Johan Wahlsten
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johanwahlsten.bsky.social
Johan Wahlsten
@johanwahlsten.bsky.social
330 followers 610 following 42 posts
political economy phd @helsinki.fi | institutions and politics of money, finance, and investment

poliittisen talouden väitöskirjatutkija @helsinki.fi | rahan, rahoituksen ja investointien politiikka ja instituutiot
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
thunen.bsky.social
worth reading the whole thing but here’s the quote about the EndTimes coalition.
@susglickman.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
will-davies.bsky.social
This is very well argued, and worth reflecting on for everyone between the political centre and the radical Left
November 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
mkonings.bsky.social
New piece about MAGA's Fed strategy:

newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Martijn Konings, Fiscal Dominance? — Sidecar
Trump and the Federal Reserve.
newleftreview.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
utak.bsky.social
"Suomen verojärjestelmä ei ole enää kokonaisuudessaan progressiivinen". UTAKin toiminnanjohtaja Lauri Holappa keskusteli eilen Politiikkaradiossa Suomen verojärjestelmästä Tuomas Matikan ja Heikki Pursiaisen kanssa. areena.yle.fi/1-76201434
Veropäivän debatti: Veropolitiikka huipputulojen takana? | Politiikkaradio
Verottaja julkaisi tiedot suomalaisten tuloverotuksesta vuodelta 2024. Mitä veropäivän tilastot kertovat Suomen verojärjestelmästä ja suomalaisten tuloeroista? Mikä rooli politiikalla ja veropäätöksi...
areena.yle.fi
November 13, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
benbraun.bsky.social
The central argument in this excellent paper & thread is that the open-access turn has neglected profit; indeed, it turbo-charged publishers’ margins. As political economists who know a thing or two about profit and power we should speak up a lot more. As it says below: What we’re doing is crazy.
hansonmark.bsky.social Mark A. Hanson @hansonmark.bsky.social · 16d
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
alexcampolo.bsky.social
"Both views ignore what may be Mamdani’s most important contribution in the current moment: he has resurrected a universalist, redistributive, civic-egalitarian politics that had practically vanished from the national and international scene." www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...
Zohran's Promise - Dissent Magazine
The Mamdani campaign extended the arena of political participation to ordinary and unseen people of every place and pursuit. The challenge going forward will be sustaining faith in the idea that the c...
www.dissentmagazine.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
wstreeckblog.bsky.social
Social Contract or Expert Rule: Capitalism, Democratic Politics, Economic Expertise, and the Battle against "Populism"

Critical Review, 1-21, September 03, 2025
wolfgangstreeck.com/2025/09/08/s...
September 8, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
kaihko.bsky.social
"On hyvä tunnistaa, että sota ja rauha ovat sosiaalisesti rakennettuja olotiloja. Ne mahdollistavat, estävät ja määräävät tiettyjä toimintatapoja – joista äärimmäisin on organisoitu väkivalta."

yle.fi/a/74-20192393
Ilmari Käihkön kolumni: Sodasta kohkaaminen on riski – siitä voi tulla itseään toteuttava ennustus
Suomi ei ole sodassa. Siksi on vaikea ymmärtää, miksi sotaretoriikka vain vahvistuu. Nykyisiin turvallisuusuhkiin voidaan varautua ilmankin, Käihkö kirjoittaa.
yle.fi
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
financialtimes.com
Thomas Piketty: ‘The left has been a victim of its own success’ on.ft.com/47TjkYV | opinion
Thomas Piketty: ‘The left has been a victim of its own success’
The economist on populism, fiscal debt and the long-term trend of economic equality
on.ft.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
isabellamweber.bsky.social
If guaranteeing essentials sounds radical in 2025, it speaks to how far we’ve drifted from democracy’s core promise. Markets will not save democracy.

My new piece for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zohran Mamdani shows how Democrats can defeat authoritarians like Trump | Isabella Weber
Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritarians
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
ahokasjaj.bsky.social
Poliittinen talous -lehti 1/2025 löytyy nyt kokonaisuudessaan journal.fi -palvelusta. 👇 Mukana Digijättien poliittista taloutta EU:ssa (by Matti ja Laura), hieno pääkirjoitus poliittisen talouden tutkimusalasta (by Konsta ja Markus) sekä joukko kiinnostavia katsauksia ja arvioita. Ota ja lue! 🧐
poliittinentalous.bsky.social Poliittisen talouden tutkimuksen seura @poliittinentalous.bsky.social · Oct 22
Poliittinen talous -lehden vuoden 2025 ensimmäinen numero on koottu!

Numerossa 13:1 muun muassa teorisoidaan alustayhtiöiden poliittista vaikutusvaltaa, tarkastellaan datakeskusinvestointien hyviä ja huonoja puolia sekä analysoidaan siirtolaisten hoiva- ja kotitaloustyön järjestelyjä. 1/4
November 5, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
erikmbaker.bsky.social
I have an essay on self-help, the "philosophy" industry, and human finitude in our new issue. As Dylan said of "Tangled Up In Blue," it took me ten years to live and two to write. I hope you enjoy. www.thedriftmag.com/how-i-learne...
October 31, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
brianconnolly.bsky.social
A beautiful, moving essay on resistance from Joan Scott

www.bostonreview.net/articles/a-g...
A General Air of Anxiety - Boston Review
The Red Scare targeted my father. He taught me the meaning of resistance.
www.bostonreview.net
September 10, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
newleftreview.bsky.social
‘A key question, however, is rarely asked: what does ‘‘material interest’’ mean?’

