Paul
@paulbali.com
Zachtwerkende Nederlander. Paris & Berlin, previously in The Hague and Rabat. Views mine
Scribbles at chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com
Scribbles at chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com
I guess his hustler persona wasn't an act
January 13, 2026 at 11:52 AM
I guess his hustler persona wasn't an act
New YIMBY argument just dropped
January 11, 2026 at 8:12 PM
New YIMBY argument just dropped
Tooze didn't mention Harp in the piece but he did on Twitter. Which is a shame because Harp's book is really important, but I guess talking about its contents is still a bit taboo or something. One of the most important books if you want to understand the Afghanistan and Iraq wars...
January 11, 2026 at 12:19 PM
Tooze didn't mention Harp in the piece but he did on Twitter. Which is a shame because Harp's book is really important, but I guess talking about its contents is still a bit taboo or something. One of the most important books if you want to understand the Afghanistan and Iraq wars...
Who needs solid state batteries or semiconductors when we've got perfectly fine potatoes at home
January 7, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Who needs solid state batteries or semiconductors when we've got perfectly fine potatoes at home
"People live in homes, not corporations" is remarkably similar to Jinping's "houses are for living, not speculation"
January 7, 2026 at 6:39 PM
"People live in homes, not corporations" is remarkably similar to Jinping's "houses are for living, not speculation"
Someone explain me this. Why shouldn't we use competition rules as industrial policy levers? We're competing against US and CN tech giants on the global market. This isn't about cosmetics or optics. It's about understanding today's world...
January 7, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Someone explain me this. Why shouldn't we use competition rules as industrial policy levers? We're competing against US and CN tech giants on the global market. This isn't about cosmetics or optics. It's about understanding today's world...
Pretty cool chart from @chrisgiles.ft.com newsletter
December 30, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Pretty cool chart from @chrisgiles.ft.com newsletter
Wie herinnert zich "Woedeaanval Wiersma" nog
December 25, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Wie herinnert zich "Woedeaanval Wiersma" nog
Sure, tariffs reduce competitiveness in the long run, industrial policy spend can be inefficient, etc. - but all that's beside the point when nearly all strategically important commodity extraction/processing markets look like this:
December 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Sure, tariffs reduce competitiveness in the long run, industrial policy spend can be inefficient, etc. - but all that's beside the point when nearly all strategically important commodity extraction/processing markets look like this:
Some examples of police violence described as 'grounded in the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination' by German interior ministry. Then people wonder why nobody takes EU bloviating about civil rights and rule of law serious anymore. The fish rots from the head...
December 12, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Some examples of police violence described as 'grounded in the principles of proportionality and non-discrimination' by German interior ministry. Then people wonder why nobody takes EU bloviating about civil rights and rule of law serious anymore. The fish rots from the head...
I posted about this yesterday, speculating this would happen. But didn’t expect it overnight
December 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I posted about this yesterday, speculating this would happen. But didn’t expect it overnight
Time to create a continental army!
December 5, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Time to create a continental army!
Again, there's a big difference between engineering new therapies with existing modalities and pathways, as well as Western big pharma backing, and having the ultra-high-end scientific and industrial ecosystem needed to discover wholly new pathways and modalities
December 2, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Again, there's a big difference between engineering new therapies with existing modalities and pathways, as well as Western big pharma backing, and having the ultra-high-end scientific and industrial ecosystem needed to discover wholly new pathways and modalities
Slight problem is that most policy people in Berlin and Brussels are deeply in thrall to the climate and degrowth stuff
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Slight problem is that most policy people in Berlin and Brussels are deeply in thrall to the climate and degrowth stuff
Sign of weakness for the Germans. Turkiye spent 20 years building state capacity, centralizing power, and doing industrial policy. No wonder it’s grown into a regional superpower… Berlin could learn a thing or two
November 28, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Sign of weakness for the Germans. Turkiye spent 20 years building state capacity, centralizing power, and doing industrial policy. No wonder it’s grown into a regional superpower… Berlin could learn a thing or two
Like it or not, this is a key source of European weakness. Institutional naïveté
November 22, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Like it or not, this is a key source of European weakness. Institutional naïveté