Tom Goldsmith
@tomgoldsmith.bsky.social
I write about building a fairer and more inclusive society and innovation's role in doing that on the Deep Dives newsletter: https://orbitpolicy.substack.com/. Founder & Principal, Orbit Policy. Toronto via the UK.
Pinned
"We must chart a new path, as bold as the one we have already traveled"
On Budget 2025 and Mamdani's very different articulation of what is needed in this moment.
open.substack.com
My thoughts on Budget 2025, @armineyalnizyan.bsky.social's call to focus on "the humans that make up the economy," and the vision for governing articulated by @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in his victory speech: open.substack.com/pub/orbitpol...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
I like to gamble. I have a regular poker game. I used to go to Vegas once a year with buddies.
But I hope we begin to treat the extractive online gambling industry, along with the online shills who ruin lives, like coke dealers.
But I hope we begin to treat the extractive online gambling industry, along with the online shills who ruin lives, like coke dealers.
If convicted on all charges, the pitchers face up to 65 years in prison.
According to the indictment, Clase’s conspirators totaled more than $400,000 in winnings. Ortiz’s totaled more than $60,000.
According to the indictment, Clase’s conspirators totaled more than $400,000 in winnings. Ortiz’s totaled more than $60,000.
Guardians’ Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz indicted on charges linked to illegal sports betting
Ortiz was arrested Sunday in Boston and will appear in court Monday. Clase was not in custody as of early Sunday afternoon.
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:45 PM
I like to gamble. I have a regular poker game. I used to go to Vegas once a year with buddies.
But I hope we begin to treat the extractive online gambling industry, along with the online shills who ruin lives, like coke dealers.
But I hope we begin to treat the extractive online gambling industry, along with the online shills who ruin lives, like coke dealers.
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Budget 2025 does little to contain the cost-of-living crisis or rising rates of poverty. Important programs are targeted for cuts, others to be starved of funds. Is this the route to an inclusive future? #cdnpoli www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
The path to prosperity set out in budget 2025 leaves millions behind - CCPA
The millions struggling to pay their rent and put food on the table were looking for relief in budget 2025—and they were disappointed.
www.policyalternatives.ca
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Budget 2025 does little to contain the cost-of-living crisis or rising rates of poverty. Important programs are targeted for cuts, others to be starved of funds. Is this the route to an inclusive future? #cdnpoli www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
My thoughts on Budget 2025, @armineyalnizyan.bsky.social's call to focus on "the humans that make up the economy," and the vision for governing articulated by @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in his victory speech: open.substack.com/pub/orbitpol...
"We must chart a new path, as bold as the one we have already traveled"
On Budget 2025 and Mamdani's very different articulation of what is needed in this moment.
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
My thoughts on Budget 2025, @armineyalnizyan.bsky.social's call to focus on "the humans that make up the economy," and the vision for governing articulated by @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social in his victory speech: open.substack.com/pub/orbitpol...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Three missed opportunities in Canada's federal budget:
1) "Sacrifice"—but not asked of the wealthy;
2) Bold rhetoric but weak action on housing;
3) Productivity drive that misses key low-hanging fruit;
Some reflections for @bcpolicy.bsky.social bcpolicy.ca/2025/11/07/c...
1) "Sacrifice"—but not asked of the wealthy;
2) Bold rhetoric but weak action on housing;
3) Productivity drive that misses key low-hanging fruit;
Some reflections for @bcpolicy.bsky.social bcpolicy.ca/2025/11/07/c...
Three missed opportunities in Canada’s federal budget
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first federal budget comes at an important moment for Canada as we face an increasingly hostile United States and the need to chart our own path.
The choices this gover...
bcpolicy.ca
November 7, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Three missed opportunities in Canada's federal budget:
1) "Sacrifice"—but not asked of the wealthy;
2) Bold rhetoric but weak action on housing;
3) Productivity drive that misses key low-hanging fruit;
Some reflections for @bcpolicy.bsky.social bcpolicy.ca/2025/11/07/c...
1) "Sacrifice"—but not asked of the wealthy;
2) Bold rhetoric but weak action on housing;
3) Productivity drive that misses key low-hanging fruit;
Some reflections for @bcpolicy.bsky.social bcpolicy.ca/2025/11/07/c...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
I just donated. This is so important (read Luke's 🧵 for more information.) If you can manage it, please consider supporting @pressprogress.ca it this fight against politicians who try to silence journalists.
@pressprogress.ca needs your solidarity and support right now more than ever
We’re raising money to pay our legal bills – and to be blunt, we’re going to need a lot of help
If you’re able, please help us out and support our Journalism Defence Fund:
pressprogress.ca/journalism-d...
We’re raising money to pay our legal bills – and to be blunt, we’re going to need a lot of help
If you’re able, please help us out and support our Journalism Defence Fund:
pressprogress.ca/journalism-d...
