Phil Free
@philfree.bsky.social
Politics, economics, planet - I live in Essex, UK.
“By the 18th century, the nature of money had changed. It was no longer a thing—a metal, a token—but a network, a set of institutional commitments, a symbol of the capacity to mobilise resources at scale.”
Credit, capital, & the engine of war
rwer.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/c...
Credit, capital, & the engine of war
rwer.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/c...
Credit, capital, and the engine of war:
from Asad Zaman and WEA Pedagogy Blog Money Transformed in Early Modern Britain A Guided Reading of Glyn Davies’ A History of Money, Part 3 For millennia, money was anchored in the tangible: silver…
rwer.wordpress.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:59 PM
“By the 18th century, the nature of money had changed. It was no longer a thing—a metal, a token—but a network, a set of institutional commitments, a symbol of the capacity to mobilise resources at scale.”
Credit, capital, & the engine of war
rwer.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/c...
Credit, capital, & the engine of war
rwer.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/c...
This Israeli Rapper Called for Unity With Palestinians. Now He’s Accused of War Crimes in Gaza
novaramedia.com/2025/11/21/t...
novaramedia.com/2025/11/21/t...
This Israeli Rapper Called for Unity With Palestinians. Now He’s Accused of War Crimes in Gaza | Novara Media
Noam Tsuriely released a song about the importance of dialogue, then allegedly contributed to the ‘genocidal destruction of Palestinian life’ while serving in the IDF. Joshua Carroll reports.
novaramedia.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:37 PM
This Israeli Rapper Called for Unity With Palestinians. Now He’s Accused of War Crimes in Gaza
novaramedia.com/2025/11/21/t...
novaramedia.com/2025/11/21/t...
“Like her Conservative predecessors, Labour’s Reeves has blamed Disabled people for the state’s problems.
It’s no wonder that Disabled people are looking to take their votes elsewhere to protest the imposition of what feels like a decades-long one-party state.”
www.opendemocracy.net/en/rachel-re...
It’s no wonder that Disabled people are looking to take their votes elsewhere to protest the imposition of what feels like a decades-long one-party state.”
www.opendemocracy.net/en/rachel-re...
Yet another government fails to deliver for Disabled people
Like her Conservative predecessors, Labour’s Reeves has blamed Disabled people for the state’s problems
www.opendemocracy.net
November 27, 2025 at 6:21 PM
“Like her Conservative predecessors, Labour’s Reeves has blamed Disabled people for the state’s problems.
It’s no wonder that Disabled people are looking to take their votes elsewhere to protest the imposition of what feels like a decades-long one-party state.”
www.opendemocracy.net/en/rachel-re...
It’s no wonder that Disabled people are looking to take their votes elsewhere to protest the imposition of what feels like a decades-long one-party state.”
www.opendemocracy.net/en/rachel-re...
“Creeping curbs to individual rights, the clamping down on dissenting views, the narrowing of groups to which rights apply, the relentless intrusions into privacy & personal data, all amount to a tangible shift towards an authoritarian state.”
Starmer &/or Kafka
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/as-i...
Starmer &/or Kafka
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/as-i...
As I Please: Starmer and/or Kafka
Despite his apparent respect for so-called liberal norms, Keir Starmer is likely to go down as one of the most authoritarian prime ministers in modern history. Is he trying to eradicate popular dissen...
tribunemag.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 6:00 PM
“Creeping curbs to individual rights, the clamping down on dissenting views, the narrowing of groups to which rights apply, the relentless intrusions into privacy & personal data, all amount to a tangible shift towards an authoritarian state.”
Starmer &/or Kafka
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/as-i...
Starmer &/or Kafka
tribunemag.co.uk/2025/11/as-i...
Slouching towards (Red-Green) utopia
open.substack.com/pub/adamtooz...
open.substack.com/pub/adamtooz...
Chartbook 414: Slouching towards (Red-Green) utopia. Voicing the muted politics of China's renewable energy revolution.
It can’t be said too often.
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Slouching towards (Red-Green) utopia
open.substack.com/pub/adamtooz...
open.substack.com/pub/adamtooz...
