Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 03/10/2026It was a more common view before the 1930s that there was some dynamic benefit of the shakeout from a depression. A catharsis that was ultimately beneficial. The experience of the Great Depression largely convinced people otherwise. But like many other old ideas they manage ti find new expressions! 031
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026With demand-side changes from pension funds reassessing their demand for long term bonds & higher private sector demand for AI buildout it’s little surprise that bond rates are generally rising with inflationary pressure. There are more explanations than bond markets just punishing governments. 110
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026You might get lucky and find it does actually install 27 - happened to me on one device 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Even more bizarrely what started off as an erroneous 26.7 update appears to have installed 27 as requested…. probably one of the worst upgrade experiences in recent years 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Currently the iOS update gives you 26.7 even when you didn’t request it … tvOS and macOS seem to be behaving as one might expect.. from 26.7 it then offers 27 and so far seems OK 120
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It works for me to update 26.7 and then 27 … though it’s still downloading so who knows!! 100
Reposted by Robert BiggCléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche @cleocz.bsky.social · 08/09/2026We are very happy to launch the *Cambridge Elements in History of Economics series* The 1st Element *The Mathematisation of Economics* by Marcel Boumans is freely available online until 18 September! www.cambridge.org/core/publica...cambridge.orgHistory of EconomicsWelcome to Cambridge Core 13520
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026“For a gov’t borrowing in its own currency, the…domestic constraint is the availability of productive resources & the possibility of inflation, not an arbitrary debt-to-GDP ratio…What refuses to die is the belief that prosperity can be restored by governments spending less. The zombie is austerity!” 041
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 03/09/2026In many ways an echo of the old burden on future generations story of government debt rebuffed since before the 1930s by pointing out it’s actually a transfer/redistribution issue 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I hadn’t realised that the 3hr single essay paper went that far back. It continued well into the 1970s and probably the 80s before being dropped. 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Exactly, even with ‘do not track’ turned on the ads on other sites continue to reflect my recent Amazon searches - not sure they need that much more help! 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026I was getting through several boxes of tissues in one day (hay fever) and a box of chocolates would last a little over half a mile from the shop which didn’t make for a great post exam gift! 110
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Whilst I well remember the summer of ‘76 it didn’t seem anywhere near as prolonged as this. Though memory fades of course! 100
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026Congratulations - you provide an invaluable online resource, thank you! 110
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026More tinges of something like green than we have here which is mainly yellow. 100
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026For some reason those long multiple choice A level questions are seared in my memory as much as some of excessively long stats exams and the 3hr single essay paper in finals!! 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Definitely not a soft option, but, at least for us, no particular teaching towards it (there was a timetabled “humane studies” across a range of topics). I remember two very long papers a mixture of multiple choice and essays. However, the multiple choice was often A to K or M for possible answers! 100
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026But the General Studies A level was much easier if you had the option on economics essay questions in both parts as I recall. 100
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026Coase has a lot to answer for by providing a theoretical solution that diverted attention from the more fundamental issues on market failures 110
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 24/07/2026It seems that every age has to debunk the same economic fallacies… 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 22/07/2026And, more historically, pump-priming - sad how these failed analogies never seem to die! 010
Reposted by Robert BiggJo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Was wondering what happened to this. If I remember correctly I put in a claim for three books. I’m sure others here put in claims of their own. 4217
Reposted by Robert BiggJo Michell @jomichell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026I disagree with 'most importantly, inflation is caused by the balance between supply and demand' other than in the most trivial sense. Inflation is caused by incompatible claims on output leading to increases in nominal wages and prices and/or by shifts in the terms of trade or exchange rates. 5165
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 13/07/2026I recall a job interview written question on “Should the Government pick winners?” In the early 80s, it was still an issue however remote the possibility! 120
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Also highlights: “Public debt did not merely finance government expenditure. It created safe financial assets… the state did not simply borrow pre-existing private savings. It created the institutional framework within which public liabilities became private wealth and financial markets deepened.” 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Excellent by @nakedkeynes.bsky.social on the role of the Fiscal-Naval State in UK economic development. open.substack.com/pub/nakedkey... 210
