iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Peter Foster

John Springford @johnspringford.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Resolution has applied my model to data up to 2025. As the chart shows, we can be less confident as time goes on. But firm-level evidence from Bloom et al shows a 6% loss. I think it's time to retire the OBR's 4%, which was a simple average of pre-Brexit forecasts.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

No! Just a function of using shorthand in a world where everything has to be done in 650 words.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

This is a lot of ‘fun’🙈 — which is to say, genius illumination of fiscal drag effects. Dragging stealth tax out of the shadows, into the light.

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Reposted by Peter Foster

Alan Smith @theboysmithy.ft.com · 26/11/2025

New: 'Shark's fin' chart reveals the uneven impact of 'fiscal drag', the stealth tax beloved of recent chancellors. Plus use our interactive calculator to see how fresh freezes announced by Rachel Reeves at todays Budget could affect you on.ft.com/3KqOYUL

A chart of the projected percentage point increase un share of income paid as income tax and national insurance from 2025/25 through to 2029/30. It whos that 'fiscal drag' is set to hit those at or near frozen personal tax thresholds

Screenshot of financial times fiscal drag calculator.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Brilliant. So clear on the real agenda, which is “othering”. Creating a virtual ghetto (sic) which blurs the lines between illegal migrants, asylum seekers and millions with ILR, who are contributors to society, with their skills (NHS/care often), their labour and (lest we forget) their taxes.

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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Lords Heseltine & Kinnock seem more alive to these self-evident truths than most members of the Commons. Similarly, I find thinkers with direct lived experience of far right dictatorship, Greeks of a certain age for example, crystal clear about what’s happening now.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

AI pushers talk about it "augmenting" capacity, but that ignores human nature. Why walk or bike, when you can drive? It's easier, so most of us do, but you get fat & lazy. AI will do the same to a lot of people's brains, I fear. Via @financialtimes.com piece on AI habits ig.ft.com/ai-personal-...

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A Reader of the FT @a-reader-ft.bsky.social · 07/10/2025

WTO clings to signs Donald Trump still needs it — sometimes—While the US President’s unilateral tariffs have ridden roughshod over the WTO’s core principle of reciprocity in trade, diplomats argue… www.ft.com/content/15a9... @pmdfoster.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

ft.com

WTO clings to signs Donald Trump still needs it — sometimes

US takes ‘à la carte’ approach to global trade body, suggesting it has not completely turned its back on rules-based order

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Brutal BBC piece on how fast Switzerland’s glaciers are melting. Drill baby drill. 🎶🎵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Magnificent peroration to Simon Schama’s @financialtimes.com weekend essay on defending freedom of speech in the era of Trump - with help from Milton, Jefferson et al. on.ft.com/4gSqvDw Simon Schama: What America’s Founders can teach Trump about liberty

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Living. Working. Paying taxes. Contributing. This is a desperately poor editorial.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Brutal new MRP poll out today showing Reform at 311 and Labour support collapsing. Worth reading steaming @financialtimes.com column on Starmer by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social “Starmer can’t afford to wait for reckless Reform to implode” on.ft.com/3VxxCaR

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Kinlika @kinlika.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol 2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy. news.ki.se/no-link-betw...

news.ki.se

No link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children

In the largest epidemiologic study to date of the risk of giving birth to a child with autism, ADHD or intellectual disability following acetaminophen use during pregnancy, researchers found no associ...

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Reposted by Peter Foster

Paul Lomax @paullomax.co.uk · 23/09/2025

I use this graph a lot.

This chart shows the history of left-handedness in the United States, plotting the percentage of left-handed people by year of birth from 1880 to 2000. The rate begins around 5% in 1880, dips to about 3% by 1900, then rises steadily through the early 20th century. By around 1950, it levels off at about 11–12%, where it remains through 2000. A speech bubble on the chart humorously states, “Left-handedness is over diagnosed,” pointing to the sharp rise during the mid-20th century. The trend reflects how left-handedness was suppressed in earlier generations but became more accepted over time.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 20/09/2025

The data is in -- tourism to US dropped after Trump came in, while tourism recovered in rest of world...foreign arrivals at American airports down 3.8% compared with 2024, or 1.3m fewer people. With more Americans going the other way. See charts via @economist.com www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

To even allow the appearance of this — Starmer’s No 10 adopting Trumpian media management policies — seems extraordinary to me. Very depressing.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Ambassador Matthew Wilson of Barbados pushes back on idea US can be browbeaten back to WTO bodies like currently moribund Appellate Body. “We need to figure out what we are going to put before the US: what are the key elements that would be good not only for the US, but good for the system?”

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Passion from WTO founder James Bacchus at @wto.org panel on “The WTO without the United States?” “I have a message for 165 of the 166 members of the WTO: ‘stop letting the United States of America push you around. Stand up for your rights under the WTO treaty’. …’use it or lose it’” Cue applause.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

on.ft.com/4nhvSyM NEW: Trump tariffs on EU medical devices will drive up US patient bills, industry claims …with a very testy White House response, which usually means they’re worried about it. Me and @judewebber.bsky.social for @financialtimes.com

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Chilling. The irony really doesn’t escape them.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Spending a couple of days at the @wto.org in Geneva taking the pulse at the annual Public Forum — the “Woodstock of world trade” as one rather enthusiastic participant put it. Lots of jokes about whether WTO even has a pulse these days. Might be on life support, but not dead quite yet…

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Tariff exemptions to follow? 😏

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Even Trump has had to walk back on this a bit, but the wider point as we've seen before is that raising barriers harms investment because companies need access to imports and skills. There's no new economic paradigm being created in the US.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

The data that shows the internet removes guardrails and fuels populism — it’s either the unfiltered “will of the people” or digital mob rule. Take your pick. Grabs from @jburnmurdoch.ft.com piece here: on.ft.com/45WUaGw The end of the gatekeepers

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Cllr Nick Hartley - Green Party @nickhartleygreen.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

What stood out to me from Richard Tice’s interview on #BBCR4Today was his praise of the economic policies of… George Osborne. I wonder if that stood out for @nadinedorries.bsky.social too?

