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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 7m

Lecornu says some taxes in France will go up BUT that others will come down.

Usually that means taxes on income, property, profits, goods etc go up, while some taxes on coloured lightbulbs are lightly trimmed.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 17m

tell you who else needs to show their ID when they want to buy a house, open a bank account, enroll kids in school etc... it's not just Indians. They just don't need three phone bills and a family portrait to do it.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 3h

there can be a big difference between "non-compliant" and "problematic". Much state spending is deemed "non-compliant" by auditors even though it goes towards stuff that it is meant to go to, it's just that the right receipts/checks/sign-off reports etc are not submitted properly.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4h

There must be a word for "absurd guilt one feels when asking ChatGPT to redo a perfectly good piece of work just because you now want it done slightly differently"

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 5h

Germany is finding creative ways to get retirees to re-join the workforce.

France looks like it will scrap a much-needed increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64.

One continent, two visions of economic reality

www.ft.com/content/b39d...

Germany to allow retirees to earn €2,000 a month tax-free

Chancellor Friedrich Merz seeking to reignite economy and address challenges of a shrinking workforce

www.ft.com

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Reposted by Stanley Pignal

bleary @bleary.off-the-records.com · 18h

If anyone needs me I will be in the museum, lying down next to the bog bodies.

Did people really memorize phone numbers before cell phones, or is that just a movie thing?
2? Questions
I was watching some old shows from the 90s and noticed people would just dial numbers from memory - like they'd call their friends or family without looking anything up.
Made me wonder if that was actually normal back then? Did people genuinely have all their important numbers memorized, or did most folks keep a little address book or written list nearby?

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 1d

Interesting question. There may be a question of scarcity. There may also be a question of public interest in meeting green targets. The state cashing in spectrum cheques by definition has the public interest in mind. Does the "Crown Estate"?

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 1d

I lack Macron's galaxy brain. But I don't see how the new slate of French ministers just out gets parliamentary backing any more than the last one, out after 14 hours. Much the same Macron-compatible team, minus LR?

Unless the last collapse was down to convulsions over Le Maire, I see little change

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 2d

Indeed. But will take a lot more than facts to slay this particular cliché. (All good op-ed editors are trained to excise it)

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 2d

Considering the political situation in France, and just for this week, I will allow for exceptional use of the most clichéd introduction in op-ed history: "It was Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 3d

my 10-year old child is 3 inches tall.

soz, I meant "grew 3 inches last year".

whoopsie!

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 3d

The Chinese have been saying the quiet bit ("we want to use rare earths as an economic weapon", basically) out loud for many, many years. It just took us all a long time to actually think they were serious.

Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 3d

In the same vein, from the same book.

May 2019 as Xi Jinping touted a rare earths processing plant in Jiangxi following Huawei’s addition to the entity list.

People's Daily: "Don't say you were not warned"

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

I've been a bit sceptical of the "exodus of US-based academics to Europe" thing, but this is a notable move.

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 4d

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

in all seriousness, while Trump will be fuming he lost
a) Nobel committee can point out that nominations closed in January, 10 days after he came to office. Maybe next year?
b) Machado is, roughly, on the same side as Trump.
c) come on, Trump was never getting it be serious

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

to be fair I don't think anyone thinks industrial policy can "never work" in the sense of getting a boost in production of X. But there are plenty of sceptics on eg whether it can be done sensibly/efficiently/sustainably at an acceptable cost.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

we don't know who is nominated for the Nobel peace prize. It is secret for 50 years. The only thing we do know is the claims by some people who have the ability to nominate (of which there are 100,000+) to have nominated someone.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

make Trump and Thunberg hug on stage or there's no medal for either.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

If the Norwegians had a sense of humour, they'd give Obama a second peace prize today.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

"Brussels-bashing" is becoming fashionable again.

With Friedrich Merz sounding like a revenant Boris Johnson, fights over the long-term budget and unhappiness at EU-US trade, it's open season on Brussels.

My Charlemagne on the return of an old European scourge

www.economist.com/europe/2025/...

“Brussels” is the phantom menace Europe loves to blame

Why bashing the EU is likely to become ever more popular

www.economist.com

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

Your forever reminder that there are hundreds of thousands of people who can nominate anyone they choose for the Nobel Peace prize. Assistant history professors! Any MP anywhere in the world! Even Hitler got the nod once (albeit as a sort of practical joke gone wrong)

Reuters @reuters.com · 4d

Malta foreign minister nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize reut.rs/435IiRV

Malta foreign minister nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

The foreign minister of European Union member state Malta said on Thursday that he had nominated U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

reut.rs

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

the most laughable take on prediction markets was the "ah but some people knew Trump would win in 2024 because they looked at prediction markets!". As if a) these markets were some kind of secret thing and, b) they didn't get this kind of stuff wrong all the time and it was just a coincidence.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 4d

There are two types of people: people who've never heard of László Krasznahorkai and people who pretend to have heard of László Krasznahorkai.

FT Weekend @ftweekend.com · 5d

The Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, known for his postmodern, dystopian novels, is the winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize for literature: on.ft.com/43dn191

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 5d

He was romantically involved with Macron, who is his own father. or something.

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 7d

Can someone translate "force your insurer to pay for livesaving care" into European please? Why does one need to know industry secrets for this?

Duaa Eldeib @deldeib.bsky.social · 7d

They are one of the industry’s best-kept secrets, and only a tiny fraction of those eligible actually use them.

How a little-known appeal could force your insurer to pay for lifesaving care

www.propublica.org/article/heal...

This Little-Known Appeal Could Force Your Insurer to Pay for Lifesaving Care. Here’s How to File It.

When a health insurer refuses to pay for your treatment, you may have the right to have the denial reviewed — and potentially overturned — by an independent provider. Here are six steps experts sugges...

www.propublica.org

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Stanley Pignal @spignal.bsky.social · 7d

I think the real test is if you remain modest *after* winning the Nobel

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