iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 29m

I disagree with the great man here - and tbf he couldn't have known what was coming. 2008/9 has had huge and long-lasting effects. The contract for people without degrees was 'don't worry about the erosion of your relative status; your income and living standards will grow robustly'. That's broken

040

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 1h

Very fancy office for a rubberstamper, I thought when I was mandated to use one

110

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 14h

Fair point. Markets operating fairly is important for allowing the squirrelling

010

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 14h

Yes def - I think that's policy failed. But I also think UK comparative advantages were hit

230

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 14h

It does! Could be either new ideas are hard to find, Britain's ideas factories are less valuable, or policy has failed. All of those are true I think

240

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 14h

They should hire me for government comms.

150

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 14h

Obviously this is true. Or 'individuals and businesses are constantly squirreling out new ideas and niches; that's not government's job, which is to ensure that markets operate fairly and pay for things markets won't provide adequately'.

890

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 15h

Let's see. The money must have some impact on service quality.

000

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 15h

I've had two (2) good interactions with my GPs in the last few months. A new system triaging into phone calls and face-to-face appointments that works well. Anecdata, obviously, but perhaps this is part of something broader.

2110

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 20h

Good thread. Raising the size of the labour force is crucial, as well as broader tax bases, and states have the levers to do it. Just need the will.

0111

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 20h

Many contrasts between Burnham's government and his predecessor's: a major one being its refusal to brief and fly kites

020

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 21h

Huge role for luck, especially in tech, where first-mover advantages and network effects are rather important. As shown by Meta's difficulty in making non-social media products that people want to use.

061

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 22h

Possibly, or possibly not - lots of inflection points coming up.

000

Reposted by John Springford

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My column this week: on Andy Burnham’s confusion over Manchester City and what it reveals about the broader confusion in his government:

ft.com

Andy Burnham’s Manchester City problem

The prime minister’s economic vision looks dangerously like a game of two halves

3144

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

[Waggles eyebrows at the 'decades, if ever' people]

1192

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's like trying to explain to the cat why they have to go to the vet

0110

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

that is a raised eyebrow, Bluesky needs to sort out its emojis

120

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Well, yes - your house is in mid-Buckinghamshire. Many people live in more urban settings. bsky.app/profile/pete...

140

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Quite. And bus stops should not be a national culture war issue.

150

Reposted by John Springford

Heather Stewart @guardianheather.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

This week’s column - essentially, crack on Andy: there are a limited number of well-discussed ways to fund a more generous social care system, let’s just do it. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

theguardian.com

Burnham’s plans for social care and its workers are admirable but changes must come quickly | Heather Stewart

Money is needed now for a system that has left families including mine struggling their way unsupported and forgotten

0126

Reposted by John Springford

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Americans picked Trump II, and their biggest objection is high prices. Hungary chose Orban, and their eventual big objection was corruption. Erdogan and Modi won multiple terms. Brazilians about to go Bolsonaro again. Not always free and fair, but yeah, millions want it. Wouldn’t work otherwise.

31704142

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

We're anthropomorphisation machines

010

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Get a bit grumpy when Claude makes a mistake and doesn't apologise. But I suppose that's what humans do.

271

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Le Monde starting to take an interest again ...

072

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Rather uncomfortable position for JLR to be in, especially after a tricky year.

070

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Chinese cars aren't re-exported to the EU without EU tariffs being applied. So this is really about equalising the price of Chinese cars to help European manufacturers (including British ones).

2122

Reposted by John Springford

Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Girl on a Bradford street corner, 1969, photo by Nick Hedges.

221261130

Reposted by John Springford

Chris Cook @chriscook.news · 21/09/2026

A big new story from us: a big new leak means that we can put numbers on the scale of A7 -- the Kremlin's huge money-laundering machine. $6.9bn laundered through the international banking system via SWIFT, with $1.1bn sent to StanChart alone. www.ft.com/content/3848...

ft.com

Kremlin-backed forgery scheme moved $6.9bn through global banks

FT finds thousands of Russian payments handled by Standard Chartered, Citigroup and other international groups in vast leak from inside fintech A7

5287172

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Best to simply pursue the policies that are good for the country's economy and security, in my view.

2161

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

On the one hand, there might be political chaos if Brexit is reopened, but on the other, there's no Article 50-style deadline and the EU has little incentive to negotiate quickly. Lots of things like Le Pen winning, Trump trying another coup, the AI bubble bursting might happen in the interim.

3194

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

It does, but you avoid incomes bunching before thresholds/gaming via pension contributions etc.

010

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Just make the city skyline of tax rates a curve. High school maths, and anyway a government website could calculate this for you.

2162

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Yep. Often these things go together

110

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

One way to improve the quality of debate: when you're asked to speak on a panel but there's someone who's a good speaker with more expertise than you, recommend them instead.

1191

Reposted by John Springford

Daniel Sugarman @danielsugarman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Although it feels like I am shouting into the void about this sometimes, I want to share some further thoughts on the “Zionism is Racism” motion which the Green Party is due to debate in the next 16 hours. Just to address various points which I think people in general should know. A thread:

4305144

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Just automate this drudge work. The American mind, etc etc.

031

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Me too, and being good at your job is recognising where you've gone wrong (and often that means reading widely, especially people with new ideas whatever their status). Also, the costs of changing your mind are low and the gains high!

170

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

(Just on the insurance-is-expensive rule of thumb, would be interested in your view)

110

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

My guess would be not enough to stop that being a big driver of prices.

130

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This Dieter Helm essay doesn't engage with what's driving high UK energy prices in a serious way. Read @acjsissons.bsky.social instead. www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

7247

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Yes - good example. And if there's an AI bubble that pops in the interim. This is why I'm a bit impatient with confident predictions, btw. The French election is a prime example of many things that can transform the debate.

130

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Agree very much with this. The 'future business' is about weaponised trade dependencies, European security, an entrenched far-right movement at the core of the Republican party. All of those are hard for British politicians to talk about.

181

Reposted by John Springford

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I detect a cynical intuition among some pro-EU liberals to try an inauthentic dog whistling to ethnonationalism, turning "ha ha ha, were you expecting higher immigration, and Indians & Nigerians, not Poles" into 'make immigration whiter, not browner again'. This could backfire quite badly imho

2397