iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tagging in the author proved unusually difficult today as I tried all of: Ian.dent.bsky.social Ian.dunt.bsky.social Iandent.bsyy.social Before getting it right. Apologies to all those other Ians for being tagged in incorrectly!

ian.dent.bsky.social

Bluesky

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 10/10/2026

I thought I knew how Westminster worked until the book by @iandunt.bsky.social was suggested to me.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 09/10/2026

I suspect you've come across Lindsey O'Rourke's 'Covert Regime Change'? It catalogues this history between 1947 and 1989 and finds 65 examples!

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 01/10/2026

I made the mistake of responding to the first email only to realise they needed thousands of $s to feature work.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 25/09/2026

The legal nightmare lying ahead is unimaginable.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 25/09/2026

Be interesting to see what might happen to City's stars.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 25/09/2026

Yes agree, and 2026 is different to 2005. City will appeal everything, so hard to know next stages now. But the club needs to face serious consequences for sure.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 25/09/2026

Nice thought perhaps, but likely to end up as Serie A when Juventus were stripped of their title and their league ended up with 'no winner'.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 24/09/2026

All that this is is a redefinition of the denominator in the formula measuring productivity. Any change in the definition of anything will alter the outcome of whatever the initial measure was intending to capture. Reminds me of Thatcher's manipulation of the unemployment measure 18 times.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 23/09/2026

She just slipped that in for fear of seeing Norman Tebbit turning in his grave.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 23/09/2026

Not so easy to tell as national statistical agencies are also involved and despite them agreeing on principles, there are many idiosyncratic approaches to data collection that some of them follow. For example, on definition of literacy, and many other areas.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 20/09/2026

Considering that dollarisation of the world economy first arrived decades ago with the Saudi's involvement over their oil trading, this headline is not as surprising as it otherwise would have been.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 19/09/2026

The south coast has become an unhappy hunting ground for us. Even Southampton regularly gave us problems there, not to mention Bournemouth who beat us twice last season.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 19/09/2026

Came across a review of this excellent book within the pages of the Journal of Economic Literature. Well worth a read if you are managing a university department, or a university. The book is useful for insiders and non-insiders!https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo254659525.html

press.uchicago.edu

Mission and Margin

An insider’s guide to university finances, for non-insiders. The finances of higher education have never been more challenging. From two-year institutions to the Ivy Leagues, from department chairs to...

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 19/09/2026

It serves as click bait for the BBC.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 19/09/2026

How can this be if the finding is the result of a Pentagon investigation? Isn't that body headed by Pete Hegseth who is a key member of the Trump administration?

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 18/09/2026

With Jesus and Martinelli off of our books that figure will fall sharply from now on.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 16/09/2026

If clearing the cache doesn't help try writing to feedback@guardian.co.uk or help@guardian.co.uk I'm a paid subscriber too and the site always works well for me.

guardian.co.uk

Latest news, sport and opinion from the Guardian

Latest US news, world news, sports, business, opinion, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 16/09/2026

Tightening needed given high levels of consumer debt (made up of: mortgages, credit card balances, car financing, etc.), and inflation. POTUS won't be pleased though.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 11/09/2026

John Mearsheimer quotes a figure of 38 million killed between 1971 and 2021 due to US and European economic sanctions.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 11/09/2026

Must be. Incredibly sad state of affairs.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 11/09/2026

That's quite a charitable way to look at it, but perhaps not too far from the truth.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 11/09/2026

52% seems low to me. Also, odd that 31% seem undecided. What is there to be undecided on? Do we have more info on sample size for the survey? The settlements are contested by those who refuse to recognise UN resolutions on the issue.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 02/09/2026

Engery price increases are a factor, but the most significant element is deteriorating levels of confidence in the US's ability to meet its fiscal obligations. Their debt has become unmanageable, confidence in the dollar is sinking and the war is dragging on regardless.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 27/08/2026

Should make the midterms more interesting.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 27/08/2026

The Bessent approach fails to take into account the full spectrum of the political economy side of long-established trading relationships. Spreadsheets alone can't win the day. 2/2

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 27/08/2026

They work if the secondary sanction is put on a country that is not a substantial player within the targeted area. This is why they won't work with most Chinese entities given their preeminence in so many fields. Also, trade using shadow-pricing techniques can create some evasion opportunities. 1/2

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 24/08/2026

An unfortunate consequence of increased consumption, due to the wealth effect, is that both the savings rate and actual savings decline. In turn, this can impact liquidity within the banking sector and squeeze the availability of credit.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 24/08/2026

Not that the comparison makes any sense, but reading Scott Bessent makes me yearn for Janet Yellen even more.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 22/08/2026

Great weekend of football - PL table: 1. Arsenal 2. Brentford 3. 4. 5. . . . . 20. Tottenham Hotspur

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 21/08/2026

Similarly, I doubt if he understands very much at all about economics, or even finance, and geopolitics or indeed anything else. It's all bluster. I genuinely worry for the US economy and especially those with heavy mortgages and those depending on credit to get along with their lives.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 21/08/2026

Bessent seems incapable of controlling what's happening to bond markets and yields at home, let alone extending his reach to future Chinese trade scenarios. Yesterday he expressed shock at the oil price hike, probably due to accepting Hegseth's claim that the SoH is fully open.

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Reposted by Parviz Dabir-Alai

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 21/08/2026

Wall Street investors say a move to buy more long-term US debt is a ‘band-aid on a bullet hole’ as concerns mount over Washington’s $40tn debt burden and smouldering inflation. ft.trib.al/hDKy6Z7

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 20/08/2026

As with such things a sense of trust in those handling decisions, and a belief in their competence drives market sentiment. Bessent is failing to reassure on either of the above two prerequisites. American adventurism (military and otherwise) appears to come at a price.

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Parviz Dabir-Alai @dabir-alai.com · 16/08/2026

For Jason Arday's young family, please consider a donation.

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