Nick Taylor
@ntaylor.bsky.social
Lecturer at Queen Mary Uni of London | History of welfare, unemployment; history of economics; finance & climate change 🚲🌳
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Now available for pre-order and we're open for book talks to students, workshops and conferences, organisations etc.
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
January 21, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Now available for pre-order and we're open for book talks to students, workshops and conferences, organisations etc.
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
And the ones build inland (reliant on cooling from rivers/lakes) are increasingly threatened by drought
At least 100 #nuclear power stations have been built just a few meters above sea-level and will be increasingly threatened by serious flooding caused by accelerating #climate driven sea-level rise and more frequent storm surge.
nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/published-do...
nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/published-do...
nsip-documents.planninginspectorate.gov.uk
January 20, 2026 at 2:04 PM
And the ones build inland (reliant on cooling from rivers/lakes) are increasingly threatened by drought
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Super fun to talk about the US-Venezuela-Guyana oil triangle with @kendrawrites.com for SciAm's Science Quickly pod: www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...
How South America’s Oil Rush Collides with the Climate Crisis
A break down of why Venezuela’s oil boom is clashing with a hotter, more fragile planet
www.scientificamerican.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Super fun to talk about the US-Venezuela-Guyana oil triangle with @kendrawrites.com for SciAm's Science Quickly pod: www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
"An actuarial review of key #climate change assumptions shows we may have seriously underestimated the rate of warming as well as the related economic impacts. Unless we rapidly change course, climate damages will start to impact growth & future prosperity"
#ClimateEmergency
#ClimateEmergency
Underestimates in global warming pose major climate and financial risks
New analysis suggests the planet may be more sensitive to greenhouse gases than many models assume, meaning temperatures could rise faster and bring much greater climate risks than policymakers and fi...
news.exeter.ac.uk
January 15, 2026 at 7:23 AM
"An actuarial review of key #climate change assumptions shows we may have seriously underestimated the rate of warming as well as the related economic impacts. Unless we rapidly change course, climate damages will start to impact growth & future prosperity"
#ClimateEmergency
#ClimateEmergency
Reposted by Nick Taylor
A third of a billion spent on ruining people’s lives doesn’t seem a wise use of education spending
Ninety UK universities to have posted accounts so far cut 13,300 jobs last year, spending £303 million on severance pay - sector-wide total clearly going to be well in excess of predicted 10,000. Great reporting by @patrickjack.bsky.social www.timeshighereducation.com/news/pay-spe...
Pay-off spend up by two-thirds as universities shed 13,000 jobs
Analysis of UK sector accounts shows number of job losses well above predictions, with experts warning cuts are not over yet
www.timeshighereducation.com
January 15, 2026 at 9:13 AM
A third of a billion spent on ruining people’s lives doesn’t seem a wise use of education spending
Reposted by Nick Taylor
1/ I recently wrote about Frances Perkins—FDR’s Labor Secretary and first woman cabinet member. She is best known as the architect of the New Deal but she had a lesser-known achievement:
She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵
She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵
January 14, 2026 at 3:43 AM
1/ I recently wrote about Frances Perkins—FDR’s Labor Secretary and first woman cabinet member. She is best known as the architect of the New Deal but she had a lesser-known achievement:
She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵
She dismantled her era’s version of ICE.🧵
Reposted by Nick Taylor
The finance industry is relying on climate models that understate the speed of climate change and likely economic impact.
New report warns that climate-driven inflation, financial shocks, and insurance withdrawals could happen sooner than anticipated. 🧪
greenfuturessolutions.com/news/parasol...
New report warns that climate-driven inflation, financial shocks, and insurance withdrawals could happen sooner than anticipated. 🧪
greenfuturessolutions.com/news/parasol...
Underestimated climate risks could undermine global financial system, warn actuaries and scientists | Green Futures Solutions
greenfuturessolutions.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:38 AM
The finance industry is relying on climate models that understate the speed of climate change and likely economic impact.
New report warns that climate-driven inflation, financial shocks, and insurance withdrawals could happen sooner than anticipated. 🧪
greenfuturessolutions.com/news/parasol...
New report warns that climate-driven inflation, financial shocks, and insurance withdrawals could happen sooner than anticipated. 🧪
greenfuturessolutions.com/news/parasol...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
This thread responds to Prof. Christian Dunn’s Telegraph piece on #climate communication.
I argue it misdiagnoses public disengagement, underplays escalating scientific risk, & reproduces a media narrative that has actively shaped, not merely reflected, public resistance to climate action 🧵
I argue it misdiagnoses public disengagement, underplays escalating scientific risk, & reproduces a media narrative that has actively shaped, not merely reflected, public resistance to climate action 🧵
January 13, 2026 at 8:58 AM
This thread responds to Prof. Christian Dunn’s Telegraph piece on #climate communication.
