Gabriel
@gabrielu.bsky.social
South American member of the educated middle-class, born in the closing decades of the last century.
https://cfalso.ghost.io/
https://cfalso.ghost.io/
Pinned
Gabriel
@gabrielu.bsky.social
· Oct 12
Possibly germane in the current context, something I wrote a few years ago about why the last Argentine dictatorship does not generate the degree of nostalgia one sees for its peers in Brazil or Chile
(tl/dr, terror and mismanagement ended up affecting the elite.)
cfalso.ghost.io/a-dead-gener...
(tl/dr, terror and mismanagement ended up affecting the elite.)
cfalso.ghost.io/a-dead-gener...
Reposted by Gabriel
For anyone interested in the history of how the financial rug was pulled out from under great public universities sinc 1970s-'80s, this is an excellent history, principally focusing on California and NY. No surprise who the baddies are: Reagan and Rockefeller! Link:
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
July 2, 2025 at 11:46 PM
For anyone interested in the history of how the financial rug was pulled out from under great public universities sinc 1970s-'80s, this is an excellent history, principally focusing on California and NY. No surprise who the baddies are: Reagan and Rockefeller! Link:
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/...
Reposted by Gabriel
Sangita Myska is, of course, absolutely right. And you have to ask, does the indifference of powerful cis white men like Wesley Streeting ('police streets not tweets') speak mostly to how little he is affected?
"She said the position of people of colour in public life in Britain was 'becoming harder by the day', in part due to an 'unbelievably toxic environment in which anything goes' that became normalised during the Brexit campaign in 2016." www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Broadcaster targeted with racist slurs accuses Farage of emboldening ‘toxic environment’ online
Farage is responsible for ‘dangerous’ culture shift, says broadcaster subject to alleged posts from Reform councillor
www.theguardian.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Sangita Myska is, of course, absolutely right. And you have to ask, does the indifference of powerful cis white men like Wesley Streeting ('police streets not tweets') speak mostly to how little he is affected?
Reposted by Gabriel
A new report on dietary findings in a select area of Pompeii likely inhabited by enslaved people came out in Scavi di Pompei. Many newspapers are now running w/a headline about Roman slaves “eating better” than free Romans. pompeiisites.org/e-journal-de... Let’s discuss why this is problematic
December 6, 2025 at 12:48 PM
A new report on dietary findings in a select area of Pompeii likely inhabited by enslaved people came out in Scavi di Pompei. Many newspapers are now running w/a headline about Roman slaves “eating better” than free Romans. pompeiisites.org/e-journal-de... Let’s discuss why this is problematic
Reposted by Gabriel
The Pulitzers are bringing back Beat Reporting as a category and smooshing the two opinion categories into one.
For all of us who prize reporting over gasbaggery, this is a very welcome change!
www.pulitzer.org/news/22883
For all of us who prize reporting over gasbaggery, this is a very welcome change!
www.pulitzer.org/news/22883
December 6, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The Pulitzers are bringing back Beat Reporting as a category and smooshing the two opinion categories into one.
For all of us who prize reporting over gasbaggery, this is a very welcome change!
www.pulitzer.org/news/22883
For all of us who prize reporting over gasbaggery, this is a very welcome change!
www.pulitzer.org/news/22883
Reposted by Gabriel
We're back to the age of the robber barons. It won't end well.
"Soon, CNN will run live odds on world events where its viewers can gamble on them in real time on their smartphones."
CNN Partners With a Gambling App That Lets You Wager on Starvation in Gaza
The app company’s two biggest investors are also heavily invested in the Israeli military.
truthout.org
December 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
We're back to the age of the robber barons. It won't end well.
Reposted by Gabriel
BoE line about interest on reserves is that reducing is a fiscal decision for the government to make. But payments were never legislated—it was a BoE decision, which apparently sought an ok from the Treasury, in 2006 when this was an issue of millions rather than billions. But look now:
Over the last 11 financial years, the UK Treasury has spent more on paying interest to the banking sector on their reserves than it has taken in from them in corporate and sector-specific taxes. In 2024-25, it paid over 3 times as much for interest on reserves as it received from taxes on banks.
December 3, 2025 at 11:12 AM
BoE line about interest on reserves is that reducing is a fiscal decision for the government to make. But payments were never legislated—it was a BoE decision, which apparently sought an ok from the Treasury, in 2006 when this was an issue of millions rather than billions. But look now:
Reposted by Gabriel
The task is not to make anti-fascism consistent with the financial system, but to make the financial system consistent with anti-fascism.
Bloomberg taking a shot across the bow of @zackpolanski.bsky.social — but should we listen to an economist (and Times columnist btw) whose main concern regarding Reform is its fiscal policy? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
The task is not to make anti-fascism consistent with the financial system, but to make the financial system consistent with anti-fascism.
