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Tom Hart

@thrh.bsky.social
410 followers 828 following 271 posts

Public finance, global development, health @odi-global.bsky.social.

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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 8h
Thatcher through privatisation and spending oil revenues on consumption. Cameron through letting the state fall apart *at a time* of zero interest rates. And all we get from them now is demand for more tax cuts and fantasy spending cuts. No sign they are actually preparing to govern seriously.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 8h
I was going to write "The Tories are just into an unmaintained state". But writing that made me realise just how big the challenge for them actually is. Both the last two conservative governments massively ran down state assets.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 14h
Sounds great - can't wait to see it! Good luck with the writing.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 14h
Can someone reintroduce the Conservative Party to Chesterton's Fence?
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Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
as a satire on so-called late stage capitalism how could one beat investors pouring a trillion into a company offering to wipe out humankind
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Have to say I didn't know Evgeny Lebedev had a layering sideline.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This seems exactly right. As demonstrated by @londoncentric.media's investigation earlier this year: open.substack.com/pub/londonce...
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Zecharias Zelalem @zekuzelalem.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
War breaks out in Ethiopia. Tigrayan forces attack federal government positions on two fronts & capture the region's airports. Tragically, shuttle diplomacy efforts by the international community have failed. Ethiopia is on the brink of being plunged back into all out civil war. It's a disaster.
aljazeera.com
Tigray forces launch offensive against Ethiopian government
Tigray People’s Liberation Front seizes control of airports, targets government positions in Afar and Amhara regions.
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Ben Zaranko @benzaranko.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
One day, our political parties will face reality and stop making farcical, unserious promises to voters -- promises which entrench the delusion that we can enjoy lower taxes and better public services without ever having to pay more, even amidst the crisis-strewn 2020s. But today is not that day.
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Kevin Carey @kevincareywb.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Coming this Thursday & Friday, 8th World Bank/ ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference; fascinating technical sessions plus keynote session: "Measuring the Welfare Impacts of Government Policies," by Nathaniel Hendren (MIT), midday Thursday, online. www.worldbank.org/en/events/20...
worldbank.org
8th World Bank/ ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference
Join us for the 8th edition of the World Bank / ODI Global / IFS Public Finance Conference, that will take place in Washington, DC, on September 24-25, 2026.
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Development Studies Association @devcomms.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
🏥 Health budgets are often poorly prioritised and underspent. So how can public finance better support health? Join @odi.global’s online conference on financing for health to explore the challenges and solutions. 📅 2026 Public Finance Conference buff.ly/8kNmmrf
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Yes, (3) is crazy. After the 'tax on white van man' attacks on Hammond I think you have to do this as a big bang across lots of elements. Reeves should have announced some sort of tax commission in her first budget.
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John Oxley @joxley.jmoxley.co.uk · 18/09/2026
What on earth is happening?
  This had become the new normal. RNLI crew members had been forced to take their permits off their cars after their tyres have been repeatedly slashed. Most of them have been pilloried at the school gates or turned away from local pubs. One man who worked in search and rescue had been beaten unconscious and hospitalised, recognised for TV interviews he had done.
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Duncan Weldon @duncanweldon.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This is really, really, really important stuff. ‘We now think more of the slowdown can be explained by continued falls in average hours worked, leaving less to be explained by falls in output per hour’.
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Rachel Savage @rachelmsavage.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Kenya will host the 2029 World Athletics Championships. Great to see that one of the centres of the sport will finally get to host a major championship
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Jonas Nahm @jonasnahm.com · 14/09/2026
1/ New piece in Foreign Affairs on why EU bureaucracy — long a favorite punchline — turns out to be a hidden source of power. www.foreignaffairs.com/europe/europ...
foreignaffairs.com
Europe’s Hidden Trade Advantage
Slow and steady wins the negotiation.
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Reform is the richest party in Britain. Its leaders are almost all millionaires. It is funded almost exclusively by billionaires. It has a supportive TV station and widespread media backing. So naturally, this donation comes with the usual attack on "elites". www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Reform UK given record £36m donation by British crypto billionaire
Ben Delo was convicted in US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls but pardoned by Trump
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profspur @profspur.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A thing I would do is play Marmoush as a 10-ish off Solanke with Savio and Kudus wide and Tonali and Fernandes in the deeper midfield. Bentancur, Bergvall, Gallagher ready to go for Tonali and Fernandes when they’re tired.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Do they think half the home counties are in the Midlands?!
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Our World in Data @ourworldindata.org · 08/09/2026
In these nine African countries, average incomes have more than doubled since 1990. Economic growth is most important for the world's poorest people, and most of the world’s poorest live on the African continent. Are Africa’s economies growing? The picture is mixed.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Very similar to the MoD case @davidallengreen.bsky.social wrote about earlier this year: www.ft.com/content/5207... I wonder how many more cases will come out?
ft.com
How Palantir captured the Ministry of Defence
Insufficient details about the US data intelligence company’s recent contract have been made public
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Rift Valley Institute @rvinews.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Today we launch RVI@25. This year marks 25 years since RVI was founded in August 2001. Over the next year, we’ll reflect on 25 years of research, education and training, public dialogue, culture and heritage. rvi25.riftvalley.net #RVI25 #MakingLocalKnowledgeWork
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Maria Farrell @mariafarrell.eurosky.social · 04/09/2026
By the by I'm re-reading how the 18thC master navigator of Oceania, Tupaia, who guided Captain Cook around Polynesia and to Aotearoa, produced maps that faithfully translated between the Pacific and European navigation systems, accounting for Mercator distortions, with an accuracy of <5 degrees.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
theguardian.com
