“SVB’s collapse provides more than a stark illustration of the fact that there are no libertarians during a bank run.
It exposes the public-private partnership that lies at the heart of modern financial capitalism.”
Me for @tribunemagazine 1/ tribunemag.co.uk/2023/03/the-sb…@tribunemagazine Here is a bank that grew rapidly as the result of a tech bubble inflated in part by the Federal Reserve, before being bailed out by the government during the financial crisis of 2008, only to return to growth in the second tech bubble inflated by the Fed…
Sep 20, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I only just saw this* - my initial point was about how it’s weird for socialists to tie themselves up in knots defending those who don’t share their views.
But I understand why some people think my upbringing invalidates my writing/commentary and I’m ok with them criticising me.
But I also think it’s ok for people who have been brought up with privilege - like myself - to take part in socialist struggle.
Some of my favourite socialists - notably Toby Benn - have been posh too (not that I’m saying I’m an aristocrat lol).
Apr 18, 2022 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Seeing as this clip has resurfaced I thought I’d share some thoughts on how I might have handled it differently.
I was 25 at the time - only 3 years ago, but I’ve learned a lot about messaging and communication since then, both from practice and @NEON_UK training.
First, I prepped for a long time before QT - and I had a lot of help.
This sounds obvious, but when I first started to get confident about appearing in the media I stopped preparing - and my interviews were always worse.
All you need is three lines per issue, it’s worth it.
Feb 28, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
🧵This is probably a bit lame to post, but I was inspired by people sharing their stories, so here goes.
I never thought I’d be able to do either of these things - give up drinking or meditate every day - even though I always knew that I needed to just to feel ‘normal’.
I always knew my already poor mental health was being worsened by some of the things I was doing (and not doing) to my mind and body, but reasoned that others were in the same boat and they seemed to be coping.
My ADHD diagnosis was the trigger I needed to make some big changes.
Jan 3, 2022 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Finally got the chance to read @profitratedown’s Smart Machines and Service Work - a really enjoyable read and one of the most important new books in Marxist political economy I’ve read in a while.
Quick thread 🧵
@profitratedown His central thesis is that the rich worlds productivity problem can be explained by the growing proportion of labour power devoted to ‘unproductive’ (in Marxist terms) supervisory or circulatory activities.
Sep 22, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
It's depressing that the opposition doesn't realise that by repeating your opponent's frame (nationalism, family values etc), you don't steal their votes, you just strengthen their narrative.
This article is incredible - one thing that stuck out to me:
State-funded vehicles offering home insurance policies in areas where private insurers aren't providing coverage due to climate risks seem to me like today's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac nytimes.com/interactive/20…
"Hurricane Andrew reduced parts of cities to landfill and cost insurers nearly $16 billion in payouts. Many insurance companies, recognizing the likelihood that it would happen again, declined to renew policies and left the state...
Sep 3, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This is gutwrenching. David was an unbelivably intelligent, warm, funny and kind person - he's had such an impact on my politics, and, more recently, my life...
He's a big reason me and my partner are together - James brought him to one of our dates once to impress me (it worked, mainly because David gave me a copy of Bullshit Jobs)
And when we broke up it was David who helped put us back in touch, insisting that we were meant to be...
Aug 25, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
We have an *incredible* episode for you tomorrow
@GuillaumeLong - Ecuador's former foreign minister under @MashiRafael - talks to @AWorldtoWinPod about Covid-19, Correismo and the troubling rise of authoritarian neoliberalism in Latin America
Subscribe: tribunemag.co.uk/a-world-to-win
Guillaume on empire: "The culture of empire in the US is that you need a docile western hemisphere for American power to be projected unhindered across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans – the only way to defeat this is to push back against the divide and rule tactics of empire"
Aug 19, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
The first episode of A World to Win - my interview with @jeremycorbyn - is now *LIVE*
Find it on all major podcast platforms, including:
Everyone - and I do not say this lightly - everyone should read this piece.
The information that @bencsmoke has uncovered on companies receiving government funding is truly staggering. vice.com/en_us/article/…
Hearing all this information from Ben was mind-boggling.