I argue it misdiagnoses public disengagement, underplays escalating scientific risk, & reproduces a media narrative that has actively shaped, not merely reflected, public resistance to climate action 🧵
I argue it misdiagnoses public disengagement, underplays escalating scientific risk, & reproduces a media narrative that has actively shaped, not merely reflected, public resistance to climate action 🧵
Reposted by Nick Taylor
A brilliant essay by @sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on what the unravelling of Thames Water tells us about privatisation, market failure and the place and politics of water in the climate crisis
"There is a perversity to its very existence as an economic good: water falls from the sky, for free, and its daily availability is crucial to human survival, yet it is everywhere subject to the convolutions of political economy."
@sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on Thames Water and the politics of water
@sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on Thames Water and the politics of water
Nothing to Lose but Our Mains
The unraveling of Britain’s largest water utility is not just a corporate scandal but a case study in how privatized water systems strain under climate pressure, aging infrastructure and the limits of...
www.break-down.org
January 12, 2026 at 11:56 AM
A brilliant essay by @sammyfeldblum.bsky.social on what the unravelling of Thames Water tells us about privatisation, market failure and the place and politics of water in the climate crisis
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Reposted by Nick Taylor
New open-access paper out (with Valérie Boisvert) in @econsocjournal.bsky.social , as part of this great special issue!
Read it here: shorturl.at/L2Ui8
Core question: If conventional accounting is a growth infrastructure, then what exactly are the different forms of green accounting?
A short 🧵 1/7
Read it here: shorturl.at/L2Ui8
Core question: If conventional accounting is a growth infrastructure, then what exactly are the different forms of green accounting?
A short 🧵 1/7
January 6, 2026 at 9:40 AM
New open-access paper out (with Valérie Boisvert) in @econsocjournal.bsky.social , as part of this great special issue!
Read it here: shorturl.at/L2Ui8
Core question: If conventional accounting is a growth infrastructure, then what exactly are the different forms of green accounting?
A short 🧵 1/7
Read it here: shorturl.at/L2Ui8
Core question: If conventional accounting is a growth infrastructure, then what exactly are the different forms of green accounting?
A short 🧵 1/7
Reposted by Nick Taylor
The private equity investment strategy of USS should be subjected to scrutiny. How USS became main shareholder in debt-laden zombie firms like Thames Water and G.Network is a scandal. Trustees should read research by USS members instead of advice from asset managers
www.ft.com/content/2ca2...
www.ft.com/content/2ca2...
UK broadband operator sold to distressed debt specialist
G.Network’s lenders trigger sale of company with £300mn of net debt but just 25,000 customers
www.ft.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:05 PM
The private equity investment strategy of USS should be subjected to scrutiny. How USS became main shareholder in debt-laden zombie firms like Thames Water and G.Network is a scandal. Trustees should read research by USS members instead of advice from asset managers
www.ft.com/content/2ca2...
www.ft.com/content/2ca2...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Happy to have written about plastic for @thepolycrisis.bsky.social. Thanks to @70sbachchan.bsky.social for sourcing the excellent graphics. And thanks to @rebecca-altman.bsky.social and @anjakrieger.bsky.social for being my go-to's on all-things plastic.
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/pla...
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/pla...
Plastic Planet | Venus Bivar
Stalled negotiations and accelerating accumulation in the global petrochemicals industry
www.phenomenalworld.org
November 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Happy to have written about plastic for @thepolycrisis.bsky.social. Thanks to @70sbachchan.bsky.social for sourcing the excellent graphics. And thanks to @rebecca-altman.bsky.social and @anjakrieger.bsky.social for being my go-to's on all-things plastic.
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/pla...
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/pla...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
This is a great, important piece by @joelkhalili.bsky.social for @wired.com - on how many Bitcoin miners have pivoted to generative machine learning.
Plenty of technical overlap but just the core equation of [more GPU-melting-overconsumption] = [more money] is perhaps the most relevant
Plenty of technical overlap but just the core equation of [more GPU-melting-overconsumption] = [more money] is perhaps the most relevant
America’s Biggest Bitcoin Miners Are Pivoting to AI
In the face of a profitability crisis, industrial-scale bitcoin miners are transforming their data centers into AI factories.
www.wired.com
December 15, 2025 at 7:39 PM
This is a great, important piece by @joelkhalili.bsky.social for @wired.com - on how many Bitcoin miners have pivoted to generative machine learning.
Plenty of technical overlap but just the core equation of [more GPU-melting-overconsumption] = [more money] is perhaps the most relevant
Plenty of technical overlap but just the core equation of [more GPU-melting-overconsumption] = [more money] is perhaps the most relevant
Reposted by Nick Taylor
1/ This year, OCI’s research team challenged powerful blockers and helped shift the story on fossil fuels, uncovering evidence and exposing injustice. Here’s what we did and why we need your support for 2026 🧵
December 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
1/ This year, OCI’s research team challenged powerful blockers and helped shift the story on fossil fuels, uncovering evidence and exposing injustice. Here’s what we did and why we need your support for 2026 🧵
“They can’t [fix it], because it bankrupts the industry as we know it.”
Captivating read on the millions of toxic abandoned oil wells in the US, the failure of regulation & the activists trying to hold the industry & government to account for cleaning up.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Captivating read on the millions of toxic abandoned oil wells in the US, the failure of regulation & the activists trying to hold the industry & government to account for cleaning up.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Meet the TikTok stars demanding oil companies clean up their mess
There are millions of abandoned oil wells across the United States. A group of unlikely activists in Texas is making sure no one forgets they need to be cleaned up.
www.motherjones.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:30 PM
“They can’t [fix it], because it bankrupts the industry as we know it.”
