Paul Nightingale
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paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale
@paulnightingale.bsky.social
2.8K followers 3.2K following 1.2K posts

Professor of Strategy at SPRU.

Associate Dean of Research, University of Sussex Business School. #1 in UK for research income.

Editor Research Policy.

Acting Director HSP.

Views mine, not my employer. Politics unfashionable since 1654 .. more

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Economics 31%
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paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · Jan 7

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 7h
I was pretty impressed.

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 7h
He offered to pay for my PhD when he found out i was doing something very different from his theory.

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 12h
AI prompt: please give me an example of pure unadulterated neoliberalism that goes from full Walter Lippmann on experts and elected officials to a Hayekian love of distributed cognition in markets as the only legitimate political voice. Make it comic in a slightly unhinged way.

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 14h
Not at all. It's the determinant of wages. So it's a very very real problem. Economically - huge loss. Socially - no investment. And politically - drives zero sum politics and populism. It's terrible.

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

auonsson.bsky.social
auonsson @auonsson.bsky.social · 18h
Swedish agency MSB shifts focus from preparing for peace-time crisises to war preparedness.

Come 2026 the name changes to MCF, Swedish civil defence and resilience agency.

The agency will be headed by a general straight from the army, interviewed below

www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/darf...
Därför ska det civila försvaret tänka krig - inte kris - Gräns
Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap försvinner, och ersätts med den helt nya Myndigheten för civilt försvar.
www.sverigesradio.se

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

resolutionfoundation.org
Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 21h
🚨 Major event🚨

Two years on from the publication of the Resolution Foundation’s seminal book – Ending Stagnation: A New Economic Strategy for Britain - we're hosting a major event to take stock of Britain’s prospects for growth, and how they can improved.

Sign-up now➡️ buff.ly/NigCdZ3
Event: Kicking the can on growth? Assessing Britain’s economic strategy and where it should go next Date and time: Monday 19 January 2026 9:30 am - 10:45 am

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 1d
Classic was this paper with Alex Coad.

Source: Oxford Academic share.google/vjwASuqSIcFd...
Muppets and gazelles: political and methodological biases in entrepreneurship research
Abstract. Despite an almost universally accepted belief outside academia that entrepreneurial activity is a positive driving force in the economy, the accu
share.google

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 1d
We are looking at this... and yes. There is a big and weird minimum wage effect.

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 1d
...productivity is a tiny fraction of the median firm in their sector and geographic area. And miniscule compared to the top 1%.

It's so poor I'm going to have to check this again...

But clearly the mainstream and Schumpterian models of market exit are deeply misleading.

Big barriers to exit!

Reposted by Alex Coad

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 1d
I'm extending research we have been doing on marginal undersized poor performance firms, looking at their labour productivity.

The length of the long tail of poor performance firms in the UK is well known but still striking.

But the depth of that tail is a real shocker. Their labour ....

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

oldtrotter.bsky.social
David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 1d
Interesting post on why manufacturing mania is misguided, but an idea that never really dies if you don’t believe too much in markets. Some lessons for Blue Labour here open.substack.com/pub/rbaldwin...
Is China misthinking manufacturing?
China’s problem isn’t just overproduction in manufacturing, it’s also underproduction of advanced services.
open.substack.com

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

richardaljones.bsky.social
Richard Jones @richardaljones.bsky.social · 1d
End of year overview of posts on my blog Soft Machines.
Featuring
-the UK's economic stagnation
-why the UK's new nuclear build programme failed
-good & bad reasons for growing UK manufacturing
-scenarios for the future of AI
-Moore's law
-university/R&D policy for hard times
softmachines.org?p=3218
The Year in Soft Machines – Soft Machines, by Richard Jones
softmachines.org

Reposted by Richard Shaw, Samantha Brennan, Leo McCann , and 2 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d
'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2
‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure
Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

lrb.co.uk
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 2d
‘Gaston Bachelard is inviting us to go beyond what we think we know. That is, how to counter boring intuitions with interesting ones. But who is to say which is which?’

Michael Wood on the philosopher of science.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Michael Wood · Spellbound Gloaming: Bachelard’s Dreamwork
Gaston Bachelard is inviting us to go beyond what we think we know. That is, how to counter boring intuitions with...
www.lrb.co.uk

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 2d
Reupping this.
paulnightingale.bsky.social Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 2d
This is my recommendation for music today.

Ramsey Lewis Trio

You can thank me later.

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

ali1m.bsky.social
claus iv @ali1m.bsky.social · 2d
props to this christmas lad I’ve just spotted on @flightradar24.com
a flight track of a plane drawing a christmas tree

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 2d
This is my recommendation for music today.

Ramsey Lewis Trio

You can thank me later.

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 3d
Happy Christmas for academics...
johnholbein1.bsky.social John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 3d
"Even after accounting for the upfront costs and delayed benefits, enrolling marginal applicants to public universities generates substantial net returns for society, the marginal students themselves, and the government budget."

Public Universities FTW!

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Axel Bruns, David N. Thomas , and 10 more

petetheref.bsky.social
Pete @petetheref.bsky.social · 3d
The Embassy staff of Germany, France and the United Kingdom sing Schedryk in the Kyiv underground.
Wonderful!

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 3d
This had a huge impact on later 20th century thought.

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Alistair Munro, Michael A. Clemens , and 12 more

johnholbein1.bsky.social
John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 3d
"Even after accounting for the upfront costs and delayed benefits, enrolling marginal applicants to public universities generates substantial net returns for society, the marginal students themselves, and the government budget."

Public Universities FTW!

paulnightingale.bsky.social
Paul Nightingale @paulnightingale.bsky.social · 3d
And you!

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

liberalcurrents.com
Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 3d
"The Bloomsbury of the unbridled twenties unexpectedly turned out numerous disciplined Marxists around 1930." www.liberalcurrents.com/the-eclipse-...
The Eclipse of Thought
Michael Polanyi’s preface to his 1951 book The Logic of Liberty begins: “These pieces were written in the course of the last eight years. They represent my consistently renewed efforts to clarify th...
www.liberalcurrents.com

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

generalboles.bsky.social
General Boles @generalboles.bsky.social · 3d
I love this country and its traditions, perhaps none more so than how Smithfield butchers are treated like rock stars on Xmas Eve

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

johnsimpsonnews.bsky.social
John Simpson @johnsimpsonnews.bsky.social · 3d
Video has emerged of Gen Xu Qinxian of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at his court martial in 1990, explaining why he refused orders to crush the Tiananmen Square protests. Xu said he didn’t want to become “a sinner in history”. He was given a 5 year sentence.

Reposted by Paul Nightingale

us.theconversation.com
The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 4d
A genetic researcher who has spent a decade studying how new drugs are developed (after decades doing it himself) writes that NIH funding is crucial to the process, and has been a huge driver of innovation and economic growth.

The White House has proposed a 40% budget cut for 2026. buff.ly/KRt7a0g
How the NIH became the backbone of American medical research and a major driver of innovation and economic growth
The agency’s budget has grown steadily since the 1960s, fueling an industry that creates lifesaving medicines and attracts billions of dollars in investment.
buff.ly

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Paul Nightingale

lrb.co.uk
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 4d
‘In addition to being a superb marketing tool, Doomerism is also an excellent distraction from the real-world harm being done by AI right here, right now.’

John Lanchester on the AI bubble.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
John Lanchester · King of Cannibal Island: Will the AI bubble burst?
Nvidia shares are the purest bet you can make on the impact of AI. The leading firms are lending money to one another in...
www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Mark Bray, Paul Nightingale

journalspectre.bsky.social
journalspectre.bsky.social @journalspectre.bsky.social · 4d
Last piece of the year y'all! This one is a must read.

@shaneburley.bsky.social takes a deep deep dive into Richard Spencer's rebrand in order to illuminate the fringe right's movement dynamics, influence on the mainstream, and political impasses.

spectrejournal.com/varieties-of...
Varieties of White Nationalism – Spectre Journal
Shane Burley looks at Richard Spencer's rebranding effort to illuminate the movement dynamics and political impasses of the "dissident" right.
spectrejournal.com

Reposted by Benjamin K. Sovacool, Paul Nightingale

bu-igs.bsky.social
Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability @bu-igs.bsky.social · 4d
Congrats IGS Director @sovacool.bsky.social on three major 2025 research citation honors!
Stanford's list of "World's Top 2%" scientists: spr.ly/63320CuXAO
ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholars: spr.ly/63323CuXAR
Clarivate's Highly Cited Researchers: spr.ly/63325CuXAT
Headshot of Benjamin Sovacool.

Reposted by Alex Coad, Paul Nightingale

hss.springernature.com
Humanities & Social Sciences @hss.springernature.com · 4d
In the digital age, leadership matters more than ever. 'Data Science MBA'—by @coad.bsky.social—just published in @springer.springernature.com. Discusses the skills of a data scientist & how digital transformation leads to new concerns surrounding ethics. bit.ly/4s28asS #BookSky #AcademicSky #EduSky
Data Science MBA: Big Data, Digitalization, and Strategy; With Applications in R