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Benjamin Braun

@benbraun.social
10K followers 1.1K following 1.2K posts

Political economist @ LSE, currently visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study | benjaminbraun.org

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Reposted by Benjamin Braun
Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 5h
The social internet — for science! I'm super excited to see @aster.id launching. It's an Atmosphere service provider (like @eurosky.social) for researchers, hosted by your friends at the @modalfoundation.eurosky.social. Why does it matter? Thread time! 🧵
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 2h
Successful online spaces, explained.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 5h
Exciting. If you're a researcher and still don't know about about #ATScience, it's time to get up to speed by reading this thread and following the accounts mentioned.
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Eurosky Social @eurosky.social · 6h
We're so excited to see the arrival of Aster ID as a home for researchers on the open web and to welcome them to the @modalfoundation.eurosky.social family. Very lucky that we've been able to support their tech stack at Eurosky 💖
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 6h
Very poor take. The German centre is currently failing a very gentle test, catastrophically. Hard to convey the insanity of the mainstream freakout over the left’s victory in Berlin.
Why Europe's centre will hold
The 1930s are not a good guide to the politics of the 21st century
GIDEON RACHMAN
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Stefan Eich @stefeich.bsky.social · 10h
New article just dropped in APSR! Leah Downey and yours truly on why people should stop using “democratize” when all they really mean is increasing market access. (Looking at you, economists! 👀) And, more positively, what a better vision of “democratization” looks like when applied to finance.
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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 19h
I'm honored to deliver the 2027 Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh. Across 6 lectures, On Science, Technology, and Social Values, I will work through the claim that what we build and how we put it to use carry commitments about who counts and what matters in collective life cahss.ed.ac.uk/news-events/...
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Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 21h
Interesting that the ICC is the test case for genuine digital sovereignty.
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katharinapistor.bsky.social @katharinapistor.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My response to Yochai Benkler‘s take on transforming capitalism. Sadly, we cannot count on the state
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Daniel Driscoll @danieldrisc.com · 29/09/2026
Why Carbon Taxes Failed is on the road! See book talk dates below (more to come). Next week is Central European University and Copenhagen Business School! Can't wait to see some dear friends at both places <3
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Xan López @xanlopez.net · 29/09/2026
To my English-speaking friends: we just published my conversation with Fritz Bartel (@fritz-bartel.bsky.social) about the ongoing political and energy crisis. He’s one of the most interesting thinkers out there, so don’t sleep on it. youtu.be/iE3xQcYvT5I?...
youtu.be
Margen de Maniobra 02x09 - Gobernar la transición, con Frtiz Bartel
YouTube video by Círculo de Bellas Artes
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 28/09/2026
Something I've noticed about the people saying "nothing is going to change about US dollar dominance" is that they're usually not accounting for the @jvtk.bsky.social + @shahinvallee.bsky.social factor. Which is probably going to turn out to be a mistake.
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JW Mason @jwmason.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I wrote a long post on "profiteering" or "greedflation" a couple of years ago, trying to think through what the economic logic is that justifies price regulation in situations like natural disasters, and how that logic might apply more broadly. jwmason.org/slackwire/in...
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
NEW: The big story is not Chinese EVs everywhere —but Chinese EV factories everywhere. And its not just Chinese firms going out. Our CM-FDI database tracks every foreign Solar, Wind, EV and battery manufacturing plant built in 21st century. cmfdi.netzeropolicylab.com
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 25/09/2026
Really great thread, and data.
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Madison Condon @madisoncondon.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I've been watching two cases at the intersection of asset management and climate change w/ a lot of interest. So I'm very excited to discuss each of them with subject matter experts at the upcoming Intentional Endowments Network conference in Toronto.
Intentional Endowments Network 2026 Annual Forum November 18-20 The University of Toronto, ON
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 24/09/2026
The federal government threatening a state in which the left shows signs of life. Sounds vaguely familiar?
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Linus Westheuser @lwestheuser.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Die Berlinwahl ist so eine Offenbarung. Alle Masken fallen, nichts ist überraschend, aber vieles sehr abstoßend.
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Lukas Bogner @lbogner.eurosky.social · 23/09/2026
New Paper out in Socio-Economic Review! Part of a coming special issue on the socio-economics of loss and decline. About the 4D chess of using blended finance for the coal exit in the Global South. Read it here: doi.org/10.1093/ser/... (or ask me for a copy if you don't have access)!)