Reposted by Gabriel
In the 3 fiscal years from April 2022-March 2025, ~£147 bln (72% of w redemptions, 32% indemnities) = 6.5% of central government tax revenue, was sent by the Treasury to the BoE so the BoE could destroy (delete) it. Right amount of tax-financed money supply reduction? Not a debate we're having! 2/n
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
In the 3 fiscal years from April 2022-March 2025, ~£147 bln (72% of w redemptions, 32% indemnities) = 6.5% of central government tax revenue, was sent by the Treasury to the BoE so the BoE could destroy (delete) it. Right amount of tax-financed money supply reduction? Not a debate we're having! 2/n
Reposted by Gabriel
In sum: if folks want to beat up on MM theorists for not being systematic on resource constraints, fine. But have some humility: our MMT-that-dare-not-speak-its-name has comprehensively eviscerated our ability to even DISCUSS what a sensible relationship between fiscal and monetary policy would be.
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
In sum: if folks want to beat up on MM theorists for not being systematic on resource constraints, fine. But have some humility: our MMT-that-dare-not-speak-its-name has comprehensively eviscerated our ability to even DISCUSS what a sensible relationship between fiscal and monetary policy would be.
Reposted by Gabriel
look it's an admiral we're talking about, by USN standards these days this is profiles in courage shit
>believes the boat strikes might be illegal
>>the drunk asks him to retire
>>>he retires
>>the drunk asks him to retire
>>>he retires
Exclusive: The four-star admiral in charge of Caribbean operations had concerns about the legality of the boat strikes. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked him to retire shortly after they started.
December 4, 2025 at 12:28 AM
look it's an admiral we're talking about, by USN standards these days this is profiles in courage shit
Reposted by Gabriel
I am very happy to report that my article on the strange non-death of credit rating agencies has been published in New Political Economy.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
December 5, 2025 at 9:24 AM
I am very happy to report that my article on the strange non-death of credit rating agencies has been published in New Political Economy.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.....
Reposted by Gabriel
December 6, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Gabriel
There are so many interesting threads in this piece - the explosion in fraud over the last decade, the rise of private policing, the former CPS lawyers and police officers spotting the business opportunities that austerity presented. Plus a con artist brought down by his furious ex-girlfriends.
My latest Guardian Long Read is about a shadowy area of criminal law that has exploded since austerity, and what “two tier justice” really means in Britain: www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...
‘The police weren’t interested’: what’s driving the rise in private prosecutions?
The long read: As the police and courts continue to struggle with the legacy of austerity, many people are seeking alternative routes to justice – but it could be making matters worse
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:33 PM
There are so many interesting threads in this piece - the explosion in fraud over the last decade, the rise of private policing, the former CPS lawyers and police officers spotting the business opportunities that austerity presented. Plus a con artist brought down by his furious ex-girlfriends.
Reposted by Gabriel
Excited to say that the beautiful Guardian Long Read Magazine is out now, ft. work by @mrkocnnll.bsky.social, @imogenwk.bsky.social, @jackgoulder.bsky.social, @tessairini.bsky.social, @hettieobrien.bsky.social + many other brilliant writers. Order your copy here guardianbookshop.com/long-read-50...
The Guardian Long Read
A better place to buy your books. Support independent journalism with everything you buy. Free UK P&P on online orders over £25
guardianbookshop.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Excited to say that the beautiful Guardian Long Read Magazine is out now, ft. work by @mrkocnnll.bsky.social, @imogenwk.bsky.social, @jackgoulder.bsky.social, @tessairini.bsky.social, @hettieobrien.bsky.social + many other brilliant writers. Order your copy here guardianbookshop.com/long-read-50...
Reposted by Gabriel
The independence of the Bank of England was supposed to facilitate the application of economic reasoning to public policy. But if independence=taboo on discussing the interactions btw fiscal & monetary policy, then not even technocrats deliberate on one of the biggest economic policy issues!
IMHO, Murphy's very sloppy. But UK fiscal policy since QE/QT amounts to MMT that dare not speak its name. Viz:Osborne et al spent ~£120 bln of the money created to purchase gilts in QE. Too much monetisation-financed fiscal spending, or too little? MMT could at least pose the question! As for QT 1/n
This stuff really is snake oil. Would be a great shame if @zackpolanski.bsky.social fell for it. Politically it’s a one way ticket to nowhere. Important under current circumstances to have an articulate and credible voice on the left. Zack needs to steer clear.
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
December 6, 2025 at 9:06 AM
The independence of the Bank of England was supposed to facilitate the application of economic reasoning to public policy. But if independence=taboo on discussing the interactions btw fiscal & monetary policy, then not even technocrats deliberate on one of the biggest economic policy issues!
