Jeremy Bowen (BBC) concludes that:
'The risk is that, if Trump sticks to his course, he will push the world back to the way it was in the age of empires a century or more ago - a world where big powers, with spheres of influence, sought to impose their will, and where mighty authoritarian nationalists led their peoples to disaster'...
That's not a risk, its the emergent reality - the Tangerine Tyrant is taking us back to the international relations of C19th!
Meanwhile in Iran major protests continue, but are now being shrouded by an internet blackout (likely caused by the regime trying to control/constrain co-ordination & publicity).
The protests are focussed on the continuing problems with the Iranian economy (caused by both external sanctions & internal market organisation failures), but the Q. is what concessions the regime can offer & how this might (or might not) shift the internal politics of Iran?
#Iran #politics
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7y0579lp8o
How exposed is the UK financial services sector to 'shadow banking' & does the Govt. (or the Treasury specifically) appreciate the risk of volatility & failure across private equity & private credit provision would pose for the regulated mainstream of finance?
A Lords committee thinks the UK is being too complacent about the intertwining (via loans) of the regulated & unregulated sectors.
If so, its contagion in finance that may soon be the problem?
#banking #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/09/treasury-concerns-shadow-banking-sector-peers
After ICE's execution of a motorist yesterday in Minnesota, @davidallengreen argues that in many ways, we are not so much all Greenlanders right now, but rather are all Christopher Isherwood.
While there is a need to record this brutality & lawlessness, there is also a sense that off-camera (out of sight) things are even worse.
As 2026 begins to look like the 1930s, we seem to have (as then) a political class who are wilfully averting their eyes!
https://emptycity.substack.com/p/we-are-christopher-isherwood-watching
As Rachel Reeves seems to be preparing another policy reversal (on business rates for pubs), the wider Q. is:
why does Labour keep making policies, that then get reversed when there is vocal opposition.
Is it because they fail to plan properly or engage wth sectors concerned to make sure the policy will do what they expect?
Is it because they have no real intellectual commitments so every policy is just expedient & can be sacrificed?
Or are they just scared of being criticised?
RE: https://zirk.us/@ChrisMayLA6/115860889550923841
No one will be surprised to learn that the rest of the hospitality sector is now putting public pressure on Rachel Reeves to extend the concessions made to pubs on business rates to the of the sector (which is also struggling to stay afloat in many cases).
This is not to say that their concern is unjustified; not least as their claim its not clear why pubs should be singled out for support, seems fair.
Its more: why does Labour keep finding itself in this position?
It's kind of weird to see the regime suggest that this guy getting dragged by a car in a past incident justifies cold blooded murder.
I think it provides clear motive for ignoring the law and his training, and I hope that prosecutors use it against him *and* those in his chain of command at their criminal trials.
It's kind of weird to see the regime suggest that this guy getting dragged by a car in a past incident justifies cold blooded murder.
I think it provides clear motive for ignoring the law and his training, and I hope that prosecutors use it against him *and* those in his chain of command at their criminal trials.
How could anyone dare threaten a country with people like this??
Feeling heavy and drained simply by existing in the USA? Garrett Graff says it could be the weight of the shift from "zero to non-zero." "There are so many aspects of our daily life that we’d never had to weigh before; so many new possible horrors that we have to carry in our minds each day." Here's his piece for his Doomsday Scenario newsletter.
Feeling heavy and drained simply by existing in the USA? Garrett Graff says it could be the weight of the shift from "zero to non-zero." "There are so many aspects of our daily life that we’d never had to weigh before; so many new possible horrors that we have to carry in our minds each day." Here's his piece for his Doomsday Scenario newsletter.
As Rachel Reeves seems to be preparing another policy reversal (on business rates for pubs), the wider Q. is:
why does Labour keep making policies, that then get reversed when there is vocal opposition.
Is it because they fail to plan properly or engage wth sectors concerned to make sure the policy will do what they expect?
Is it because they have no real intellectual commitments so every policy is just expedient & can be sacrificed?
Or are they just scared of being criticised?
After ICE's execution of a motorist yesterday in Minnesota, @davidallengreen argues that in many ways, we are not so much all Greenlanders right now, but rather are all Christopher Isherwood.
While there is a need to record this brutality & lawlessness, there is also a sense that off-camera (out of sight) things are even worse.
As 2026 begins to look like the 1930s, we seem to have (as then) a political class who are wilfully averting their eyes!
https://emptycity.substack.com/p/we-are-christopher-isherwood-watching
Reports from Human Right Watch & Justice confirm what many of us have been saying for some time; recent legislative moves (by this & previous Govt.s) have had (and indeed were intended to have) a negative impact on the right to protest in this country.
While at times Courts haven't followed the Police's lead in interpreting the law on protest, equally there are (as we know) plenty of case where protest has been effectively criminalised!
#democracy #politics #protest
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/right-to-protest-is-under-attack-in-england-and-wales-reports-warn
Here's @sjwrenlewis pondering what might be the fallout from the bursting of the (putative) AI bubble... the key Q.is will Govt.s utilise the insights of Keynes or miss-respond as the post-keynesian 'consensus' might imply....
Interesting stuff & worth reading if you have the time...
#politics #Keynes #AI #FinancialCrisis
https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/what-kind-of-crisis-would-bursting-ai.html
As the FT points out:
'The [US] president seems to classify counterparts not as friend or foe, but as strong or weak; Europe — arguably paying the price for not standing up to Trump more robustly on tariffs — has been placed in the weak camp'!
So, they say Europe must adopt a 'sharp-elbowed approach' in dealing with the Trump on Greenland.
Is too late to now play hardball with Trump or (perhaps) Greenland is a good opportunity to establish a renewed strength?
Matthew D'Ancona sums up the problem of Keir Starmer:
'Starmer’s greatest political failure is an inability – so to speak – to tell the political time. It is so much later than he thinks. He talks of 2026 as the year of delivery... Yet he communicates no sense of kineticism, urgency or even empathy for those who feel terribly let down by his bland, technocratic style'!
The Q. is: which other politicians have a better idea of the political time?
Zac Polanski?
#politics
h/t New World
Matthew D'Ancona sums up the problem of Keir Starmer:
'Starmer’s greatest political failure is an inability – so to speak – to tell the political time. It is so much later than he thinks. He talks of 2026 as the year of delivery... Yet he communicates no sense of kineticism, urgency or even empathy for those who feel terribly let down by his bland, technocratic style'!
The Q. is: which other politicians have a better idea of the political time?
Zac Polanski?
#politics
h/t New World
If we agree that our our MPs(& political class) are really not up touch (accepting we do have some perfectly competent & commuted parliamentarians, they're just a too small minority), perhaps the answer might be to make the conditions of employment better - better pay (but a ban on outside jobs) & better working conditions; might then get us better candidates for the job?
You (and I) might take some convincing of this case but its not illogical!
h/t Patience Wheatcroft/New World
Q. what will Russia's response to the US 'capturing' an empty oil tanker (well) off the coast of Scotland (with 'planned' support from the UK military)?
So far the Russians have lodge a formal/diplomatic complaint, but much will depend on what the tanker was actually doing....
Some might see this as piracy, others as a legitimate police action, but in any case its doing nothing to lower global tensions, this week!
#politics #InternationalRelations
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/07/marinera-seized-tanker-atlantic-us-uk-russia
![DJ [REDACTED] 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦](https://files.mastodon.online/accounts/avatars/109/264/214/554/523/998/original/649e4f669e17fc38.png "DJ [REDACTED] 🇨🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦")
