Mike Beggs
@mikejbeggs.bsky.social
Political economy, history of Australian capitalism (esp. macroeconomic policy), history of monetary theory, unions, socialism, dad jokes, some other stuff
Pinned
Mike Beggs
@mikejbeggs.bsky.social
· Nov 28
You don’t hear so much about The Three Amigos these days
Reposted by Mike Beggs
The Pub at the End of the University
As universities implode, the world still needs us.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Yep. Also bizarre to exclude things like philanthropic revenue but not exclude any of the expenditures funded by philanthropy
October 31, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Yep. Also bizarre to exclude things like philanthropic revenue but not exclude any of the expenditures funded by philanthropy
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Plus writing down assets; plus removing research and philanthropic income, but still counting the expenditures against that income
October 31, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Plus writing down assets; plus removing research and philanthropic income, but still counting the expenditures against that income
One thing that really annoys me in uni reporting is deducting all investment income from operating revenue to calculate an ‘underlying margin’ and presenting that as the figure that matters. It mixes reasonable (the item is volatile) with the spurious (therefore we should count it at zero)
Governments have been crying poor to justify & conceal their priorities for decades…now some of our publicly owned universities are using the same neoliberal accounting tricks to claim they are in ‘crisis’ when they are hoarding records amounts of cash and shares
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Governments and universities alike have perfected the art of crying poor to conceal wealth
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
October 31, 2025 at 7:17 AM
One thing that really annoys me in uni reporting is deducting all investment income from operating revenue to calculate an ‘underlying margin’ and presenting that as the figure that matters. It mixes reasonable (the item is volatile) with the spurious (therefore we should count it at zero)
If only we could go to the supermarket with the same attitude as uni administrators. ‘Sorry, my budget is limited so I’ve decided you are going to give me more stuff for that budget’
October 30, 2025 at 3:59 AM
If only we could go to the supermarket with the same attitude as uni administrators. ‘Sorry, my budget is limited so I’ve decided you are going to give me more stuff for that budget’
What’s wrong babe? You haven’t even started drafting your Five Year Plans for each of the Four Pillars of Academic Excellence
October 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM
What’s wrong babe? You haven’t even started drafting your Five Year Plans for each of the Four Pillars of Academic Excellence
Reposted by Mike Beggs
The other side is, of course - of course! - the companies making LLMs are not doing so with the goal of more easily sharing the material that people have made freely available on the web. They are doing so with the goal of enclosing it - converting the products of free human activity to commodities.
October 4, 2025 at 2:44 AM
The other side is, of course - of course! - the companies making LLMs are not doing so with the goal of more easily sharing the material that people have made freely available on the web. They are doing so with the goal of enclosing it - converting the products of free human activity to commodities.
Reposted by Mike Beggs
The lesson we should be taking from LLMs is the immense social value there is in having all kinds of material - all kinds of products of human intellectual labor - freely available online. They should be reminding us of the early utopian promise of the web.
October 4, 2025 at 2:34 AM
The lesson we should be taking from LLMs is the immense social value there is in having all kinds of material - all kinds of products of human intellectual labor - freely available online. They should be reminding us of the early utopian promise of the web.
Great thread, couldn’t agree more.
In all the endless discussions of LLMs, there’s a point that is, on one level, obvious, but that I feel does not get sufficiently foregrounded: LLMs are transforming material that people have put up on the internet.
October 4, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Great thread, couldn’t agree more.
RIP Claus Offe
Claus Offe ist gestorben. Er gehörte zu den renommiertesten kapitalismuskritischen Soziologen der Gegenwart. Vor einigen Jahren sprach er mit Jacobin über die Zukunft von Arbeit und Sozialstaat sowie das falsche Freiheitsversprechen von Arbeitsverträgen.
Hat die Arbeitsgesellschaft eine Zukunft?
Der Soziologe Claus Offe ist einer der renommiertesten Analysten kapitalistischer Gesellschaften weltweit. Im JACOBIN-Interview spricht er über die Zukunft von Arbeit und Wohlfahrtsstaat, über die Fallstricke der Arbeitszeitverkürzung und über das falsche Freiheitsversprechen von Arbeitsverträgen.
jacobin.de
October 3, 2025 at 9:02 AM
RIP Claus Offe
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Coming this spring. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Against Money
A powerful deconstruction of humanity’s most influential invention, from the acclaimed economists J. W. Mason and Arjun Jayadev. Money is unavoidably fundamental to our daily lives. It lurks behind ...
press.uchicago.edu
September 30, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Coming this spring. press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Motherfucker this is the London review of books you better take your sensitive ass back to the Atlantic
September 26, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Motherfucker this is the London review of books you better take your sensitive ass back to the Atlantic
Reposted by Mike Beggs
I just put up a longish post on my blog, thinking about what's going on in the labor market. jwmason.org/slackwire/so...
September 23, 2025 at 9:44 PM
I just put up a longish post on my blog, thinking about what's going on in the labor market. jwmason.org/slackwire/so...
Reposted by Mike Beggs
September 22, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Mike Beggs
I'll be speaking to Nancy Fraser and Geoff Mann about what's 'Beyond Capitalism' at the New York Verso Office on Thursday, October 2nd. Please share! Link for tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-left-r...
New Left Review 154 Launch
Aaron Benanav will be discussing his framework for a post-capitalist social order with Nancy Fraser and Geoff Mann.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
September 22, 2025 at 7:24 PM
I'll be speaking to Nancy Fraser and Geoff Mann about what's 'Beyond Capitalism' at the New York Verso Office on Thursday, October 2nd. Please share! Link for tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-left-r...
Sitting here omnisciently, pitying everyone stuck in epistemological bubbles
September 20, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Sitting here omnisciently, pitying everyone stuck in epistemological bubbles
Congrats ANU comrades. Can’t be bothered editing the meme but here are the bits to assemble in your head
September 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Congrats ANU comrades. Can’t be bothered editing the meme but here are the bits to assemble in your head
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Private consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run.
My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.
www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...
A thread
My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.
www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...
A thread
September 17, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Private consultants are taking control of how public universities are evaluated and run.
My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.
www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...
A thread
My submission to the Senate university governance inquiry raises concerns about the impact of Nous Group and their dodgy UniForum data on our universities.
www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStor...
A thread
Reposted by Mike Beggs
A grassroots group of academics campaigning against the staff cuts said ...
“The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.
“The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.
The vice-chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) has tendered her resignation after a tumultuous two years at the institution, marked by redundancies, proposed course closures, and allegations of a toxic work culture.
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell resigns amid crisis of confidence in leadership
Resignation follows tumultuous period marked by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 1:45 AM
A grassroots group of academics campaigning against the staff cuts said ...
“The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.
“The issues at the heart of this crisis go beyond the vice chancellor. This has been years in the making, the product of deep governance failures that have damaged the university’s finances, reputation, and community trust.
Reposted by Mike Beggs
A nice article about friend and colleague Raewyn Connell in the SMH, including foreshadowing her new trans memoir. Pleased to see she's delivering this year's Ted Wheelwright lecture in political economy at Sydney University - one of the few universities to maintain political economy and Marxism.
Raewyn’s groundbreaking work changed how we think about men. Its origins were deeply personal
Raewyn Connell has a global reputation and is speaking at an event marking one of the PM’s intellectual influences.
www.smh.com.au
September 9, 2025 at 4:02 AM
A nice article about friend and colleague Raewyn Connell in the SMH, including foreshadowing her new trans memoir. Pleased to see she's delivering this year's Ted Wheelwright lecture in political economy at Sydney University - one of the few universities to maintain political economy and Marxism.
Reposted by Mike Beggs
Would it be more or less embarrassing if their excuse that they didn’t use AI but simply made lots of basic errors was actually true?
Is this what the AI era is going to be like?
A big four consultancy (Deloitte) does a major report for govt then says "oh we just got the names, dates and publishers" of many of the works cited WRONG. No biggie.
www.afr.com//companies/p...
A big four consultancy (Deloitte) does a major report for govt then says "oh we just got the names, dates and publishers" of many of the works cited WRONG. No biggie.
www.afr.com//companies/p...
Academics raise alarm over suspected AI use in Deloitte report
The university staff members say there were numerous citation errors in the report on the automation of welfare penalties.
www.afr.com
August 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Would it be more or less embarrassing if their excuse that they didn’t use AI but simply made lots of basic errors was actually true?
Reposted by Mike Beggs
If you want to push back against the intimidation of academics (and other) who talk about Gaza, and you have $ to spare, this is a very good way to do it
Two Sydney Uni staff members are being sued in Australia's Federal Court by complainants who claim that statements opposing genocide and Zionist oppression of Palestinians are racist hate speech. Please give what you can to help @nickriemer.bsky.social & @professorjkeane.bsky.social's legal defence
Help USyd Palestine advocates defeat Israel Lobby legal attack!
Dr Nick Riemer and Professor John Keane are academics at the University of Sydney and long-time advocates of freedom and justice for Palestinians. Since October 7, in articles, on social media and at ...
chuffed.org
August 18, 2025 at 10:27 AM
If you want to push back against the intimidation of academics (and other) who talk about Gaza, and you have $ to spare, this is a very good way to do it