Rob Hawkes
@robbhawkes.bsky.social
Money happens; @moneyontheleft.bsky.social editorial collective; Past Chair @modernistudies.bsky.social; credit @wherecreditsdue.bsky.social; researching literature, money, and trust; he/him; https://linktr.ee/robhawkesMotL
Pinned
Rob Hawkes
@robbhawkes.bsky.social
· Jan 31
UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance
by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…
moneyontheleft.org
“Unless we are open to new approaches to university finance, we will remain trapped by the austere logics that are destroying our cherished institutions.
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
"While the credit theory explains the mechanics of how all banks create money, current law is designed to punish institutions that act on this reality for the public good; therefore, we must redesign the legal framework to make public grant-making possible."
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM
"While the credit theory explains the mechanics of how all banks create money, current law is designed to punish institutions that act on this reality for the public good; therefore, we must redesign the legal framework to make public grant-making possible."
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
I really like @moneyontheleft.bsky.social's interview with Caroline Levine for how she talks about validation in the guise of questioning/challenge.
moneyontheleft.org/2025/10/02/t...
moneyontheleft.org/2025/10/02/t...
The Activist Humanist with Caroline Levine
We speak with Caroline Levine, Ryan Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Literatures in English at Cornell University, about her important book The Activist Humanist: Form and Method in…
moneyontheleft.org
November 16, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I really like @moneyontheleft.bsky.social's interview with Caroline Levine for how she talks about validation in the guise of questioning/challenge.
moneyontheleft.org/2025/10/02/t...
moneyontheleft.org/2025/10/02/t...
I’m looking forward to exploring affinities between the neurodiversity & public money paradigms - via @dr-nicky.bsky.social on neuroqueering and @dramypearson.bsky.social & @kieranrose.bsky.social on masking - in this upcoming talk. Who knew heterodox economics and neuroqueer theory were connected?
On Weds 26 November from 3.30-4.30pm GMT @robynollett.bsky.social and I will be sharing some of our latest research via MS Teams as part of @teessideuni.bsky.social’s English & Creative Writing Research Seminar series. Why not join us online?
November 16, 2025 at 10:30 AM
I’m looking forward to exploring affinities between the neurodiversity & public money paradigms - via @dr-nicky.bsky.social on neuroqueering and @dramypearson.bsky.social & @kieranrose.bsky.social on masking - in this upcoming talk. Who knew heterodox economics and neuroqueer theory were connected?
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Great insights! "The Ministry for the Future" explores MMT brilliantly. As Frank says, “We have to make the future.” How do you think MMT could reshape our world? 🪐📚 #MMT #Scifi
Money’s Place: Science Fiction, Realism & MMT in The Ministry for the Future
Money’s Place: Science Fiction, Realism & MMT in The Ministry for the Future
Money on the Left: History, Theory, PracticeVol. 1, No. 1 (2023)ISSN 2833-051X Money’s Place: Science Fiction, Realism & Modern Monetary Theory in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministr…
moneyontheleft.org
November 16, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Great insights! "The Ministry for the Future" explores MMT brilliantly. As Frank says, “We have to make the future.” How do you think MMT could reshape our world? 🪐📚 #MMT #Scifi
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
In this special episode, Rob Hawkes joins Scott Ferguson and Will Beaman to discuss his new article “(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust.”
(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust
In this special episode, Rob Hawkes joins Scott Ferguson and Will Beaman to discuss his new article “(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust,” which was recently…
moneyontheleft.org
November 14, 2025 at 5:17 PM
In this special episode, Rob Hawkes joins Scott Ferguson and Will Beaman to discuss his new article “(Un)conditional Openness: Towards a Neochartalist Theory of Money and Trust.”
Wait, what’s that you say? MIMA Talks About Trust has whetted your appetite for conversation about trust and money? Well, you’re in luck because I had an equally enjoyable chat with @videotroph.bsky.social and @greenbackbetter.bsky.social for @moneyontheleft.bsky.social back in July!
November 14, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Wait, what’s that you say? MIMA Talks About Trust has whetted your appetite for conversation about trust and money? Well, you’re in luck because I had an equally enjoyable chat with @videotroph.bsky.social and @greenbackbetter.bsky.social for @moneyontheleft.bsky.social back in July!
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
👂
It was such a pleasure to discuss the endlessly fascinating topic of trust - from Raya and the Last Dragon to the shape of trust, via my research on literature, trust, and money - with @alisonreidoceans.bsky.social for this new podcast series, MIMA Talks About Trust!
mima.art/project/mima...
mima.art/project/mima...
MIMA — MIMA Talks About Trust
MIMA Talks About Trust is MIMA’s new series of podcasts, recorded in 2025 and 2026. Trust is often unspoken. In this series, we begin to explore the concept and power of trust in the contemporary worl...
mima.art
November 14, 2025 at 1:10 PM
👂
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Wonderful kickoff!
