Rare sighting of a column chart taking a dip at Hove Beach.

#dataviz

A friend in tech, when asked why tech firms are firing engineers in favor of AI, suffering calamities when AI does something crazy that's not caught by engineers, then rehiring the engineers:

"Managements reason in much the same way AI's do. They don't think, just complete thoughts plausibly."

Why engineer around an issue that bureaucracy created? That seems ... mad?

Ja, stimmt.

No, that is fully justified because bread is one of two culinary things in which we beat the French hands down (the other is beer).

Aber dann geht all die Mühe für ein schönes Englisch flöten...

You meant to say "strictly necessary to ensure a fair, equitable treatment of the parties", surely.

final_Brief an Verkehrsminister Schnieder Sehr geehrter Herr Bundesminister Schnieder, wir schreiben Ihnen als Vertreter der europäischen E-Lkw-Hersteller, Ladepunktbetreiber, Speditionen sowie der E-Lkw-Fahrer:innen. Das Aufladen von E-Lkw i...

German truckers are not allowed to move their truck, even for just 50 meters or so, during their 'main break'.

Which means e-trucks block fast chargers for many hours. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Somewhere Bismarck is looking down in confusion as Germany projects power by sending 4,000 pensioners, 12 buffet stations and a TUI loyalty program through the Strait of Hormuz

"Bit stabby in the Senate today" - Brutus

UniCredit Says Commerzbank Needs Overhaul as It Steps Up Pursuit UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel issued a stinging criticism of Commerzbank AG’s current strategy as he intensifies his acquisition push.

"Commerzbank has a 'a story of operating underperformance'. [It] should focus on Germany and Poland and scale back its “oversized” and “inefficient” international operations."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

this morning, mamdani’s team got in touch with me to float a new tax proposal: if your net worth exceeds $5 million and you dress badly, you’ll be hit with a 10% annual levy for “visual pollution.” i would be in charge of deciding if the outfits are bad.

So I return from Brussels to London with a renewed sense of possibility - and unfortunately a growing to-do list. But equally - a sense that my work often in effect translating Brussels to London and vice versa might not be in vain.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Lord Robert Skidelsky, an eminent economic historian & author of the award-winning 3-volume biography of J. M. Keynes.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very sad time.
#econsky

Maybe it’s an old one but to me it seems like the x-head in our story on Claude Mythos wins the internet this week (gift link)
economist.com/leaders/2026...

Germany insisted on delaying phase out of combustion engine. Iran war caused energy shock, et voilà:

BYD was one of the fastest-growing brands in Germany in Q1, with a 135% rise in purchase queries for the Chinese EV heavyweight during that period.

www.reuters.com/busi...

Indeed.

Chinese investments in Spain have been focused on ports and joint ventures for the EV supply chains devoid of the technology transfer that would make it economically transformative. This is not the profile of a deep, balanced economic partnership.

Where should Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica” be allowed to hang? Arguments over the painting’s rightful place hark back to ugly regional politics

One of the reasons I want to go back to Madrid is because I want to see 'Guernica' again. But it may not be.

Decentralised politics means decentralised art. www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Diese Mikroappartments nehmen aber auch Leute aus dem Berliner Wohnungsmarkt an anderer Stelle, das entlastet schon. (Die Architektur ist eine andere Frage, da bin ich immer wieder erstaunt, was für eine Mist in Berlin gebaut wird.)

Europe should think twice before weakening its merger rules A strict competition policy is not the barrier to bigger firms

EU: "The growth and scaling-up of firms . . . so as to reach the necessary size to compete globally, can be pro-competitive."

Fair. But not if you reach that size through mergers that reduce competition. Other things prevent scale in Europe.

www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

Is #petrol expensive? Not really. In real terms, it is cheaper in some places that the longer-term average. Diesel is different.

European policymakers fiddle with energy prices, again. By subsidising fuel, they are delaying adjustments in demand

To understand why price caps are such a bad idea, look at the price gap between petrol and #diesel.

My latest for The Economist.

www.economist.com/europe/2026/...

Today is the day:

NEON DEUTSCHLAND is officially out.

The book features over 360 photographs of fabulous neon signs from 45 different cities in Germany. It is published by Prestel Verlag and is available wherever good books are sold.

www.penguin.de/buecher/jess...

Krastev called Orban the right-wing Castro, which I think is exactly right: the leader of a small relatively insignificant country, that nevertheless became the ideological lodestar for a global movement after being propped up by russia

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops "For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war. A constant tenet of that thousand-year tradition is a nation can only legitimately take up the sword 'in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed' (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2308). That is, to be a just war it must be a defense against another who actively wages war, which is what the Holy Father actually said: 'He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war?' "When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ. The consistent teaching of the Church is insistent that all people of good will must pray and work toward lasting peace while avoiding the evils and injustices that accompany all wars."

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is even weighing in now:

“When Pope Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ.“

(www.usccb.org/news/2026/us...)

Yes, even locally there will be that kind of competition until the system changes. But it is contained a bit through the catchment area.

Did Trump Pick the Wrong JD?

With a Scrubs reboot heating up the airwaves, Zach Braff could have brought nostalgic Gen X voters into the MAGA fold.

No, true. Some teaching to the test will have to be done at home.

Yeah, that's what I had read, too.