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Indeed: the populists do make people poorer, but then they blame anyone but themselves: immigrants, unions, foreign wars etc. Poor people are disgruntled. Ripe for exploitation by populists. Rinse and repeat. (As we’re seeing now)

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David Henig @davidheniguk.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

As we prepare for the next tidal wave of nonsense around Reform in the UK, two points should stand out as the core rebuttal - economic issues the UK faces are the same as many other countries - populist right policies have made those issues worse

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Honking endorsement for Farage, Johnson et la, without a moment’s reflection that 10 years of UKIPified Tory govt created the mess they’re railing about — booming benefits bills, bond market routs, immigration surges, trade slump and investment slumps. Bring back Boris and Nadine! That’ll fix it. 🙈

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PLMR Education @plmr.education · 01/09/2025

UK advertises contract to run Erasmus scheme Tender indicates ministers are preparing ground to rejoin European student swap programme. More from @financialtimes.com @pmdfoster.bsky.social @amyborrett.ft.com @andybounds.bsky.social on.ft.com/4pg1XbA #education #educationnews

on.ft.com

UK advertises contract to run Erasmus scheme

Tender indicates ministers are preparing ground to rejoin European student swap programme

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Oi. This is BlueSky. No snark here please. 😏

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Great to talk to Capital Economics @neilshearing.bsky.social for latest edition of @financialtimes.com The Economics Show — he packs a lot into 30 mins! Free to listen. on.ft.com/4lPFaQZ After globalisation: What's next for a fractured world? With Neil Shearing

on.ft.com

After globalisation: What's next for a fractured world? With Neil Shearing

The global trading system is in a messy transition. What happens now

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A Reader of the FT @a-reader-ft.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Singapore, UAE and other small nations to launch trade partnership—The new scheme, which a second diplomat said would be announced formally next month, emerged… www.ft.com/content/d233... @pmdfoster.bsky.social @financialtimes.com

ft.com

Singapore, UAE and other small nations to launch trade partnership

WTO members seek to boost ‘trade openness’ in era of Donald Trump’s protectionism

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Paul Graf @paulginva.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Saying the quiet part loud. Independent agencies are democratic. Congress intentionally tasks dedicated people to focus on complicated decisions about labor (NLRB), securities (SEC), trade (FTC), or money (Fed), all whose aims and goals are determined by the elected legislature.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

The challenge is that politicians of all stripes have been dishonest about those costs. No-one lives the counterfactual, but if folk understood the costs better, they might evaluate the trade offs differently. Tho the dishonesty on single market benefits long predated Brexit itself.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Indeed. UK is neatly trapped. Hence Labour's position, which itself is a function of the fact that the party never dared to call out Johnson/Gove/Truss on a policy that has made the UK materially poorer and less investable. We are where we are.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Good piece by @rafaelbehr.bsky.social -- someone needs to keep saying it. I've grown tired, moved on to Trumpworld, but good if the debate is coming back.

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Sarah Murphy @13sarahmurphy.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Farage’s “probity and judgment were sold as the product called Brexit. It turned out to be a piece of shit.” And, unbelievably, this Labour govt finds itself trapped because it has refused to call this out. What a profound - and now dangerous - political failure. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

theguardian.com

There’s an obvious way to challenge Nigel Farage. But Keir Starmer won’t do it | Rafael Behr

Labour’s reluctance to name Brexit as the cause of so many problems hasn’t stopped Reform’s rise. It’s time to try the truth, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Depends what you mean by "valuable". Diplomatically, perhaps, economically less so. Govt own estimate is 0.3pc of GDP uplift -- versus consensus forecast of 4pm hit from leaving EU single market. You do the math.

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

This should help UK Govt be more courageous in the coming EU 'reset' negotiations...the EU will want ambition on youth mobility, which is a harder sell than the 'veterinary' deal Nick Thomas-Symonds is pushing on today. Of course all of this still relatively cosmetic for total trade purposes.

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Charles Owen @charlesowen.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBiT) and ABTA have revealed new research showing strong public support for securing a youth experience deal with the EU, as it urges the government to press ahead with negotiations with the EU following May’s UK-EU Summit. 1/n

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Verfassungsblog @verfassungsblog.de · 22/08/2025

How much longer can we tolerate the lopsided instability of Britain’s relationship with the EU? ANDREW DUFF (@andrewduffeu.bsky.social) argues that the current deadlock calls for an unusual Royal Commission to cut through parliamentary paralysis. verfassungsblog.de/the-case-for...

Quote from our published article by author Andrew Duff: “British politics are suffering a severe case of cognitive dissonance.”

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Peter Foster @pmdfoster.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

The @financialtimes.com brilliant FT Edit is now on Bluesky. Follow to get your ‘eight a day’ — essential for a healthy mind in a topsy-turvy world.

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FT Edit @ftedit.ft.com · 29/07/2025

Welcome to FT Edit! When the news is overwhelming, we bring you eight stories a day, chosen by editors, offering clarity, fresh perspectives, insight and inspiration — plus some extra treats! Explore more at www.ft.com/ftedit or, if you're reading on iOS, find us on the FT app: on.ft.com/44SHfGA

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