Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 01/10/2026The bit on electoral reform gives Labour way too much credit. Besides, he wins the next election with majority of seats, watch him backtrack in no time. Like Trudeau in Canada 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 24/09/2026nytimes.comTimothy Mellon, a G.O.P. Billionaire, Pulls Back His Money From Senate RepublicansTimothy Mellon, one of the party’s biggest donors in 2024, has so far withheld his midterm donations for Republican senators because he is unhappy about the failure to pass a key Trump priority. 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Gove, Sturgeon, Mordaunt and, wait for it, Scaramucci. This looks to be as hilarious as it is embarrassingyoutube.comThe Wargame | Official Trailer | SkyYouTube video by Sky TV 120
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 22/09/2026First it was ‘move fast and break things’. Now it’s ’slow down and protect the valuation’ 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Facebook going hat in hand to European bond markets should be getting way more coverage than it has beenbloomberg.comMeta Meets With European Credit Investors in Non-Deal RoadshowMeta Platforms Inc. has been speaking to bond investors in Europe as part of a non-deal roadshow for at least a week as hyperscalers look to tap different global debt markets to fund the AI boom. 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Watching Burns' American Revolution & found it really flat and dull (loved his Vietnam War, its flaws notwithstanding). But got me thinking of a more interesting docu-series on another revolutionary & independence movement, the Yugoslav Partisans. Unfortunately, no English subs youtu.be/CWIYYs-mQcEyoutu.bePartizani - 1. epizoda: KomunistiYouTube video by Al Jazeera Balkans 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 04/09/2026You know you're diminished in standing and power when even your scandals are about tiny amounts of money 000
Reposted by Karlo BastaThor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026I wrote about the renewable energy industry starting to punch back in the political arena for @rollingstone.com. (featuriing @leahstokes.bsky.social)rollingstone.comRenewable Energy Is Starting to Spend Big on Elections. It's Working, TooThe renewable energy industry is spending big on elections, including through the Invest in Tomorrow Coalition PAC. It's getting results. 427378
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 17/08/2026A great piece on an unusual aspect of Britain's state (in)capacityft.comHow Burnham can curb Britain’s tax-dodging shopsThe prime minister is missing a simple trick in his campaign to revive high streets: enforcing the basic laws of doing business 110
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 17/08/2026The message is the medium?nytimes.comChina Wants Its Data to Power the World’s A.I.China is exporting more than A.I. models. It wants its data to influence the world’s chatbots, raising fears that Beijing’s narratives will spread with the technology. 000
Reposted by Karlo BastaDavid Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 14/08/2026I've written an essay for @ippr.org about why democratic reformers need to expand their horizons beyond trying to finish the work of Charter 88, and should now shift their focus towards rebuilding the public sphere and confronting private power 1/4onlinelibrary.wiley.comAgainst Private Power: A Democracy Agenda Beyond Charter 88Since Charter 88, democratisation efforts in the UK have focused on constitutional reform to change the internal structures of the Westminster state. Today, however, the major challenge for democracy... 34025
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 11/08/2026So far he's focusing on high profile low-hanging fruit. With vape shops, also an ever-so-slight dogwhistle too. Much, much smarter than that last guy (but let's see)ft.comAndy Burnham to crack down on vape and betting shops in bid to boost British high streetsCouncils will be given extra powers to curb unwanted retailers and ‘bring town centres back to life’ 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 26/07/2026nytimes.comBlockbuster I.P.O.s Are Creating New Millionaires. Philanthropies Want a Cut.As start-ups like Anthropic and OpenAI prepare to go public, nonprofits are hoping for a secondary giving windfall from the new tech ultrawealthy. 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 25/07/2026I once made a mistake of watching a Christopher Nolan movie and nearly died of boredom. I then made another mistake of watching another, not knowing it was his and ended up on life support. I swore never to repeat that mistake. Fool me twice... 040
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Beyond hilariousgiftarticle.ft.comWise’s US bank licence bid rejected over compliance ‘deficiencies’Regulator raises concerns over fintech’s anti-money laundering checks and understanding of banking law 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 15/07/2026It's all fine & good for journalists, pundits (and academics) to be pointing to how the media has been giving Farage an easy pass, but why is it that it goes unnoticed that the man behind Starmer's rise to power has only been interviewed *for the first and only time* once he got the boot? 131
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 15/07/2026Natural monopolies should not be private companies. Rightmove seems a natural monopoly. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 13/07/2026In case you were wondering what's going on in Venezuela 121
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 07/07/2026That's not a bad tactical play by Farage. Turn the byelection into a sort of referendum on how much people care about the money, and if he wins, he's right. He loses, he doesn't have to spend any time in parliament *at all*. So for him, win-win 040