PressProgress: Defend Canadian Journalism
pressprogress.ca
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
I just donated. This is so important (read Luke's 🧵 for more information.) If you can manage it, please consider supporting @pressprogress.ca it this fight against politicians who try to silence journalists.
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Courtesy of the world’s richest man who just got a trillion-dollar pay package from his feckless board: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Courtesy of the world’s richest man who just got a trillion-dollar pay package from his feckless board: www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
There are no words for how evil this is
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 AM
There are no words for how evil this is
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
The right way to cover Nancy Pelosi lol
November 6, 2025 at 8:11 PM
The right way to cover Nancy Pelosi lol
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
YouTube has deleted more than 700 videos posted by Palestinian human rights groups, ranging from investigations into the killing of American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by an Israeli soldier, to testimonies of Palestinians tortured by Israeli forces.
theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
YouTube Quietly Erased More Than 700 Videos Documenting Israeli Human Rights Violations
The tech giant deleted the accounts of three prominent Palestinian human rights groups — a capitulation to Trump sanctions.
theintercept.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:35 PM
YouTube has deleted more than 700 videos posted by Palestinian human rights groups, ranging from investigations into the killing of American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by an Israeli soldier, to testimonies of Palestinians tortured by Israeli forces.
theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
theintercept.com/2025/11/04/y...
This was such a fun panel to moderate and I'm so glad it had a bit of spice to it. Innovation panels so often fall into the same tired narratives. It was great to see @ashleighweeden.bsky.social, @dkmunro.bsky.social and the other panellists push back on those!
What a delight to be part of an absolutely incredible line up at the CSA Policy Pathways Conference today in Toronto.
Terrific fireside chat at the CSA Policy Pathways Conference with Armine Yalnizyan Kaylie Tiessen and Steve Paikin unpacking yesterday’s Federal budget and what else it might have included.
Our… | S...
Terrific fireside chat at the CSA Policy Pathways Conference with Armine Yalnizyan Kaylie Tiessen and Steve Paikin unpacking yesterday’s Federal budget and what else it might have included.
Our seco...
www.linkedin.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This was such a fun panel to moderate and I'm so glad it had a bit of spice to it. Innovation panels so often fall into the same tired narratives. It was great to see @ashleighweeden.bsky.social, @dkmunro.bsky.social and the other panellists push back on those!
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
For @techpolicypress.bsky.social I laid out a tech agenda for Mayor-elect zohrankmamdani.bsky.social that resists surveillance and extraction while advancing his goals for affordability, dignity, and justice.
Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani.bsky.social)
Mayor-Elect of New York City
zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 7:01 PM
For @techpolicypress.bsky.social I laid out a tech agenda for Mayor-elect zohrankmamdani.bsky.social that resists surveillance and extraction while advancing his goals for affordability, dignity, and justice.
Wow, the Budget explicitly uses the phrase "taking back control" in relation to immigration. After years as the Governor of the Bank of England during successive UK Conservative governments, Mark Carney seems intent on bringing that playbook here.
November 4, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Wow, the Budget explicitly uses the phrase "taking back control" in relation to immigration. After years as the Governor of the Bank of England during successive UK Conservative governments, Mark Carney seems intent on bringing that playbook here.
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
I was a coms staffer at PSAC when the Harper government slashed the public service — a miserable time for everyone. All it led to was layoffs, followed by the fed govt hiring more temps and expensive consultants. And then eventually hiring back even more people. It takes humans to run a country 🤷♀️
November 4, 2025 at 10:15 PM
I was a coms staffer at PSAC when the Harper government slashed the public service — a miserable time for everyone. All it led to was layoffs, followed by the fed govt hiring more temps and expensive consultants. And then eventually hiring back even more people. It takes humans to run a country 🤷♀️
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
So why call it sovereignty if what governments are actually talking about is agency within a transnational supply chain? It is a policy frame that has more to do with legitimizing nationalist narratives of technocratic control and securitization than with the material realities of digital infra
November 4, 2025 at 9:27 PM
So why call it sovereignty if what governments are actually talking about is agency within a transnational supply chain? It is a policy frame that has more to do with legitimizing nationalist narratives of technocratic control and securitization than with the material realities of digital infra
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Sometimes I think about how much of our productive economic capacity is devoted to developing increasingly baroque and absurd luxury products for the wealthy, and I despair.
What’s the Deal With Okapa’s $300 Water Bottle?
Eight years of research and 10,000 prototypes have created a luxury water bottle claiming to redefine the experience of drinking H2O, all for an eye-watering sum.
www.wired.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Sometimes I think about how much of our productive economic capacity is devoted to developing increasingly baroque and absurd luxury products for the wealthy, and I despair.
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
A reminder the wealthy love to threaten to leave if left-wing politicians are elected. 10,000 media pieces alone before Labour were elected for example
Evidence shows almost 0% of them actually move. They have families, communities and home links. They just don’t move taxjustice.net/press/millio...
