H Lee-Makiyama
leemakiyama.bsky.social
H Lee-Makiyama
@leemakiyama.bsky.social
Global economics and law. My other social media profile is ageing instead of me in the attic.
I don’t see the point of being on a public debate platform that consists mainly of likeminded liberal centrists.
'Well – no. Bluesky may or may not be, as one ... friend who felt unwelcome put it, “self-righteous island”. But the idea that’s why we went is nonsense.'

My reason was simpler. I can't stand X's owner + Bluesky had momentum. I'm under no illusion about toxicity on any platform. It's human nature.
The platform formerly known as Twitter may be horrible, but it is still shaping policy. So were we all wrong to leave?
October 12, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I note that when America says it ”stands by” a partner, it sends its airforce against an enemy that pose no actual threat to itself.

When EU ”stands by” Ukraine against Russia (which poses a direct threat to itself), it struggles to impose sanctions.

Whatever it takes - except troops or grains
June 23, 2025 at 5:16 AM
So they understand political economy - like all good Marxists do.
"Mr. Vance and his defenders obviously don’t understand economics. I’m starting to think they don’t understand science either. Perhaps the only thing they understand is power." www.wsj.com/opinion/jd-v...
June 3, 2025 at 8:26 PM
History is only useful to understand the laws of physics that constrain the policy space of nations, powers, leaders. History doesn’t predict outcomes. 1930s analogies are v unhelpful: some authoritarians came to power via elections, yes but no one will end his days in a bunker by his own hand.
May 26, 2025 at 9:59 AM
I begin to wonder whether it is Trump presidency that is paralysing us, or if it is our unsound obsession with it. Perhaps @vonderleyen is the one that is doing it right: by pretending Trump simply doesn’t exist.
May 11, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The difference between US and EU on Ukraine is how the former assumes Ukraine cannot win the war, thereby executing plan B. Whereas for latter, war outcome is actually secondary. The primary interest is about who controls what’s left of Ukraine, not how much is left of it.
May 11, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by H Lee-Makiyama
“We stand by Ukraine”

Except with troops or grains
Ukraine is Europe!
We stand by Ukraine.

We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor.

Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.
March 2, 2025 at 8:50 AM
“We stand by Ukraine”

Except with troops or grains
Ukraine is Europe!
We stand by Ukraine.

We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor.

Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.
March 2, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Please get yourselves together. Americans have always negotiated away territorial integrity of others over their heads since Korea in 1952: Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan. It’s not even a first in Europe - just a first for people with pale skin and blue eyes.
February 13, 2025 at 7:34 AM
Ahead of the NATO ministerial, here's my thoughts on the submarine cable disruptions and trusted connectivity. Both NATO and EU competencies needed to secure the most important chokepoints in the western hemisphere.
ecipe.org/blog/infrast...
Shaping an Infrastructure Security Area in the North Atlantic
IntroductionThe North Atlantic quadrant encompasses the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom, and the Nordic Peninsula. At its centre lies the Greenland–Iceland–United Ki
ecipe.org
February 12, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Well played by China on tariff retaliation. Either way the US plays, China now wins.
February 4, 2025 at 11:19 AM
If you are going to fix the current account (for whatever reason), including using tariffs, there's probably no better time for a trade war than now.
February 2, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Journalists are not experts on a subject. Journalism is reporting on a subject, which is a valued craft its own right. But too many (esp among journalists themselves) confuse reporting with actual mastery of a subject. Opining by journalists serve is vox populi, but there’s no authority beyond that.
February 1, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I agree he is a very dangerous man – but thinking that the country won't survive him doesn't put much faith in the division of power. We might call him stupid, vindictive, fixated on payback – but that reflects a majority of America and its place in the world.
Trump is an extremely dangerous man--stupid, vindictive, fixated on payback for his enemies. This country will be lucky to survive him.
January 31, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Yes, US businesses and consumers pay the tariff. But that’s entirely beside the point for those who argue for tariffs. Nor is this a fairness discussion or about current account. There is a bigger question about rebalancing the U.S. economy that trade nerds of all colors are missing.
January 30, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Not in my bingo card for 2025 but: the US joining BRICS would make a lot of sense. It's a club of countries who do not trust each other and share no common interests except for weakening G7.
January 29, 2025 at 7:32 AM
The US, India, and Europe do software and system integration. Taiwan, Japan, Korea does hardware design. However, China has mastered both. And the next game-changer that integrates the two (like the Apple Mac or iPhone) could very well be a Chinese innovation.
#DeepSeekR1 used smaller training models and cheaper hardware infrastructure – which is largely thanks to US export controls. Ironically, the US made DeepSeek better adapted for the commercial reality of GenAI monetisation". Me in
@VerdictUK www.verdict.co.uk/did-chinas-d...
Did China’s DeepSeek just burst the enterprise AI bubble?
The vast cost of building LLMs in the US has been passed onto business users. Has DeepSeek just shown that enterprise AI should be cheaper?
www.verdict.co.uk
January 28, 2025 at 9:48 AM
#DeepSeekR1 used smaller training models and cheaper hardware infrastructure – which is largely thanks to US export controls. Ironically, the US made DeepSeek better adapted for the commercial reality of GenAI monetisation". Me in
@VerdictUK www.verdict.co.uk/did-chinas-d...
Did China’s DeepSeek just burst the enterprise AI bubble?
The vast cost of building LLMs in the US has been passed onto business users. Has DeepSeek just shown that enterprise AI should be cheaper?
www.verdict.co.uk
January 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by H Lee-Makiyama
Most of which are aimed at Europe (and its trade) rather than China. Plus review US membership in the WTO GPA (which China is not part of).

Negotiating with China based on trade offs might be easier than dealing with Mexico or Europe based on common interest or the illusion of shared values.
Trump's initial tasks re economic security

- reviews of the industrial base and steel safeguards
- updates to export controls
- review & possible expansion of ICTS rules and outbound investment controls
- address risks from foreign subsidies in US procurement.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
America First Trade Policy – The White House
January 20, 2025 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE THE SECRETARY OF
www.whitehouse.gov
January 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by H Lee-Makiyama
Well bluesky is a genuinely good product when I want to immerse myself with likeminded liberal academics and have no interest in views from Asia. If X is a swamp, then Bluesky is the danger of little knowledge embodied.
January 22, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Reposted by H Lee-Makiyama
This is not what the panel report says. Fascinating how so many ‘experts’ fail to understand basic legal texts and/or just prints whatever EU officials tells them.
January 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This is probably true - and not that hard to prove. So the question is why no evidence was attached unless the poster was just trying to push his GitHub account.
Needing mirroring and investigation:

"I was part of a team that was directly ordered to manipulate Twitter's systems to influence the 2024 US presidential election..."

"For more evidence look at the docs of Eliza AI Agent software. We left bread crumbs."
github.com/elizaOS/eliza
January 23, 2025 at 3:57 PM
The idea of the US imposing sanctions on Russia to force it to the negotiation table is just utterly absurd – unless it's a part of a coordinated choreography to appear tough on both sides.
January 23, 2025 at 9:42 AM
This is not what the panel report says. Fascinating how so many ‘experts’ fail to understand basic legal texts and/or just prints whatever EU officials tells them.
January 22, 2025 at 11:24 AM