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Duncan Weldon

@duncanweldon.bsky.social

20K followers 1.5K following 3.5K posts

Economics writer. Author. Expect history, economics, finance and other stuff. Wrote Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through. Blood and Treasure, on the economics of war, out now.

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Pinned

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · Aug 25

Time for a new pinned post. Out now in the UK, coming January 6th in the US.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 35m

“Lovely” used ironically.

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 36m

Lovely bit of jeopardy. On a stand-by list. Will I be allowed to fly home or not?
Who can say!

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 5h

Right. Heading the airport. And finally - sorry - getting around to reading @birdyword.bsky.social’s rather interesting looking book.

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 6h

Although both my most successful ever political bet & the bet I closed far too early was French politics related.
Met Macron when he was economy minister in early 2015. Stuck £50 on him as next President at about 100/1 as was super impressed. Closed it out when the odds came in to circa 30/1. Oops.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 6h

First time at an academic conference in the US.
I’d say the catering is a major step above what you’d expect at a British conference but still some way behind what you’d get in Italy or France.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 6h

I think my understanding of French politics is similar to my understanding of rugby.
I don’t really know the rules or the game but I can follow the drama of a big match.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 6h

Two days of going full ‘sponging up ideas’ for me.
Super useful conference.

Romesh Vaitilingam @econromesh.bsky.social · 2d

Economic statistics, war/sanctions, inflation, trade/protectionism, Big Tech, climate change/energy & challenges for media covering contentious stories in a polarised environment - on the agenda @kentclarkcenter.bsky.social economic experts conference this week www.chicagobooth.edu/research/Cla...

Clark Center Economic Experts Conference 2025

Teaser Data: Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s

www.chicagobooth.edu

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Reposted by Duncan Weldon

Robin Wigglesworth @robinwigglesworth.ft.com · 16h

More amazeballs reporting from @bondhack.ft.com and @ericgplatt.ft.com

FT Alphaville @alphaville.ft.com · 16h

A dig into First Brands' invoice financing and who's left holding the bag.

on.ft.com/3KH90dy

First Brands Group: dude, where’s my cash?

[FREE TO READ] Cleveland, we have a problem

on.ft.com

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 1d

Eaten my own body weight in scrambled eggs. In a sandwich.
I do like this country.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 1d

Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

I’ve crossed the Atlantic. Flying visit to my favourite American city.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

British economic history since 1850 has been the history of relative economic decline. And that’s fine and expected.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

We definitely used that.

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Reposted by Duncan Weldon

Dan Davies @dsquareddigest.bsky.social · 2d

Perhaps not the main point but I always hate it when people view it as a sign of failure when poorer countries grow faster. There is absolutely no intrinsic reason why Poland should have lower income than the UK or any other EU country forever, and that means it will have to grow faster sometimes

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 2d

"15 years ago, Polish workers came here to find opportunity. Now Poland is growing twice as fast as we are," says Kemi Badenoch.

Any ideas what may have happened in the interim?

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

A deep history of British schools’ “apparatus” and the extent of its past and present usage has all the hallmarks of a great @joelbudd.bsky.social piece.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

You people all pretend you’re here for economics, current affairs, history & finance.
But what you really all want is 1980s primary school nostalgia.
Numbers don’t lie.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

Alright. The replies suggest I need to read a deep dive on apparatus use by time over different parts of the country.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

And now I want to know when schools stopped using it.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

Love it.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

Ours was never used.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 2d

Been to the youngest’s harvest assembly.
Theory: every primary school built pre about 1980 in Britain has some version of this equipment. It is referred to as something like ‘the apparatus’.
No one has any memory of it ever being used.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 3d

“Ruthlessly ensure that around 40-45% of the population are seeing decent income & living standards growth. Ensure that the majority of them vote for you”.

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Reposted by Duncan Weldon

Dov Waxman @dovwaxman.bsky.social · 3d

On the second anniversary of the outbreak of the Gaza war that Hamas initiated with its horrific surprise attack in southern Israel, it’s worth taking stock of the war’s devastating toll. Here's a long thread, which is not exhaustive, of the toll:

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 3d

The amazing thing, in hindsight, is that there was loads of coverage at the time about how ‘brave’ she was to wear such skimpy outfits given how ‘old’ she was.
She was 32.

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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 3d

I’m not even 45 Katie.

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