 The spectre of de-assetization: legal infrastructures and fragile fixes in fossil decommissioning - Lukas Bogner. Abstract: Efforts to decommission coal power plants in the Global South are constrained by the legal infrastructures that create and protect them as assets. This article examines the Asian Development Bank’s Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) as a case of managing these constraints via a series of increasingly complex and fragile spatio-temporal fixes: First, power purchase agreements and investment treaties require compensation of investors at business-as-usual asset valuations; second, for lack of public funding, this compensation is to be generated via a blended finance mechanism; third, its inability to stem these costs necessitates further legal-financial engineering, including a novel guarantee mechanism and ‘coal-to-clean’ credits. The ETM and its successive fixes are haunted by the power relations inscribed in asset creation and protection in the Global South. This renders ‘de-risked’ transition finance dubious as a blueprint for fossil decommissioning and highlights the troubled nature of climate-related asset stranding in transnational, hierarchical legal space.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 23/09/2026
Timely, given the strong Minsky moment vibes these days. Just out in Politics & Society. "The more Minsky rose to the challenge of explaining the economics of his [wage-led growth] proposal ... the more Democrats grew concerned about its politics." journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10....
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robin celikates @robin-c.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I’m so angry I wrote an article: In Germany, fascist majorities are a real possibility again, but the centrist merger of a revived Red Scare with open racism shows that mainstream media & politics are unable or unwilling to comprehend the seriousness of the crisis tribunemag.co.uk/2026/09/germ...
tribunemag.co.uk
Warning from Germany: It’s Socialism or Barbarism
Fascism is at the door, and liberals are ushering it in. Only the left offers hope.
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Steven Klein @stevenklein.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
my book Union has a cover. Indeed, two covers- one for the UK release and one for the US. Forthcoming August of next year.
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David Attewell @davidattewell6.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
1/ Happy to see @kaitlin-alper.bsky.social, myself, & Andreas Jozwiak's paper out @ejprjournal.bsky.social It's well-known that, on average, women support redistribution more than men. We find that the gender gap is conditional on household income & inequality within couples. tinyurl.com/3nrn53ej
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Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Service post: “Energy is complicating the Fed’s case for higher rates” = Rate hikes will not stop the war on Iran, reopen the Strait of Hormuz or bring down energy prices (unless they manage to push down the economy).
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Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 22/09/2026
Two jobs in the school of global studies at BU where I work: Asst Prof, International Economic Policy bit.ly/4hFl5h6 Prof of Practice, Global Economic Development Policy bit.ly/4Ant5e2
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
*academic job klaxon* very interesting looking 2-yr postdoc at Toulouse with @ccavaille.bsky.social on the political economy of climate risk and insurance!
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Aurélien Goutsmedt @aurelien-goutsmedt.com · 22/09/2026
Indeed! A reminder that a starter pack on the History of Economic Thought exists: bsky.app/starter-pack... Created by @hugocerqueira.bsky.social
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robin celikates @robin-c.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Wahrscheinlich sollte es nicht überraschen, dass selbst die kleinste Herausforderung des Status quo von links so eine Welle rassistischer Diffamierung aus Politik & Medien auslöst, aber angesichts der Tatsache, dass es in D wieder faschistische Mehrheiten gibt, ist es schockierend.
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Ingo Stützle @istuetzle.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026
Die Sendung wird im Auftrag des @ndr.de von Miosgas eigener Produktionsfirma produziert, der MIO Media GmbH. Die kommerziellen Interessen korrumpieren seit Jahren den ÖRR und ihren Auftrag. Darüber müsste endlich geredet werden, denn so „öffentlich“ ist die Veranstaltung schon lange nicht mehr.
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SocArXiv @socarxiv.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
At SocArXiv, our intrepid volunteers screen a few dozen papers per day, using this moderation policy: socopen.org/moderation-p..., supplemented by this AI policy: socopen.org/ai-policy/. If that sounds fun or interesting or important to you, join us! Contact: socarxiv at gmail.
socopen.org
Moderation Policy
This moderation policy is now supplemented by our AI Policy, here. If your paper has been rejected and you would like to appeal the decision, use this form. Policy revision date October 2025, by th…
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Jo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Not sure there are many Kalecki heads on this website but I'm going to give this a try anyway. If this isn't your cup of tea, you might want to hit mute now...
A journal cover page for "An analytical heterogeneous agent macro model of concentration, markups, and falling labour shares" by Karsten Kohler, Jo Michell and Ayoze Alfageme, published in the Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control.