It was such a pleasure to discuss the endlessly fascinating topic of trust - from Raya and the Last Dragon to the shape of trust, via my research on literature, trust, and money - with @alisonreidoceans.bsky.social for this new podcast series, MIMA Talks About Trust!
mima.art/project/mima...
mima.art/project/mima...
MIMA — MIMA Talks About Trust
MIMA Talks About Trust is MIMA’s new series of podcasts, recorded in 2025 and 2026. Trust is often unspoken. In this series, we begin to explore the concept and power of trust in the contemporary worl...
mima.art
November 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Wonderful kickoff!
It was such a pleasure to discuss the endlessly fascinating topic of trust - from Raya and the Last Dragon to the shape of trust, via my research on literature, trust, and money - with @alisonreidoceans.bsky.social for this new podcast series, MIMA Talks About Trust!
mima.art/project/mima...
mima.art/project/mima...
MIMA — MIMA Talks About Trust
MIMA Talks About Trust is MIMA’s new series of podcasts, recorded in 2025 and 2026. Trust is often unspoken. In this series, we begin to explore the concept and power of trust in the contemporary worl...
mima.art
November 14, 2025 at 1:02 PM
It was such a pleasure to discuss the endlessly fascinating topic of trust - from Raya and the Last Dragon to the shape of trust, via my research on literature, trust, and money - with @alisonreidoceans.bsky.social for this new podcast series, MIMA Talks About Trust!
mima.art/project/mima...
mima.art/project/mima...
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
I’m excited to see @zackpolanski.bsky.social and Cory Dotorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on @novaramedia.com next week.
Relatedly, hope Zack reads this from Cory for its framing & spirit:
“Private debt is a drag on the debtor. State debt is generative…”
doctorow.medium.com/https-plural...
Relatedly, hope Zack reads this from Cory for its framing & spirit:
“Private debt is a drag on the debtor. State debt is generative…”
doctorow.medium.com/https-plural...
November 13, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I’m excited to see @zackpolanski.bsky.social and Cory Dotorow @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy on @novaramedia.com next week.
Relatedly, hope Zack reads this from Cory for its framing & spirit:
“Private debt is a drag on the debtor. State debt is generative…”
doctorow.medium.com/https-plural...
Relatedly, hope Zack reads this from Cory for its framing & spirit:
“Private debt is a drag on the debtor. State debt is generative…”
doctorow.medium.com/https-plural...
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Conventional wisdom says fiscal policy & banking should live apart. We disagree. This artificial division undercuts democracy by artificially constraining economic power.
Here, we introduce the Public Grant-Making Bank, which expands fiscal capacity where it's needed most.
Here, we introduce the Public Grant-Making Bank, which expands fiscal capacity where it's needed most.
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 13, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Conventional wisdom says fiscal policy & banking should live apart. We disagree. This artificial division undercuts democracy by artificially constraining economic power.
Here, we introduce the Public Grant-Making Bank, which expands fiscal capacity where it's needed most.
Here, we introduce the Public Grant-Making Bank, which expands fiscal capacity where it's needed most.
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
The left needs to overcome its debilitating fear of debt. Debt is obligation & no society can function without it. The true question is: How is debt politically constructed? Our latest piece opens up this question in a new &, I think, rather unprecedented way. Hopefully, this is just a start.
"Instead of relying on future repayment, public banks would issue grants to projects based on their public mission. ... [A] grant is still debt; only, it is a qualitative obligation to improve social and environmental conditions, rather than a quantitative obligation to repay a financial sum."
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The left needs to overcome its debilitating fear of debt. Debt is obligation & no society can function without it. The true question is: How is debt politically constructed? Our latest piece opens up this question in a new &, I think, rather unprecedented way. Hopefully, this is just a start.
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
“The Public Grant-Making Bank represents a critical mechanism for fiscal insurgency… a profound political act that challenges the hegemonic conception of money as a fundamentally capitalist tool.”
This is excellent. Immediate resistance, in unlikely places, that clears ground to build anew.
This is excellent. Immediate resistance, in unlikely places, that clears ground to build anew.
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:08 PM
“The Public Grant-Making Bank represents a critical mechanism for fiscal insurgency… a profound political act that challenges the hegemonic conception of money as a fundamentally capitalist tool.”
This is excellent. Immediate resistance, in unlikely places, that clears ground to build anew.
This is excellent. Immediate resistance, in unlikely places, that clears ground to build anew.
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
“To fully realize public banking’s potential, … we must recognize that loans alone are insufficient for addressing all public needs.”
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:13 PM
“To fully realize public banking’s potential, … we must recognize that loans alone are insufficient for addressing all public needs.”
