Chris Hayes

This event is today. Sign up!

Very happy to say that I'll be a fellow of the new centre @TransitionSec, which investigates military industrial complexes as economic, climate and geopolitical threats.

If you're concerned about both UK arms exports and the climate emergency, this is for you.

🚨 ONLINE EVENT

Join us for a free panel on the war economy, the climate impacts of war & the geopolitics of the climate transition.

Speakers: @stephensemler.bsky.social, @triofrancos.bsky.social & @iliasalami.bsky.social, chaired by @lalehkhalili.bsky.social

📅 16 Oct 6PM BST
🔗 shorturl.at/NwJCL

We’re collaborating with @cplusc.bsky.social to launch @transitionsec.bsky.social — a new research centre on the military economy and industrial alternatives, the climate impacts of war and the threats that US empire poses to a safe climate transition.

Sign up to attend the online launch event. 👇

Using a triple-differences model, we show that the biggest negative effect of turning right was among the party’s own supporters

Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

📣Hot off the press!
Taking Stock: A foundation for future housing strategy.

We challenge persistent myths about the housing crisis and highlight ways to meet housing need within environmental limits. First output for 🏠Homes that Don’t Cost the Earth🌍.

Read a 10 min summary: tinyurl.com/mu59kb29

“It would be structured to serve a single purpose: to give the American public a seat at the table where banks make decisions on how to manage—or perhaps not manage—the risks we ultimately may have to bear,” she suggested in an opinion piece for the New York Times.

We need public institutions that steer finance toward the public good.

Roosevelt Senior Fellow @stomarova.bsky.social reminds us the financial system isn’t neutral—it’s a powerful engine that can either entrench inequality or help build a fairer economy. fortune.com/asia/2025/06...

"the same factory worker left behind by globalisation can be an investor, too" (sic)

To Unlock Pension Funds, We Need to Unlock the Pensions Review | Briefing | Common Wealth

The Pensions Review is a great opportunity to boost the UK economy & help savers — but it's being missed.

The state must use its fiscal might to enable better outcomes for both the economy & the public, while policymakers must be innovative & take risks.

www.common-wealth.org/publications...

4 NEW pieces, with @cornelban.bsky.social + @jhasselbalch.bsky.social on state planning, @rosiecollington.bsky.social on planet-critical sectors, @shayaksengupta.bsky.social + Abhinav Jindal on multilateralism, and @brusselermel.bsky.social + @chrismwhayes.bsky.social on derisking

(Links below)

Nodes for Socialization | Melanie Brusseler & Chris Hayes The UK’s carbon for difference scheme and the future of derisking energy

“Public development of renewable capacity ... isn't a suspension of the profit imperative but its subordination to social need”

@brusselermel.bsky.social @chrismwhayes.bsky.social on the UK’s CfD scheme & derisking energy.

🔗 @phenomenalworld.bsky.social
www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/nod...

Nationalise gas power plants to boost energy security, thinktank urges UK ministers Common Wealth says private gas-fired stations can charge exorbitant fees when renewable energy is in short supply

🚨 NEW: The gas sector is holding the country to ransom during peak demand.

Here’s why taking the sector into public ownership can put a stop to sky high bills.

🧵

www.theguardian.com/business/202...

LAUNCHING…. The first issue of our new journal – now available to pre-order on The BREAK—DOWN website 👇

linktr.ee/breakdownradio

First edition of the eagerly awaited @newjawnfades.bsky.social and Samir Sonti newsletter on the political economy of pensions and finance in the US. A little topic of utmost, global, economic and political importance. Amen to this:

Thames Water selects KKR as preferred bidder Private equity interest comes as UK’s largest water utility is fighting to avoid renationalisation

What sort of owner might KKR be?

The following (from Our Lives in their Portfolios) is what happened when KKR took over the municipal water network of Bayonne New Jersey.....

Text says: "Welcome to This is Fine(ance) Capital" Image is the "this is fine" meme with the dog saying, "so, we have a new substack."

