Trump Is a Lot Like Kaiser Wilhelm: Vanity Itself An admiral writes of a world leader who is familiar to us: “He is vanity itself, sacrificing everything to his own moods and childish amusements, and nobody checks him in doing so. I ask myself how pe...

Just seen that Max Hastings also made this comparison earlier in the year as well...
www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Money for nothing: the roles of evidence in GiveDirectly’s journey to $1 billion delivered – In Development evidence and argument for a developing world

We launch with a piece by Paul Niehaus, on cash transfers, RCTs, and the meaning of empowerment: indevelopmentmag.com/money-for-no...

🩺 | NEW REPORT: Changing the NHS funding model would be a costly distraction.

We analysed 22 countries and found:
❌ No evidence insurance systems perform better
💸 Higher admin costs in insurance systems
🏥 The real issue = underinvestment
Read now: www.ippr.org/articles/bis...

Sovereign borrowers launch platform to amplify voice in debt talks April 15 (Reuters) - A group of officials from developing economies launched on Wednesday the Borrowers' Platform, an effort backed by the United Nations to give debt-hit ‌nations a stronger collectiv...

Sovereign Borrowers platform: "The event, presided over by Egypt as chair of the working group, is due to formally open an interim phase for the platform, establish interim leadership & adopt a work program running through Oct 2026, acc. to the launch agenda." uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/soverei...

Perhaps the most interesting item in #DRC Eurobond prospectus is the large discrepancy in reported debt owed to #China. The WB's International Debt Statistics reports it at USD 3-3.5bn in 2018-24 while prospecuts has it at USD 0.7bn in 2021-25 explaining most of $4bn diff in total external debt

Thanks - underlying data source is the same.
www.datawrapper.de/_/DaEoP/?v=2

Will try and take a look later.

Hi Ben, do you know why your working age welfare numbers look quite a bit different from @chrisgiles.ft.com's for non-pensioner welfare? www.ft.com/content/ee67...

Changes the narrative a fair bit as his numbers are c.1% of GDP higher in the past but you both have similar levels post-Covid.

Four current books about the dollar, all in a row

The real question: which book about dominant currencies will be the dominant currency book?

Starmer accused of ‘corrosive complacency’ on UK defence by former Nato chief Lord George Robertson, author of British military review, says premier is not willing to make the necessary investment

Robertson quote here: www.ft.com/content/88b1...

Chart from @chrisgiles.ft.com's excellent column last year here: www.ft.com/content/ee67...

Chart showing Non-pensioner benefits have been stable over many decades as a % of GDP

“We cannot defend Britain with an ever-expanding welfare budget” says Lord Robertson, former Nato secretary-general.

Here is that "ever expanding welfare budget". If Lord Robertson thinks the pension triple lock should end, he should say so. Or he could just argue for the tax rises that are needed.

Tisza at 137 seats, 4 clear of a supermajority, with 2/3 of the constituency votes counted.

However incompetent you think the Home Office are, there is always another level that they can reach.

This is my favorite climate change chart. Japanese monks, aristocrats, and emperors kept meticulous records of cherry blossom festivals for 1,200 years and accidentally built the world's longest climate dataset.

British Islamic fact of the day. “Trafalgar" originates from the Arabic phrase taraf al-ghar, (طرف الغرب) meaning "cape of the west" or "western edge," which refers to Cape Trafalgar in Andalusia. It is best known for the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, where Britain defeated French and Spanish forces.

Do you read/cook Rachel Roddy's column? If you ask Chat GPT 'what restaurants in rome does rachel roddy recommend' it does quite a good job!

Congratulations Ben! I will look forwards to reading you with my Sunday morning coffee.

Whats the best read on this position?

Exclusive: Iran attack damage wipes out 17% of Qatar’s LNG capacity for three to five years, QatarEnergy CEO says Iran’s attacks ‌on Qatar have damaged facilities that produce 17% ​of the company’s ​liquefied natural gas export capacity ⁠and it will ​take three to five years ​to repair them, QatarEnergy CEO Saad ...

Oh man, the hit at Ras Laffan has taken almost 20% of output (i.e. roughly 3% of global LNG volumes) offline for *3-5 years*.

Belgian aristocrat to face charges over murder of Congo’s first premier Étienne Davignon, 93, is the only surviving former official accused in connection to Patrice Lumumba’s death

A Belgian aristocrat who served as diplomat and European commissioner will have to face trial regarding his possible involvement in the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the Congolese prime minister and independence leader assassinated in 1961.

www.ft.com/content/16c5...

Very short but also very clear:
”…linking aid, migration and deterrence has not delivered what it promised and is not based in evidence. Development policy should be steered by development outcomes and not by its presumed effects on migration.”

The irrepressible Nigel Farage Ten years after they first had lunch together, ‘the Brexit guy’ tells Henry Mance why the country needs his help once again

The eight most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm Nigel Farage, and I'm here to help."
www.ft.com/content/3aca...

What should Tottenham do about Igor Tudor? We asked five of our writers Tottenham have lost four out of four under Tudor, conceding 14 goals in that time, and there have been no signs of improvement

😱 What should Spurs do now?

Assembled @theathleticfc.bsky.social Avengers and *spoiler alert* we all came to the same conclusion

👑🗑️

www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

Pakistan to close schools, take other measures to cut energy as oil spikes Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ‌said on Monday that schools would close for two weeks and office workers would work more from home as he announced a range of measures to cut fuel use and gov...

Some examples of how the energy crisis is affecting South Asia.

1. Pakistan will close schools for the next two weeks, get government employees to work from home and universities will shift to online learning.

www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Nairobi floods: Death toll rises to 23 as 29 people rescued, 71 vehicles swept away police say The death toll could go higher as rescue operations are still ongoing.

Torrential rain in Nairobi this week. At least 23 confirmed dead.

nation.africa/kenya/counti...

not since Henry VIII’s wives has a Tudor had such an untimely end at a Palace

The influencers leaping to Dubai’s defence As missiles streak across the region, unfazed residents insist they ‘know who protects us’

The majority of “Dubai expats” come from South Asia and emerging Asia, not just labourers/cleaners but middle class professionals. One of the most important flows of people/remittances across EMs.

Fascinating how absent this is from the image war around Dubai. www.ft.com/content/a7bf...

It's also mind-boggling as the CPS has >5,000 employees. He has actually led a large organisation before. Did he not have to think hard about communicating then? And realise that political communications are an order of magnitude harder than corporate ones?

It's just a really weird phrase to use as well. On top of the "ethnic enemies" stuff, do you think this comes from Biafra?