@frapacioli.bsky.social
‘If the first rule of democracy is “Learn how to count”, perhaps the first rule of economics should be “Learn how to account”.’ https://substack.com/@frapacioli?r=7dnd50&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=profile&shareImageVariant=image
Pinned
The Self-Financing State
A Layperson's Summary
substack.com
How the UK government’s finances really work. Prepare to be surprised – shocked, even. substack.com/@frapacioli/...
Reposted
Turns out we don’t have to invoke weapons of mass destruction when talking about ocean heat uptake.
The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity.
It’s not going to end well.
The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity.
It’s not going to end well.
World’s oceans absorbed record heat equal to 40 times annual global energy use
The injection of thermal energy comes amid an increasing rise in sea levels and continuing acidification
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Turns out we don’t have to invoke weapons of mass destruction when talking about ocean heat uptake.
The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity.
It’s not going to end well.
The ocean absorbed a record-breaking 23 zettajoules of heat last year, equivalent to 40 times the energy used by humanity.
It’s not going to end well.
Reposted
The investigation hasn’t yet begun into the relationship between Man City and the local government – Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Mayor’s Office.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Manchester City charges: Premier League confirms club guilty of all charges related to financial rule breaches
The Premier League confirms that Manchester City have been found guilty of all charges related to breaches of Premier League financial rules between 2009-10 and 2017-18.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 30, 2026 at 11:44 PM
The investigation hasn’t yet begun into the relationship between Man City and the local government – Manchester City Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Mayor’s Office.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/footba...
Reposted
In terms of messaging, this is very positive, and a big shift from the nature-hatefest of the Starmer administration.
Mind you, most tree-planting is unnecessary: I'd like to see much more emphasis on natural regeneration. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Mind you, most tree-planting is unnecessary: I'd like to see much more emphasis on natural regeneration. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Half a million trees to be planted in England in three years, says government
Exclusive: Environment secretary Angela Eagle to make pledge as part of efforts to protect against extreme weather
www.theguardian.com
September 30, 2026 at 6:59 AM
In terms of messaging, this is very positive, and a big shift from the nature-hatefest of the Starmer administration.
Mind you, most tree-planting is unnecessary: I'd like to see much more emphasis on natural regeneration. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Mind you, most tree-planting is unnecessary: I'd like to see much more emphasis on natural regeneration. 🧵
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted
Climate breakdown and replacing fossil fuels with renewables wasn't mentioned in Burnham's address to conference.
He's left the confirmation that he'll allow more North Sea drilling until after the Holborn & St Pancras by election.
Pandering to vested interests again.
Vote #Green 💚💚
He's left the confirmation that he'll allow more North Sea drilling until after the Holborn & St Pancras by election.
Pandering to vested interests again.
Vote #Green 💚💚
UK household energy bills forecast to rise 16%, or £276, in January.
Household energy debt expected to hit £7bn soon. Heating v Eating dilemma.
120,000 a year die in poverty.
Companies profiteer, fuelling costs, inflation, poverty.
Public ownership gives govt more policy options.
Household energy debt expected to hit £7bn soon. Heating v Eating dilemma.
120,000 a year die in poverty.
Companies profiteer, fuelling costs, inflation, poverty.
Public ownership gives govt more policy options.
Household energy bills forecast to see biggest rise in four years
A typical household faces an annual gas and electricity bill of £1,999 from January, based on a key forecast.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 30, 2026 at 9:01 AM
Climate breakdown and replacing fossil fuels with renewables wasn't mentioned in Burnham's address to conference.
He's left the confirmation that he'll allow more North Sea drilling until after the Holborn & St Pancras by election.
Pandering to vested interests again.
Vote #Green 💚💚
He's left the confirmation that he'll allow more North Sea drilling until after the Holborn & St Pancras by election.
Pandering to vested interests again.
