James Monk
@twoev.bsky.social
Physics, dodge and burn. Wow, this place really is a rip off of twitter - someone's gonna get sued
New discourse just dropped
Median hhld wealth by region:
North East: £179,900
North West: £222,400
Scotland: £239,500
*Checks notes* LONDON(!): £244,800
Yorkshire & Humber: £245,600
W Midlands: £260,800
E Midlands: £261,000
Wales: £266,900
S West: £347,700
E England: £400,700
S East: £489,800
North East: £179,900
North West: £222,400
Scotland: £239,500
*Checks notes* LONDON(!): £244,800
Yorkshire & Humber: £245,600
W Midlands: £260,800
E Midlands: £261,000
Wales: £266,900
S West: £347,700
E England: £400,700
S East: £489,800
November 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
New discourse just dropped
Not to disagree with the point, but why is everything a “doom loop,” these days? Are people trying to find ever more alarming ways of highlighting a problem? Is it In fact a doom loop of doom loop?
Today's migration stats illustrate the migration doom loop in action...
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
(from my presentation at the IMF last week)
November 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Not to disagree with the point, but why is everything a “doom loop,” these days? Are people trying to find ever more alarming ways of highlighting a problem? Is it In fact a doom loop of doom loop?
It’s pretty clear that inflation is going to be the mechanism by which Osborne’s tax cuts and realignment are going to be reversed. After many years, things will be in balance again and the higher rate can be cut to ~30%, with the top 45% rate effectively becoming the new higher rate
November 27, 2025 at 9:47 AM
It’s pretty clear that inflation is going to be the mechanism by which Osborne’s tax cuts and realignment are going to be reversed. After many years, things will be in balance again and the higher rate can be cut to ~30%, with the top 45% rate effectively becoming the new higher rate
Aargh, this drives me mad. I don’t drink a lot of fizzy drinks, but occasionally on a hot day, one of these goes down very well. Now I can only get it when I’m abroad. I wouldn’t even mind paying the tax, but it’s just not available
Changes to the San Pelligrino Limonata recipe after the sugar tax was introduced briefly turned me into Ayn Rand.
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Aargh, this drives me mad. I don’t drink a lot of fizzy drinks, but occasionally on a hot day, one of these goes down very well. Now I can only get it when I’m abroad. I wouldn’t even mind paying the tax, but it’s just not available
To zeroth order the front end is just supermarkets, and they already have those annoying clubcard systems. You’d just need to standardise the clubcard interface across supermarkets and allow it to be used for payment. Then you can fix the price of bread as 1 clubcard pt or whatever
Trying to imagine an insane financial system that uses a front and back end currency. Front end is artificially restrained such that prices never shift or experience inflation and is only permitted for individual consumer use. Then a backend real currency licensed buyer/sellers do business with.
November 25, 2025 at 11:32 AM
To zeroth order the front end is just supermarkets, and they already have those annoying clubcard systems. You’d just need to standardise the clubcard interface across supermarkets and allow it to be used for payment. Then you can fix the price of bread as 1 clubcard pt or whatever
Reposted by James Monk
The UK government are holding a consultation on the proposed absolutely fucking ghoulish changes to immigration law
You can fill it out here, but I'd recommend going through carefully, as some questions feel intentionally written to trip you up
You can fill it out here, but I'd recommend going through carefully, as some questions feel intentionally written to trip you up
Earned settlement
The government is consulting on how the current settlement system should be reformed and how those reforms should be implemented.
www.gov.uk
November 24, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The UK government are holding a consultation on the proposed absolutely fucking ghoulish changes to immigration law
You can fill it out here, but I'd recommend going through carefully, as some questions feel intentionally written to trip you up
You can fill it out here, but I'd recommend going through carefully, as some questions feel intentionally written to trip you up
Reposted by James Monk
Yours for a bit shy of one million of your finest English pounds: one crack den.
They really don't want to share any interior shots but when they do, you just know that unspeakable acts have been committed within... www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...
Check out this 3 bedroom end of terrace house for sale on Rightmove
3 bedroom end of terrace house for sale in 75 Camden Mews, Camden, London, NW1 9BY, NW1 for £925,000. Marketed by Auction House London, Hampstead
www.rightmove.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Yours for a bit shy of one million of your finest English pounds: one crack den.
