Modern environmental movement makes little sense without this cosmic view...

Hope they like it! Mine have still got Harry Potter to look forward to

The House at the Edge of Magic kids books by Amy Sparkes are just brilliant! So full of wild imagination, vivid characters, heart and adventure.

I've just finished reading the 4th one to my 9 year-old and we've both loved them.

Excellent quote!

I only came across his work a few months ago - looking at his three discovery of deep time books with his then wife - but he seemed to have his finger on a v important aspect of modern thinking. I will be reading more.

Capitalism: a global history | Book launch 6:30pm Wed 25 Mar | Sven Beckert | Ticket Required | Free public event at LSE

Today, Wednesday, in London. Come join me!
www.lse.ac.uk/events/capit...

and 90s so it's a complete lift from her book. And I acknowledge that throughout the book: the book [The Global Casino] is dedicated to her. She understood this stuff long before anyone else and has never really been, as we're so used to, given credit for it."

The analogy of global finance as a casino was, @annpettifor.bsky.social says, "used first by John Maynard Keynes, and then subsequently by a wonderful woman... she founded the field of international political economy, Susan Strange. And she was writing about casino capitalism back in the 80s....

Susan Strange saw global finance as a casino back in the 1980s and inspired Ann Pettifor's new book 'The Global Casino' as she explains here...

www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkx8dd...

The great Sven Beckert in the UK this week!

Pleased I have now, and it took me into a deep dive in NME in the 1970s as well as the truly impressive thinking and work of Stuart Hall.

The world is always bigger and wilder than we'll ever know

A quote in black on a white tiled wall: 'Emanciapatory politics must always destroy the appearance of a 'natural order', must reveal what is presented as necessary and inevitable to be a mere contingency, just as it must make what was previously deemed to be impossible seem attainable' by Mark Fisher (1968-2017)

I saw this quote while at Goldsmiths the other week and have to admit that I'd never heard of Mark Fisher before...

Do you have any more events or stops in the UK?

American Lecture. Capitalism: A Global History | Oxford Literary Festival Sven Beckert talks to Ian Goldin - American Lecture. Capitalism: A Global History

This Saturday, March 28, I will speak on Capitalism: A Global History. If in town, come join me.

oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-e...

Free event in London tomorrow... (although it's a bit of a stretch now to call it a launch)

A Multinational Corporation or an International Organisation? The classical definition of international law has been of the body of rules and norms that govern relations between sovereign states. That definition is today still generally agreed to be correct, so far as it goes. But it is insufficient. There are other important...

On Strange's influence on law - this is old but might be useful: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

You can also search her work for specific terms at www.susanstrange.org - maintained by @bhaggart.bsky.social

I Never Meant to Be an Academic by Susan Strange A posthumous ‘guest blog’ by the well-known political economist Susan Strange (1923-1998). Her only published autobiographical writing now online for the first time.

Just seen this... Strange was a great synthesier and still hugely underrated. She had many diverse influences - journalism, history (esp Braudel), int relations etc.

A good place to start is her autobiographical essay 'I never meant to be an academic': www.natdyer.com/i-never-mean...

Westminster Meeting House raided by Metropolitan Police again. Statement: “For Quakers, faith and action are inseparable. Peaceful protest, prayer and nonviolent action are integral parts of many Quakers' religious life. Whilst we take the planning of criminal acts very seriously, we believe that this incident is a deliberate targeting of committed young people who want to make our country a more equitable place. This raid is part of a systematic stifling of dissent. That this is the second time in a year that the police have raided our meeting house dramatically illuminates the broader trend in the UK of cracking down on those who disagree with the government. The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy. It's a key part of how people make their voices heard between elections.” – Oliver Robertson, Head of Witness and Worship Quakers in Britain, 5 March 2026

Yesterday evening, for the second time in a year, the Met Police raided Westminster Quaker Meeting House and arrested a number of young nonviolent activists.

STATEMENT: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

This looks very interesting

Ricardo's Dream by Nat Dyer Book Launch

I'll be talking about economics, imagination, and 'Ricardo's Dream' at Goldsmiths Uni in London on 12 March at 4pm. Come along if you're in town! Cheers

@goldsmithsuol.bsky.social

www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...

Great to see my friend, Dave, sign a contract for his first book on philosophy & aliens. Congrats!

As Trump reduces every economic forecaster in the world to a weeping nervous wreck…

The lens of history allows you to write a 'true story' of what's happening in the modern economy, whereas models often lead us astray - Stiglitz

I seriously have no idea how it does it... but The Guardian piece recently mentioned him not sleeping

How neoliberalism broke economics | Dr Abby Innes YouTube video by The Institute of Art and Ideas

This is very good on utopian economics as the 'governing science' of governments (right & left), banks, financial institutions, credit rating agencies, corporations & consultancies

@abbyinnes.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb07...

Not sure how they found it, but this is apparently @the-syllabus.bsky.social's video of the week 😀

FWIW, I've written to the editor pointing out the links between African Brazil and David Ricardo's famous trade theory... will see if they print it

The @economist.com piece about Brazil's African heritage is good to see - but they fail to note the link to their hallowed free trade theory...

www.economist.com/the-americas...

Very heartwarming video - thanks for sharing

Has Britain become an economic colony? The UK could’ve been a true tech leader – but it has cheerfully submitted to US dominance in a way that may cost it dear

Great piece by @superwuster.bsky.social on how the UK became a digital colony of the US by believing the "dream of the 1990s" and "the logic of free trade and globalisation"

h/t @unlearnecon.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/n...

Last Friday, I got to meet Benjamin Lipscomb author of 'The Women Are Up To Something'. He's in London researching his new book on the BBC. We decided to meet up at philosopher Mary Midgley's childhood home in Greenford, Middx. - where we got a personalised tour from historian Peter Hounsell