Vote #Green 💚💚
As the Labour Conference grinds on and the next neoliberal Budget approaches, your regular reminder.
frapacioli.substack.com/p/fiscal-rul...
frapacioli.substack.com/p/fiscal-rul...
Fiscal Rules Are for Sensible Fools
Fiscal rules are political theatre. They’re announced as financial disciplines, evidence that the grown-ups are in charge – but gamed when inconvenient and abandoned when reality intrudes.
frapacioli.substack.com
September 29, 2026 at 7:28 AM
As the Labour Conference grinds on and the next neoliberal Budget approaches, your regular reminder.
frapacioli.substack.com/p/fiscal-rul...
frapacioli.substack.com/p/fiscal-rul...
Reposted
Bank of England (BOE) governor says soaring energy prices could trigger interest rate rise.
BOE will deplete business/household incomes by hiking costs. Force people to hand wealth to banks, boost their profits
How about curbing profiteering, supply-chain problems, taxing those with surplus cash?
BOE will deplete business/household incomes by hiking costs. Force people to hand wealth to banks, boost their profits
How about curbing profiteering, supply-chain problems, taxing those with surplus cash?
Bailey's warning: Bank of England governor says soaring energy prices could trigger interest rate rise | LBC
The Bank has predicted that inflation will increase to around 3.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of this year and 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2027.
www.lbc.co.uk
September 27, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Bank of England (BOE) governor says soaring energy prices could trigger interest rate rise.
BOE will deplete business/household incomes by hiking costs. Force people to hand wealth to banks, boost their profits
How about curbing profiteering, supply-chain problems, taxing those with surplus cash?
BOE will deplete business/household incomes by hiking costs. Force people to hand wealth to banks, boost their profits
How about curbing profiteering, supply-chain problems, taxing those with surplus cash?
Reposted
UK Chancellor can easily increase income tax personal allowance by £3,000 a year.
It will boost basic rate taxpayers by £600 a year. Millions will be helped. Benefit to higher rate taxpayers can be clawed back.
The cost of £30bn can be met by ending bank subsidies, £100bn over the last 3 years.
It will boost basic rate taxpayers by £600 a year. Millions will be helped. Benefit to higher rate taxpayers can be clawed back.
The cost of £30bn can be met by ending bank subsidies, £100bn over the last 3 years.
This is how the Chancellor can increase the personal allowance and lift millions out of hardship
Sustained economic growth can’t be achieved without a major boost to the purchasing power of the bottom 50% of the population
leftfootforward.org
September 27, 2026 at 9:59 AM
UK Chancellor can easily increase income tax personal allowance by £3,000 a year.
It will boost basic rate taxpayers by £600 a year. Millions will be helped. Benefit to higher rate taxpayers can be clawed back.
The cost of £30bn can be met by ending bank subsidies, £100bn over the last 3 years.
It will boost basic rate taxpayers by £600 a year. Millions will be helped. Benefit to higher rate taxpayers can be clawed back.
The cost of £30bn can be met by ending bank subsidies, £100bn over the last 3 years.
This really is a no-brainer. And the failure of successive Chancellors to end it shows the timidity of elected politicians when dealing with money men – at the Bank of England, the Treasury and ‘the markets’. Dire.
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund
The Bank of England has paid commercial banks £100bn in interest on reserves in three years. The EU stopped doing it in 2023 – Dale Vince says Britain must too.
www.babelfish.news
September 27, 2026 at 7:29 AM
This really is a no-brainer. And the failure of successive Chancellors to end it shows the timidity of elected politicians when dealing with money men – at the Bank of England, the Treasury and ‘the markets’. Dire.
Reposted
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund
The Bank of England has paid commercial banks £100bn in interest on reserves in three years. The EU stopped doing it in 2023 – Dale Vince says Britain must too.
www.babelfish.news
September 27, 2026 at 7:20 AM
Interest on Reserves: The £100bn UK Bank Subsidy You Fund.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Banks making £50bn profits a year receive subsidies, long ended by the EU.
