iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

I forgot the rule for quadruple negatives. www.ft.com/content/8832...

Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

One thing I like about Vancouver is the text-based conceptual art everywhere. The city is constantly asking you questions. Today’s find in False Creek, very much in the spirit of Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace and Stan Douglas.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Scams are skyrocketing in the U.S. $20B in reported losses last year from investment and crypto scams, phishing, identity theft, impersonation, and payment fraud. The Wild West digital economy is out of control and badly needs to be reined in. www.wsj.com/us-news/inma...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Avenue Q is back! They even interviewed me after opening night I was prepared to talk political economy, but they asked about my favorite song instead. I went with “I Wish I Could Go Back to College” since this has been my life for the past 15 years… and yes, the undergrads do keep getting younger.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

This is a chance to revive the green transition, which has been sidelined since Trump’s election Europe and China are partly insulated from oil shocks thanks to past investments in renewables, transit & EVs The US, by contrast, is far more exposed, and Trump has doubled down on that vulnerability.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Each of these outcomes would result in untold numbers of deaths and the destruction of the conditions necessary for many more people to live… but I suppose we should withhold judgment until the cost–benefit analysis is complete…?

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

The Home Office has hired IFF Research to survey current visa holders about how proposed changes to settlement rules might affect their plans. Some of the questions are strange, e.g. asking whether I’ve used welfare services and whether rule changes tied to these would affect my settlement plans.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

The economic effects of this illegal war keep expanding With Russian and Iranian airspace closed, most Europe-Asia flights pass through a narrow corridor over Azerbaijan. After today’s drone attacks that route could close, forcing airlines onto much longer southern paths www.ft.com/content/10c5...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

The very definition of a supervillain.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Visited Marx’s grave yesterday. Pilgrims from around the world had left offerings: a Canadian $5 bill, a Chinese 5 yuan note, Tesco flowers, personal business cards, and, naturally, bubble tea.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I genuinely don’t understand how the Labour Party leadership failed to anticipate this outcome. I could have predicted it from conversations at Hackney dinner parties & overheard bar chatter Centre-left parties need to give progressives a real reason to support them—otherwise they will go elsewhere

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

There has been no bonfire of EU regulations since Brexit for two simple reasons: first, the economics don’t add up (around 50% of UK trade is still with the EU ) and second, the politics don’t either — Brits are just as fond of banning and regulating things as their European neighbours.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I fixed the NYTimes headline for its story about Trump’s explicitly white supremacist social media posts.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

While teaching today, I learned that the ancient paradox of our origins, which baffled priests and oracles for centuries, has now been finally solved by Gemini. Artificial general intelligence, folks. 🐣

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

For once, I agree with Thomas Friedman: Trump is accelerating the moral and political bankruptcy of the United States, with financial consequences sure to follow. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/o...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

The New York Times has long normalized and relativized the unforgivable in its pursuit of balance and nuance. Once the nation’s paper of record, it has become a mockery of its former self, publishing drivel that serves less to inform the public than to flatter the powerful.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

Only those who’ve lived in Germany know the pure elation and relief of finding an official document you thought you’d lost… in my case, my certificate of deregistration. I don’t think my relationship with the German state will ever truly be over.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

I’ve been considering it for years, but I’m still not convinced it’s the right choice at this stage of my life.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Has anyone theorized “weighted sloth capitalism”? Struggling to understand what this product is and why I’m targeted as someone most likely to engage with this ad.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

True, though I’d add that Vancouver in the winter feels more like purgatory.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

The liberal-left thrives when it speaks boldly and builds a broad, inclusive coalition. In Norway, labor unions, public servants, rural populists, centrists, and democratic socialists came together — not just to beat the far right, but to build a progressive future.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Have things gotten so bad that “bond vigilantes” are our last line of defense against Trump’s assault on American institutions? Sadly, yes— & even that hope feels hollow. The only real path forward is to build a popular movement with a clear alternative vision for political economy on.ft.com/3USkuwx

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

The liberal establishment is finally recognizing how fascism works: win elections, dismantle institutions, jail opponents, persecute the powerless. That it took them a decade to see Trump is a fascist at his core is part of why American democracy is in peril. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Big thanks to these wonderful people for joining my book workshop today.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Almost as bad as the mendacity is how the media treats it — explaining, normalizing, even rationalizing it. They've made $3B from crypto alone and monetized public office like no one before, yet we’re still debating whether they gained financially

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

A moderate American who unifies the non-conservative block, supports migrants and the poor and has endorsed blessings for same-sex couples. Did Stanley Tucci just get elected pope?

