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Wessel van Rensburg

@wildebees.bsky.social

730 followers 410 following 2K posts

The digital policy strategist you didn’t know you needed—using terms like 'sovereign data assets' as casually as most would say 'hello'. Also geopolitics, innovation, industrial policy. Location: Den Haag 🇳🇱 From: 🇿🇦

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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · Aug 7

New essay ↓ with Andreas Dombret www.reaction.life/p/why-stable... #stablecoins
Stablecoins are Silicon Valley's Pandora's box. The Trump admin just signed the GENIUS Act, but the warnings should be louder.

Here's what everyone's missing about why stablecoins betray the essence of money itself 🧵

Why stablecoins are Silicon Valley's Pandora's box

Stablecoins betray the essence of money itself: credit.

www.reaction.life

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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 1d

Dutch newspaper NRC with new detail:

"This is an exceptional emergency measure intended to prevent IP related to chips from disappearing abroad. According to insiders, there were indications that Nexperia was planning to leak chip knowledge to China."

www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/...

Nederland grijpt hard in bij chipfabrikant Nexperia uit angst voor lekken chipkennis naar China

Intellectueel eigendom: Het ministerie van Economische Zaken legt de bedrijfsvoering van chipfabrikant Nexperia grotendeels stil, om te voorkomen dat chipkennis naar China weglekt.

www.nrc.nl

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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 1d

If I were a Dutch company with big business in China — anyone apart from ASML, which is indispensable - I’d be shifting nervously in my seat tonight.

Thinking of NXP, ASM International, Besi, Philips, FrieslandCampina.

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Finbarr Bermingham @fbermingham.bsky.social · 1d

The company accused The Hague of violating EU market-economy principles and discriminating against Chinese investors — echoing Beijing’s long-standing complaint that Europe is “securitizing tech"

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Tomas Hirst @tomashirstecon.bsky.social · 20h

Yes, of COURSE it does. bsky.app/profile/toma...

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Tony Tassell @tonytassell.bsky.social · 12d

Japan is just a few days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry as the producer of the nation’s most popular beer wrestles with a devastating cyber attack that has shut down its domestic breweries www.ft.com/content/bb86...

Japan days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry after cyber attack

Vast majority of factories of nation’s most popular beer have stopped work this week

www.ft.com

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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · 5h

“The decision aims to prevent a situation in which the goods produced by Nexperia (finished and semi-finished products) would become unavailable in an emergency”

on.ft.com/42zvcwk

Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia

Move escalates frictions between western countries and Beijing over access to high-end technology

on.ft.com

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David Schneiderman @dschneiderman.bsky.social · 10h

Montesquieu well understood, in 1748, that tariffs ultimately are ‘paid by the buyers.’ Trump and his advisors would be well advised to spend some time with the ‘Spirit of the Laws.’

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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 1d

Grid scale batteries are changing our electricity system. Excellent new visual story on batteries in FT today shows just how far this technology has evolved.

Fasten your seatbelts, this is just the beginning.

ig.ft.com/mega-batteri...

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Financial Times @ft.com.web.brid.gy · 8h

Western companies warn of China rare-earth supply chain chaos

Executives predict Beijing’s tighter controls will lead to production delays and higher prices

www.ft.com

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Euractiv @euractiv.com · 8h

Parliament votes for social media age-limit to be set at 16

Parliament's internal market committee will vote on whether under 16s should require parental consent for using social media applications on Thursday

dlvr.it

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Michael Pettis @michaelpettis.bsky.social · 8h

Good Caixin story on the bankruptcy process: "For Beijing, this is about more than paperwork. As debt piles up and growth slows, China needs a functioning exit valve — one that can unwind failed firms without triggering social unrest or financial contagion."
www.caixinglobal.com/2025-10-13/c...

Cover Story: China Rewrites the Rules of Financial Failure

Beijing’s draft bankruptcy law revision widens the state’s role, expands creditor protection and introduces paths for reorganization and limited personal debt relief

www.caixinglobal.com

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Andrius Kubilius @andriuskubilius.ec.europa.eu · 18h

Sobering words from the German intelligence services - “We must not sit back and assume that a possible Russian attack would come in 2029 at the earliest. We are already under fire today.”

For deterrence now we must take the necessary decisions now.
www.euractiv.com/news/german-...

German spy chief says Russia won't shy from military confrontation | Euractiv

Germany’s foreign intelligence chief, Martin Jaeger, warned on Monday that Russia posed a direct threat and the current “icy peace” with the EU could erupt at any moment into “heated confrontation”. J...

www.euractiv.com

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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · 18h

“Mokyr showed that for innovations to succeed and become a self-generating process, people needed a scientific explanation for why the breakthroughs worked.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/b...

Three Share Nobel in Economics for Work on How Technology Drives Growth

www.nytimes.com

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Pseudoerasmus @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social · 22h

I anticipate some sneers thrown Mokyr's way so my preemptive comment...

What ever else he might have done, what ever faults he might have, Mokyr has performed a tremendous service simply by stressing the great importance of the Scientific Revolution to the birth of the modern economy.

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Pseudoerasmus @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social · 22h

Mokyr's work could not have been done today in most economics departments, but the irony is that his work would not fit in history departments today, either. Methodologically he seems more 'history' than 'economics' to economists, but the content and reasoning are too 'economics' for most historians

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Adam Vaughan @adamvaughan.bsky.social · 21h

Just looking up what Boris Johnson said for COP21 in Glasgow. Felt almost nostalgic.

The tone and content feel like something from another century, not just four years ago.

Incredible how much things have changed in UK politics in just four years.

x.com/borisjohnson...

Boris Johnson on X: "In one month’s time at the @COP26 climate summit in Glasgow we need world leaders to be ambitious and take action. That means bold commitments on coal, cars, cash and trees to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees and set the world on the path to net zero emissions. https://t.co/e9z6agYZnz" / X

In one month’s time at the @COP26 climate summit in Glasgow we need world leaders to be ambitious and take action. That means bold commitments on coal, cars, cash and trees to limit temperature increase to 1.5 degrees and set the world on the path to net zero emissions. https://t.co/e9z6agYZnz

x.com

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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 21h

presented without comment

on.ft.com/3J1TRmz

Nigel Farage tells crypto conference ‘I am your champion’

[FREE TO READ] Reform UK leader touts plans to create a state-owned bitcoin reserve

on.ft.com

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Techmeme @techmeme.com · 21h

California Governor Gavin Newsom signs AB 56, which requires social media companies to add warning labels on mental health risks for users under 18 in the state (Tyler Katzenberger/Politico)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

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Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · 1d

Scholars & pundits have focussed a lot on the electoral demise of center left, but in doing so we paid to little attention to the electoral problems of the center right.

Case-in-points here not only British conservatives or center right in France, but increasingly also the center right in Spain.

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Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 21h

U.S. companies and consumers are bearing the brunt of the country's new import tariffs, early indications show, contradicting assertions by President Donald Trump and complicating the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation.

www.reuters.com/world/us/how...

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Techmeme @techmeme.com · 21h

California Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB 243, which mandates safety protocols for AI chatbot companions, the first state law to regulate such AI chatbots (Rebecca Bellan/TechCrunch)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 1d

And if this really is the end of the phase of conflict in the Middle East that started on 7 October 2023 then perhaps the only clear winner is a once obscure insurgent leader called Ahmed al Sharaa.

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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · 2d

By 2030, AI companies will need $2 trillion in combined annual revenue to fund the computing power needed to meet projected demand, according to Bain.

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

An $800 Billion Revenue Shortfall Threatens AI Future, Bain Says

Artificial intelligence companies like OpenAI have been quick to unveil plans for spending hundreds of billions of dollars on data centers, but they have been slower to show how they will pull in reve...

www.bloomberg.com

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Mike Bird @birdyword.bsky.social · 2d

Just finished the final touches on the audiobook.Less than three weeks to go now, getting very exciting!

If you're interested, the best thing you can possibly do now is pre-order! Available all over the place - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Guardian Bookshop and many other bookshops.

rob collins @cobrollins.bsky.social · 6d

Worked on the audio of the upcoming book from @birdyword.bsky.social the section on Japan was fascinating, I'm sure the rest is too. Finance bsky alert @peark.es @weisenthal.bsky.social www.amazon.com/Land-Trap-Hi...

The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset

The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset [Bird, Mike] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Land Trap: A New History of the World's Oldest Asset

www.amazon.com

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Wessel van Rensburg @wildebees.bsky.social · 2d

By 2030, AI companies will need $2 trillion in combined annual revenue to fund the computing power needed to meet projected demand, according to Bain.

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

An $800 Billion Revenue Shortfall Threatens AI Future, Bain Says

www.bloomberg.com

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