UK Treasury will payout over £150bn over a five-year period from 2023 to 2028.
No justification for handling billions to banks.
End bank subsidies, help people.
Reposted
Dear God. We might as well be back in 2010-15 with Osborne at the Treasury – and that went well, didn’t it?
My Sunday Times column: The chancellor wants to emphasise that the UK is the only major economy planning to cut its budget deficit. But he has to persuade the markets that he will actually do so:
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
www.thetimes.com/article/66d8...
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
www.thetimes.com/article/66d8...
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
The UK economy has been resilient and there is a plan to reduce the deficit. But borrowing costs are high and tough action by the chancellor is needed
www.thetimes.com
September 27, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Dear God. We might as well be back in 2010-15 with Osborne at the Treasury – and that went well, didn’t it?
Dear God. We might as well be back in 2010-15 with Osborne at the Treasury – and that went well, didn’t it?
My Sunday Times column: The chancellor wants to emphasise that the UK is the only major economy planning to cut its budget deficit. But he has to persuade the markets that he will actually do so:
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
www.thetimes.com/article/66d8...
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
www.thetimes.com/article/66d8...
Can John Healey convince markets he will cut the budget deficit?
The UK economy has been resilient and there is a plan to reduce the deficit. But borrowing costs are high and tough action by the chancellor is needed
www.thetimes.com
September 27, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Dear God. We might as well be back in 2010-15 with Osborne at the Treasury – and that went well, didn’t it?
Loving the emojis here.
The temerity, irony, hypocrisy, stupidity, and arrogance should have ended the run of this 🍊🤡💩🎪 a long time ago.
September 25, 2026 at 7:48 AM
Loving the emojis here.
That Sister Georgieva, head of the IMF, can talk such nonsense about the sovereign debt of advanced economies is extremely worrying. The neoliberal poison of the household analogy has gone very deep and very wide.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rich nations must cut debt as global shocks push up borrowing costs, IMF chief tells BBC
In an interview with the BBC, Kristalina Georgieva says economic shocks had pushed "debt levels up like a staircase not to heaven".
www.bbc.co.uk
September 23, 2026 at 6:59 AM
That Sister Georgieva, head of the IMF, can talk such nonsense about the sovereign debt of advanced economies is extremely worrying. The neoliberal poison of the household analogy has gone very deep and very wide.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted
Neoliberals want to end the triple-lock on state pension
They inflict low wages, consign millions to poverty.
Govt spending on state pension as % of GDP in G7 countries.
Italy 12.8
France 12
Germany 9.8
Japan 8.9
USA 6.6
Canada 4.7
UK 4.7
UK has one of the least generous pensions in the G7.
They inflict low wages, consign millions to poverty.
Govt spending on state pension as % of GDP in G7 countries.
Italy 12.8
France 12
Germany 9.8
Japan 8.9
USA 6.6
Canada 4.7
UK 4.7
UK has one of the least generous pensions in the G7.
How does the UK State Pension measure up globally?
A global comparison of State Pension provision highlights the onus on individuals in the UK to build pension savings for their retirement, rather than leaving
adviserservices.fidelity.co.uk
September 21, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Neoliberals want to end the triple-lock on state pension
They inflict low wages, consign millions to poverty.
Govt spending on state pension as % of GDP in G7 countries.
Italy 12.8
France 12
Germany 9.8
Japan 8.9
USA 6.6
Canada 4.7
UK 4.7
UK has one of the least generous pensions in the G7.
They inflict low wages, consign millions to poverty.
Govt spending on state pension as % of GDP in G7 countries.
Italy 12.8
France 12
Germany 9.8
Japan 8.9
USA 6.6
Canada 4.7
UK 4.7
UK has one of the least generous pensions in the G7.