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Used Google Scholar so much today, it blocked me. I swear I’m human…. just really bad at Captchas

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

I can't think of another modern election where the momentum flipped this fast. Two months ago, the Conservatives had a 99% chance of winning Canada's parliamentary elections—now they're down to just 1%, according to CBC projections.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Everyone in Vancouver is talking politics all the time. I’ve never seen such widespread engagement -and concern about what’s happening south of the border. CAN–US relations have forever changed, with no return to the old normal anytime soon. This includes but is not limited to Oregonian Pinot Noir!

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I haven't set foot on that other hellsite in months, and somehow it's managed to get even worse. My inbox is now a chaotic mess of financial scams, get-rich-quick schemes, AI-generated porn, sex work solicitations, and messages in languages I don’t understand—probably offering more of the same.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Had a great discussion with Benedetta Voltolini, Robert Basedow & @katie0martin.ft.com @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social on the challenges Trump 2.0 poses for Europe—but also the opportunities it brings: for deeper capital market, new trade ties, stronger European defense & a more prosperous economy.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Many economists agree that U.S. manufacturing should be restored & workers should receive better wages. Biden advanced this via the IRA and CHIPS Act But the current administration’s erratic tariffs & subsidy cuts for green & high tech manufacturing is likely to weaken industry and lower real wages

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Not how I’d introduce Max Weber’s “Politics as Vocation” but if it gets more people curious about the “German sociologist”, so be it

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

We've gone from the old right arguing that antitrust exists to protect consumer welfare to the new right arguing that consumer choices themselves constitute collusive behavior. How quickly ideology bends to accommodate power!

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Impressive use of English contrastive, concessive, and qualifying transitions.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

A truly terrifying attack on academic freedom and student civil liberties. I wonder how U.S. higher education can maintain its preeminence if this McCarthyite politicization of research and teaching continues.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

The FAA employs 14,000 air traffic controllers—not all can be so-called MIT "geniuses," and many such geniuses might not excel in this role. To improve aviation safety, we should treat these workers with respect, pay them more & shield them from Musk’s nonsense. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/u...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

On core values—from international cooperation to autocratic leadership—the American right is far to the right of the members of any European party, even the far-right ones. Republicans align more closely with far-right authoritarians in Russia and Turkey. on.ft.com/4iqh3qA

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

I’m no Doug Ford fan, but I respect his resolve to push back against the tariff nonsense coming from south of the border. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

Schadenfreude didn’t make the list of deadly sins.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I’m going to start using this term as much as I can. “Budget dust”: a term used in finance and budgeting to refer to a very small amount of money within a budget that is considered insignificant or negligible.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

“There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on.ft.com/3XumOM1

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Cost-of-Living Crisis 2.0 is coming soon to a theater near you! Critics warn the sequel could be even worse than the original.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

The honeymoon is over in record time. Reality has finally caught up with the median voter.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 24/02/2025

Wapo leads with Trump’s response and the AfD surge, only briefly noting the next government will be a centrist coalition, while failing to note the Left’s parallel surge. The WSJ offers a better take, focusing on the centrist parties’ historic opportunity to address the country’s major challenges.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Not the best outcome, not the worst.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Never again is now. Every vote counts!

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Hitler Egg (Hitler-Ei, 1936). Kati Horna and Wolf Hamburger

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

My protest sign from the 2017 Women’s March. Even more relevant today as we witness an attempted administrative coup and flurry of unconstitutional executive orders.

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Chase Foster @chasefoster.bsky.social · 21/02/2024

I really enjoyed presenting research on the politics of globalized regulatory enforcement at the Competition and Markets Authority. Canary Wharf, which has seen better days, is in the background.

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