“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
“What remains an urgent & obvious need is to recognise that economics as it is practiced & taught today is broken & needs [replacing].” #PostCapitalism
open.substack.com/pub/naturale...
“What remains an urgent & obvious need is to recognise that economics as it is practiced & taught today is broken & needs [replacing].” #PostCapitalism
open.substack.com/pub/naturale...
Once Upon a Heresy
The stories economists tell themselves
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
“The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” - John Kenneth Galbraith
“What remains an urgent & obvious need is to recognise that economics as it is practiced & taught today is broken & needs [replacing].” #PostCapitalism
open.substack.com/pub/naturale...
“What remains an urgent & obvious need is to recognise that economics as it is practiced & taught today is broken & needs [replacing].” #PostCapitalism
open.substack.com/pub/naturale...
“She clings to the idea that just a little more growth will solve all our problems, as though the gains from that growth would not continue to accrue to the rich & powerful.”
Rachel Reeves is living on another planet - @graceblakeley.substack.com
open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...
Rachel Reeves is living on another planet - @graceblakeley.substack.com
open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...
Rachel Reeves is living on another planet
A country in crisis and a government in denial.
open.substack.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM
“She clings to the idea that just a little more growth will solve all our problems, as though the gains from that growth would not continue to accrue to the rich & powerful.”
Rachel Reeves is living on another planet - @graceblakeley.substack.com
open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...
Rachel Reeves is living on another planet - @graceblakeley.substack.com
open.substack.com/pub/gracebla...
Rescue Teams Dig Up Over 50 Bodies Buried in Shallow Graves in Courtyard of Gaza City Clinic
www.dropsitenews.com/p/civil-defe...
www.dropsitenews.com/p/civil-defe...
Rescue Teams Dig Up Over 50 Bodies Buried in Shallow Graves in Courtyard of Gaza City Clinic
“Since the ceasefire began, we’ve been in the first stage, still looking for our children.”
www.dropsitenews.com
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Rescue Teams Dig Up Over 50 Bodies Buried in Shallow Graves in Courtyard of Gaza City Clinic
www.dropsitenews.com/p/civil-defe...
www.dropsitenews.com/p/civil-defe...
“In addition, more than 4 in 5 cases (86%) that were supported to appeal were decided in favour of the person sanctioned.”
Like with WCA & PIP, no other group in society. other than poor, sick & disabled people, would ever face this high a failure rate.
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/sanctio...
Like with WCA & PIP, no other group in society. other than poor, sick & disabled people, would ever face this high a failure rate.
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/sanctio...
Sanctionable Failures: Universal Credit’s Failing Sanctions Regime
www.disabilityrightsuk.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
“In addition, more than 4 in 5 cases (86%) that were supported to appeal were decided in favour of the person sanctioned.”
Like with WCA & PIP, no other group in society. other than poor, sick & disabled people, would ever face this high a failure rate.
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/sanctio...
Like with WCA & PIP, no other group in society. other than poor, sick & disabled people, would ever face this high a failure rate.
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/sanctio...
The economic growth model was always going to come to an end, & has been broken since 2008. Yet those in power are still incapable of imagining, let alone creating, a new system. #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth
Stagnation State
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Stagnation State
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Matteo Tiratelli & Ali Helwith, Stagnation State — Sidecar
On the UK economy.
newleftreview.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:47 PM
The economic growth model was always going to come to an end, & has been broken since 2008. Yet those in power are still incapable of imagining, let alone creating, a new system. #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth
Stagnation State
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Stagnation State
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
“The claim of neoliberalism was GDP growth would be the measure of success…
Neoliberalism is not delivering growth…
It’s the end of the narratives around anti-social neoliberalism because there’s nothing left for it to do or say.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Neoliberalism is not delivering growth…
It’s the end of the narratives around anti-social neoliberalism because there’s nothing left for it to do or say.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Why Rachel Reeves just failed the British public
Rachel Reeves’ 2025 Budget has already collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions. In this video, I explain why tax rises on ordinary people, baseless growth forecasts, and a refusal to tax ...
www.taxresearch.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 1:26 PM
“The claim of neoliberalism was GDP growth would be the measure of success…
Neoliberalism is not delivering growth…
It’s the end of the narratives around anti-social neoliberalism because there’s nothing left for it to do or say.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
Neoliberalism is not delivering growth…
It’s the end of the narratives around anti-social neoliberalism because there’s nothing left for it to do or say.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth
www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/11...