UN to vote on adopting new world map that shows Africa’s true scale
Togo-sponsored resolution calls to phase out traditional map that depicts continent as similar size to Greenland
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Daniel Moser @dmoser.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
Map showing Lower Pollution levels in London after 10 years of advancing sustainable transport.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
But at the G20 finance ministers meeting in North Carolina, “China…objected to language about G20 members affirming “solidarity” with a “Common Framework”, designed to help countries with high debt levels reduce their liabilities, particularly to China.” www.ft.com/content/dcef...
ft.com
China derails consensus after US-hosted G20
Beijing objects to language calling for elimination of ‘non-market’ policies to curb trade imbalances
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
In better news, in late In late August, Ethiopia's latest bond restructuring deal got approval from official creditors, after previous versions were rejected www.cnbcafrica.com/2026/ethiopi...
cnbcafrica.com
Official creditors back Ethiopia bond restructuring, flag risks in warrant | CNBC Africa
Aug 21 (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s official creditors have approved a preliminary agreement between the government and private investors to restructure its $1 billion Eurobond, the finance ministry said on...
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
September has kicked off with a bang in the world of sovereign debt. Senegal requested a debt restructuring under the Common Framework as part of a new IMF programme, as had become widely expected since the 2024 ‘hidden debt’ revelations. www.ft.com/content/9b37...
ft.com
IMF agrees $2.2bn bailout for Senegal
West African nation will seek to restructure its external debts after last year’s revelations of extensive misreported borrowing
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Development Studies Association @devcomms.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
📢 Job opportunity: Director, Power and Rights Group @odi.global is looking for a Director to lead its Power and Rights Group, shaping research, influencing and convening on power, justice and inequality. 📍 London | Hybrid 📅 Apply by 10 September 2026 Find out more & apply: buff.ly/2jH9sqM
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Institute for Public Policy Research @ippr.org · 26/08/2026
Almost 80% of Britain’s rising fiscal costs will come from ageing by 2075, dwarfing the pressures from defence spending, net zero and lower migration. We should rebalance taxes away from work and towards wealth, says @benansell.bsky.social. Read more here: www.ippr.org/articles/tax...
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Derek R. Peterson @unseenarchive.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Colleagues will be sorry to hear that historian John Iliffe has this morning passed away in Cambridge at age 87. Iliffe was a maker of the academic field of African history. He took up a post at the University of Dar es Salaam shortly after Tanganyika's independence. 1/
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
They spent their summer doing what?!
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Just read Francis Spufford's Cahokia Jazz which was fantastic.
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Gavin Kelly @gavin-kelly.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The Treasury needs to adapt reflect a devolved age & fragmented governance. Important new @nuffieldfoundation.org funded report by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social Dave Richards & Martin Smith www.nuffieldfoundation.org/news/opinion...
nuffieldfoundation.org
The myth of Treasury control: What’s wrong with the UK’s public spending system and how to fix it - Nuffield Foundation
The long-standing model of centralised Treasury control over public spending has inadequately adapted to the realities of public service delivery.
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Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Treat yourself to a fab bit of trivia (first reply)
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
This was massively dysfunctional even before though. I think it's pretty clear now that the combo of tight fiscal and loose monetary policy under zero interest rates has not been good for the economy.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
World leading productivity increases in at least one domain
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Africa Confidential @africa-confidential.com · 17/07/2026
#AfricaConfidential is now on Substack. Click to subscribe for weekly, off-piste insights and musings on developments across the continent by our Editor, Patrick Smith. #Africa africa-conf.com/substack
africa-conf.com
Africa Confidential | Substack
Africa Confidential is one of the longest-established specialist publications on Africa, with a considerable reputation for being first with in-depth news and analysis on significant political,…
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Lee Crawfurd @leecrawfurd.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The UK gov wants asylum seekers to repay £10k of their accommodation costs. We ran the numbers, gov could raise 3.5x more in tax & lower support costs by asking asylum seekers to work instead (with @helen-dempster.bsky.social & @ianmitchell1.bsky.social) cgdev.org/blog/asking-...
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VoxDev @voxdev.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
🆕 How rebel governance helped build inclusive democracy in Nepal Today on VoxDev w/ Bhishma K. Bhusal, Michael Callen (LSE), Rohini Pande (Yale Department of Economics), Soledad Artiz Prillaman (Stanford), Deepak Singhania (IIT Gandhinagar) & Apurva Subedi: ow.ly/ZTGq50Zneu3
ow.ly
How rebel governance helped build an inclusive democracy in Nepal
Parallel governance institutions built by Maoist rebels during Nepal's civil war led to lasting improvements in political participation among historically excluded groups, more representative candidate selection across parties, and greater local government capacity.
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
And opinions on The Hundred, Duncan?
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Josiah Mortimer @josiahmortimer.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
This is cool. Spurs have applied to install around 3,800 solar panels on the roof of their north London stadium. "The proposed 1.64MW system would give the ground a substantial source of on-site renewable electricity."
energylivenews.com
Spurs' solar ambitions kick off - Energy Live News
Tottenham want to install 3800 solar panels on their stadium roof to generate 1.6MW of power
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
And getting the refund done is such a chore when you have to do each ticket for a family of 5 separately. Eurostar knows my ticket numbers! You know how late the train was!
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
"Better public services without any tax rises" 😬
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Paddy Carter @paddycarter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Trying to make himself heard for 90 minutes over 80,000 extremely passionate Mexico fans!
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Not sure I like Tuchel's rope-a-dope
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Duncan Robinson @duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Alongside the Makerfield Test there should be the Bakerloo Test. If Burnham wants to truly demonstrate he does not have "anti-London bias", he must approve the Bakerloo line extension
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Menelik I
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Tom Hart @thrh.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Elastica are Britpop. Song 2 however is not. Blur is their first post-Britpop album.
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