Duncan Weldon
@duncanweldon.bsky.social
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.
Expect history, economics, finance and other stuff.
Wrote Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through.
Blood and Treasure, on the economics of war, out now.
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.
I’m going with Hunky Dory as the best album. But very tough.
Ashes to Ashes as the best single.
And Hours as both the most underrated album and the best late Bowie album.
Ashes to Ashes as the best single.
And Hours as both the most underrated album and the best late Bowie album.
A decade to the day since Bowie died. The man who man who invented multiple futures for the rest of us to explore.
www.economist.com/obituary/201...
www.economist.com/obituary/201...
Starman Jones
David Bowie, musician, actor and icon, died on January 10th, aged 69
www.economist.com
January 10, 2026 at 11:40 AM
I’m going with Hunky Dory as the best album. But very tough.
Ashes to Ashes as the best single.
And Hours as both the most underrated album and the best late Bowie album.
Ashes to Ashes as the best single.
And Hours as both the most underrated album and the best late Bowie album.
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Clickbait journalism meets PR firms using AI, with sadly predictable consequences.
pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
Named: 50 'experts' and linked brands publishers should treat with caution
Experts and brands associated with more than 1,000 likely faked stories.
pressgazette.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Clickbait journalism meets PR firms using AI, with sadly predictable consequences.
pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
pressgazette.co.uk/news/named-5...
I’m not encouraged to describe Blood & Treasure as “horrible histories but with some numbers” by actual book publicity specialists.
But it might be horrible histories but with some numbers.
But it might be horrible histories but with some numbers.
Currently reading this. it has witches, Mongol hordes and Smaug. Plus a shout out to @maryrosemuseum.bsky.social !!
And you thought economics was boring !
😀
And you thought economics was boring !
😀
January 9, 2026 at 9:50 PM
I’m not encouraged to describe Blood & Treasure as “horrible histories but with some numbers” by actual book publicity specialists.
But it might be horrible histories but with some numbers.
But it might be horrible histories but with some numbers.
I think the easiest answer to this is the same as the answer to “why on earth did they announce the Trump class battleships?”
Both display a fundamentally twentieth century mindset in a twenty-first century world.
www.ft.com/content/572b...
Both display a fundamentally twentieth century mindset in a twenty-first century world.
www.ft.com/content/572b...
January 9, 2026 at 1:40 PM
I think the easiest answer to this is the same as the answer to “why on earth did they announce the Trump class battleships?”
Both display a fundamentally twentieth century mindset in a twenty-first century world.
www.ft.com/content/572b...
Both display a fundamentally twentieth century mindset in a twenty-first century world.
www.ft.com/content/572b...
Good piece from @matthewholehouse.bsky.social
I’m quite interested in the counter examples - bank bailouts, furlough scheme, vaccine rollout, etc. The British state can act decisively and quickly in a proper crisis. So why does it struggle outside of them?
economist.com/britain/2026...
I’m quite interested in the counter examples - bank bailouts, furlough scheme, vaccine rollout, etc. The British state can act decisively and quickly in a proper crisis. So why does it struggle outside of them?
economist.com/britain/2026...
State capacity is the issue of the age
The Labour Party and its rivals agree on much about what is wrong with government
economist.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Good piece from @matthewholehouse.bsky.social
I’m quite interested in the counter examples - bank bailouts, furlough scheme, vaccine rollout, etc. The British state can act decisively and quickly in a proper crisis. So why does it struggle outside of them?
economist.com/britain/2026...
I’m quite interested in the counter examples - bank bailouts, furlough scheme, vaccine rollout, etc. The British state can act decisively and quickly in a proper crisis. So why does it struggle outside of them?
economist.com/britain/2026...
Defence Investment Plan due date: Autumn, before Xmas and now next year.
And this isn’t an especially hopeful sounding para.
www.ft.com/content/6e96... Defence spending plan delayed over Starmer concerns
And this isn’t an especially hopeful sounding para.
www.ft.com/content/6e96... Defence spending plan delayed over Starmer concerns
January 9, 2026 at 8:02 AM
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
See also the great piece (referenced and linked in the column) by @rajakorman.bsky.social on why the Venezuela gambit belongs in a world with a totally different energy market.
responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
January 8, 2026 at 2:26 PM
See also the great piece (referenced and linked in the column) by @rajakorman.bsky.social on why the Venezuela gambit belongs in a world with a totally different energy market.
responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
responsiblestatecraft.org/venezuela-oil/
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Great to see my forecasting contest featured in this morning's Playbook!
Can you predict what will happen in 2026?
Test your prediction skills using the link below:
⬇️
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
Can you predict what will happen in 2026?
Test your prediction skills using the link below:
⬇️
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
January 7, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Great to see my forecasting contest featured in this morning's Playbook!
Can you predict what will happen in 2026?
Test your prediction skills using the link below:
⬇️
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
Can you predict what will happen in 2026?
Test your prediction skills using the link below:
⬇️
www.edrith.co.uk/p/2026-forec...
Really fascinating read.
New post out:
We have an interview with John Bew - one of the most influential people in British politics over the past decade + foreign policy adviser to four PMs.
(Free to read)
samf.substack.com/p/interview-...
We have an interview with John Bew - one of the most influential people in British politics over the past decade + foreign policy adviser to four PMs.
(Free to read)
samf.substack.com/p/interview-...
Interview with John Bew - adviser to four Prime Ministers
On Whitehall, Ukraine, Trump and the global challenges facing Britain
samf.substack.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Really fascinating read.
