Andrew Watt

How dozens of Trump’s donors have benefited from his second term While previous presidents have introduced policies that have helped supporters, such incidents are now more common and overt

First three come, first served. (Sorry no more can do.)
on.ft.com/4q6i77E

How the Trump companies made $1bn from crypto The president and his family have built a rapidly growing digital assets empire which has been fuelled by the administration’s industry-friendly policies

First three come, first served. (Sorry no more can do.)
on.ft.com/48u8Qjw

How dozens of Trump’s donors have benefited from his second term While previous presidents have introduced policies that have helped supporters, such incidents are now more common and overt

2 (paywalled) FT reports on.ft.com/4olkLoi & on.ft.com/4omXW3F detail the massive corruption at the heart of US pol & econ system. Inefficient and polarising at the best of times, such a system is highly unstable. The crypto swamp in particular creates little of value, but massive risks of crisis.

Ich schätze Ihre umweltpolitischen Kommentare aber das ist nur noch beschämend und menschenverachtend.

He was never going to get anywhere with his European ideas without German support, and it was not forthcoming.

Faced with Trumps' tariff chaos, the EU needs to reach a understanding with China, to reduce disruption. But it cannot be based on China massively diverting sales from US to EU while curtailing exports of critical materials for European production and clean tech on.ft.com/42FMvvI

The Draghi Report, One Year Later: Europe Still at the Starting Blocks One year after the Draghi Report, Europe remains trapped in a cycle of low productivity and weak investment

@fsaraceno.bsky.social on Europe's failure to kickstart investment, one year after the Draghi Report
fsaraceno.wordpress.com/2025/10/07/t...

Ende der Durststrecke Die Inlandsnachfrage dürfte die deutsche Wirtschaft bald wieder in Schwung bringen – vor allem dank der geplanten öffentlichen Investitionen.

Update
There is currently a practical example of this strategy: Germany.
Public investment & support for private investment are more than offsetting negative external shocks, bolstering domestic demand. Next year the German economy is expected to grow by 1.4%
www.boeckler.de/de/boeckler-...

The key message in the Draghi report was not deregulation but the need to boost public and private investment. This new paper underlines the positive role public investment can play in such a strategy.

Europe, take note. Act accordingly.

Don't trust right wing parties when they say they are for ordinary workers, which they do, because they are not.

Right-wing governments talking the pro-worker talk and walking all over the workers.
Finland edition
bsky.app/profile/jmko...

The #Draghi Report rightly drew attention to the difficulties that European companies face in scaling up.
One of the proposed solutions is an EU-wide "28th regime" for innovative companies.
This analysis shows that serious pitfalls must be avoided & safeguards instituted if this proposal is to work.

Update
Exhibit 2 (from the very next day).
Reminder: this is the man EU leaders imagine they achieve trade policy stability with?
bsky.app/profile/atru...

Is there a doctor in the house?
The most powerful person on the planet glaringly obviously has serious mental health problems and no-one is doing anything about it.

But the EU is not imposing tariffs.
If anything US tariffs will push EU inflation down.

Kudos, indeed, to Spain and PM Sanchez for breaking the taboo in Europe.
At the same time it is worth noting that, from a global perspective, Europe/OECD lags well behind world opinion on Palestine.

(Source: @theguardian.com )

Update
More on the intellectual confusion (or cynicism) in the US administration on monetary policy. bsky.app/profile/wend...
Now it's Miran tying himself in knots. 👇
His only intellectually honest way out would be to say the labour market is crashing. Bet he doesn't go there....

Why Trump wants to ban Russia from selling its oil - Institut Jacques Delors

Update
Fossil fuels also play an outsized role in Trump's foreign policy, as @guillaumeduval.bsky.social shows:
institutdelors.eu/en/publicati...
The apparent welcome tilt towards Ukraine is largely about safeguarding US fossil fuel interests.
All the more reason for EU to double down on renewwables

Trump makes a Bond Villain look like a cute kitten.
In hock to the fossil fuel industry, his administration is systematically seeking to destroy the renewable energy industry in order to restore "carbon dominance". This is risking the lives of millions of people for financial and political gain.

🗣️ Last week at the #ILERA 2025 European Congress (International Labour and Employment Relations Association) @durham-university.bsky.social 👇

What can the ETUI's latest research in the industrial relations field tell us about the state of #SocialEurope today?

Key points of discussion included... 🧵

🚨 Publication alert 🚨
New e-book available on European Industrial Policy via Social Europe
ebooks.socialeurope.eu/9/industrial...

Aber in einem westdeutschen BL.

My stomach is not iron clad enough to prevent acute nausea whenever Mandelson talks about Trump. And I am fine with that.

And if they'd have asked you before your Zivildienst whether you'd rather not?

Everybody thinks a year of public service is an excellent idea... except for themselves.

"While western leaders gather in diplomacy...rules based order" Seriously?
Trump has trashed the global trade regime (EU acquiesces).
Has lit a fire under global climate accords.
US & EU do nothing to stop the slaughter in Gaza.

Kallas is upset & puzzled why non-western powers are coming together 🤦

www.etui.org/news/not-muc...

A very quick tour d'horizon of the challenges for the EU that have built up over the normally quiet summer period.

Update
Q: What turns a government bailout once the crypto-Treasury doom-loop starts spinning from a racing certainty to a slam dunk?
A: The Trumps themselves have made a vast fortune virtually overnight by "printing crypto".
bsky.app/profile/carl...

Agreed, important point.