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Public banks must be empowered to issue grants in addition to loans.
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
😁
Levine’s “Forms” & now “The Activist Humanist” are compelling and this interview was fantastic. For English educators & teacher educators trying to transcend the (false) binary between teaching form & social justice, her work offers an entirely new/innovative approach to both.
"I don't think, as a leftist, I was ever going to be a person who would make a case for hierarchy. But I realized that I had been arguing for a really long time that equality is better than hierarchy. And what is that? That is a hierarchy."
November 12, 2025 at 12:50 PM
😁
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
Levine’s “Forms” & now “The Activist Humanist” are compelling and this interview was fantastic. For English educators & teacher educators trying to transcend the (false) binary between teaching form & social justice, her work offers an entirely new/innovative approach to both.
"I don't think, as a leftist, I was ever going to be a person who would make a case for hierarchy. But I realized that I had been arguing for a really long time that equality is better than hierarchy. And what is that? That is a hierarchy."
The Activist Humanist with Caroline Levine
We speak with Caroline Levine, Ryan Professor of the Humanities in the Department of Literatures in English at Cornell University, about her important book The Activist Humanist: Form and Method in…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Levine’s “Forms” & now “The Activist Humanist” are compelling and this interview was fantastic. For English educators & teacher educators trying to transcend the (false) binary between teaching form & social justice, her work offers an entirely new/innovative approach to both.
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
"[A] Public Grant-Making Bank is more than a policy fix; it is a profound political act that challenges the hegemonic conception of money as a fundamentally capitalist tool."
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:52 AM
"[A] Public Grant-Making Bank is more than a policy fix; it is a profound political act that challenges the hegemonic conception of money as a fundamentally capitalist tool."
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
“When a project is defined by its social or ecological necessity rather than its ability to yield a private return, the loan structure fails.”
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:18 AM
“When a project is defined by its social or ecological necessity rather than its ability to yield a private return, the loan structure fails.”
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
This would be such an amazing, long-term beneficial thing: invest in in-house edtech production and eliminate much of or all licensing agreements with vampiric edtech companies
"[T]here is an immediate opportunity to reduce Ponzi austerity extraction by for-profit EdTech from New York City schools, and potentially to make a significant move towards socializing educational technology by providing platforms and models that can be exported and imitated anywhere."
Mamdani Win Could Be The First Step Towards Seizing The Means of Knowledge Production (Let CUNY Socialize EdTech for All of Us)
by Matt Seybold This essay originally appeared on Matt Seybold’s The American Vandal Substack. We are grateful for his generous permission to republish it here. An understandable response to …
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 2:28 AM
This would be such an amazing, long-term beneficial thing: invest in in-house edtech production and eliminate much of or all licensing agreements with vampiric edtech companies
“The Public Grant-Making Bank is a political project that importantly defamiliarizes what money is. […] Moreover, this approach reframes and reclaims the very idea of granting, not as the decree of a ruling authority, but as a shared commitment to the community and an affirmation of public trust.”
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:07 AM
“The Public Grant-Making Bank is a political project that importantly defamiliarizes what money is. […] Moreover, this approach reframes and reclaims the very idea of granting, not as the decree of a ruling authority, but as a shared commitment to the community and an affirmation of public trust.”
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
"[L]oans alone are insufficient for addressing all public needs. The loan model makes urgent community investment dependent on the ability to generate a profit & repay, when, in fact, the entire reason these initiatives require public support is the absence of a prospect for private sector profit."
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:34 AM
"[L]oans alone are insufficient for addressing all public needs. The loan model makes urgent community investment dependent on the ability to generate a profit & repay, when, in fact, the entire reason these initiatives require public support is the absence of a prospect for private sector profit."
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
“The first pillar of this model involves restructuring finance as direct grants, rather than as loans … On this logic, a grant is still debt; only, it is a qualitative obligation to improve social and environmental conditions, rather than a quantitative obligation to repay a financial sum.”
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:44 AM
“The first pillar of this model involves restructuring finance as direct grants, rather than as loans … On this logic, a grant is still debt; only, it is a qualitative obligation to improve social and environmental conditions, rather than a quantitative obligation to repay a financial sum.”
Reposted by Rob Hawkes
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
Beyond Loans: The Public Grant-Making Bank
By the Money on the Left Editorial Collective Public banking has been gaining traction for years, driven by a growing recognition that our current financial system often fails to serve the public g…
moneyontheleft.org
November 12, 2025 at 12:32 AM
✨ New Essay! ✨
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌
We argue that loan-based finance perpetuates capitalist interests & constraints that undercut efforts to address social & climate crises. Public banking is vital, to be sure; but we must fight for public banks that are empowered to issue grants, not merely loans.
Please share! 👩💻 🙌