Max Willems

Applications are open for the Finance Summer School 2026. Last two have been at Brown. This one is at LSE thanks to LSE European Institute and Huth Initiative, plus the Berkeley Program on Finance and Democracy. Stellar Line up. Apps open: forms.gle/WsEVk4Yy52Dn...

River or sankey diagram showing the allocation of profits from global oil and gas companies to quantiles of the US wealth size distribution via financial system intermediaries, such as asset managers, and categories of ultimate beneficiaries, such as business owners, pension funds and shareholders in listed companies. The scale is hundreds of billions of US dollars, and ultimately 50.4% of profits reaching the US personal wealth distribution go to the richest 1% of households.

🚨NEW PAPER🚨
We all know the 2022 energy price shock fueled the cost of living crisis. It also caused a profit bonanza for the very rich. We show the US reaped the largest profits ($377bn) of any country. 50% went to the richest 1%, only 1% to the bottom 50%. A🧵 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

this is fascinating!

Thrilled that my first article is out in @jeppjournal.bsky.social ☺️

It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...

It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...

Short 🧵 ...

A highly recommended read, and folllow. Congrats, @maxwillems.bsky.social!

Thanks, Dan

Thanks, Philipp :)

Thanks, Mark!
(&: not as much as one might think, in this case)

Thanks, Ben!

Indebted to many colleagues for great help - special thanks to issue/lead editor @danmertens.bsky.social and to @benbraun.bsky.social for early advice [5/5]

From states to markets and back? The European Union’s decades-long struggle over renewable energy derisking Since the 1990s, policymakers have been grappling with the challenge of financing the transition to renewable energy, which requires much higher upfront capital investments than fossil fuel-based e...

I attribute this to the ongoing coalition building of the Commission and key energy incumbents, whose evolving preferences and resources reflect a rapidly changing and increasingly geopoliticized energy policy environment.

More here 👇 - happy about any feedback! [4/5]

Then asks why the European regime shifted - first (post-GFC) from a robust (though politically contested) technology-development to a market-based approach, and later (since ~2017) partly reverted to a hybrid model [3/5]

The article introduces a simple typology of RE derisking instruments, drawing on @danielagabor.bsky.social @benbraun.bsky.social @brettchristophers.bsky.social and others, to make sense of policy support of renewable energy investments in Europe [2/5]

Thrilled that my first article is out in @jeppjournal.bsky.social ☺️

It looks at why renewable energy buildout in Europe has been *so* unsteady - tracing the evolution of/conflict over the regime for RE derisking over the last two+ decades...

It's open access! 👉 doi.org/10.1080/1350...

Short 🧵 ...

Indebted to many colleagues for great help - special thanks to issue/lead editor @danmertens.bsky.social and to @benbraun.bsky.social for early advice [5/5]

From states to markets and back? The European Union’s decades-long struggle over renewable energy derisking Since the 1990s, policymakers have been grappling with the challenge of financing the transition to renewable energy, which requires much higher upfront capital investments than fossil fuel-based e...

I attribute this to the ongoing coalition-building of the Commission and key energy incumbents, whose evolving preferences and resources reflect a rapidly changing and increasingly geopoliticized energy policy environment.

More here 👇 - happy about any feedback! [4/5]

Then asks why the European regime shifted - first (post-GFC) from a robust (though politically contested) technology-development to a market-based approach, and later (since ~2017) partly reverted to a hybrid model [3/5]

The article introduces a simple typology of RE derisking instruments, drawing on @danielagabor.bsky.social/@benbraun.bsky.social and others, to make sense of policy support of renewable energy investments in Europe [2/5]

Since the start of von der Leyen's second mandate, EU sustainable finance norms face intense dismantling pressures. My new @JEPP article shows this started years ago when the fossil fuel industry “woke up” to the EU Taxonomy. 🧵 #EUTaxonomy #SustainableFinance👇 1/10

Playing the capital market? Sustainable finance and the discursive construction of the Capital Markets Union as a common good The Capital Markets Union (CMU) project aims to create more integrated capital markets in Europe. However, the project faces resistance, and despite ongoing efforts EU capital markets remain fragme...

Happy to share a new open-access article from the SuFi project at Witten/Herdecke University, just published in @jeppjournal.bsky.social @naguila.bsky.social @janina urban @paulahaufe.bsky.social @simonschairer.bsky.social @jwullweber.bsky.social
👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

America’s Braudelian Autumn | Benjamin Braun & Cédric Durand Factions of capital in the second Trump administration

We wrote about the US ruling class taking the reins to manage its own decline. What do the Trumpist factions of capital want? Can that be squared with the interests of the MAGA base? Capable state managers could potentially thread the needle, but that's all gone. With @cedricdurand.bsky.social.

Decarbonising national growth models: derisking, ‘hobbled states’, and the decarbonisation possibility frontier This article brings together Growth Model Theory and climate change under the assumption that economic growth will remain a policy priority during the green transition. The relevant research questi...

Mark Blyth and I sang a duet. It’s about how a country’s growth model shapes its state capacity to decarbonize - both the advantages and disadvantages. Enjoy! @ripejournal.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The fiscal breakthrough in Germany is setting a clear direction: Military deficit spending has priority above everything else, the only budget with no limit. The defence spending goal dwarfs the deficit spending available for climate.

“No one should simply blame the current regime. They announced their intentions. Rather, it’s the rapid capitulation that we have to confront.”

-Jodi Dean

Unfortunately cancelled due to (very) bad weather/potential flooding! 😬

Looking forward to presenting some of my dissertation research at ICEI’s Comparative Political Economy seminar tomorrow. Swing by!

We’re beyond thrilled to launch the 2nd Max Planck Summer School for Women in Political Economy

If you’re a fellow political economist annoyed by all-male rooms & gendered comments— join us & share!

🗓️ 22-25 Sept, 2025 in Cologne
🚨 Apply by 25 Apr, 2025

www.mpifg.de/1343511/2025...

Planning the green transition is not only about creating new industries, but also about phasing-out old ones.

If you want to know how political backlash against impending economic decline and regional inequalities led to new policies and institutions for transition planning in the EU, have a look👇

I'm so happy for my friend @pgolka.bsky.social for winning the @ripejournal.bsky.social Best Article Award 2024 for his absolutely brilliant paper on 'Epistemic gerrymandering'! Congratulations Philipp!

Screenshot of the abstract of the linked paper.

As the Trusk regime is wrecking the state apparatus that brought us the IRA, it's more urgent than ever to understand the politics of green macrofinancial regimes.

Here's a 🧵 on the result of @danielagabor.bsky.social and I wrecking our brains for four years.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....