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Luke Hildyard

@lukehildyard.bsky.social

1K followers 730 following 130 posts

Director: High Pay Centre think tank, author: 'Enough - Why it's time to abolish the super rich' Work on inequality, economic democracy, corporate power etc Book via https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745348568/enough

www.plutobooks.com

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Dec 23

Belated pre-Christmas plug for my book 'Enough: Why it's time to abolish the super rich' which is only £8 in ebook form while the hard copy can be ordered for tomorrow on Prime

The Economist said it contained 'flashes of wit'

www.amazon.co.uk/Enough-Why-T...

Enough: Why It's Time to Abolish the Super-Rich

Enough: Why It's Time to Abolish the Super-Rich : Hildyard, Luke: Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

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Reposted by Luke Hildyard

Gregor Semieniuk @gregorsemieniuk.bsky.social · 1d

🚨NEW PAPER🚨
We all know the 2022 energy price shock fueled the cost of living crisis. It also caused a profit bonanza for the very rich. We show the US reaped the largest profits ($377bn) of any country. 50% went to the richest 1%, only 1% to the bottom 50%. A🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

River or sankey diagram showing the allocation of profits from global oil and gas companies to quantiles of the US wealth size distribution via financial system intermediaries, such as asset managers, and categories of ultimate beneficiaries, such as business owners, pension funds and shareholders in listed companies. The scale is hundreds of billions of US dollars, and ultimately 50.4% of profits reaching the US personal wealth distribution go to the richest 1% of households.

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 3d

Just a quick note to say that I am leaving @highpaycentre.bsky.social this week

Many fond memories of nearly 11 years(!) at HPC but narrating the the Liz Truss premiership was certainly a particuarly interesting time

Am moving to @shareaction.bsky.social to work in the UK policy team

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 3d

More likely the exact opposite of this

US has big economic advantages (eg energy resource, younger population) leading to higher per capita wealth.

But still has lower living standards - worse crime, health, poverty - because of extreme free market dogma & refusal to regulate/redistribute

The Economist @economist.com · 3d

The European method for firing workers may feel kinder than the American way. But it comes with hidden costs econ.st/4o0261d

Illustration: Peter Schrank

Reposted by Luke Hildyard

Peter Geoghegan @petergeoghegan.bsky.social · 13d

This deserves *way* more attention than it’s getting

Reform’s former Wales leader admits he received corrupt payments in exchange for making statements in the European Parliament to promote Russia’s interests in #Ukraine.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 13d

Reform UK’s ex-leader in Wales Nathan Gill pleads guilty to bribery charges

Gill admits to eight charges while an elected member of the European parliament Nathan Gill, a former leader of Reform UK in Wales, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to eight bribery charges while an elected member of the European parliament. More details soon … Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 15d

The most abominable recent innovation in football, divorcing the game from its purest form, is not VAR but the increased number of substitutions

Mike Goodman @themlg.bsky.social · 28d

Everybody should absolutely view this as an invitation to drop your spiciest soccer takes.

Mike Goodman @themlg.bsky.social · 28d

lol I’m gonna need bluesky’s biggest soccer post ever to balance out all the politics engagement im burying myself under.

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 16d

Watching Trump's speech to the UN for some reason prompted a second look at this Vice article from 2013...

www.vice.com/en/article/w...

We Asked a Military Expert if All the World's Armies Could Shut Down the US

The recent government shutdown almost threw the world into a "deep, dark recession." Maybe it's time the rest of the world said enough is enough. It's time for the rest of the world to get a great big...

www.vice.com

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 16d

fascinating research from @theifs.bsky.social

most people greatly underestimate wage inequality in their country. Accurate information generally has little impact on policy preferences, but makes far right voters significantly more supportive of redistributive measures

ifs.org.uk/publications...

Political polarization, wage inequality and preferences for redistribution | Institute for Fiscal Studies

Using nationally representative, randomized survey experiments, we investigate how beliefs about wage inequality impact preferences for redistribution

ifs.org.uk

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 17d

A lot of the terms in the immigration debate... cheap foreign labour and "unskilled workers" vs "the brightest and the best" with whom they're contrasted... also illustrate what the people using them think about British people at different income levels

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 21d

V interesting to see Nick Clegg use the term "Vassal State" to describe US/UK economic relationship, echoing Angus Hanton's book of the same title

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

guardianbookshop.com/vassal-state...

such an under discussed issue in UK politics

Nick Clegg: US-UK tech deal is ‘sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley’

Meta’s former president of global affairs says agreement will leave UK more reliant on US tech firms

www.theguardian.com

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 21d

rly interesting, thanks! Was at a Chatham House seminar recently on Labour's first year of FP & found it slightly depressing/myopic that focus was entirely on getting a good deal out of Trump, with no reflection on long-term implications of the increasingly extreme direction of the US

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 21d

do u think there should be more think tank energy on this topic?