After a little delay, we finally got moving with this thing. The first post -- a short intro -- is up now.

substack.com/home/post/p-...

Text says: Alternative asset manager-backed insurance companies generally hold more structured assets, many originated by affiliates When navigating the private credit market, US life insurers typically opt for investment-grade assets, because lower-rated assets carry higher capital charges. In some cases, they take below-investment grade underlying investments and structure them into different investments, some of which have investment-grade ratings. One trend gaining momentum, particularly among AM-backed insurers, is investment in assets backed by funds (fund financing). Additionally, a number of insurers invest in private structured securities backed by more esoteric collateral, such as music royalties, rail car leases, or sports-related investments, to name a few. Another common investment is CLOs, specifically middle-market CLOs (as opposed to CLOs backed by syndicated loans). The exhibit below shows the differences in investment portfolios between life insurers owned wholly or in part by asset managers and a benchmark group of publicly traded or mutual insurance companies, with an appendix providing a comprehensive list of the firms within each category. Next, there are two pie charts, asset manager-back insurer portfolios on the left, mutual/public insurer portfolios on the right. The asset manager-back insurers hold less corporate debt, less government debt, more affiliate debt, more CLOs, more other ABS, and more MBS.

The aggregate differences in portfolios for PE-backed insurers vs non-PE-backed insurers (from a Moody's note yesterday).

The former hold less corporate debt, less government debt, more affiliate debt, more CLOs, more other ABS, and more MBS. Fund financing (loans to PE funds) is gaining steam.

🚨 What connects Thames Water, Panama Canal and the UK's power networks?

The Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.

🧵 See our thread to find out just how of Britain he owns.

Three intersecting circles labeled "essential service", "private ownership," and "natural monopolies." The intersection is labeled "dumb."

"KKR Is Said to Make £4 Billion Equity Bid for Thames Water"

Time to once again refer the Labour government to @chrismwhayes.bsky.social's detailed diagram.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Important report on the planning system from @msingerhobbs.bsky.social

Too many homes are being built that lack good transport links and lock in costly car dependence.

We need more and better planning to guide development and ensure homes and infrastructure are built in the right places.

We don't need to rip up the planning system to build 1.5 million new homes. Thousands of homes are granted planning permission every year but never get built.

The gov should consider measures to force developers to build, or face sanctions.

Read more: www.ippr.org/articles/str...

Part of what makes the UK a fundamentally unserious country these days is we're incapable of choosing strategic objectives and committing to them to shape the future, rather than attempting to optimise a vision of an ever-lasting present. 3/3

the only growth industry is excuses anel y trefniant yw be mae'n eu wneud

in which, I diagnose the real problem of British building - it's not NIMBYs, it's NOMFUPs open.substack.com/pub/backofmi...

🌟We're recruiting!🌟

We're looking for a Digital Strategy Officer to join our growing team.

If you've got an eye for impactful social media content and are passionate about climate and ecological crisis, we'd love to hear from you!

Deadline: February 26th.

www.common-wealth.org/vacancies/di...

Modern Bricklayer Theory makes it clear that the goverment is not constrained by "labour" or "physical resources", this is just nimby austerity.

Pleased to share the news that the publisher proofs for The Political Economy of Megaprojects in Asia: State Power, Land Control, Financial Flows, and Dispossession were checked, and the edited book (w/ Dong-Wan Gimm) is coming soon in Feb 2025. More details here: urbancommune.net?p=3145

EU Tax Observatory Learn more about taxation: research publications, notes, public events, a repository and interactive tools

Happy new year!

2024 was a transformative year for our EU Tax Observatory @taxobservatory.bsky.social

Here’s an overview of the research we published last year. All papers and databases are available online on taxobservatory.eu

🧵

Responsible also for infrastructure delivery times having increased by 65% between 2012 and 2021

Are Piketty, Saez and @gabrielzucman.bsky.social ever going to update their US DINA micro-files? So many contested questions about the last four years that it would inform.