Benjamin Braun | Lightnews

herman mark schwartz @thunen.bsky.social · 2h

Excellent summary of the large body of work @steffenmurau.bsky.social and colleagues have done on the Offshore (US) Dollar Syatem
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/tru...
@phenomenalworld.bsky.social
Look here for the bigger body of work:
steffenmurau.com/portfolio/in...

Trump's Dollar | Steffen Murau

Trump’s economic policy and the future of the world dollar

www.phenomenalworld.org

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · 2h

Die deutschen Medien versagen in ihrer demokratischen Aufgabe. Es ist ein Systemproblem. Es wird nicht gelernt. Es gibt keine Kritik aus dem System heraus. „Nicht alle Medien“ ist mittlerweile genau so überzeugend wie „Nicht alle Männer“

Léonie de Jonge @leoniedejonge.bsky.social · 6h

Für Medienschaffende ist der Umgang mit der extremen Rechten zugegebenermaßen nicht immer einfach. Aber ein Lifestyle-Interview mit Chrupalla sprengt jeden journalistischen Rahmen. Hier wird nicht nur eine Plattform geboten, sondern extrem rechte Politik aktiv normalisiert. 🤯

Christian Helms @christianhelms.bsky.social · 8h

Manchmal blicke ich komplett ratlos auf, na ja, alles.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 20h

Below a very helpful, short piece by @quillmatiq.com to get started.

And another one on decentralization and blogging on atproto: leaflet.connectedplaces.online/3m4qgpc7h3223

The Everything Account

I've been thinking a lot about our accounts lately. We all have an ever-growing pile of digital identities scattered across the web, many forgotten after a brief stint with a random service we found i...

www.augment.ink

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 20h

I don't understand ATP at a technical level but the basic ideas are simple enough. You realize that something exciting is happening—a better internet is being invented.

One academics will no doubt benefit from. So we should support it. If you're on Bluesky, you already are, of course. 2/3

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 20h

Another Guardian story on Substack hosting Nazi newsletters.

Here's something I wish more academics knew: There's a Cambrian explosion happening in atproto world. Where your data is yours. New apps every week. Including @leaflet.pub, a blogging platform, newsletter functionality coming soon. 1/3

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

At this rate it’ll take AI take decades to digest the Bruno Lacombe/Rachel Kushner letters for the latest thinking on the Thals.

Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 1d

Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.

"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."

#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...

New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge

Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...

phys.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Elite network sociologists are on it, I hear.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 1d

Lucky Ken Rogoff, to be reviewed in @nybooks.com in such excellent company.
www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 1d

Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.

"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."

#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...

New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge

Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...

phys.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

“I graduated with £42,000 of debt and even though I’m paying it off, it’s now £72,000.”

It's truly an abomination: On a normal job you keep paying forever. 40 years!

“Why would I trust a government that mis-sold me a loan when I was a child?” is a very good question.
www.ft.com/content/7bf5...

The UK student loan system — and its danger for Labour
Growing anger among millions of graduates who face decades of debt is causing unease in Westminster

LSE European Institute @lse-ei.bsky.social · 2d

🇪🇸 The Spanish Constitution promises #democracy at #work.

For the past year, @benbraun.bsky.social has been part of the expert group of 13 convened by @yolandadiaz.bsky.social ky.social and led by @isabelleferreras.bsky.social studying how to deliver that promise.

👉 www.lse.ac.uk/european-ins...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Link

‘Culture of silence’: Germany’s Heraeus accused of ignoring fraud whistleblowers

Probe into €460mn scandal finds industrial group failed to act on warnings from employees for more than a decade

www.ft.com

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Reading about our Culture of Silence ™️ always reminds me of my Zoom interview for a professorship at a respectable German university. When my 30-minute presentation in front of eleven grown professors ended, the head of the commission said: “We couldn’t hear you very well. But let’s try now.”

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Looking forward to discussing Franziska Cooiman’s paper next week 👇

Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (MPIfG) @mpifg.bsky.social · 3d

Don’t miss next week’s session in our online series on Comparative Political Economy (MAX CPE):

@franziscool.bsky.social on “Asset Politics: The Making of a Green Venture Capital Fund”.

📅 February 11, 1–2pm CET
📍 online
📧 Sign up: [email protected]

@humboldtuni.bsky.social

s.gwdg.de/zG70h8

Workshop Flyer: February 11, 2026, 13:00. Franziska Cooiman, Humboldt University Berlin: "Asset Politics. The Making of a Green Venture Capital Fund"

Aaron Benanav @abenanav.bsky.social · 2d

What might we be able to build in the future that we can't build today? For the @TheIdeasLetter, I wrote about the political economy of technology and technological change in a world beyond capitalism.
www.theideasletter.org/essay/a-real...

A Real Political Economy of Technology - The Ideas Letter

Two technological futures are competing for political and material priority: generative AI and the green transition. Benanav argues that while AI is marketed as a world-reordering breakthrough, its pr...

www.theideasletter.org

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

Just checked in on the Bitcoin, phew, another tough day!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

That's the broader liquidity squeeze!

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 2d

So the bubble bursts once AI agents start cannibalizing old-school software firms, whose valuations collapse. Which wipes out private credit firms' giant bet on software. Which def creates a credit crunch for hyperscalers & friends, probably a broader liquidity squeeze, and perhaps a crisis. Got it.

Daniel Driscoll @danieldrisc.com · 3d

🚨New piece in Politics & Society! w/ @maxkiefel.bsky.social @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social
Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles 🇨🇳 🇺🇸
doi.org/10.1177/0032...

Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung (MPIfG) @mpifg.bsky.social · 3d

Don’t miss next week’s session in our online series on Comparative Political Economy (MAX CPE):

@franziscool.bsky.social on “Asset Politics: The Making of a Green Venture Capital Fund”.

📅 February 11, 1–2pm CET
📍 online
📧 Sign up: [email protected]

@humboldtuni.bsky.social

s.gwdg.de/zG70h8

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

Why comparative political economy is hard.

Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 3d

Mad chart from NYT which might be of interest to folks comparing marginal tax rates across countries (yes, I know it's not a tax)
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 3d

Mad chart from NYT which might be of interest to folks comparing marginal tax rates across countries (yes, I know it's not a tax)
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 3d

So far the flyer is all there is. Working on a tight schedule. But we’ll have more soon.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Grateful for the generous sponsorship of the event by the Berkeley Program on Finance & Democracy, ongoing support from the Rhodes Center at Brown, and new support from the brand-new Huth Initiative for a New Political Economy at the LSE. 🙏

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Application link:
forms.gle/WsEVk4Yy52Dn...

Special thanks to co-hosts @mkblyth.bsky.social and @realbrianjudge.bsky.social. We're thrilled to be joined by @iliasalami.bsky.social, @danielagabor.bsky.social, @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social, @anninak.bsky.social, Leah Downey, and (!) Marion Fourcade.

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

"I am shocked—shocked—by the darkness of the past of the man we've been calling 'Prince of darkness' for as long as I've been in politics."

Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 4d

Wes Streeting saying on Today that Mandelson is ‘not the man we thought he was’ but the trouble is, he is exactly the man we thought, just on a much worse scale than almost anyone thought. And there is an alternative world where none of this is this govt’s problem, because they never gave him a job

Gaby Hinsliff @gabyhinsliff.bsky.social · 4d

Wes Streeting saying on Today that Mandelson is ‘not the man we thought he was’ but the trouble is, he is exactly the man we thought, just on a much worse scale than almost anyone thought. And there is an alternative world where none of this is this govt’s problem, because they never gave him a job

Mark Blyth @mkblyth.bsky.social · 4d

Applications are open for the Finance Summer School 2026. Last two have been at Brown. This one is at LSE thanks to LSE European Institute and Huth Initiative, plus the Berkeley Program on Finance and Democracy. Stellar Line up. Apps open: forms.gle/WsEVk4Yy52Dn...

Benjamin Braun @benbraun.bsky.social · 4d

Oh for sure, agree. Still, the irony of these monetizers of public information being cannibalized by the new mega-monetizers of it…

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