My post-Ashes thoughts: I hope Stokes stays as captain. But I think the focus on whether McCullum stays or not is far less important than some practical changes that are needed. For a start, ensuring England players play a lot more county cricket.
January 8, 2026 at 11:00 AM
My post-Ashes thoughts: I hope Stokes stays as captain. But I think the focus on whether McCullum stays or not is far less important than some practical changes that are needed. For a start, ensuring England players play a lot more county cricket.
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Not much to shift views in this morning's Decision Maker Panel, a Bank of England survey of firms which MPC members like.
Wage, own-price and CPI expectations fairly stable.
Employment expectations lowest since 2020 on 3m average measure, despite Dec single-month showing a less negative reading.
Wage, own-price and CPI expectations fairly stable.
Employment expectations lowest since 2020 on 3m average measure, despite Dec single-month showing a less negative reading.
January 8, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Not much to shift views in this morning's Decision Maker Panel, a Bank of England survey of firms which MPC members like.
Wage, own-price and CPI expectations fairly stable.
Employment expectations lowest since 2020 on 3m average measure, despite Dec single-month showing a less negative reading.
Wage, own-price and CPI expectations fairly stable.
Employment expectations lowest since 2020 on 3m average measure, despite Dec single-month showing a less negative reading.
Spotify just served me up Kid Rock followed by Rage Against the Machine. Clearly it is pursuing a BBC-like approach to political balance.
January 8, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Spotify just served me up Kid Rock followed by Rage Against the Machine. Clearly it is pursuing a BBC-like approach to political balance.
Clearly ASDA are suffering as a result of the slightly mad decision to use the Grinch (an anti Christmas figure) in all of their Christmas advertising.
www.ft.com/content/d7cc...
www.ft.com/content/d7cc...
January 8, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Clearly ASDA are suffering as a result of the slightly mad decision to use the Grinch (an anti Christmas figure) in all of their Christmas advertising.
www.ft.com/content/d7cc...
www.ft.com/content/d7cc...
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Wow! You wait ages for Romano-British archaeology news, and then two big stories show up in the same week!
Archaeologists discover signs of Roman industrial hub at site in Sunderland
Archaeologists discover signs of Roman industrial hub at site in Sunderland
Discovery of more than 800 whetstones, used to sharpen weapons, seen as one of the most significant finds in northern England for a century
Archaeologists have found evidence of a huge and previously unknown industrial hub of Roman manufacturing in a discovery seen as one of the most significant finds in northern England for a century.
Researchers were astonished to discover more than 800 whetstones at a site on the banks of the River Wear, and evidence of there being hundreds, if not thousands, more buried in the riverbank. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:05 AM
Wow! You wait ages for Romano-British archaeology news, and then two big stories show up in the same week!
January 7, 2026 at 6:27 PM
This is a bad headline.
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
January 7, 2026 at 6:23 PM
This is a bad headline.
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
But I guess, ‘add 0.1% to total employment costs’ is less exciting.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Top three stories on the Bloomberg news app.
That’s a lot of geopolitics.
That’s a lot of geopolitics.
January 7, 2026 at 3:37 PM
Top three stories on the Bloomberg news app.
That’s a lot of geopolitics.
That’s a lot of geopolitics.
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
The last time the US foreign policy apparatus was so exercised about anything to do with Denmark was during the Strategic Hamlet Program.
January 6, 2026 at 9:31 PM
The last time the US foreign policy apparatus was so exercised about anything to do with Denmark was during the Strategic Hamlet Program.
Seems unlikely Putin will sign up to the peace.
But what would the Anglo-French-allied deployment look like if he did?
I’m presuming from talk of “hubs” & the general state of actually deployable resources we are talking about hundreds of, essentially, observers rather than formed combat units?
But what would the Anglo-French-allied deployment look like if he did?
I’m presuming from talk of “hubs” & the general state of actually deployable resources we are talking about hundreds of, essentially, observers rather than formed combat units?
January 7, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Seems unlikely Putin will sign up to the peace.
But what would the Anglo-French-allied deployment look like if he did?
I’m presuming from talk of “hubs” & the general state of actually deployable resources we are talking about hundreds of, essentially, observers rather than formed combat units?
But what would the Anglo-French-allied deployment look like if he did?
I’m presuming from talk of “hubs” & the general state of actually deployable resources we are talking about hundreds of, essentially, observers rather than formed combat units?
January 7, 2026 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Y’all look like you a need a break from the news cycle. Why not read our new Bulletin on the how the financing of the AI boom is shifting from cash flow to debt financing!?
www.bis.org/publ/bisbull...
www.bis.org/publ/bisbull...
Financing the AI boom: from cash flows to debt
www.bis.org
January 7, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Y’all look like you a need a break from the news cycle. Why not read our new Bulletin on the how the financing of the AI boom is shifting from cash flow to debt financing!?
www.bis.org/publ/bisbull...
www.bis.org/publ/bisbull...
Apparently I read 2,473 FT articles last year. I suppose I am getting decent value for money.
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Apparently I read 2,473 FT articles last year. I suppose I am getting decent value for money.
Reposted by Duncan Weldon
Given today’s very exciting news of the discovery of an intact Carnyx (Iron Age war-horn) in Thetford, Norfolk, here’s what they might have sounded like:
January 7, 2026 at 9:33 AM
Given today’s very exciting news of the discovery of an intact Carnyx (Iron Age war-horn) in Thetford, Norfolk, here’s what they might have sounded like: