Jo Michell
@jomichell.bsky.social
Professor of economics at UWE Bristol. Chair of Post-Keynesian Economics Society. Interested in macro, finance, banking, climate change, inequality, demographics.
https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/JoMichell
https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/JoMichell
Pinned
Jo Michell
@jomichell.bsky.social
· Dec 15
Estimating the effects of austerity on the labour market: Evidence from Great Britain
Between 2010 and 2019, in response to concern about the public finances, the UK government imposed substantial cuts to public spending. This austerity programme
papers.ssrn.com
New research!
Austerity and the labour market in the UK.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Headline result: austerity reduced wages, increased employment rates, and contributed to weak productivity.
1/n
Austerity and the labour market in the UK.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Headline result: austerity reduced wages, increased employment rates, and contributed to weak productivity.
1/n
👍 there is a lot going on at the moment to be fair.
January 15, 2026 at 1:52 PM
👍 there is a lot going on at the moment to be fair.
Reposted by Jo Michell
Most strikingly, Streeting vowed to respect the Socialist Campaign Group because “we do have lots of ideological roots in common” and called for a “battle of ideas” within Labour. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
Wes Streeting makes his pitch
In his Progress anniversary speech, the Health Secretary outlined his own political and intellectual vision
www.newstatesman.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Most strikingly, Streeting vowed to respect the Socialist Campaign Group because “we do have lots of ideological roots in common” and called for a “battle of ideas” within Labour. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
But it hasn’t stopped Grok. It’s introduced geoblocking. Grok will continue to produce these images.
January 15, 2026 at 1:36 PM
But it hasn’t stopped Grok. It’s introduced geoblocking. Grok will continue to produce these images.
Corollary: fiscal policy should not be driven by gilt market moves.
January 15, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Corollary: fiscal policy should not be driven by gilt market moves.
Chunky falls in 10 year gilt yields going a bit under the radar given all else going on. Good news for fiscal headroom.
Would be different if move had been in the other direction; accusations would be levelled (mostly unfairly) at Reeves.
Gilt market moves are mostly not driven by fiscal policy.
Would be different if move had been in the other direction; accusations would be levelled (mostly unfairly) at Reeves.
Gilt market moves are mostly not driven by fiscal policy.
January 15, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Chunky falls in 10 year gilt yields going a bit under the radar given all else going on. Good news for fiscal headroom.
Would be different if move had been in the other direction; accusations would be levelled (mostly unfairly) at Reeves.
Gilt market moves are mostly not driven by fiscal policy.
Would be different if move had been in the other direction; accusations would be levelled (mostly unfairly) at Reeves.
Gilt market moves are mostly not driven by fiscal policy.
It’s nowhere that I can see on the FT front page.
January 15, 2026 at 10:13 AM
It’s nowhere that I can see on the FT front page.
Reposted by Jo Michell
I don't think people outside the Twin Cities realize how the surge is hitting the local economy. I lost count of the number of restaurants that have closed b/c staff are too afraid of being illegally detained. DoorDash is sort of no longer available. Businesses have their doors locked all day.
January 14, 2026 at 1:59 AM
I don't think people outside the Twin Cities realize how the surge is hitting the local economy. I lost count of the number of restaurants that have closed b/c staff are too afraid of being illegally detained. DoorDash is sort of no longer available. Businesses have their doors locked all day.
Claude code. It runs locally and has direct access to your code repository so it can make changes directly. Very impressive — had a whole bunch of tedious/fiddly but mostly uninteresting things I needed to do. Would have been several hours work; Claude did it all based on a handful of prompts.
January 15, 2026 at 7:37 AM
Claude code. It runs locally and has direct access to your code repository so it can make changes directly. Very impressive — had a whole bunch of tedious/fiddly but mostly uninteresting things I needed to do. Would have been several hours work; Claude did it all based on a handful of prompts.
Interesting, I’ve also seen several references to this recently. I recall its relative, visual studio, as one of my most hated packages of all time. Sounds like they’ve upped their act.
January 15, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Interesting, I’ve also seen several references to this recently. I recall its relative, visual studio, as one of my most hated packages of all time. Sounds like they’ve upped their act.
Is it publicly available or currently only in development?
January 14, 2026 at 11:48 PM
Is it publicly available or currently only in development?
Reposted by Jo Michell
Geoblocking implies they *still think it’s ok to do it*. It’s literally a feature, not a bug.
X Safety have posted that they have now made some changes to operate within the law.
This includes "geoblocking the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal".
This includes "geoblocking the ability of all users to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X in those jurisdictions where it’s illegal".
January 14, 2026 at 11:30 PM
Geoblocking implies they *still think it’s ok to do it*. It’s literally a feature, not a bug.
Reposted by Jo Michell
Three UK hunger strikers end their hunger strike after the MoD meets one of their demands: The MoD has denied a major new £2 billion contract with the Israeli defence firm's subsidiary, Elbit Systems UK, for an Army training program..
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Three Palestine Action protesters end their hunger strike
Four more who had paused opt not to continue after government opts against giving contract to Elbit Systems UK
www.theguardian.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Three UK hunger strikers end their hunger strike after the MoD meets one of their demands: The MoD has denied a major new £2 billion contract with the Israeli defence firm's subsidiary, Elbit Systems UK, for an Army training program..
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
The ultimate test is going to be whether Claude can figure out how to integrate Claude with emacs. If it passes that one, I might have to capitulate.
January 14, 2026 at 10:30 PM
The ultimate test is going to be whether Claude can figure out how to integrate Claude with emacs. If it passes that one, I might have to capitulate.
<looks up from the Anthropic documentation> ooh penalties is it?
January 14, 2026 at 10:28 PM
<looks up from the Anthropic documentation> ooh penalties is it?
Gotta say, today was the first time I seriously considered believing /some/ of the hype. Claude code really is something. But of course it’s a very targeted use case.
January 14, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Gotta say, today was the first time I seriously considered believing /some/ of the hype. Claude code really is something. But of course it’s a very targeted use case.
This of course has no bearing on my view that X/grok should be burned with fire and the ground salted.
January 14, 2026 at 5:37 PM
This of course has no bearing on my view that X/grok should be burned with fire and the ground salted.
Genuinely is an incredible bit of kit. Does feel like a game changer. Could get expensive though.
January 14, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Genuinely is an incredible bit of kit. Does feel like a game changer. Could get expensive though.
OK, I take it all back I love AI now.
January 14, 2026 at 4:44 PM
OK, I take it all back I love AI now.
This cost me $5 plus tax. It better be good.
January 14, 2026 at 3:16 PM
This cost me $5 plus tax. It better be good.
Ok, I give in. I want to see what it can do.
January 14, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Ok, I give in. I want to see what it can do.
Reposted by Jo Michell
New post: A Post Neoliberal Consensus
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-po...
Dani Rodrik, Tim Besley and others argue that there is a now a post neoliberal consenus on economic policy.
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-po...
Dani Rodrik, Tim Besley and others argue that there is a now a post neoliberal consenus on economic policy.
A Post Neoliberal Consensus
. Dani Rodrik recently wrote an article entitled “The Post-Neoliberal Consensus is here”. He argues that it comprises th...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
January 13, 2026 at 8:58 AM
New post: A Post Neoliberal Consensus
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-po...
Dani Rodrik, Tim Besley and others argue that there is a now a post neoliberal consenus on economic policy.
mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2026/01/a-po...
Dani Rodrik, Tim Besley and others argue that there is a now a post neoliberal consenus on economic policy.
Working hard to win over the readership.
January 14, 2026 at 8:10 AM
Working hard to win over the readership.