It's politics, stupid! Check out this new "need to know" digital tech primer for progressives! No fair future society unless we understand & take charge of digitalisation. samak.info/wp-content/upload… Thanks @JNogarede @feps_europe Johan R Steen @fafoinfo @johsj @hildenagell @RnSonne

Extremely important reason to tax wealth at the top

Corporate taxes are highly progressive because ownership of corporations is concentrated among higher-income households. via @MortenStostad

In the US, billionaires spent $18 million on the 2000 presidential election. $13 million in 2004. $16 million in 2008. $231 million in 2012. $682 million in 2016. $1.2 billion in 2020. $2.6 billion in 2024 — 19% of all federal campaign contributions.

Forbes just released its latest annual ranking of global billionaires. The pace at which extreme wealth is rising is simply staggering: The wealth of global billionaires now reaches the equivalent of 17% of world GDP. 🧵

None of these graphs existed five years ago: A thread on who pays which taxes. The total tax bill across the income distribution is flat or rising, before falling at the top. Which taxes generate that pattern?

The race to develop frontier AI is accelerating faster than safeguards can keep up, posing major risks to democracy and our societies. We need a course correction. I’m proud to add my voice to the growing movement of experts and organizations who support the principles outlined in this declaration for a safer, more intentional path forward with AI. humanstatement.org/

Protesting or at least opposing data centers is highly rational for everyone except the most direct equity holders hence beneficiaries of the AI and AI value chain companies. AI has a political constituency problem. Most people know that they are net losers from the trade off of “losing your job/economic value” in exchange for maybe “cure for cancer”, a free robot, UBI and permanent underclass status. They have also been sold pretty convincingly, by the spiritual leaders of the AI industry no less, that this was inevitable no matter what they did. At most they could stall it and prevent it from happening right away. In your typical lobbyist group issues, the benefits are highly concentrated among a few highly motivated and the costs are spread thin across a majority that’s unmotivated and not paying attention. As such the net losers typically have trouble organizing as an effective opposition. AI though has everyone’s attention and has made most if not all acutely aware of the existential stakes. Ask a random person off the street the first thing they’ll tell you about AI is that it’ll take their jobs. I’m not sure we’ve ever had an issue like that. The funny thing about the “AI inevitability” is that it still requires astronomically if not comically high economic cost with significant negative externality to come into being. The average person in a democracy could exercise their political rights to delay the “inevitable” at least in exchange for a stake. It’s perfectly rational, incentive compatible and shockingly they do.

Today we’re releasing the International AI Safety Report 2026: the most comprehensive evidence-based assessment of AI capabilities, emerging risks, and safety measures to date. 🧵 (1/17)

NEW paper w. @LobeckMax, @CdMeul: How do people in the United States and Norway argue for redistribution? In the U.S., pro-redistributive arguments mainly appeal to fairness. In Norway, arguments about the societal consequences of inequality are central. Thread ↓

An interesting facet of this call for an inequality IPCC: The motivation is entirely focused on externality problems. There is no mention of fairness. A prediction: This shift toward externality concerns will continue over time, as rising inequality continues to affect us all.

Fear,uncertainty, weak norms and institutions are pillars in Trump’s exercise of political and economic power. Int’l stability and rules are not in line with the space he desires for the sphere of interest for US. EU should now develop values and vision for its own global role

The images of the Israeli hostages in Gaza are horrifying. Their ordeal is beyond words. I share the pain of their loved ones. The human catastrophe in Gaza has so many faces. The hostages must be released. Food must enter. The war must end. We need a ceasefire. Now.

Important.

Går over på Bluesky. Uholdbart at Musk driver ekstrem politikk på X.

.@KamalaHarris and I will always stand on the side of American workers. As two middle-class kids, we know firsthand that the middle class built this country. And unions built the middle class. Happy Labor Day, America.

På denne dagen for 13 år siden ble 77 mennesker drept i regjeringskvartalet og på Utøya. Det var nøye planlagte terrorangrep rettet mot AUF og Arbeiderpartiet. Mot vår nåtid, fremtid og fortid, og mot vår politikk for mangfold, toleranse og samhold. Aldri tie, aldri glemme.

Workers who join a union gain power over the decisions that affect their lives. It's democracy in action. I'm proud to be the most pro-union president in American history – and I'll keep fighting to defend the right of workers to organize.

This semester I've been teaching "Economic Inequality and Growth" at @UCBerkeley. This is a thread with some of my favorite graphs. First, the headline everyone's-seen-it graph: falling then rising income inequality in Anglophone countries.

Mark this.