Captivating read on the millions of toxic abandoned oil wells in the US, the failure of regulation & the activists trying to hold the industry & government to account for cleaning up.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Captivating read on the millions of toxic abandoned oil wells in the US, the failure of regulation & the activists trying to hold the industry & government to account for cleaning up.
www.motherjones.com/environment/...
Von der Leyen & the EPP partners with the far-right bloc to pass the first 'omnibus' law & slash reporting requirements for EU businesses on their ecological impacts & respect for human rights/labour laws in their supply chains.
www.politico.eu/article/eu-s...
www.politico.eu/article/eu-s...
EU closes deal to slash green rules in major win for von der Leyen’s deregulation drive
Controversial “omnibus” bill saw center-right EU lawmakers side with the far right to water down environmental standards.
www.politico.eu
December 9, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Von der Leyen & the EPP partners with the far-right bloc to pass the first 'omnibus' law & slash reporting requirements for EU businesses on their ecological impacts & respect for human rights/labour laws in their supply chains.
www.politico.eu/article/eu-s...
www.politico.eu/article/eu-s...
How Google Maps determines restaurant survival. This brilliantly unearths the political economy of the algorithm here.
"You start seeing an algorithmic market - one where visibility compounds, demand snowballs, and who gets to survive is increasingly decided by code."
"You start seeing an algorithmic market - one where visibility compounds, demand snowballs, and who gets to survive is increasingly decided by code."
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 9:58 AM
How Google Maps determines restaurant survival. This brilliantly unearths the political economy of the algorithm here.
"You start seeing an algorithmic market - one where visibility compounds, demand snowballs, and who gets to survive is increasingly decided by code."
"You start seeing an algorithmic market - one where visibility compounds, demand snowballs, and who gets to survive is increasingly decided by code."
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Every welfare reform in living memory is dressed up in punitive language. And yet the challenges are as great now as ever.
Perhaps a messaging focused on support, to generate greater trust, might be worth trying?
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Perhaps a messaging focused on support, to generate greater trust, might be worth trying?
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Young people risk losing benefits under UK welfare reforms
Youths will have to accept offers of work or training as part of government plan, says McFadden
giftarticle.ft.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Every welfare reform in living memory is dressed up in punitive language. And yet the challenges are as great now as ever.
Perhaps a messaging focused on support, to generate greater trust, might be worth trying?
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Perhaps a messaging focused on support, to generate greater trust, might be worth trying?
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Reposted by Nick Taylor
"Our analysis shows that in the aftermath of extreme weather events, lower-income neighbourhoods are less likely to rebuild and do not return to their pre-disaster state, whereas higher-income areas rebuild and tend to improve...highlighting increasing disparities in their built environments."
Nature research paper: Built environment disparities are amplified during extreme weather recovery
go.nature.com/3YcD2ZS
go.nature.com/3YcD2ZS
Built environment disparities are amplified during extreme weather recovery - Nature
Higher-income neighbourhoods rebuild and improve after disasters while lower-income areas do not return to pre-disaster conditions.
go.nature.com
December 8, 2025 at 12:00 PM
"Our analysis shows that in the aftermath of extreme weather events, lower-income neighbourhoods are less likely to rebuild and do not return to their pre-disaster state, whereas higher-income areas rebuild and tend to improve...highlighting increasing disparities in their built environments."
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Pleased to see this paper now published - in it, I examine the status of Keynes as a post-growth economist www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Keynes as a post-growth economist
Some key aspects of J.M. Keynes's economics are reassessed, showing how they fit with and can add to a modern post-growth economics. While Keynes favo…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 8, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Pleased to see this paper now published - in it, I examine the status of Keynes as a post-growth economist www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A few Autumn/Winter Epping Forest photos
December 7, 2025 at 11:48 AM
A few Autumn/Winter Epping Forest photos
Reposted by Nick Taylor
To close our affordability series, I wrote about captive pricing.
If you're at the ballpark or the movie theater and have no choices for concessions, they've got you.
But it's more widespread than that: ambulances, auto sales, airports, anesthesia... it's becoming inescapable.
If you're at the ballpark or the movie theater and have no choices for concessions, they've got you.
But it's more widespread than that: ambulances, auto sales, airports, anesthesia... it's becoming inescapable.
Trapped at the Concession Stand - The American Prospect
Captive pricing follows when customers have no choices. Policymakers can do something about it.
prospect.org
December 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
To close our affordability series, I wrote about captive pricing.
If you're at the ballpark or the movie theater and have no choices for concessions, they've got you.
But it's more widespread than that: ambulances, auto sales, airports, anesthesia... it's becoming inescapable.
If you're at the ballpark or the movie theater and have no choices for concessions, they've got you.
But it's more widespread than that: ambulances, auto sales, airports, anesthesia... it's becoming inescapable.
Reposted by Nick Taylor
Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event
June 18, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event