Feels like a detailed vision of progressive alternative to US vassalage (covering eg tax coordination, climate, gaza) is lacking - particularly given relationship between economic & foreign policy in a globalised economy

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Reposted by Luke Hildyard

Ed Morrish @edmorrish.bsky.social · 23d

[me, a journalist who spends all day every day on a social media app where the discovery algorithm is personally controlled by its owner, captain birdseye] you know, a lot of people are talking about fish fingers, we should probably cover that

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 24d

Interesting to contrast what the actual Pope sees as socio-economic priorities from a Christian perspective, compared to other campaigners adn activists supposedly animated by Christianity

edition.cnn.com/2025/09/15/b...

Pope Leo criticizes huge CEO salaries in first interview as Catholic leader | CNN Business

Pope Leo XIV has criticized how the salaries of chief executives dwarf those of their employees, singling out Tesla’s trillion-dollar compensation package for Elon Musk.

edition.cnn.com

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 24d

Pope Leo XIV, possibly an avid reader of @highpaycentre.bsky.social output, decries rising CEO to worker pay gaps

edition.cnn.com/2025/09/15/b...

Pope Leo criticizes huge CEO salaries in first interview as Catholic leader | CNN Business

Pope Leo XIV has criticized how the salaries of chief executives dwarf those of their employees, singling out Tesla’s trillion-dollar compensation package for Elon Musk.

edition.cnn.com

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 24d

Thanks… I’m sure its legally/ethically/economically complicated but surely fiduciaries should be at least seriously interrogating whether investing in the success of the company under Musk’s leadership is in their members’ interests - lots that funds could do short of full on divestment

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 25d

I wonder how many UK pension funds are invested in Tesla while the CEO uses the prominence/respectability deriving from his position at the company to call for racial violence in our country?

It feels unlikely that this is consistent with a happy, comfortable retirement for pension savers…

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 25d

There is a serious failure in UK govt, politics & media to take sufficiently seriously what Musk said & meant with "fight back or die"

= Violence (interethnic civil war) is inevitable so pre-emptive violence - vs migrants, minorities & political opponents - is necessary to avoid existential erasure

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 25d

The common sense meaning should make this Elon Musk's "rivers of blood" moment

Though I think he goes further than Enoch Powell in a couple of important ways

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Reposted by Luke Hildyard

Jeremy Cliffe @jeremycliffe.bsky.social · 28d

As far as the Anglo consensus is concerned, Spain's assertive centre-left government has done everything wrong: Keynesian, redistributive, socially open, net-zero-friendly, multilateralist, Trump-sceptical.

Yet the governing PSOE just hit 33% in latest CIS poll, above even its 2023 election win.

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Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · 27d

Barclays CEO paid £10.5m last year says teachers, nurses & local government workers shouldn't get a payrise

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Sep 9

interesting poll.

would be kind of curious to understand more about the 17% still sticking with the Tories over Reform

Britain Elects @britainelects.com · Sep 9

📊 Ref lead of 5pts
Westminster voting intention

REF: 27% (-2)
LAB: 22% (+2)
CON: 17% (-)
LDEM: 15% (-)
GRN: 12% (+2)

via @YouGov, 07 - 08 Sep
Chgs. w/ 01 Sep
britainelects.com

britainelects.com

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Sep 4

I was a guest on the 'anti social economics' podcast, supported by @jrf-uk.bsky.social & hosted by @wealtherty.bsky.social of @lseinequalities.bsky.social discussing limits to extreme wealth with Fernanda Balanta of @neweconomics.bsky.social

open.spotify.com/episode/1bFz...

Episode 4: When does wealth become harmful? Should there be limits?

open.spotify.com

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Sep 4

interesting piece! I would foresee a tax paid by all Londoners in exchange for free travel on the tube and buses only not being incredibly popular in South East London.

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Aug 31

It’s also ‘interesting’ how people raising this point are increasingly happy to make claims about hereditary iq & genetics in reference to educational or economic underperformance of other groups

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Aug 22

Thank you - that’s good to hear & much appreciated

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Aug 18

Other recommendations:

- create seats for worker directors on company boards

- more detailed disclosure from companies on how they distribute expenditure on pay across their workforce.

First steps to getting more of the income that flows to executives & wealthy investors going to workers instead

Luke Hildyard @lukehildyard.bsky.social · Aug 18

Findings illustrative of wider of inequality that characterises the UK economy

Govt should fully implement Employment Rights Bill, particularly provisions expanding access to trade unions

Research shows higher union membership = lower ceo/worker pay gaps

. highpaycentre.org/ceo-pay-in-t...

CEO pay in the FTSE 100 reaches record high for the third year in a row - High Pay Centre

The High Pay Centre's annual review of CEO pay in the FTSE 100 shows median CEO pay jumping from £4.29m to £4.58m in 2024/2025

highpaycentre.org

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