James Scott | Lightnews

Scott James

@drscottjames.bsky.social

1.2K followers 390 following 220 posts

Reader in Political Economy, King’s College London
www.kcl.ac.uk/people/dr-scott-james
IPE of finance and tech, monetary politics, City of London
BANK POLITICS (OUP, 2023)
https://global.oup.com/academic/product/bank-politics-9780192898609?cc=gb&lang=en& .. more

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Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · Mar 18

New article with Lucia Quaglia on how EU banks and EU regulators engaged in ‘noisy geopolitics’ by leveraging the digital sovereignty agenda to push for tighter controls on (US) bigtechs. Part of a special issue on ‘Transformation of Banking’ in Competition and Change
doi.org/10.1177/1024...

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 7h

What has arguably changed is that the quiet politics of finance now confronts not just the noisy but the personalist, vengeful and extractive politics of MAGA

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 9h

An element of trying to reinvent the wheel here when theories of instrumental power / power of inaction vs structural power of markets still does a pretty good job

Chartbook 431 Convening, staging, acting ... and was it never about Greenland and mainly about the Fed? Which Davos-theory won?

To matter or not to matter?

open.substack.com

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 1d

Great, thanks Jens

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 1d

True, although I was also thinking of shadow money instruments, like MMF shares (which are stablecoin like) backed by bonds, repos, commercial paper, etc, which would presumably rely on private tokenisation

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

Obviously the post-2008 lesson is that all this private offshore credit ultimately needs to be backstopped with CB money via digital dollar swap lines, repo, etc. In which case ‘full spectrum digital dominance’ for the dollar means CBDC + stablecoins + tokenisation are complements not substitutes

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

One for
@thunen.bsky.social
@mcopelov.bsky.social
@fabianpape.bsky.social
@johannespetry.bsky.social
@jvtk.bsky.social
@benbraun.bsky.social
@janfichtner.bsky.social
@piroskadora.bsky.social
@steffenmurau.bsky.social

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

So maybe there’s a structural logic to the US Genius Act, driven by the needs of shadow finance.

Whereas CBDCs make more sense for Europe and China with much less private / offshore issuance.

But then doesn’t this constrain the further internationalisation of the euro / renminbi? 🧐

Ends.

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

But I don’t see how you digitalise the dollar-based shadow financial system without the vast issuance of private stablecoins or tokenised assets covering MMF shares, repos, etc.

Am I missing something? 3/n

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

How do you digitalise the offshore dollar system or private / shadow money?

Retail and wholesale CBDCs work for pure public (cash) and public-private money (commercial bank liabilities). 2/n

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 2d

Looking to crowdsource some ideas / comments.

Thinking about why the US has not pursued a CBDC - aside from domestic political opposition - and the extent to which this reflects a structural logic of full spectrum global dollar dominance. 1/n

🧵

Reposted by Benjamin Braun, Duncan Bell, James Scott , and 3 more Benjamin Braun, Duncan Bell, James Scott, Margot C. Finn, Henry Farrell, Kathleen Kennedy

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 6d

‘The more that other countries look to escape US financial coercion, the more the US will scale it up… The global dollar system may now be a source of instability rather than stability.’ Our new paper by
@dsquareddigest.bsky.social & @himself.bsky.social
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/60...

Cover of discussion paper ‘The US dollar system as a source of international disorder’

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 6d

Expanding e-CNY usage a feature of the sequencing & acceleration of digital innovation driven by global monetary competition

If interest-bearing CBDCs spread from China to Europe, expect yield-bearing $ stablecoins to follow close behind

What to watch as China prepares its digital yuan for prime time

The changes China is implementing around the e-CNY signal a shift toward a much broader geopolitical ambition.

www.atlanticcouncil.org

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 6d

Certainly reads that way but then the genie is out of the bottle. Interesting speculation about HK role as international interface and parallel rails to m-Bridge

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 6d

Theory #3. Davos has proven its worth this week as 1) an on-and-off ramp for MAGA to interface with transnational club governance, and 2) a political antenna for separating the signal from the noise, creating space for TACO

Chartbook 428 To matter or not to matter: Two theories of Davos 2026.

There are two takes on the annual World Economic Forum meeting convening in Davos this week.

open.substack.com

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 6d

China’s quiet launch of an interest-bearing CBDC this month could be far more consequential for the future of the dollar and international monetary system than any of Trump’s shenanigans this week

Over to you, Brussels?
www.forbes.com/sites/digita...

China’s Digital RMB: Trillion-Dollar Shift In Payment And Crypto Rails

China has upgraded the digital Yuan to pay interest, marking a shift in CBDC design with implications for banks, payments, and cross-border trade.

www.forbes.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Steve Peers, James Scott

George Pearkes @peark.es · 7d

Oh man Rutte absolutely pulled one over on Donnie, looking forward to hearing what BS he offered up.

Dollar HOD on this and stocks ripping.

Donald J. Trump

@realDonaldTrump

Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region. This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations. Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st. Additional discussions are being held concerning The Golden Dome as it pertains to Greenland. Further information will be made available as discussions progress. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and various others, as needed, will be responsible for the negotiations — They will report directly to me. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

162

ReTruths

518

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Jan 21, 2026, 2:27 PM

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 8d

The jury must still be out on whether it is really constructive to provide such a public platform for these competing political worlds to so violently collide

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 8d

Part of the challenge for Davos is that Trump and MAGA insist on treating these global fora as an extension of zero-sum domestic politics rather than self-contained world of technocratic transnationalism

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 10d

Interesting test of whether and how the WEF can be adapted and repurposed for an era of de-institutionalised / non-rule based global governance defined by interpersonal networks, transnational cliques, patronage and ad hoc deal making www.politico.eu/article/davo...

How Davos went MAGA

U.S. President Donald Trump’s star turn signals a new era for the World Economic Forum.

www.politico.eu

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 8d

I’d also be in. Currently looking at the prospect of digital currency wars - Genius Act, dollarisation of EMs and ⬆️ captive demand for Treasuries - or whether this is all pie in the crypto sky? Brussels definitely taking the threat seriously though

Reposted by James Scott

herman mark schwartz @thunen.bsky.social · 8d

some 2023 # s for the de-dollarization debate re selling off USD securities. equity share probably up to 50% now given market ⬆️ and $ ⬇️. the "60%" you sometimes hear is not accurate.
@buddyyakov.bsky.social
@benbraun.bsky.social
@erinkaylockwood.bsky.social
@drscottjames.bsky.social

Scott James @drscottjames.bsky.social · 10d

💯 Essential to ensure that analysis of European security / defence / strategic autonomy is fully grounded in the financial and monetary world of full spectrum dollar dominance, Fed swap lines and interlocking balance sheets

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 10d

Great stuff by @robinwigglesworth.ft.com and @tobyn.bsky.social on how “Europe can bring the US to heel by dumping Treasuries” is a very long shot indeed.

Could Europe really leverage its $12.6tn pile of US assets?

NIIPing an outlandish idea in the bud

www.ft.com

Reposted by Robert Wolfe, James Scott

Alan Beattie @alanbeattie.bsky.social · 10d

Great stuff by @robinwigglesworth.ft.com and @tobyn.bsky.social on how “Europe can bring the US to heel by dumping Treasuries” is a very long shot indeed.

Could Europe really leverage its $12.6tn pile of US assets?

NIIPing an outlandish idea in the bud

www.ft.com