Matt Steinglass
@mattsteinglass.bsky.social
Europe correspondent for The Economist. Please don’t kill me
In what sense is my neighborhood not better because it has brick oven pizzas and craft breweries, among other good things? Don’t grasp the concept
November 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM
In what sense is my neighborhood not better because it has brick oven pizzas and craft breweries, among other good things? Don’t grasp the concept
Whatever European country you live in, making the EU weak means making your country weak. But lots of European voters don’t grasp this.
November 17, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Whatever European country you live in, making the EU weak means making your country weak. But lots of European voters don’t grasp this.
I’m pretty nonjudgmental so this guy’s desire to lay a bear is OK with me, but he should loosen up about unions
November 17, 2025 at 9:24 PM
I’m pretty nonjudgmental so this guy’s desire to lay a bear is OK with me, but he should loosen up about unions
Going to start saying I live in a “pre-war” apartment, probably raise the value 20%
November 17, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Going to start saying I live in a “pre-war” apartment, probably raise the value 20%
You are clearly referring to me here when you say “journalists”, my lawyers will be in touch
November 17, 2025 at 8:20 PM
You are clearly referring to me here when you say “journalists”, my lawyers will be in touch
Yeah, that sounds right
November 16, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Yeah, that sounds right
“There are pull factors” does not immediately, to me, equate to “there are pull factors that will lead thousands of people to sit in camps for years, spend huge sums (for them) and risk their lives in order to make that crossing”. That’s all!
November 16, 2025 at 5:49 PM
“There are pull factors” does not immediately, to me, equate to “there are pull factors that will lead thousands of people to sit in camps for years, spend huge sums (for them) and risk their lives in order to make that crossing”. That’s all!
I keep feeling like you are taking my surprise at this as some kind of condemnation of the UK and celebration of France; that simply is not what I’m saying.
November 16, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I keep feeling like you are taking my surprise at this as some kind of condemnation of the UK and celebration of France; that simply is not what I’m saying.
Stephen, I like the UK just fine, there are things I love and things I hate, as in France; but in 2015 I definitely did not anticipate that people would be risking their lives to get from France to the UK in the way they were for obvious reasons risking their lives to get from Turkey to Greece.
November 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Stephen, I like the UK just fine, there are things I love and things I hate, as in France; but in 2015 I definitely did not anticipate that people would be risking their lives to get from France to the UK in the way they were for obvious reasons risking their lives to get from Turkey to Greece.
Anyway: the UK doesn’t resemble “Love, Actually” most of the time. Places have mystiques that don’t necessarily match reality; these drive behavior. It’s fine but it’s not rational.
November 16, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Anyway: the UK doesn’t resemble “Love, Actually” most of the time. Places have mystiques that don’t necessarily match reality; these drive behavior. It’s fine but it’s not rational.
There are two senses of “irrational” (emotive/aesthetic; mythical/mistaken) and some of the reasons for migrants’ decisions often fit one or both of them.
November 16, 2025 at 4:05 PM
There are two senses of “irrational” (emotive/aesthetic; mythical/mistaken) and some of the reasons for migrants’ decisions often fit one or both of them.
I haven’t talked to migrants outside the Netherlands much. But in much deep reportage I have read/seen that some have unrealistic ideas about the world, as we all do, and often vague ideas about where they are heading. That is not bad—it’s how my ancestors ended up in the US! It’s just a thing.
November 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I haven’t talked to migrants outside the Netherlands much. But in much deep reportage I have read/seen that some have unrealistic ideas about the world, as we all do, and often vague ideas about where they are heading. That is not bad—it’s how my ancestors ended up in the US! It’s just a thing.
I don’t know, ask Stephen bsky.app/profile/step...
Completely agree. It’s the Premier League, it’s the BBC, it’s Harry Potter, it is Downton Abbey!
November 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I don’t know, ask Stephen bsky.app/profile/step...
I don’t know! Not a question I was raising
November 16, 2025 at 3:35 PM
I don’t know! Not a question I was raising
Yes, though these days it’s pretty hard to simply stay in Denmark.
November 16, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Yes, though these days it’s pretty hard to simply stay in Denmark.
I would divide the motivations into rarional (“I could get work in the UK” based on reasonable info about the less regulated/shadow/low wage economy; language, family connex) v irrational (Downton Abbey, Man U, human rights myths).
November 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I would divide the motivations into rarional (“I could get work in the UK” based on reasonable info about the less regulated/shadow/low wage economy; language, family connex) v irrational (Downton Abbey, Man U, human rights myths).
Yes that’s true, but then what we’re saying is this is just the same sort of undocumented flow one might expect between France and Germany, except that there is water between. What still surprises me is how much some people will pay and risk to pursue that flow when there is water between.
November 16, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Yes that’s true, but then what we’re saying is this is just the same sort of undocumented flow one might expect between France and Germany, except that there is water between. What still surprises me is how much some people will pay and risk to pursue that flow when there is water between.
I agree with Stephen that language is a strong pull factor, but it would surprise me that people were willing to go through what they do in Calais just because of language.
November 16, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I agree with Stephen that language is a strong pull factor, but it would surprise me that people were willing to go through what they do in Calais just because of language.
Nobody used to travel from Turkey to Greece by boat because there’s a long land border, until police closed that border and then they started crossing by boat
November 16, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Nobody used to travel from Turkey to Greece by boat because there’s a long land border, until police closed that border and then they started crossing by boat
Because if there are lots of you one would imagine the police would start checking at the bridge terminus, much as they have at other borders in ways that resulted in migrants starting to avoid routes they used to use more often
November 16, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Because if there are lots of you one would imagine the police would start checking at the bridge terminus, much as they have at other borders in ways that resulted in migrants starting to avoid routes they used to use more often
Who is the Brit here and what is the patently untrue thing that was claimed?
November 16, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Who is the Brit here and what is the patently untrue thing that was claimed?
“Unauthorized movement” of course, always has been. There’s nothing like the moving camps of squatters in France or the small boats, and I can’t imagine such a thing developing. It’s a weird thing to have on a border between two equally developed countries and I can’t think of another example.
November 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
“Unauthorized movement” of course, always has been. There’s nothing like the moving camps of squatters in France or the small boats, and I can’t imagine such a thing developing. It’s a weird thing to have on a border between two equally developed countries and I can’t think of another example.