Fabian Schmidt
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fabschmidt.bsky.social
Fabian Schmidt
@fabschmidt.bsky.social
Political economist // Industrial policy for future // Brussels // Rail ultra
“[we are] putting too much emphasis on long-term decline because we use outdated economic indicators that were developed to measure growth during the Fordist phase of capitalism.”

Katrina Forrester reviews Melinda Cooper’s Counterrevolutions

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Katrina Forrester · ‘I appreciate depreciation’: Dynastic Capitalism
Austerity is a choice. The protection of the family at the expense of other ways of living is a choice. The transfer of...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 12:51 PM
How can Europe keep up?
The U.S. economy has grown by $20 trillion since 2000 … about $7.7 trillion of that (36% of all the growth in GDP) is spending related to recovering from or preparing for climate disasters per Bloomberg Intelligence #EconSky
October 22, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
I guess it was just a matter of time before xAI was added to this web.

www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
October 8, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
Many thanks to @regstud.bsky.social and @rsablog.bsky.social for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on designing better maps in academia. And to @cchlebna.bsky.social for encouragement and feedback.
September 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
This is how the separation of powers works in Brussels:

Just build two highways through the European Quarter right between Commission, Council and Parliament.
October 5, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Brussels might seem chaotic and dirty sometimes but it has so many great urban designs!
July 30, 2025 at 4:26 PM
July 30, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
🚨 New publication out: “The Anatomy of Chinese Capitalism” (Competition & Change / Köncke, Erlbacher & Schmalz, 2025)

How and to what extent does the party-state govern top Chinese firms?

We unpack this with new data and a sectoral lens.
🔗 doi.org/10.1177/1024...

@sfb294.bsky.social
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doi.org
July 30, 2025 at 7:29 AM
By re-allocating funds that were previously earmarked for investments in climate, environment and people to an ominous "Competitiveness Fund", the European Commission's proposal for the new budget seems to effectively represent a huge transfer of resources from labour (people) to capital.
What’s Left of LIFE? Commission’s MFF Proposal Risks Quiet Rollback of EU Environmental Funding - Through Budget Lines, not Headlines
The European Commission’s proposal for the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) suggests that the EU LIFE Programme – the Union’s only dedicated fund for environment, nature and climate action –...
eeb.org
July 30, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Scharfsinniges Update zur politischen Ökonomie des russischen Geheimdienstkartenhauses

www.republik.ch/2025/07/24/d...
Die russische Dreifach­blamage
Wie Putins Geheimdienste in fünf Tagen drei Katastrophen erlebten.
www.republik.ch
July 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Another example of our new era where China is not only supplying us with cheap consumer goods but dominates strategic sectors.

We were really sleepwalking into this across the board from energy to mobility to military technology. And now it comes down all at once.
July 29, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Rational voting theory is hitting the wall
you'll never guess the politics of the construction company owner with a largely immigrant workforce, now facing up to $84,000 in penalties for not meeting a completion deadline
July 28, 2025 at 10:16 PM
The fight against climate crisis in @janeaflegal.bsky.social ‘s framing:

A fight between feedback loops, that is, of the climatic feedback loops triggered by our emissions and driving us deeper into crisis

versus

the societal/political feedback loops that we try to unleash to get to net zero.
July 28, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
mostly I want people to think of quantitative data as a specific subset of qualitative data, which it is (qualitative data on the reaction of a measuring device to empirical experience, whether numerical or in other form)
July 28, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
🚲🚲There is nothing more efficient in the world of machines and animals than a human on a bicycle.

The humble bicycle is an amazing machine.

www.jstor.org/stable/24923...
June 2, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
This Vienna street isn’t “closed” because cars have been removed. It’s been opened to everything else, to a diverse and invigorated civic life for people, because cars have been replaced by a multitude of wonderful things.

Language matters.

HT @dmoser.bsky.social for the pic. #OpenStreets
July 25, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
100 percent! Chinese cars now dominate the market almost everywhere but North America. Very clear in my recent travels to East Asia and the Middle East, for example. Easily a 9:1 ratio!
Most Americans really have no clue how far the US is being left behind.
July 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Good point here: as global trade plunges into chaos, it is all the more important to closely align the policy environment steering demand for green tech with the industrial policies that try to expand their production.
And absolutely on domestic/European demand - in green tech, there should be no difficulty for Europe to absorb its entire production and then some, if you take climate and energy transition goals seriously.
July 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
1 witz
Bahnticket Frankfurt - Berlin und zurück am Wochenende:

ab 160€

Flugticket Frankfurt - Mallorca und zurück am Wochenende:

ab 145€

CDU-Politiker: „Der Mallorca-Urlaub darf nicht unbezahlbar werden“
July 23, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
"[..]Geld spart der Staat dadurch nicht. Denn der Bund kann sich am Anleihemarkt Kapital für unter 3% Zinsen beschaffen. Private Investoren erwarten mindestens das Doppelte[..]. Die zahlen am Ende in jedem Fall die Bürgerinnen und Bürger" /2
July 23, 2025 at 6:05 AM
While German politicians and car manufacturers are busy whining about „the need for technological openness“, Vietnam is advancing electrification in big steps by banning ICE motorcycles, soon cars.

electrek.co/2025/07/20/v...
Vietnam setting bans on gasoline motorcycles next year, followed by cars
Vietnam is taking bold steps to clean up its streets – and quiet them down. Starting next summer, the major...
electrek.co
July 23, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
Schon gewusst, „dass dem Staat 28,5 Milliarden Euro durch illegale CumCum-Geschäften entzogen wurden? Jetzt bewegt sich Finanzminister Klingbeil endlich […]. Aber das Geld ist noch längst nicht zurück: Dafür braucht es den Einsatz von mehr Personal. Jetzt unterzeichnen ✍️ und teilen!“
CumCum-Milliarden: Zeit ist Steuergeld
Wusstest Du, dass dem Staat 28,5 Milliarden Euro durch illegale CumCum-Geschäften entzogen wurden? Jetzt bewegt sich Finanzminister Klingbeil endlich, um das Geld zurückzufordern. Aber das Geld ist n...
weact.campact.de
July 20, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Fabian Schmidt
Fascinating survey data on the missing Biden voters by Lake Research. The voters who sat out in '24 weren't looking for a centrist or turned off by trans rights. They want a genuine economic populist agenda: take on corporate greed, lower costs, and make the wealthy pay their fair share.
July 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM