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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 15h

But all depends on government having a good critical eye to distinguish the good economic cases from the bullshit

Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 15h

I think growth washing could be healthy if it's an indicator of growth being widely accepted as the primary policy objective. Same way everyone claimed their pet policy would support levelling up under Johnson or that it promotes the wellbeing of future generations if they want Wales to do it

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 16h

Great example, think I have the same instincts as you, but found the Balls/Stansbury/Turner analysis compelling

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I once told the CFO of Sainsbury's he should close his best performing stores because there was a double negative in my formula and the table was the wrong way round. He literally laughed in my face.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I hope you're posting this while teaching

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Sorry, my point is that you no longer have to pay for it at all (not to mention the complete lack of friction to getting hold of it). Also, as someone who reads a lot of academic research but doesn't have a university library account, amazing how much you can get for free compared to earlier eras

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

If there is something going on here, I'm inclined to blame the post-ideological environment of the 90s onwards and the rise of valence politics - competition on delivery not values. But I think @dmk1793.bsky.social thinks that era has ended so maybe we're due a revival.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

There do seem to be some genuine trends in media coverage eg shorter political interviews, vox pops etc. But @chrisdillow.bsky.social's examples seem a bit cherry picked.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I'm not sure how much I buy the premise. Doesn't seem like we're comparing like with like. There's no shortage of substacks and podcasts (including BBC) with big ideas, and there seems to be a reasonable market for them.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Books are a pain in the arse, but these days I find most academic articles are available open access, which was not remotely true 15 years ago.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

OK but it took me 30 secs to find this book for literally free periferiaactiva.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...

periferiaactiva.wordpress.com

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This has sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole as to whether we want kids to be taller. Some analysis suggested austerity had stunted growth: www.theguardian.com/business/202... But other research suggests height is increasing as a side effect of obesity: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

theguardian.com

Children raised under UK austerity shorter than European peers, study finds

Average height of boys and girls aged five has slipped due to poor diet and NHS cuts, experts say

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David Bather Woods @davidbatherwoods.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

A warning from the future

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Definitely keen to interview him, let's see how that goes first 😉

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Planning to! EEF for sure in depth, not sure how much space I'll have for the others. I'm planning chapters by policy area and haven't decided if I'm going to say much on FE/HE rather than schools, otherwise would obvs mention TASO.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Some news: I'm writing a book! It's provisionally titled "In praise of experts", and it profiles organisations like the Monetary Policy Committee, OBR, NICE and Climate Change Committee. My argument is that these institutions are a strength of Britain's, often admired/emulated by other countries

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Overall this is pretty dismal and scary, but this bit did (ironically enough) make me laugh nymag.com/intelligence...

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Moreover, I argue that they are not just consistent with democracy but can strengthen it by clarifying the trade-offs and options we face as a society, if our democratic processes can rise to the challenge. Do get in touch if you have thoughts or strong feels (pro or anti!)

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

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Gavin Jackson @gavinjackson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I visited the Amazon rainforest a year ago ahead of the cop conference in Belem. Historically the only thing that has stopped deforestation has been electing Lula da Silva has Brazilian president. www.economist.com/the-americas...

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yes, but I would love to hear the crossover episode! Maybe a More Jam Tomorrow on Samoa or the Pacific Islands

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I do this a lot and while I'm a one man crusade against extremism, I also consequently have no friends so not sure it was worth it on net.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This reminds me of when I invited a Muslim friend to dinner and realised just before he arrived that I had cooked something with wine vinegar. In a panic, I checked whether it was halal, and turns out there is a hadith in which Mohamed says vinegar is an excellent condiment

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Plus: Got depressed about Aberdeen's economic future and politicians' false hope thanks to a @resolutionfoundation.org report Questioned @piercepenniless.bsky.social and @will-davies.bsky.social' podcast account of why unis aren't producing intellectuals any more

aveekbhattacharya.substack.com

Read/Watched/Listened/Ate: What’s Real?

39: October 2026

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Last week: Read The Book of Guilt, and considered how morality involves recognition of others' realness. Also had some thoughts on that Alan Lockey essay, whether politics is really post-material now, and if that's any excuse for Starmer's failure aveekbhattacharya.substack.com/p/readwatche...

aveekbhattacharya.substack.com

Read/Watched/Listened/Ate: What’s Real?

39: October 2026

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Maybe a better way of putting it: people spend a lot of time feeling angry or vengeful when sorrow and regret would be more apt.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think we should feel sympathy, or at least pity, for almost any criminal?

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I hadn't seen Snoop Dogg's take on AI risk. Sharper and more articulate than some I've heard.

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Steve Akehurst @steveakehurst.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

NEW: How does Burnham’s conference speech land with voters when they see it it? In short, very well it seems. A thread on some new video testing of the PM’s speech among voters by @persuasionuk.bsky.social Top line findings and some caveats below! 🧵👇

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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is a dreadful argument from Burnham. Empirically false - almost 6m people were granted settled status; about 4m are currently resident. More importantly panders to racism/xenophobia, and directly contradicts argument made in his speech about migrant contributions.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Actually one of my favourite use cases, discussing a novel I really want to talk about with an LLM. Needs to be famous enough that they don't hallucinate though.

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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

On 26 October, we'll be marking 50 years since the IMF crisis by exploring the politics of economic shocks. What is it like to govern in an economic crisis? What happens when "the markets" turn on governments? And what does this mean for democracy? All welcome! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/politics-a...

eventbrite.co.uk

Politics and Economic Shocks, from the IMF Crisis to the Mini-Budget

Join the Mile End Institute for a discussion exploring how financial crises and market pressures have shaped British politics since 1976.

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Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Public attitudes to electoral reform can be fluid + cross-pressured. See this BSA trend on Keep vs Change over 3 decades Change the system was 60-36 (+24) in 2024: ahead 2021-24 Keep the system we have peaked 66-27 (+39) 2011, the year a referendum held on the Alternative Vote (which lost 68-32)

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Professor Peter Matthews @urbaneprofessor.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This was already happening in other areas too: the changes to employment support in England are a lot like that happens in Scotland; and the Timms review of PIP looks like it will create something that looks like Adult Disability Payment

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

If you're not careful you'll end up with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a long term contract

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

That's not what I'm saying - of course it's better to have a coherent strategy than not. But you can't just eyeball the immediate growth rate/score and judge the effectiveness of the process.

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Gavin Jackson @gavinjackson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Or maybe the only growth theory you need is “it’s basically exogenous and nothing that happens in SW1 matters”

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is bad reasoning imo because it overestimates the government's power over the economy (especially in the short run!). It's like saying the football team that won must have had better tactics - maybe, but often not.

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John Muller @johnspacemuller.com · 29/09/2026

How can we get Nathan Fielder into a rental home with Man City execs for the next 34 days

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If you're a NEET you probably shouldn't be reading the tea leaves on industrial strategy from a government that will have been replaced one way or another in a decade's time. Conversely, whoever's in power you can probably infer AI is a big deal, though nobody knows what kind of big deal.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

You shouldn't ask Andy Burnham or Lucy Powell, you should speak to a careers advisor! And arguably you're more likely to find a helpful one than you would have been in the Blair era. But clearly the answer is going to vary based on geography, school performance, aptitudes and interests.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

But I do think the Industrial Strategy does give the sort of direction you're suggesting! And at a local level there kind of is a sense of where particular places' comparative advantages lie - Aberdeen is going to make money off decommissioning if anything, York from tourism.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Ehh I think to a large extent TB saw which way the wind was blowing and went with that. I will also say that specialising in "white collar work" is not that much of a specialism, and that the UK's historical strength has been flexibility (hence unis turning out generalists)

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Call me Hayek but I don't think politicians know this or should try too hard to guess. I think the 8 priority Industrial Strategy Sectors are a reasonable directional nudge, I don't know if more granular than that is appropriate.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

And some of the sharper students might learn lessons about manipulating those systems and tailoring their work to the audience. All important life lessons, if the institution can give up its just world naivety.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'd go further and say I think inconsistent marking should be a learning opportunity for students that life is not fair, you don't always get what you deserve because we live in systems run by humans.

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Aveek Bhattacharya @aveek18.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Suspect a significant part of this is that we don't have particularly reliable medical treatment for chronic pain, and cognitive reframing, getting people to see their pain as a smaller, less frightening, more manageable issue is often the best we got.

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