The abstract text is: This paper presents an analytical heterogeneous agent model (HAM) to explore micro-level concentration dynamics and their effects on macro-level distribution and growth. It contributes to recent work on macroeconomic agent-based models (ABMs) by comparing a small-scale ABM with bilateral firm-customer matching to a simplified HAM without direct agent interactions. The HAM replicates key ABM results while allowing for analytical solutions. In the model, larger firms benefit from lower unit costs due to economies of scale, gain larger market shares, and set higher markups. More profitable firms temporarily grow faster, leading to endogenous changes in the firm size distribution. The resulting right-skewed distributions create a divergence between the average profit share across firms and the aggregate profit share, which is driven by the largest firms. The decline in the labour share reduces aggregate consumption and slows growth. Despite its simplicity, the model captures key empirical patterns related to superstar firms and declining labour shares.
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Jan Schwalbach @janschwalbach.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🚨New article in Nature Scientific Data: The ParlLawSpeech Parliamentary Text Data Collection > 3 Million Parliamentary Bills, Laws, and Speeches from 8 Legislatures: doi.org/10.1038/s415... with @lukashetzer.eurosky.social @sopro.bsky.social @chrauh.bsky.social @miklossebok.bsky.social 1/6
doi.org
The ParlLawSpeech Parliamentary Text Data Collection > 3 Million Parliamentary Bills, Laws, and Speeches from 8 Legislatures - Scientific Data
Scientific Data - The ParlLawSpeech Parliamentary Text Data Collection &gt; 3 Million Parliamentary Bills, Laws, and Speeches from 8 Legislatures
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Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"Perhaps the most useful role that the discipline of International Relations may play is ... as a generator of largely untestable and incompatible claims that can then help inform policy systems that are better adapted to work with many possible futures."
programmablemutter.com
International relations has a problem with the future
Then, so does everything else
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Daniela Gabor @danielagabor.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
We were a bit early in our predictions but unfortunately quite accurate - we're heading for a world of shortages and we can't manage them with neoliberal state institutions.
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Andrew Elrod @andrewelrod.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"The benefit, if there is one, will be that “analysts” who have devoted themselves to reading Fed statements like tarot cards, may have to find some other uses for their time." www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives...
ineteconomics.org
The Impotence of Being Kevin Warsh
Kevin Warsh’s call for fresh thinking at the Fed runs up against a deeper problem. The tools and concepts guiding monetary policy may no longer fit an economy reshaped by AI, shifting prices, and the ...
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 19/09/2026
They may burn more after that but there's a 10% chance that human shareholders will no longer be around to complain.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 19/09/2026
“By anchoring a platform in the social institution that provides the very basis of capitalist modernity (the labour market) LinkedIn enables a means of digital co-existence that lacks friction or cynical mendacity.” This is an excellent piece.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 19/09/2026
They may burn more after that but there's a 10% chance that human shareholders will no longer be around to complain.
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Gregor Semieniuk @gregorsemieniuk.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Now is not the time for across-the-board road fuel subsidies in Germany. Yet top CDU officials are mulling exactly that via VAT cuts, to ease escalating diesel & gasoline costs. This makes every liter cheaper for everyone & so encourages consumption. A 🧵 on why that’s a problem:
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Ronen Tamari @ronentk.me · 17/09/2026
I'm convinced that open social protocols like #atproto have a crucial role to play in the future of science. Excited to share MOSAIC - our best effort at articulating the thesis, why it matters, and how to build and fund it (in collab w/ @exgenesis.ingroup.social ) 🧵
mosaic-program.org
MOSAIC — Modular Open Science, AI & Collective Intelligence
MOSAIC is an R&D program to build a new medium for large-scale, AI-augmented networked research.
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Robin Berjon @robin.berjon.com · 17/09/2026
Train & school bus meme.
Bus: yay, it looks like I've finally managed to say "no" enough that I can organise sensibly
Train: September
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Federica Genovese @fgenovese.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
my theory that “Europe is mostly an old place with an old mindset and most of the policies, good and bad, emanate from that” stands undefeated.
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Mark Blyth @mkblyth.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
For your listening pleasure - The Rhodes Center Podcast is back with Aditi Sahasrabuddhe on Central Bankers, Trust and what actually holds things together in moments of crisis: player.captivate.fm/episode/ad93...
player.captivate.fm
The ties that bind, and the ties that blind: Central bankers in moments of crisis
Quickly and easily listen to The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth for free!
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 16/09/2026
Movie poster "Quantum of Solace". Changed title: "Dose of accommodation"
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Jens van 't Klooster 💸💸💸 @jvtk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Couldnt be more timely! In @jeppjournal.bsky.social (open access), a detailed post mortem of the 2022 inflation shock, and suggestions how to do better this time.
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Isabella M. Weber @isabellamweber.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just in time for the latest oil price spike, we published our article urging the ECB not to hike rates to fight a supply shock. Europe needs a new inflation governance for shockflation. We need disaster preparedness for essentials instead of increasing investment costs.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 16/09/2026
Some very instructive data viz in this piece. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
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Mariana Mazzucato @mazzucatom.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Looking forward to being in conversation with @ceciliarikap.bsky.social , @nsrnicek.bsky.social , Francisca Moya Marchi and @chakrabortty.bsky.social . Wilkins Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, UCL | Tue 29 Sep | 17:30 BST
eventbrite.co.uk
Book launch: The Rulers
Join UCL IIPP for book launch of The Rulers by Cecilia Rikap.
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Reto Mitteregger @indubioproreto.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This Sunday, Die Linke could become Berlin’s strongest party for the first time. Importantly, its success in urban centers reflects a broader sociostructural transformation: from a party rooted in the support of production workers to one drawing disproportionate support from the new middle class.
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 15/09/2026
Turns out though
CHAPTER SEVEN
The House Never Wins

The blind spot, by Jeffrey Winters
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