iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Agathe Demarais @agathedemarais.com · 29/09/2026

Mainstream narrative of China shock decimating EU industry may be overblown • Over past decade, China accounted for just one quarter of growth in bloc's extra-EU imports • China's share of EU’s imports has barely moved over past decade, rising from 20.5% to 22.3% www.economist.com/business/202...

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The first thing I will do when I am appointed global dictator is mandate that PDF/report pages have to match, ie if the report page says it's page 28 it HAS TO BE on page 28 of the bloody PDF.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Good piece from @spignal.bsky.social on why Europe’s populists haven’t demonized China. I think the main reason is that they are too busy demonizing their own governments. Paying attention to (and talking about) foreign countries is a step too far. economist.com/europe/2026/...

economist.com

Why Europe’s populists don’t criticise China

An ideal target gets a free pass from the demagogues

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

The Economist @economist.com · 26/09/2026

Even as most voters still plump for pro-capitalist outfits, parties on the populist left in Europe feel they have the revolutionary wind in their sails. Register to discover why bit.ly/4rEE7I8 Illustration: Peter Schrank

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Samantha Asumadu @samanthaasumadu.substack.com · 23/09/2026

So I think maybe I just figured out why @timeshighered.bsky.social has not reported anything negative about James Orr. I could very well be wrong, but here we go: In 2024, THE signed an agreement with Hungary's Culture and Innovation Ministry which oversees Hungarian higher education..

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

This is pretty incredible. Stocks of banks, travel agents, gyms, phone companies and other companies who benefit from "consumer inertia" got wallopped yesterday. The common thread: AI agents will allow people to get better deals. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

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David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

If Kissinger didn't have to give back his Nobel after Chile and East Timor then let no one ask this goodly man of peace to return the FIFA Peace Prize.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A couple of years ago, as Trump II was starting, I was looking for a way to write about Canada and the EU in a way that wasn't achingly dull. Here's a thought: why doesn't Canada join the EU? Well, as it happens… Some (bylined!) thoughts in The Economist www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

economist.com

Café Europa newsletter: Canada’s love-in with the EU

Stanley Pignal, our Charlemagne columnist, explores what EU “associate membership” would actually mean for Canada

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Tom Nuttall @tomnuttall.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The CDU/CSU has shed one quarter of its voters in six months.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 21/09/2026

LMFAO -- Trump is holding an event at the White House right now but there's no audio because the press pool isn't there. The Newsmax host notes that this is an example of Trump's attacks on the press "backfiring just a little bit"

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

One of those things you don’t notice until it’s pointed out

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

French-German spreads now at 100bps, the highest level since July 2012 (the month of Draghi's "whatever it takes" speech). This is NOT Greek crisis territory. But it is becoming pretty uncomfortable both politically and economically.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

My most contrarian opinion is that, while you have a constitutional right to print whatever you want, you have no constitutional right to an access badge to the White House. It's very disturbing media are excluded from briefings. But it is an order of magnitude less worrying than actual censorship.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

People who have seen the De Gaulle films. Do I need to see them in order, and/or is one of them better than the other?

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Trump plans to greet Xi Jinping as he gets off his plane next week. He has only done this for one other leader in his second term. Three guesses who that was.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Emma Jacobs @emmavj.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

lol www.ft.com/content/65f4... Ozempic confidential: men share their experience of GLP-1s

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

German chancellor + "frugal" allies: We need a SMALLER EU budget because that's what Draghi recommends. Spanish economy minister: We need a BIGGER EU budget because that's what Draghi recommends. www.politico.eu/article/five... www.politico.eu/article/a-co...

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Alex Hern @hern.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

it remains fascinating that google, regularly purveyor of the world's best AI, insists on putting its worst model in front of exactly the people who are hardest to convince AI can help them

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Bannings kids from social media is a policy that creates more problems than it solves. But the EU's proposed approach - a staggered system that recognises teens can benefit from social connections, but that they should be regulated - is a sensible way to do it. From von der Leyen speech yesterday

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

People think crude oil is a wild market, but let me tell you about potatoes, man. in Europe we've gone from them being given away for free last year to an impending shortage because of the heat. www.ft.com/content/8eda...

ft.com

Heatwave triggers potato shortage in Europe

Extreme weather wiped out about 3.1mn tonnes of spuds, worth up to €620mn

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Good FT take on Canada-EU by @henryjfoy.ft.com and @andybounds.bsky.social. Announcing "associate membership" has a lovely feel, but the reality is likely to be a slog. Germans *on the record* already saying they don't like the term "associate" anything. www.ft.com/content/7b1a...

ft.com

Why Mark Carney’s romance with Europe can only go so far

Berlin opposes fast track to EU ‘associate membership’ for Canada, with officials warning Ottawa risks angering other partners

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A reminder that there is no such thing as "associate membership" of the EU, that to create one would require re-opening the EU treaties, which in turn requires referenda in several countries and probably a decade of haggling. or it's a PR thing.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is it. It finally happened. I need a particular cable, which I know I once possessed, but have since thrown out. Dads everywhere have been vindicated.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Extraordinary EU-Canada story arc in last few days. We've gone from "Canada is going to become an associate member of the EU!" to "maybe there isn't much more we can do together" to "EU rebuffs 'unique alliance' with Canada". Fair chance EU invades Canada at this rate www.ft.com/content/2e2e...

ft.com

EU rebuffs Mark Carney’s ‘unique alliance’ with Canada

Some governments balk at prime minister’s call for ‘middle powers’ to join forces against US and China

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Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is something you cannot repeat enough: what makes America so much more unequal than European countries isn't the wealth held by billionaires (Europe has those too). It is the wealth held by the upper echelon of the professional classes. Lawyers, doctors, even some journalists...