“& then I started realising it everywhere—depersonalisation is not simply a glitch in my psyche but a structural condition of capitalism.”
Ghosts are real, you are holding one
open.substack.com/pub/kaimataa...
Ghosts are real, you are holding one
open.substack.com/pub/kaimataa...
Ghosts are real, you are holding one.
A look at how the traces of human life linger in objects, creating ghosts that haunt our modern world.
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:43 PM
“& then I started realising it everywhere—depersonalisation is not simply a glitch in my psyche but a structural condition of capitalism.”
Ghosts are real, you are holding one
open.substack.com/pub/kaimataa...
Ghosts are real, you are holding one
open.substack.com/pub/kaimataa...
“This segmentation & the resulting ‘cost of leaving things out’ remain acutely problematic as with grapple with the impact of two centuries of industrial technologies on the earth’s ecological systems.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth
life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io/industrial-w...
life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io/industrial-w...
Industrial Wants
In a wonderful speech from 1961 at the University of Colorado, J. Robert Oppenheimer, physicist and atomic bomb creator, talked about human perception. He noted,
“In every extension of knowledge we'r...
life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io
November 26, 2025 at 11:18 PM
“This segmentation & the resulting ‘cost of leaving things out’ remain acutely problematic as with grapple with the impact of two centuries of industrial technologies on the earth’s ecological systems.” #PostCapitalism #Degrowth #PostGrowth
life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io/industrial-w...
life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io/industrial-w...
“A settler can place a fence around any area he wants & immediately seize it, while being protected by the Israeli army.”
The real reason Israel is launching yet another military operation in the #WestBank
mondoweiss.net/2025/11/the-...
The real reason Israel is launching yet another military operation in the #WestBank
mondoweiss.net/2025/11/the-...
The real reason Israel is launching yet another military operation in the northern West Bank
The Israeli army is launching a large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank, claiming it aims to prevent the regrouping of armed resistance groups in the Tubas district. But the real reas...
mondoweiss.net
November 26, 2025 at 10:45 PM
“A settler can place a fence around any area he wants & immediately seize it, while being protected by the Israeli army.”
The real reason Israel is launching yet another military operation in the #WestBank
mondoweiss.net/2025/11/the-...
The real reason Israel is launching yet another military operation in the #WestBank
mondoweiss.net/2025/11/the-...
Criminal dollars, Trump’s crypto trapdoor & Dalek solicitors
www.codastory.com/oligarchy/cr...
www.codastory.com/oligarchy/cr...
Criminal dollars, Trump's crypto trapdoor, and Dalek solicitors - Coda Story
There has been much speculation in financial circles that the White House’s erratic policymaking, random tariffs, and general shoot-from-the-hip approach could undermine the global role of the dollar,...
www.codastory.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Criminal dollars, Trump’s crypto trapdoor & Dalek solicitors
www.codastory.com/oligarchy/cr...
www.codastory.com/oligarchy/cr...
“If we want to transition at the speed & scale required, we must change our production systems. Workers, when organised, militant & mass mobilised, have this point of leverage that no one else in society has.”
Surprised to see @andrewonearth.bsky.social in Jacobin…
jacobin.com/2025/11/orga...
Surprised to see @andrewonearth.bsky.social in Jacobin…
jacobin.com/2025/11/orga...
Salt the Earth
Young people looking to fight climate change should consider jobs in strategic industries to organize new unions or revitalize old ones and advocate for green, pro-labor policies. The fight for a liva...
jacobin.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
“If we want to transition at the speed & scale required, we must change our production systems. Workers, when organised, militant & mass mobilised, have this point of leverage that no one else in society has.”
Surprised to see @andrewonearth.bsky.social in Jacobin…
jacobin.com/2025/11/orga...
Surprised to see @andrewonearth.bsky.social in Jacobin…
jacobin.com/2025/11/orga...
No Status, No School: Palestinian Children in Egypt
newint.org/education/20...
newint.org/education/20...
No Status, No School: Palestinian children in Egypt
For Palestinian children in Egypt, the promise of education remains locked behind bureaucracy, high fees and systemic exclusion. New Internationalist reports from Cairo.
newint.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM
No Status, No School: Palestinian Children in Egypt
newint.org/education/20...
newint.org/education/20...
“If we don’t confront rampant inequality & the sense of unfairness that it provokes, democracy will continue to suffer.”
What Democracy Means for a Society’s Bottom Line
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
What Democracy Means for a Society’s Bottom Line
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
What Democracy Means for a Society’s Bottom Line
Aminata Touré & Kevin Casas-Zamora reject the notion that political rights and socioeconomic welfare are separate or even competing goals.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:40 PM
“If we don’t confront rampant inequality & the sense of unfairness that it provokes, democracy will continue to suffer.”
What Democracy Means for a Society’s Bottom Line
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
What Democracy Means for a Society’s Bottom Line
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/d...
Europe Must Help Africa Break the Cycle of Debt
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...
Europe Must Help Africa Break the Cycle of Debt
Nana Akufo-Addo & Ulrich Volz warn that structural inequities could undo decades of progress and fuel widespread unrest.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Europe Must Help Africa Break the Cycle of Debt
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...
Rage-bait articles about people angry they’re getting free money are the real inheritance tax - @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/rage-bait-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/rage-bait-...
Rage-bait articles about people angry they're getting free money are the real inheritance tax...
Is the future of British newspapers just endless stories of well-off people pretending to be victims?
brokenbottleboy.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Rage-bait articles about people angry they’re getting free money are the real inheritance tax - @brokenbottleboy.bsky.social
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/rage-bait-...
brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/rage-bait-...
Why the right gets George Orwell wrong
www.lukewsavage.com/p/conservati...
www.lukewsavage.com/p/conservati...
Why the right gets George Orwell wrong
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m away this week in Nova Scotia, taking some time away from the usual writing and podcasting before diving back into my current book project.
www.lukewsavage.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Why the right gets George Orwell wrong
www.lukewsavage.com/p/conservati...
www.lukewsavage.com/p/conservati...
“To ‘kick-start’ the economy & restore ecological stability, use the power of Labour’s majority to rewire & restructure powerful institutions.”
Rachel Reeves declines. #OBR
The BoE, Economic Orthodoxy & the Starmer government - @annpettifor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/annpetti...
Rachel Reeves declines. #OBR
The BoE, Economic Orthodoxy & the Starmer government - @annpettifor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/annpetti...
The Bank of England, Economic Orthodoxy and the Starmer government: CBs Part 2
Technocrats, political power & economists ‘adjusting pocket watches in the digital age'
open.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 PM
“To ‘kick-start’ the economy & restore ecological stability, use the power of Labour’s majority to rewire & restructure powerful institutions.”
Rachel Reeves declines. #OBR
The BoE, Economic Orthodoxy & the Starmer government - @annpettifor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/annpetti...
Rachel Reeves declines. #OBR
The BoE, Economic Orthodoxy & the Starmer government - @annpettifor.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/annpetti...
Reposted by Phil Free
Four months after it was promised, we finally have the government's transport investment plan between now and 2030. It's bad. Roads are in, public transport is out. A lot of public transport projects being put on the long-finger to make funding available for new roads.
November 26, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Four months after it was promised, we finally have the government's transport investment plan between now and 2030. It's bad. Roads are in, public transport is out. A lot of public transport projects being put on the long-finger to make funding available for new roads.
“This gangster-style transactional approach to governing is the best thing that corporations who want to cement their power over their workers could ask for.”
Corporate Lawlessness Comes Next
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/corporate-...
Corporate Lawlessness Comes Next
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/corporate-...
Corporate Lawlessness Comes Next
Trump's attacks on workers will soon become something even worse.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:14 PM
“This gangster-style transactional approach to governing is the best thing that corporations who want to cement their power over their workers could ask for.”
Corporate Lawlessness Comes Next
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/corporate-...
Corporate Lawlessness Comes Next
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/corporate-...