1500 people die each year in road accidents due to relaxed safety standards
"Motorways wouldn't be very useful if we all drove at five miles an hour but that's sort of what we're doing in nuclear safety"
Yes, but motorways don't have the potential to spead radiation across a continent and take many thousands of lives - a la Chernobyl
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Yes, but motorways don't have the potential to spead radiation across a continent and take many thousands of lives - a la Chernobyl
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK is world's most expensive place to develop nuclear power, report says
Experts criticise “overly complex” rules and call for an overhaul of Britain's nuclear strategy.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 11:41 AM
1500 people die each year in road accidents due to relaxed safety standards
The reality is Britain had an average outcome in the pandemic, with some nasty draconian rules. Places with better outcomes had them because of stronger social safety nets, less poverty, better health and obesity. We should prioritise those things if society is to better withstand the next pandemic
BREAKING: UK’s response to Covid was “too little too late”. Acting faster could have saved 23,000 lives in England according to the public inquiry.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
Boris Johnson presided over a “toxic, sexist, chaotic culture” in No10, where rule-breaking seriously undermined public confidence.
November 23, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The reality is Britain had an average outcome in the pandemic, with some nasty draconian rules. Places with better outcomes had them because of stronger social safety nets, less poverty, better health and obesity. We should prioritise those things if society is to better withstand the next pandemic
I live next to a tube station and I find it mad that just across the road there’s a big car park for a drive through retail park. What a waste of a prime location that should be mid-rise flats with some nice green space in between
Building density near facilities also increases disposable income as your travel (car) costs fall dramatically.
November 22, 2025 at 12:31 PM
I live next to a tube station and I find it mad that just across the road there’s a big car park for a drive through retail park. What a waste of a prime location that should be mid-rise flats with some nice green space in between
Reposted by James Monk
Just one more cliff edge bro. I promise bro just one more cliff edge and it’ll fix everything bro. Bro. Just one more cliff edge. Please, just one more. One more cliff edge and we can fix this whole problem bro.
i: Reeves privately tells Labour MPs: I’ll hit wealthy with a mansion tax in Budget #TomorrowsPapersToday
November 18, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Just one more cliff edge bro. I promise bro just one more cliff edge and it’ll fix everything bro. Bro. Just one more cliff edge. Please, just one more. One more cliff edge and we can fix this whole problem bro.
Reposted by James Monk
Reposted by James Monk
“Stop the boats,” is a kind of reverse Trotskyism. The government makes an impossible transitional demand of its own party in order to justify its own radical replacement
November 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
“Stop the boats,” is a kind of reverse Trotskyism. The government makes an impossible transitional demand of its own party in order to justify its own radical replacement
The market for buildings insurance in large blocks is completely broken. This is a significant cost, and the government should play the role of the ultimate market maker and apply pressure to fix it
Tomorrow, @acjsissons.bsky.social and I are publishing an essay on how to fix Britain's economy. @guardianheather.bsky.social has a great column on one of our arguments - that services inflation has its roots in producers knowing more than consumers
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
UK watchdogs need to step in on rip-off bills, which are bad for consumers and the economy | Heather Stewart
From mobiles to insurance and subscriptions, firms are able to exploit the fact they know more than customers
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The market for buildings insurance in large blocks is completely broken. This is a significant cost, and the government should play the role of the ultimate market maker and apply pressure to fix it
Reposted by James Monk
The government should just stop publishing RPI. It’s a bad measure of inflation, it’s always higher than CPI, and it sets inflation expectations higher than they need to be by the mechanism of automatic contract increases. Stop publishing it and those contracts won’t be able to refer to it
November 16, 2025 at 1:55 PM
The government should just stop publishing RPI. It’s a bad measure of inflation, it’s always higher than CPI, and it sets inflation expectations higher than they need to be by the mechanism of automatic contract increases. Stop publishing it and those contracts won’t be able to refer to it
Dim and spooky today
November 15, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Dim and spooky today
“Nation shall give cash bungs unto nation”
On the face of it, the BBC has a general legal power to make payments even with meritless claims, if the BBC sincerely sees it as in their best interests.
But.
The BBC is also accountable to parliament and the National Audit Office. It may need to be able to justify any payment.
>
But.
The BBC is also accountable to parliament and the National Audit Office. It may need to be able to justify any payment.
>
November 15, 2025 at 11:04 AM
“Nation shall give cash bungs unto nation”
It's not the main point, but it says something that that photo of a bike must be around 15 years old based on the now defunct mountain biking parts it has on it. It's like illustrating an article about new car sales with a photo of a 2010 VW Golf
Axing the cycle-to-work scheme might seem like low-hanging fruit for a cash-strapped Treasury, but it would be a big mistake. Particularly with expensive kid-carrying cargo e-bikes, it's one of the most effective modal shift levers out there.
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Rachel Reeves to cut tax benefits for workers using salary sacrifice schemes to buy bikes
Chancellor expected to introduce new limit on how much can be spent on a bicycle through cycle to work scheme
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
It's not the main point, but it says something that that photo of a bike must be around 15 years old based on the now defunct mountain biking parts it has on it. It's like illustrating an article about new car sales with a photo of a 2010 VW Golf
This single chart shows the inter-generational pyramid scheme. That under-taxation during the 90s-10s capitalised into house prices
Fiscal creep has been an amazingly easy way for recent Governments to raise tax without anyone noticing.
Here's the higher rate tax band since 1990.
It rose faster than inflation from 1994 to 2009. Then began a steep decline - with many more people paying higher rate.
Here's the higher rate tax band since 1990.
It rose faster than inflation from 1994 to 2009. Then began a steep decline - with many more people paying higher rate.
November 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM
This single chart shows the inter-generational pyramid scheme. That under-taxation during the 90s-10s capitalised into house prices
I think it does boil down to this point. The country is becoming ungovernable because it is impossible to argue in favour of raising the taxes needed to pay for social obligations because the past 15 years destroyed the social contract
An under-discussed aspect of UK politics since 2016 is the effect that the government and its outriders constantly throwing insults at metro-libs has on national solidarity. They haven’t exactly rolled the pitch for Londoners to pay more to the Brexity provinces in solidarity and shared sacrifice
JUST RAISE TAXES. MAKE AN ARGUMENT FOR SOLIDARITY AND SHARED SACRIFICE FOR ONCE
November 14, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I think it does boil down to this point. The country is becoming ungovernable because it is impossible to argue in favour of raising the taxes needed to pay for social obligations because the past 15 years destroyed the social contract
It’s obviously bollocks whenever a paper writes something like “scientists discover the Hitler gene.” Obsessing over H’s dna sounds like the kind of thing Hydra gets up to in the Marvel comics anyway
Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which hinders normal puberty and the development of sexual organs, according to groundbreaking research
www.thetimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
It’s obviously bollocks whenever a paper writes something like “scientists discover the Hitler gene.” Obsessing over H’s dna sounds like the kind of thing Hydra gets up to in the Marvel comics anyway
The News makes a lot more sense if you think that any institution premised on the existence of the nation state is inconsistent with the world as it actually functions. Explains the failure of the BBC, party politics, the immigration hysteria. We are entering a post-nation state world
November 12, 2025 at 11:15 AM
The News makes a lot more sense if you think that any institution premised on the existence of the nation state is inconsistent with the world as it actually functions. Explains the failure of the BBC, party politics, the immigration hysteria. We are entering a post-nation state world
Did anyone make the “which way, Western Man?” joke yet?
I’m sorry but this whole Noah Smith Heathrow situation is so fucking funny. Centrist thought leader with PhD from University of Michigan struggles to navigate basic airport transfer, blames it on the relative economic decline of Western Europe
November 11, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Did anyone make the “which way, Western Man?” joke yet?
Reposted by James Monk
Really excited about "scripts"! 🤔 They are a kind of agentic AI model that autonomously interacts with your computer by using "statements" generated through a developer-machine interface. 😲 This is some seriously disruptive stuff and really shoes how much AI is changing the scene! 😳
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Really excited about "scripts"! 🤔 They are a kind of agentic AI model that autonomously interacts with your computer by using "statements" generated through a developer-machine interface. 😲 This is some seriously disruptive stuff and really shoes how much AI is changing the scene! 😳