For Sidecar, Dylan Riley on the new Marxism:

newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Dylan Riley, Material Interests — Sidecar
On the new Marxism.
newleftreview.org
October 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
laurifinest.bsky.social
1/5 Teemu Luukan uudesta kirjasta saa käsityksen, että VM:n kansliapäällikkö Majanen on kulisseissa edistänyt kyseenalaista neljän prosentin yhteisöveroalea (ks. otteet kirjasta). Ongelmallista on, että veroalen perusteet ovat heikot ja ristiriidassa ministeriön omien asiantuntija-arvioiden kanssa.
October 29, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
jooseppi.bsky.social
Redeemed
www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en...
October 27, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
ottokyyronen.bsky.social
Suomen velkasuhde on noussut 40 %:sta yli 80 %:iin pääosin niinä vuosina, kun talous on kasvanut alle 0,5 %. Suomella ei olisi velkaongelmaa, jos talous kasvaisi.

Sopeutus heikentää kasvua. Siksi on ongelma, että mediamme ei tarkastele (julkis)taloutta muusta kuin jatkuvan sopeutuksen näkökulmasta.
Puoluejohtajat paljastavat, mistä miljardeilla kasvavat puolustusmenot leikataan
Suurimpien puolueiden puheenjohtajat suhtautuvat pääosin penseästi terveyspalveluiden ja eläkkeiden leikkaamiseen puolustusmenojen rahoittamiseksi.
yle.fi
October 25, 2025 at 4:41 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
lauriholappa.bsky.social
Kiinnostava kalvosarja E2:lta. Keskustan kannattajat suhtautuvat aivan yhtä penseästi kuin vasemmistopuolueiden kannattajat väitteeseen "On hyväksyttävää, että osa väestöstä tippuu kyydistä, kun valtiontaloutta laitetaan kuntoon". 1/x

www.e2.fi/media/julkai...
October 23, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
ahokasjaj.bsky.social
Jengi toistelee nyt joka puolella tosiasiana, että Suomen työllisyys on selvästi kasvanut viime vuoteen verrattuna. Sehän ei pidä paikkaansa. Mutta elinkeinoelämän sumutus on tässäkin mennyt läpi. Suomea viedään kuin litran mittaa.

#talous #politiikka #media
October 23, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
poliittinentalous.bsky.social
Poliittinen talous -lehden vuoden 2025 ensimmäinen numero on koottu!

Numerossa 13:1 muun muassa teorisoidaan alustayhtiöiden poliittista vaikutusvaltaa, tarkastellaan datakeskusinvestointien hyviä ja huonoja puolia sekä analysoidaan siirtolaisten hoiva- ja kotitaloustyön järjestelyjä. 1/4
October 22, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
sandipto.bsky.social
Everyone should read the excellent debate between @gabrielwinant.bsky.social and @econmarshall.bsky.social
on the politics of anti-monopoly. Worth adding here Charles Maier's acute observation about the history of anti-monopoly pol. in the US as a replacement for a broader critique of capitalism
October 14, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
cedricdurand.bsky.social
"By preaching that technology shaped by capital is the ultimate horizon, Aghion implicitly accepts that nature, labour and society are second-order variables, subordinated to a fetishized technical devenir". @nobelprize.bsky.social @newleftreview.bsky.social
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Cédric Durand, Neo-Schumpeterian — Sidecar
On Philippe Aghion.
newleftreview.org
October 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
will-davies.bsky.social
This is one of the most lucid discussions of Britain’s current conjuncture (and of liberalism’s more generally) that I’ve heard
lrb.co.uk London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · Oct 17
‘Whether they're most concerned about restoring inequality of men over women, of global cultures, of races or religions, or of economic orders and hierarchies, there's a push back against that principle of equality.’

Alan Finlayson on the online right, on the pod: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...
On Politics: The Online Right (and Left)
Podcast Episode · The LRB Podcast · 15/10/2025 · 1h 15m
podcasts.apple.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
ottokyyronen.bsky.social
”Velkajarrun kenties suurin heikkous syntyy siitä, että jarrua on tarkoitus painaa ikään kuin julkista velkaa olisi mahdollista käsitellä kansantalouden kokonaisuudesta liki irrallisena ja kaiken lisäksi hallitusten tahdon varaisena muuttujana.”
Kommentti: Velkajarru pettää ennemmin kuin toimii toivotulla tavalla
Piru piilee yksityiskohdissa – ja niistä velkajarrukin uhkaa pettää, kirjoittaa erikoistoimittaja Jan Hurri.
www.is.fi
October 16, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Johan Wahlsten
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
"A key aspect of the way we lived with each other before these self-styled epochal developments [post-2020] involved exactly the “social shame and cultural pressure” that Klein and other influential voices now come to condemn"

tapping the 'bring back shame' sign
www.bostonreview.net/articles/how...
October 14, 2025 at 10:37 PM