Paul
@paulb72.bsky.social
My views only. Zachtwerkende Nederlander. Paris - Berlin, previously in The Hague and Rabat
Een op drie Nederlanders vindt de overheid een "winstbelust bedrijf" omdat de NLse overheid ook uniek predatoir is, vooral voor mensen met een laag inkomen. In Frankrijk of Duitsland zal je nooit je huis uit worden gezet omdat je een verkeersboete niet hebt betaald...
Eén op de drie Nederlanders ziet de overheid als winstbelust bedrijf
Complotdenken: In Nederland vinden vooral „anti-institutionele” complottheorieën over bijvoorbeeld klimaatverandering een vruchtbare bodem. Dit past volgens experts in het „toegenomen wantrouwen van b...
www.nrc.nl
December 10, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Een op drie Nederlanders vindt de overheid een "winstbelust bedrijf" omdat de NLse overheid ook uniek predatoir is, vooral voor mensen met een laag inkomen. In Frankrijk of Duitsland zal je nooit je huis uit worden gezet omdat je een verkeersboete niet hebt betaald...
Not the onion:
"U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move"
www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
"U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move"
www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
Rubio stages font coup: Times New Roman ousts Calibri
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri ...
www.reuters.com
December 10, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Not the onion:
"U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move"
www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
"U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor Antony Blinken's decision to adopt Calibri a "wasteful" diversity move"
www.reuters.com/world/us/rub...
Reposted by Paul
Four Homeless People Dead In What Girlfriend Refers To As 'Cuddle Weather' https://theonion.com/four-homeless-people-dead-in-what-girlfriend-refers-to-1819574385/
December 8, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Four Homeless People Dead In What Girlfriend Refers To As 'Cuddle Weather' https://theonion.com/four-homeless-people-dead-in-what-girlfriend-refers-to-1819574385/
Interesting analysis from Gavekal founder. I’d say the US, contrary to Europe, will actually be able to do industrial policy, but will still make nice with China. So, I remain bullish on China, despite the fact that more serious spat could still be on the horizon
US Exceptionalism Versus Chinese Uninvestibility (Part I)
- Gavekal Research
research.gavekal.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Interesting analysis from Gavekal founder. I’d say the US, contrary to Europe, will actually be able to do industrial policy, but will still make nice with China. So, I remain bullish on China, despite the fact that more serious spat could still be on the horizon
Infrastructure expenditure is never profitable. And it's not meant to be
People need to give up on the idea that EU clean energy infrastructure manufacturing needs to be profitable in the short to medium term. Energy is about security…
Put together, this is about cushioning the immediate shock from Trump’s policy turn and Chinese overcapacity, while keeping Europe in the game in those clean-tech sectors where it still has an edge and real growth prospects.
December 9, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Infrastructure expenditure is never profitable. And it's not meant to be
People need to give up on the idea that EU clean energy infrastructure manufacturing needs to be profitable in the short to medium term. Energy is about security…
Put together, this is about cushioning the immediate shock from Trump’s policy turn and Chinese overcapacity, while keeping Europe in the game in those clean-tech sectors where it still has an edge and real growth prospects.
December 9, 2025 at 11:18 AM
People need to give up on the idea that EU clean energy infrastructure manufacturing needs to be profitable in the short to medium term. Energy is about security…
So if Nvidia can sell H200s to China, can ASML also get some relief?
December 9, 2025 at 8:11 AM
So if Nvidia can sell H200s to China, can ASML also get some relief?
Out of most of the 2026 China forecasts, I think this one is closest to the truth
asiasociety.org/policy-insti...
asiasociety.org/policy-insti...
China’s Next Move: Economic Priorities and Policy Shifts for 2026
Lizzi Lee and Jing Qian write about potential themes and priorities of the upcoming 2025 Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC).
asiasociety.org
December 9, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Out of most of the 2026 China forecasts, I think this one is closest to the truth
asiasociety.org/policy-insti...
asiasociety.org/policy-insti...
Reposted by Paul
A nationalistic, xenophobic Europe is going to be an economically and geopolitically very weak Europe. And that's how Washington wants to see us.
December 6, 2025 at 3:59 PM
A nationalistic, xenophobic Europe is going to be an economically and geopolitically very weak Europe. And that's how Washington wants to see us.
Germans are nuts about this kind of stuff
One of those beautiful #Cologne traditions, the Christmas concert to play along to on your instrument. Of course in the Cathedral of Cologne.
December 8, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Germans are nuts about this kind of stuff
Costa is using the right language
December 8, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Costa is using the right language
Het idee - wat ik ook hoor komen van ‘economen’ die bij het Rijk werken - dat de nationale investeringsbank privaat moet zijn, omdat private entiteiten zogenaamd een langere visie hebben dan de overheid, is tekenend voor de marktideologie die de publieke sector heeft overgenomen en verlamd
December 8, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Het idee - wat ik ook hoor komen van ‘economen’ die bij het Rijk werken - dat de nationale investeringsbank privaat moet zijn, omdat private entiteiten zogenaamd een langere visie hebben dan de overheid, is tekenend voor de marktideologie die de publieke sector heeft overgenomen en verlamd
Reposted by Paul
the Thai-Cambodian conflict is at least partially about control of the scam/gambling/prostitution compounds along the border.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/12/t...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/12/t...
Are Scam Compounds the Real Cause of Thailand-Cambodia Fighting?
Intense strikes targeted “pig butchering” syndicates on the border.
foreignpolicy.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:58 PM
the Thai-Cambodian conflict is at least partially about control of the scam/gambling/prostitution compounds along the border.
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/12/t...
foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/12/t...