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Trinity Bridge with the punts please, very autumnal with a sense of preparing for winter 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 05/07/2026King’s wildflower meadow harvest please (though the punt is very striking as a second choice) 020
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 28/06/2026More importantly @pkrugman.bsky.social has a concern not about testing but about learning. “There is growing concern (as well as evidence) that students’ use of AI damages their capacity to learn. And what we really mean by learning is the ability to think.” 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 28/06/2026So AI perversely brings back (hand)written exams. I am reminded of those who played table football before exams not just for relaxation but also to strengthen their wrists to write all the faster. open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...open.substack.comWhat Will AI Do To Our Minds?Cognitive damage, not productivity gains, may be the most important consequence 131
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 28/06/2026It all comes round eventually- though I still need to be waiting a whole lot longer for sports jackets 110
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Great to see a new version of Soulver, one of my goto apps on mobile and Mac desktop. Thankfully still subscription free! soulver.appsoulver.appSoulver — Notepad, meet calculatorA natural-language notepad calculator for Mac, iPad & iPhone. One-time purchase, 60-day free trial. 000
Reposted by Robert BiggLuke Tryl @luketryl.bsky.social · 21/06/20262) Part of what Burnham is relying on is getting Labour a fresh look and resetting, but you get one shot on that and the clock starts from When it’s clear he’s PM, there’s a real risk that honeymoon window ends up being squandered when he’s not actually PM and tied to outgoing admin 2338
Reposted by Robert BiggGuy De Launey @guydelauney.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Is binning expert correspondents in eastern Europe a good idea at a time like this? Disinformation on the rise, Russia interfering in many countries, threatening several and actually at war with one? Well, BBC News management seems to think so. It's disposing of me and 4 of my colleagues. 931210524
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/06/2026The Keynes name apparently derives from a French nobleman (Cahaignes) who arrived with William the Conqueror and acquired various manors across England as a result. There is a Horsted Keynes in Sussex as well as MK and others. 020
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Congratulations… I missed your post but caught up with a SHOE list posting 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 12/06/2026historyofeconomics.org/awards-and-h...historyofeconomics.orgCraufurd Goodwin Best Article Prize - The History of Economics Society 010
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Congratulations to @dkuehn.bsky.social on the HES Goodwin Award for his article "Before NBER: Warren Nutter’s Soviet Research at the CIA," published in the Journal of the History of Economic Thought 47(2), 2025. 130
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 03/06/2026“The Chicago School’s decisive role was to translate that belief into a practical policy program by shifting the focus from market failure to government failure.” open.substack.com/pub/nakedkey...open.substack.comNeoliberalism, Classical Liberalism and Neoclassical EconomicsBetween Classical Rhetoric and Neoclassical Theory 030
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Interesting insight from @nakedkeynes.bsky.social “neoclassical economists are not neoliberals, because they emphasize market failures & accept wide domains for public policy. But neoliberals must be neoclassicals … because their argument depends on the market as the privileged mechanism of order.” 140
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 30/05/2026I have a PAYG deal unchanged for a decade, with occasional enhancements, contract terms seem to have inbuilt inflation + x% increases, complicated, of course, by the capital allowance for the phone upgrades. Doesn’t the way the index is constructed also reflect, or not, the market structure? 010
Reposted by Robert BiggMatías Vernengo @nakedkeynes.bsky.social · 28/05/2026This the chart I use in my first class of the history of economics. The Smith/Ricardo/Marx vs Bentham/Mill/Marshall or social conflict vs rationalist/utilitarian traditions. I teach this course less than I would like 84710
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 26/05/2026It’s an interesting thought. It can also be seen as a mechanism for reducing the consumer’s surplus in favour of the seller. 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 16/05/2026Lawyers doing better than the authors in AI copyright case arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...arstechnica.comAnthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement is getting messy as judge delays approvalLawyers accused of rushing historic settlement to seize $320 million in fees. 000
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · 15/05/2026So the Nikkei index was -1.9% overnight, the S&P500 currently-0.6%, the £/$ -0.5%, & FTSE100 -1.7%- but according to the Telegraph the UK impact is all due to the prospects of Andy Burnham whilst the Mail reckons he has spooked the markets & the £ is in a nosedive when it’s up on both 1 & 2 years! 000
Reposted by Robert BiggCléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche @cleocz.bsky.social · 12/05/2026New publication! 🥳 2159