Reposted by Gabriel
Refunding coupon payments on gilts amounted to dribbling out this newly created money to HMT on an arbitrary timeline whose sole virtue was that it enabled those involved to pretend (sometimes to themselves) that fiscal deficit monetisation wasn't happening. 4/n
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Refunding coupon payments on gilts amounted to dribbling out this newly created money to HMT on an arbitrary timeline whose sole virtue was that it enabled those involved to pretend (sometimes to themselves) that fiscal deficit monetisation wasn't happening. 4/n
Reposted by Gabriel
A huge amount of confusion has been created, in the UK above all, by having central banks retain the bonds purchased under QE and having govts pay interest on them to themselves. This obscured the reality that QE was a massive money-creation financed loan to govts to buy back their debt. 3/n
December 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM
A huge amount of confusion has been created, in the UK above all, by having central banks retain the bonds purchased under QE and having govts pay interest on them to themselves. This obscured the reality that QE was a massive money-creation financed loan to govts to buy back their debt. 3/n
Reposted by Gabriel
The true long-term cost of delegation: Enabling private deliberation by removing public deliberation eventually destroys capacity for economic reasoning at the society/polity level.
The independence of the Bank of England was supposed to facilitate the application of economic reasoning to public policy. But if independence=taboo on discussing the interactions btw fiscal & monetary policy, then not even technocrats deliberate on one of the biggest economic policy issues!
IMHO, Murphy's very sloppy. But UK fiscal policy since QE/QT amounts to MMT that dare not speak its name. Viz:Osborne et al spent ~£120 bln of the money created to purchase gilts in QE. Too much monetisation-financed fiscal spending, or too little? MMT could at least pose the question! As for QT 1/n
December 6, 2025 at 9:46 AM
The true long-term cost of delegation: Enabling private deliberation by removing public deliberation eventually destroys capacity for economic reasoning at the society/polity level.
Reposted by Gabriel
“This is, quite straightforwardly, a program for regime change in Europe, aimed at turning it into an illiberal polity. Accomplishing this transformation would involve undermining existing liberal governments in cahoots with Europe’s own far right”
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
www.programmablemutter.com/p/america-ha...
America has identified its greatest enemy: Western Europe
Trump's new National Security Strategy: what if groypers cosplayed George Kennan?
www.programmablemutter.com
December 6, 2025 at 11:33 AM
“This is, quite straightforwardly, a program for regime change in Europe, aimed at turning it into an illiberal polity. Accomplishing this transformation would involve undermining existing liberal governments in cahoots with Europe’s own far right”
Reposted by Gabriel
I didn't actually realize it was nearly universal in the Americas
December 6, 2025 at 12:36 AM
I didn't actually realize it was nearly universal in the Americas
Reposted by Gabriel
“This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children.” Read the full statement by AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly: www.aap.org/en/news-room...
December 6, 2025 at 1:59 PM
“This irresponsible and purposely misleading guidance will lead to more hepatitis B infections in infants and children.” Read the full statement by AAP President Dr. Susan J. Kressly: www.aap.org/en/news-room...
Reposted by Gabriel
Republicans have tanked the economy and turned the country into a corrupt autocracy. But my NPR-loving neighbor has been giving me a hard time about my gas-powered leaf blower. I've never felt more politically homeless.
December 6, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Republicans have tanked the economy and turned the country into a corrupt autocracy. But my NPR-loving neighbor has been giving me a hard time about my gas-powered leaf blower. I've never felt more politically homeless.
Reposted by Gabriel
“Sorry, no, that’s illegal.”
“And?”
“And you’re the Department of Justice.”
“And?”
“And so you should stop doing it!”
“And?”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
“And?”
“And you’re the Department of Justice.”
“And?”
“And so you should stop doing it!”
“And?”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
Halligan Continues as U.S. Attorney, Prompting Criticism From Judges
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:11 PM
“Sorry, no, that’s illegal.”
“And?”
“And you’re the Department of Justice.”
“And?”
“And so you should stop doing it!”
“And?”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
“And?”
“And you’re the Department of Justice.”
“And?”
“And so you should stop doing it!”
“And?”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/u...
Reposted by Gabriel
trying to look up some CDC data and sources. it's remarkable how much is 404-ed. sometimes the Wayback Machine will find it for you. sometimes alas not.
December 6, 2025 at 4:54 PM
trying to look up some CDC data and sources. it's remarkable how much is 404-ed. sometimes the Wayback Machine will find it for you. sometimes alas not.
Reposted by Gabriel
"Braudel’s accounts brim with erudition and style but leave us unclear about what actually drives historical developments. They are too broad, or, as Charles Tilly quipped: “broad, broader… Braudel”."
Always read @newlefteviews.bsky.social.
Always read @newlefteviews.bsky.social.
For the New Statesman, I wrote about this thing we call capitalism. By way of Borges and Braudel, I review the mappings and musings in Sven Beckert’s and Branko Milanovic’s brilliant new books.
www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2025/1...
How not to talk about capitalism
The more it penetrates our daily lives, the less we seem to understand the “system that runs the world”
www.newstatesman.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
"Braudel’s accounts brim with erudition and style but leave us unclear about what actually drives historical developments. They are too broad, or, as Charles Tilly quipped: “broad, broader… Braudel”."
Always read @newlefteviews.bsky.social.
Always read @newlefteviews.bsky.social.