FW

New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854

Some people appear to believe the implication of this post is "Rishi Sunak is good" or "Rishi Sunak was a good PM". It is very much the opposite: that's what makes it embarrassing.

I really hate the framing of these stories as "an AI agent broke out and hacked something." No, an inadequate sandbox meant that a powerful and unpredictable computer program was set loose on the open internet by the company that designed it. The agency isn't with the "AI agent", it's with the firm

Fred is Done. How could we have the audacity to tax his extraordinary gambling wealth just because he wants to live and run a business here? He's going to close his shops people! Nothing to do with moving gambling completely online of course. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

The DfT just posted this self-congratulatory propaganda on Facebook. This is horseshit. Battery trains have a very minor role to play as a transition technology, but in the foothills of a seismic energy crisis, swapping one form of energy dependency for another is crap politics and worse planning.

How is this news? billionaire oil person says uk needs to drill more and tax less, though, of course, he‘s actually in Monaco. And he would do more in the uk if the state subsidised him more. Dear BBC, that‘s like me saying the uk‘s problem is underpaid law profs. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Everyone still using X is using a website that produces and distributes CSAM. It is disgusting and immoral and nobody has any excuse for not being fully aware at this point.

HORRIFIED Judge rules that privately owning AI-generated child sexual abuse material is protected by the 1st Amendment WTF 1) This normalises child sexual abuse 2) This feeds the depravity - where do you think that leads? 3) WHAT do they think these AI models are trained on?

An essay I've just written for @nytimes on why Big Tech is the 21st Century’s equivalent of the East India Company: "What It Would Take to Dismantle the Most Powerful Companies in the World" www.nytimes.com/2026/08/28/o...

we are keeping tabs of what Andy Burnham says vs what Andy Burnham actually does www.ft.com/content/4371...

This is getting out of hand

Large part of UK’s water network was installed 130 to 150 years ago. Thames Water infrastructure has average age of 79 years; industry average 56 yrs. 40% of TW assets are over 100 years old. Its IT systems date back to the 1980s. Since privatisation, water companies paid £88.4bn in dividends.

A large part of rightwing discourse consists of denying other people's suffering.

People can "just adapt" to a changing climate, a thousand rightwing voices keep telling us. Either they lack imagination or they don't care. Try "adapting" to this. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...

Scarborough teen blinded by firework calls for sale ban

Democratic Socialism: Myth Vs. Fact https://theonion.com/democratic-socialism-myth-vs-fact/

This stopped me in my tracks. An independent study by @qmul.bsky.social has found that after ULEZ was introduced, children’s lungs grew faster in Central London and have now caught up with children outside of the capital. Incredible.

Robin Williams warned the US about Donald Trump and his links to Miss America Pageants and underage girls in 2012. Really should have listened.

Tail wagging the dog on station densities. It isn't planning if houses are tied to service frequencies. It would be planning if you uplifted the service frequency to serve the new houses. Unserious country. simonicity.com/2026/08/17/m...

I don't know who needs to hear this, but an economy controlled by a handful of oligarchs isn't a "free market."

Is this an actual joke @andyburnham.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/business/202...

This aged well.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, "Is it normal that you as the BBC have done as many report as you have done, on an academic? Is that normal?" BBC Newsnight, "That's a reasonable question to ask" - then doesn't answer 🤷‍♂️

This is the coverage of Arday **just in the Telegraph** in the UK. This is only the first four pages of results, just in one outlet.

The far right media harassment campaign against Black professors finally led to someone’s death. That’s on the university for sensationalizing what should have been a private investigation and everyone else that contributed including many academics that actively played into their hands.

No, that is not the alternative The alternative was treating like a normal news story, and not a trial by media - one that was so clearly turbocharged by Arday’s ethnic and social background and the growing resentment in the establishment in the UK of having more black people in high places

Cambridge University should have known better, Fleet Street should have known better, the people hungrily absorbing every bit of news about it, making newsrooms feel like they had to keep going with it as a story, should have known better, horrible horrible horrible

Math is not about someone who is naturally "talented". Math is a skill that can be learned to a reasonable degree. Same for physics and other science subjects. It’s hard to learn anything when everybody is saying it is too difficult.

Jadon Arday found dead. I hope all those racist bastards are happy with themselves for driving a young black man to his death. You essentially achieved an indirect lynching. God, I fucking hate what this country is becoming. news.sky.com/story/jason-...

The coolest technology in a heatwave? Trees. Every tree planted today helps create a cooler, greener and healthier London tomorrow. We've already planted more than 640,000 trees since 2016, and we're continuing to grow and protect our urban forest to help London adapt to hotter summers.

tbh "don't have a barbecue there's a good lad" is actually a pretty good message to be sending out to everyone on Friday night before the hottest driest weekend of the August holidays. If we were Australia or something we would be used to this but we're not; this is adaptation

They should do that government warning thing when the Wordle is really hard and offer a first letter or something.

He’s only been PM three weeks and he’s sliding into everyone’s DMs

Afternoon. [Note the date]

I've only ever owned 1 suit, which I bought 19 yrs ago. Wife is buying me a new one. Asked her if she could buy 1 without the fake jacket pockets. She asked what I meant. Showed her the pockets didn't open. She pulled out the thread & opened them. 19 years man, what an idiot.

He’s been prime minister for five minutes and he’s already playing with the emergency alert.

Whilst there's no firm evidence to connect the Lewes and Wickford derailments, there are a lot of circumstantial factors that mean it wouldn't be unlikely for there to be a common cause. Do please pay close attention to that wording, though.

The euphemism for Great Depression just dropped.

We built modern society on a single, unspoken commandment: Thou shalt grow the GDP forever. We optimized everything for this number. But we forgot one critical detail. The denominator is fixed. 🧵👇

What navigation software took from you. theconversation.com/taxi-drivers...

We are bankrupting our young people and saddling them with mountains of debt even before life has opened up to them. Wealthy families will pay it off. Most will have this financial albatross round their necks for years.