On the one hand, I was incredibly impressed at the investigation. On the other hand, I was horrified at the scale of the venality.
But mostly, I was dumbfounded that no other journalist has looked into this story.
Here's my piece on why Sunak's promises don't even scratch the surface of the crisis we're facing tribunemag.co.uk/2020/07/misjud…@JoMicheII: "Sunak’s latest announcements strengthen the impression that this is not a government that is interested in making structural changes to a system that is fundamentally broken." tribunemag.co.uk/2020/07/you-ca…
Jul 7, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Check out my long read in this quarter’s @tribunemagazine on - in Lenin’s words - “the erroneous bourgeois reformist assertion that monopoly capitalism or state-monopoly capitalism is no longer capitalism, but can now be called “state socialism” tribunemag.co.uk/2020/06/the-er…
“As the coronavirus crisis develops, a small number of politicians, central bankers, financiers and corporate executives will find themselves in control of a huge share of national — indeed, if these trends are replicated across other countries, global — economic activity”
Jun 29, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
“The current crisis proved [that] capitalism was remarkably easy to stop—or at least to interrupt.“
This is such insidious bullshit - throughout the pandemic, capitalist states have been acting to *protect* the interests of capital. foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/22/the…
It really does show just how weak the left became that the vast majority of people - on left and right - still view socialism as ‘more state intervention’.
How have we failed so completely to interrogate the interests served by the capitalist state?
Jun 16, 2020 • 7 tweets • 6 min read
Just had a great chat with the lovely folk at @VersoBooks about two of my forthcoming books:
Futures of Socialism is a collection of essays from leading socialists, edited by yours truly
The Corona Crash is a collection of my writing on the political economy of the pandemic
Excitingly, you can pre-order them both now! waterstones.com/book/the-coron…
Jun 13, 2020 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
THREAD: Why everyone involved in the Corbyn project needs to take some time off.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you’ve been working in or around the Labour Party/socialist politics non-stop for the last four years, take a break. 1/
The last four years have been a constant battle for most people involved. Either you’ve been fighting against Labour Party structures stacked against you, a media stacked against you or both.
Maybe you’ve also been dealing with pushback from friends, family and colleagues. 2/
Jun 10, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
I am delighted to announce that I’ve been awarded a grant by the Lipman-Miliband Trust to set up a podcast with @tribunemagazine 🎉
More information to come, but I’ll be discussing current events, Marxist theory and socialist news with your favs from all over the world 🌹
I’m just beyond delighted this has worked out - it wouldn’t have been possible without @ronanburtenshaw and @sunraysunray who I’m extremely lucky to work with - and thanks to @DanielDenvir of @thedigradio for supporting our application
In the mean time, who should I have on?!
Jun 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
I’ve preferred to RT more knowledgable comrades rather than say much about what’s going on myself - but one thing I will say is that those of us involved in the Corbyn project have *a lot* to learn from this moment. 1/
No doubt a lot of us are thinking ‘how can this new radical energy be directed towards working within/against state institutions?’
I’m willing to take guidance from others, but I’m not sure it can be, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. 2/
Mar 9, 2019 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Thread on my piece this week:
The recovery from 2008 has not just been weak, it has rested on deeply unstable foundations: a massive stimulus in China, rising corporate and household debt, and extremely loose monetary policy 1/9 newstatesman.com/politics/econo…
China is now facing a massive debt bubble – its private debt to GDP ratio is now a staggering 270% GDP - much concentrated in the shadow banking system.
The UK - as host to the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank of China - is particularly exposed. 2/9
Feb 25, 2019 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I honestly don’t see why everyone is getting so excited.
Obviously remain would lose a second referendum, but more importantly, a 2nd referendum is no more likely today than yesterday.
The only thing that has a parliamentary majority is a soft Brexit - that hasn’t changed.
The only short term impact this will have is destroying the IG (good).
The only long term impact is that Labour will go into the next election as the party that tried to stop Brexit (good if you’re a Tory).
But I suspect those who got us here will be long gone by then.
I always knew my already poor mental health was being worsened by some of the things I was doing (and not doing) to my mind and body, but reasoned that others were in the same boat and they seemed to be coping.
