lenore!!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Omg Save draft is here.

Hello old friend. We missed you.

Screenshot of Bsky's new Save draft button.

Lenore Palladino @lenorepalladino.bsky.social · 1d

excited to share that I am *officially running* to represent Massachusetts state employees on the MA public pension board!

I'm running because public pensions are *ours* and should serve the interests of state workers and our communities

I'm endorsed by @massteacher.bsky.social

www.mapension.com

PRIM

www.mapension.com

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Today, “Ischinger wonders whether the first warning signs of American estrangement were already visible two decades ago, during the US invasion of Iraq.”

And that is all, in terms of self-reflection, that’s offered here by the transatlanticists. The most proudly mediocre of our policy elites.

‘It feels like a betrayal.’ Germany’s painful estrangement from the US

The unravelling of transatlantic ties has shocked a country that had an emotional attachment to the relationship

www.ft.com

herman mark schwartz @thunen.bsky.social · 3d

Excellent summary of the large body of work @steffenmurau.bsky.social and colleagues have done on the Offshore (US) Dollar Syatem
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/tru...
@phenomenalworld.bsky.social
Look here for the bigger body of work:
steffenmurau.com/portfolio/in...

Trump's Dollar | Steffen Murau

Trump’s economic policy and the future of the world dollar

www.phenomenalworld.org

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 3d

Die deutschen Medien versagen in ihrer demokratischen Aufgabe. Es ist ein Systemproblem. Es wird nicht gelernt. Es gibt keine Kritik aus dem System heraus. „Nicht alle Medien“ ist mittlerweile genau so überzeugend wie „Nicht alle Männer“

Léonie de Jonge @leoniedejonge.bsky.social · 3d

Für Medienschaffende ist der Umgang mit der extremen Rechten zugegebenermaßen nicht immer einfach. Aber ein Lifestyle-Interview mit Chrupalla sprengt jeden journalistischen Rahmen. Hier wird nicht nur eine Plattform geboten, sondern extrem rechte Politik aktiv normalisiert. 🤯

Christian Helms @christianhelms.bsky.social · 3d

Manchmal blicke ich komplett ratlos auf, na ja, alles.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Below a very helpful, short piece by @quillmatiq.com to get started.

And another one on decentralization and blogging on atproto: leaflet.connectedplaces.online/3m4qgpc7h3223

The Everything Account

I've been thinking a lot about our accounts lately. We all have an ever-growing pile of digital identities scattered across the web, many forgotten after a brief stint with a random service we found i...

www.augment.ink

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

I don't understand ATP at a technical level but the basic ideas are simple enough. You realize that something exciting is happening—a better internet is being invented.

One academics will no doubt benefit from. So we should support it. If you're on Bluesky, you already are, of course. 2/3

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Another Guardian story on Substack hosting Nazi newsletters.

Here's something I wish more academics knew: There's a Cambrian explosion happening in atproto world. Where your data is yours. New apps every week. Including @leaflet.pub, a blogging platform, newsletter functionality coming soon. 1/3

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

At this rate it’ll take AI take decades to digest the Bruno Lacombe/Rachel Kushner letters for the latest thinking on the Thals.

Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 4d

Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.

"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."

#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...

New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge

Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...

phys.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Elite network sociologists are on it, I hear.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Lucky Ken Rogoff, to be reviewed in @nybooks.com in such excellent company.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 4d

Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.

"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."

#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...

New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge

Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...

phys.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

“I graduated with £42,000 of debt and even though I’m paying it off, it’s now £72,000.”

It's truly an abomination: On a normal job you keep paying forever. 40 years!

“Why would I trust a government that mis-sold me a loan when I was a child?” is a very good question.
www.ft.com/content/7bf5...

The UK student loan system — and its danger for Labour
Growing anger among millions of graduates who face decades of debt is causing unease in Westminster

LSE European Institute @lse-ei.bsky.social · 4d

🇪🇸 The Spanish Constitution promises #democracy at #work.

For the past year, @benbraun.bsky.social has been part of the expert group of 13 convened by @yolandadiaz.bsky.social ky.social and led by @isabelleferreras.bsky.social studying how to deliver that promise.

👉 www.lse.ac.uk/european-ins...

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