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

How much of your salary as a top US government official now goes into funding lawyers after you leave office? John Brennan made roughly $1m as CIA director over 4 years. I can't imagine he will spend less than fending off prosecurtors. Same question re Fed chairs etc.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

We've gone from Canada joining the EU to the European parliament opening an office in Ottawa in about 24 hours.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Don Trump Jr's wedding was paid for by a Russian oligarch. Then again, Barack Obama did wear a tan suit that one day.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Interesting dilemma in Sweden. If no party can form a coalition with enough MPs to secure a majority, as seems likely, who gets first shot at running a minority government? Is it the leader of the biggest party (on the left) or whoever can cobble most MPs in a minority alliance (on the right)?

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I would love to know the inside story of why France is pushing to remove Alisher Usmanov, an Uzbek-born oligarch close to the Kremlin, off EU sanctions list. It must take a *tremendous* amount of lobbying heft to convince French authorities to be the only ones (with Slovakia) to push for this.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

There is no such thing as "associated membership" of the EU. What are we even talking about? It can't be a customs union (Canada still has to trade with the US). We already have a rock solid defence alliance, an expansive trade deal and Canada is a member of Europe's space programme and Eurovision.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 13/09/2026

"the public needs to have a stake" taxpayer dollars are so clearly the direction of travel here

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

If Ukraine agreed to lose the war, making peace would indeed be easier. Arguably one could ask that the Russian aggressor lose the war instead?

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

We may have witnessed the most brazen cartel agreement in history—not negotiated in some back room but right there on social media. Which is: All AI frontier labs agree to constrain growth (ie cut spending on innovation) which reduces capital needs. Next step: "responsible" pricing of tokens?

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

nicky woolf @nickywoolf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

one of the things that I think is most enraging about our current moment is that the world isnt being demolished by some kind of genius evil but by the biggest chuds of all time. and it's still working

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

The Economist @economist.com · 13/09/2026

All sides agree that something is not quite right with the European Union’s current diplomatic machinery. But carrying out a coherent foreign policy is difficult when none exists

bit.ly

Facing global crises, Europe rearranges the diplomatic deckchairs

Foreign affairs, domestic rows

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Late night Saturday night thoughts. But yeah I've been thinking about how I can't name a publication with sustainable finances that targets primarily my generation. That is, people with jobs and mortgages and degrees and kids! If you want to make money in journalism you need to target retirees

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Did Finland accidentally derail the education of millions of kids across the world?? The Finnish model of education was copied worldwide after kids there aced OECD exams in the 2000s. Now Finns are doing badly, which raises awkward questions. www.economist.com/internationa...

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

“It smells rather metallic . . . Ugh, just like cheap rubbish tuna,” said canned seafood reviewer Marcus Ansell, who has more than 650,000 followers on Instagram. 2 surprises in this FT story. 1) UK canned mackerel no longer contains mackerel. 2) canned seafood reviews? www.ft.com/content/980a...

ft.com

UK canned ‘mackerel’ now contains no mackerel

Critics say switch to tins comprising more sustainable species risks confusing consumers

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

The Economist @economist.com · 08/09/2026

Any suggestion that France is the next Greece is hyperbolic nonsense—at least for now. But French profligacy is reshaping Europe nonetheless

bit.ly

America has a whopping debt. But Europe has the whopping debt problem

The French-size problem at the heart of the EU

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Make German Politics Boring Again

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The Economist @economist.com · 04/09/2026

Europe looks at first glance to be in markedly better fiscal shape than its transatlantic rival. But Europeans tempted to subject those stateside to sermons about economic management should hold their fire

bit.ly

America has a whopping debt. But Europe has the whopping debt problem

The French-size problem at the heart of the EU

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

10 tips if you're moderating a panel. Trust me I have learned these the hard way by watching 1000 bad ones (including with me in the chair), and a few great ones. Panels need to be lively, engaging and enlightening. Here's a few pointers on how to make that happen (if you're lucky).

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Amazon seems to have a new rule whereby you can't purchase content (eg a film or audiobook) if the billing address on your card isn't in the same country as the bank issuing the card. I'm sure there's a reason, but it's not very single-markety when both places are in the EU.

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

Noah Barkin @noahbarkin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described BYD cars yesterday as the “best $70,000 cars that $35,000 can buy”. Perhaps he’s angling for a job at the Chinese carmaker alongside former Hungarian foreign minister Szijjártó

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 02/09/2026