Reposted
WAKE UP WORLD.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Jaw-dropping’ El Niño bursts through temperature record months before peak
‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will have a huge impact on communities across the world
www.theguardian.com
September 21, 2026 at 9:22 PM
WAKE UP WORLD.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted
This strongest of all El Niños has suppressed all hurricane activity so far this season.
September 21, 2026 at 2:55 PM
This strongest of all El Niños has suppressed all hurricane activity so far this season.
Why this continued fetishistic attention to the bond markets? They’re full of traders simply betting on which way the wind will blow - and the government doesn’t need them to finance its spending.
Slide in oil prices drives rebound in battered government bonds ft.trib.al/yjNWUe6
Slide in oil prices drives rebound in battered government bonds
Brent crude falls to $101.19 amid speculation that Donald Trump could meet Iranian president this week, lifting French and Italian debt
ft.trib.al
September 21, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Why this continued fetishistic attention to the bond markets? They’re full of traders simply betting on which way the wind will blow - and the government doesn’t need them to finance its spending.
Basically, the argument is a simple one - the (democratic) state is back because markets can’t solve the problems they have made.
September 20, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Basically, the argument is a simple one - the (democratic) state is back because markets can’t solve the problems they have made.
Reposted
This week’s letter to 99% members is a bit of a mythbuster.
What if what we are told about the 1970s is just plain wrong?
sh1.sendinblue.com/3g7dqf62bglp...
What if what we are told about the 1970s is just plain wrong?
sh1.sendinblue.com/3g7dqf62bglp...
January 12, 2026 at 9:45 AM
This week’s letter to 99% members is a bit of a mythbuster.
What if what we are told about the 1970s is just plain wrong?
sh1.sendinblue.com/3g7dqf62bglp...
What if what we are told about the 1970s is just plain wrong?
sh1.sendinblue.com/3g7dqf62bglp...
Reposted
Thread (1/38)
Three Baseless Taboos are Derailing National Renewal
Three Baseless Taboos are Derailing National Renewal
July 31, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Thread (1/38)
Three Baseless Taboos are Derailing National Renewal
Three Baseless Taboos are Derailing National Renewal
Reposted
A much better thread than @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social's original article
There are so many things wrong in this article, let me focus on two: on the perverse logic argument against sanctions, and on the betrayal of Israel's human rights and anti-occupation activists.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
This Israeli election could be the country’s last – this week I saw that for myself | Jonathan Freedland
Spend time on the ground and you see how high the stakes are for next month’s contest – for Israelis and Palestinians alike, says Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland
www.theguardian.com
September 19, 2026 at 5:12 PM
A much better thread than @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social's original article
Reposted
Brace yourselves. I have found the most annoying thing on the Internet. Behold: fridge styling. Frankly I think we might as well let our AI overlords finish us off.
September 19, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Brace yourselves. I have found the most annoying thing on the Internet. Behold: fridge styling. Frankly I think we might as well let our AI overlords finish us off.
Reposted
I think the prime minister should have said this
Former PM Rishi Sunak in the Sunday Times challenges the rise of ethno-nationalism in British politics, as an argument within the right about Britishness being about ancestry, DNA and ethnicity
www.thetimes.com/article/e89d...
www.thetimes.com/article/e89d...
September 19, 2026 at 6:56 PM
I think the prime minister should have said this
Reposted
The BBC has decided that this constitutes news… A man who left for Monaco several years ago declaring he’s ’lost confidence’ in the UK
His qualification for making the headlines? Owning £15bn
Broadcasting like democracy already died!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
His qualification for making the headlines? Owning £15bn
Broadcasting like democracy already died!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 19, 2026 at 6:58 AM
The BBC has decided that this constitutes news… A man who left for Monaco several years ago declaring he’s ’lost confidence’ in the UK
His qualification for making the headlines? Owning £15bn
Broadcasting like democracy already died!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
His qualification for making the headlines? Owning £15bn
Broadcasting like democracy already died!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...