Behind every powerful man is a fast large language model
December 8, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Behind every powerful man is a fast large language model
Dit soort prutsers aannemen en je dan afvragen waarom EZ verbaasd was over de reactie van China op het Nexperia debacle
Kleine maar schokkende scoop:
Marit de Roij, ambtenaar BZ, die geen kans naliet om haar liefde en steun voor genocidaal Israël uit te dragen en collega's die zich wél uitspraken tegen de genocide te shamen.
Haar nieuwe job vanaf de zomer 2026: landenmedewerker Israël op Buitenlandse Zaken. 🤡🎪
Marit de Roij, ambtenaar BZ, die geen kans naliet om haar liefde en steun voor genocidaal Israël uit te dragen en collega's die zich wél uitspraken tegen de genocide te shamen.
Haar nieuwe job vanaf de zomer 2026: landenmedewerker Israël op Buitenlandse Zaken. 🤡🎪
December 8, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Dit soort prutsers aannemen en je dan afvragen waarom EZ verbaasd was over de reactie van China op het Nexperia debacle
Ode to the skeptic
"Because it borrowed expensively, Master needed to make strong investment returns to pay people back. Proceeds were often ploughed into assets that sceptics considered risky and hard to sell"
www.ft.com/content/a8bb...
Literally half of all financial collapses are a version of this. Great story
www.ft.com/content/a8bb...
Literally half of all financial collapses are a version of this. Great story
How the bank behind London’s most expensive office lease unravelled
Brazil’s Banco Master was one entrepreneur’s ticket to riches but collapsed last month amid allegations of a $2.3bn fraud
www.ft.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Ode to the skeptic
Reposted by Paul
Moves to curb proxy advisers and passive investment groups are leading some to predict that the White House is fostering the end of the era of shareholder capitalism in the US on.ft.com/3KiEdnB
December 8, 2025 at 7:06 AM
Moves to curb proxy advisers and passive investment groups are leading some to predict that the White House is fostering the end of the era of shareholder capitalism in the US on.ft.com/3KiEdnB
I posted about this yesterday, speculating this would happen. But didn’t expect it overnight
December 7, 2025 at 7:56 PM
I posted about this yesterday, speculating this would happen. But didn’t expect it overnight
I wrote about monetary expansion in China's deflationary environment, and why I don't think it's a solution for the issues it's facing -
chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com/p/monetary-e...
chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com/p/monetary-e...
Monetary expansion in China's deflationary environment
Can boosting M2 help China overcome fiscal constraints and battle deflation?
chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I wrote about monetary expansion in China's deflationary environment, and why I don't think it's a solution for the issues it's facing -
chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com/p/monetary-e...
chipsgunsandmoney.substack.com/p/monetary-e...
Interesting piece by a leading Chinese economist who basically argues Beijing should overcome fiscal constraints by turning on the monetary taps www.pekingnology.com/p/justin-yif...
Justin Yifu Lin warns U.S. AI bubble will burst in 5 years, causing another international crisis
The former World Bank chief economist also urges Beijing to adopt more proactive monetary and fiscal policies to achieve faster growth
www.pekingnology.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Interesting piece by a leading Chinese economist who basically argues Beijing should overcome fiscal constraints by turning on the monetary taps www.pekingnology.com/p/justin-yif...
Washington, Moscow, and Beijing all want to see Europe weak and divided. Fighting pointless domestic battles over identity keeps us from unifying and projecting power on the global stage
December 7, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Washington, Moscow, and Beijing all want to see Europe weak and divided. Fighting pointless domestic battles over identity keeps us from unifying and projecting power on the global stage
Europe is trying to ‘decouple’ at a time that the Chinese economy is mired in a structural slowdown and domestic issues are growing. That won’t go over well
December 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Europe is trying to ‘decouple’ at a time that the Chinese economy is mired in a structural slowdown and domestic issues are growing. That won’t go over well
Reposted by Paul
This 👇. These are the only options. Europe can either be a vassal of the US, or a federal Union. The option "Bobbing-lazily -along-as-a-semi-loose-intergovernmental-Union-while-being-besties-with-the-Friendly-Giant-across-the-pond" is no longer available.
The 🇺🇸 Deputy Secretary of State has today made your choice as a European very clear:
1️⃣Live in a vassal state of either America or Russia
2️⃣Live in a united federal EU
Which do you choose?
www.TheOwnedContinent.eu
1️⃣Live in a vassal state of either America or Russia
2️⃣Live in a united federal EU
Which do you choose?
www.TheOwnedContinent.eu
December 7, 2025 at 10:12 AM
This 👇. These are the only options. Europe can either be a vassal of the US, or a federal Union. The option "Bobbing-lazily -along-as-a-semi-loose-intergovernmental-Union-while-being-besties-with-the-Friendly-Giant-across-the-pond" is no longer available.
Remember that we still let Washington be part of our rearmament program. European naïveté is a really dangerous thing
December 7, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Remember that we still let Washington be part of our rearmament program. European naïveté is a really dangerous thing
I’m afraid the REE chokehold will make it difficult to act against China, especially as their industry is now also facing headwinds
Wuttke believes things are getting so bad that change is inevitable.
“The Chinese assume that we will bark and not bite, but they underestimate the pressure our industrial landscape is under. Eventually Europe will have to act... possibly in a couple of sectors next year.”
“The Chinese assume that we will bark and not bite, but they underestimate the pressure our industrial landscape is under. Eventually Europe will have to act... possibly in a couple of sectors next year.”
December 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
I’m afraid the REE chokehold will make it difficult to act against China, especially as their industry is now also facing headwinds