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Cool project on AI fuckups incidentdatabase.aiincidentdatabase.aiWelcome to the Artificial Intelligence Incident DatabaseThe starting point for information about the AI Incident Database 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Apple flexing its muscle against Trump admin in the end after all. They may kiss his ass but profit is profit 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Best I can tell, the biggest knock against Miliband as treasury secretary is that he's too competent. Hilarious. If Burnham picks him, the political reason for bringing in Purnell will be clear. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 26/06/2026nytimes.comInvestors in Public Companies Are Losing Their Voting Rights 021
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 23/06/2026No kidding they reject it. 10 years of adjustment to an entirely new institutional and regulatory environment, why would they want to go through it again?ft.comUK businesses reject calls to rejoin EU, says CBI chiefRain Newton-Smith says companies acknowledge costs of Brexit but do not want to ‘reopen the debate’ 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Of all the irritating leakages of tech-nerd jargon into every-day speak, 'compute' (as noun) has to be even worse than 'stack'. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Anyone harping on UK’s return to EU is either delusional or cynical. Europeans would be insane to let us back ingiftarticle.ft.comUK would be blocked from rejoining ‘wounded’ EU, says Jean-Claude JunckerFormer Commission president says other countries would ‘cold-shoulder’ Britain because of its closeness to the US 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 07/06/2026Just the latest iteration of century long property-owning democracy scam 110
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 02/06/2026I love that Mary Poppins soundtrack has hits like 'A British Bank' and, even better, 'Fidelity Fiduciary Bank'. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 01/06/2026Having seen Trudeau the Younger renege on a clear and explicit platform promise of electoral reform once he snuck into government again back in 2015, I'll believe this when I see it. 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 31/05/2026Political economy of property on Croatian coast can tell you more about socialism and capitalism than tomes of economics books. It is the most fascinating issue I can think of that no academic is writing about. 020
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 30/05/2026That Blair piece was bad for more important reasons, but it was also really poorly written. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 30/05/2026Another year of this and people will be ruefully watching Idiocracy where the idiots in government were at least smart enough to get average Joe to come in and solve a problem. Or where AI was actually accurate and socially useful. 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 17/05/2026Tell me more about that exclusive territoriality thing. But don't tell me about the rules-based international order please.nytimes.comIn Iraqi Desert, Two Israeli Outposts Were Kept Secret for Months 242
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 12/05/2026Have British journalists not had enough of saying 'the people want change' on repeat for 10 years? 020
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Always a good day when you get to recommend Harold Innis to a grad student. 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 01/04/2026ft.comInside the German state trying to break free from MicrosoftSchleswig-Holstein’s radical tech overhaul offers Europe a live experiment in ending dependence on US Big Tech 000
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 31/03/2026Yes! We need more billionaire money in institutions of public importance! Yay!ft.comBillionaire Chris Rokos donates record £190mn to Cambridge universityGift from hedge fund boss will fund new school of government 010
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 30/03/2026I don't mind delegating all the bullshit jobs to AI so we can all go do small scale farming 010
Reposted by Karlo BastaCentre on Constitutional Change @ccc-research.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Our event on @ryan-griffiths.bsky.social's new book, The Disunited States, is fast approaching. Join Ryan and panelists @erinjenne.bsky.social and @karlobasta.bsky.social next Monday, March 30, at 3pm BST. Register/info: edin.ac/40MwMcG 043
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Finishing off my class on economic nationalism and business power tmrw with this remarkable document from 2000. its techno-optimism, belief that markets tend to strengthen democracy, and more broadly the embrace of the doux commerce perspective are all jarring... archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes....archive.nytimes.comFull Text of Clinton's Speech on China Trade Bill 141
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 23/03/2026In a few years we'll know whether unserious politicians destroy more lives than serious politicians. 000
Reposted by Karlo BastaCentre on Constitutional Change @ccc-research.bsky.social · 18/03/2026The Disunited States - Online Event Join author Ryan Griffiths and our panel to discuss his new book, The Disunited States, in which he examines what a project of American secession would look like, and why America is ill-suited for a peaceful national divorce. Register/info: edin.ac/40MwMcG 022
Reposted by Karlo BastaMark McGeoghegan @markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social · 18/03/2026Ryan's work on secessionism over the past decade has been seminal, this is a must-attend for those of us interested in secessionism and self-determination: 011
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 18/03/2026Join @ryan-griffiths.bsky.social @erinjenne.bsky.social and me for a book panel on Ryan's The Disunited States: Threats of Secession in Red and Blue America, and Why They Won't Work. All details below 👇 @uoe-sps.bsky.social @edinburghpir.bsky.social 023
Karlo Basta @karlobasta.bsky.social · 17/03/2026Cherry on top is the title: 'ideological orientation of social science research' 001