Evidence shows almost 0% of them actually move. They have families, communities and home links. They just don’t move taxjustice.net/press/millio...
Millionaire exodus did not occur, study reveals - Tax Justice Network
The number of millionaires widely reported in the news to be leaving countries in "exodus" represented near-0% of all millionaires.
taxjustice.net
November 4, 2025 at 7:02 PM
A reminder the wealthy love to threaten to leave if left-wing politicians are elected. 10,000 media pieces alone before Labour were elected for example
Evidence shows almost 0% of them actually move. They have families, communities and home links. They just don’t move taxjustice.net/press/millio...
Evidence shows almost 0% of them actually move. They have families, communities and home links. They just don’t move taxjustice.net/press/millio...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Thinking ahead to tomorrow's federal budget and all the talk of Canadians needing to make sacrifices, I can't help but wonder when the wealthiest few might be asked to do that.
Unfortunately I don't think that's part of the plan.
Unfortunately I don't think that's part of the plan.
A federal wealth tax could raise half a trillion dollars for Canada.
Extreme wealth concentration is damaging our economy and society. Taxing the super-rich could fund transformative public investments to build a stronger, more resilient Canada.
New report: bcpolicy.ca/wealth-tax
Extreme wealth concentration is damaging our economy and society. Taxing the super-rich could fund transformative public investments to build a stronger, more resilient Canada.
New report: bcpolicy.ca/wealth-tax
A wealth tax could raise half a trillion dollars for a stronger, fairer Canada
New report on the effects of wealth inequality, the revenue potential of a wealth tax, counter-arguments and an outline of transformative public investments.
bcpolicy.ca
November 3, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Thinking ahead to tomorrow's federal budget and all the talk of Canadians needing to make sacrifices, I can't help but wonder when the wealthiest few might be asked to do that.
Unfortunately I don't think that's part of the plan.
Unfortunately I don't think that's part of the plan.
100% this!
The Toronto #BlueJays gave us arguably the closest #WorldSeries in modern history, and the most fun and inspiring playoff run I can remember in any sport. I LOVE THAT TEAM, and 100% believe #TORONTO should have a HUGE CELEBRATION ANYWAY, to thank the team, fans, city and COUNTRY for a legendary run!
November 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
100% this!
Today's lesson: do not go down a rabbit hole of grocery store income statements to unpick comparative profit margins across different countries and companies with slightly different income streams and accounting practices.
a woman is looking at a chalkboard with a lot of math equations on it .
Alt: a woman is looking confused at math equations. It me.
media.tenor.com
November 3, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Today's lesson: do not go down a rabbit hole of grocery store income statements to unpick comparative profit margins across different countries and companies with slightly different income streams and accounting practices.
This is an interesting piece on accusations of grocery store profiteering in the UK, and why they might not hold up to scrutiny. However, from a Canadian perspective, it really does put the scale of profiteering here into stark contrast. /1
FYI, I've fleshed out some recent comments on Tesco bashing into a blog... 🤔✍️
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
julianhjessop.substack.com/p/its-time-t...
November 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
This is an interesting piece on accusations of grocery store profiteering in the UK, and why they might not hold up to scrutiny. However, from a Canadian perspective, it really does put the scale of profiteering here into stark contrast. /1
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
1/When @himself.bsky.social and I wrote about the future of US economic coercion we hoped that the tools could be used for global collective goods like climate. Now US “evaluating sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies”’
on.ft.com/4qJF3Ko
on.ft.com/4qJF3Ko
US accused of ‘bully-boy’ tactics to sink climate deal
Officials say ‘threats’ used to derail net zero deal for shipping industry ripped up rules of global diplomacy
on.ft.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:07 PM
1/When @himself.bsky.social and I wrote about the future of US economic coercion we hoped that the tools could be used for global collective goods like climate. Now US “evaluating sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies”’
on.ft.com/4qJF3Ko
on.ft.com/4qJF3Ko
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Universal public education, libraries, and transit fuck yeahhhhh let’s send productivity through the roof
November 2, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Universal public education, libraries, and transit fuck yeahhhhh let’s send productivity through the roof
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Did not expect one of the best paragraphs I’d read about baseball would come from an Irish newspaper
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
November 2, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Did not expect one of the best paragraphs I’d read about baseball would come from an Irish newspaper
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
www.irishexaminer.com/sport-column...
Reposted by Tom Goldsmith
Having slept on it, it’s really set in that the Blue Jays loss last night was one of the most gutting pro sports losses I can remember. Absolutely brutal. My heart goes out to 🇨🇦
November 2, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Having slept on it, it’s really set in that the Blue Jays loss last night was one of the most gutting pro sports losses I can remember. Absolutely brutal. My heart goes out to 🇨🇦