#FollowTheMoney š§µ 40/n havenāt added anything here in a while - but this needs to be posted!
Trumpās victory adds record $64bn to wealth of richest top 10
Share surge increases Elon Muskās fortune by $26bn in a day as Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Bill Gates also benefit
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 41/n Ok so the reason for the long pause in this š§µ was being made rdundant in July, by my lovely (not) employer of 13 years, Goldsmiths University. You can read all about it in this long #AcademicVenting š§µ, tracing the whole sorry saga from first rumblings in Nov ā23 to the bitter end. But of course, #redundancy is all about money, and I think about money all the time now (I have to), so really should write it about it all here a bit
Half thinking of starting an #AcademicVenting hashtag here, about the dire, dire state of UK (global?) higher education. Sharing nuggets of senior management decisions, neoliberal language, and overall slow collapse. Wonāt work of course because most of us canāt risk honesty, but honestly: the everyday reality of what is happening deserves recording in all its depressing and damning detail. #Universities #AcademicChatter #neoliberalism
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 43/n Now of course Elon Musk - having made 2/3 of Twitter staff redundant - has been hired by Trump to head the new āEfficiency Departmentā. i find this prospect alone deeply, deeply scary - both in terms of public services disappearing and the 1000s who will lose their jobs. As you all know: there is absolutely nothing āefficientā about these kinds of cuts whatsoever. They are deeply destructive, nothing else.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 44/n but also: #Redundancy has made me think deeply (of course!) about the role of money in personal decision making. I may be wrong but it feels like this is something we donāt talk about much, and yet it is is so central to everything! I DO want to talk about it, even if I have nothing insightful to say actually. Just a few observations.
1. Money was at core of my decisions around redundancy. I have two teenage children and a high mortgage.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 45/n
I could not go for lovely 0.5 offered, or for tribunal; I had to opt for enhanced redundancy. If had chosen tribunal route i would have probably been able to keep my job as the 12 who did (who were able to do so due to different financial circumstances) were all reinstalled in an even lovelier deal btw management and union. (The 64 of us eho accepted enhanced redundancy by deadline did not know this would happen).
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 46/n
2. Money is now also so core to all my decision-making in how to spend my time, what jobs to go for - and balancing the need for money with wanting to do good, environmental work, and things I enjoy and am good at. It is quite strange, I gave a lecture at SOAS in Feb this year on āDoing Work You Believe in and be paid for itā, on the very day the Goldsmiths mass redundancies were announced (will see if I can upload recording here)
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 47/n
This was a combination of two papers: one on unpaid Eastbourne climate activism, one on sustainability professionals in the palm oil sector. It is very strange that I gave that lecture and wrote that paper - this is me now! I am out here in the wilderness, having to make a living, and yes, doing consultancy work. Which, of course, as I am rapidly learning, does not have to mean āselling out ā - my current work for the RSPB is really rewarding.
https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/4717/
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 48/n here also a link to the other paper on Eastbourne climate activism, iāve shared it before but doing so again as it has a brief section on what kind of work is rewarded by high salaries, and what isnāt. I still feel this is an incredibly important topic and not really talked about enough in #ClimateAction circles. Maybe we can talk about it more together here?
In July 2019, Eastbourne Borough Council declared a climate emergency and committed to making Eastbourne carbon neutral by 2030. In order to achieve this, citizens together with Council created a unique model of council-citizen collaborative climate governance, the Eastbourne Eco Action Network (EAN). EANās main strategy has been the setting up of targeted working groups, each bringing together Councillors, engaged citizens and providers, and each tackling a specific area of climate action through a combination of infrastructure, institutional and behavioural changes. As an environmental anthropologist living in Eastbourne, I was involved in this process right from the beginning, having had my own āecophanyāāthe realisation that the climate emergency required urgent actionāin February 2019. Two years and one pandemic later, in this paper I reflect on the overall experiences and challenges of EANās and Eastbourne Borough Councilās work towards town-wide carbon neutrality to date, discussing possible factors (structural and other) determining varying successes and failures. At the same time, this paper provides an auto-ethnographic account of what āengaged anthropologyā means in practice, mapping out the real contributions anthropologists can and should make in local climate action, but also reflecting on challenges encountered along the way.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 50/n Today adding this excellent video by @RichardJMurphy on how āthe Cityā is not our āJewel in the Crownā, as Rachel Reeves put it, but a parasite extracting huge amounts of money for self-enrichment. It does not add any value to the economy.
So important to see the City for what it is.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 51/n Richardās video has spurred me on to do a few posts now on #PrivateEquity. Long overdue here, because private equity is at the heart of how our world works!
(Just to state again: i am not an expert, just someone who is trying to make sense of our world by #FollowingTheMoney, in an eclectic š§µ)
To start with basics: what is private equity? I like this clear definition by Justin Robertson
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13563460903288270
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 52/n
The amount of wealth and assets held by private equity is vast. The biggest private equity firm of all is of course #BlackRock, founded by Larry Fink in 1988. Here is a lovely Statistica chart showing how its āassets under managementā grew from $1.31 trillion (i mean, not bad) to $10.41 trillion in 2024. Bloomberg predicts they will hit $15 trillion in a few years
https://www.statista.com/statistics/891292/assets-under-management-blackrock/
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 54/n
This article is hard to stomach for all those of us currently looking for work, and not finding anything suitable, or anything at all. But itās good that at least rising #unemployment is recognised now.
My own #redundancy last year and subsequent struggles have made me so alert to all these wider structural changes; I am really scared that this may be just the beginning. Terrible combination of AI and money going only to the rich
#FollowTheMoney š§µ55/n
āKeri said her father had been āpowered by unconditional loveā but he felt the government took advantage of the nearly 6 million people like him who care for a loved one, saving the taxpayer at least Ā£162bn a year.ā
This reminded of a thought I had a while back: how salaries/wages are directly negatively correlated with love.
When you do something you love, or out of love, this is instantly punished by capitalism.
Carers, nursery workers -
David Lodge died after being found next to his father and full-time carer Peterās body. His sister Keri believes the strain of caring and lack of government support contributed to their deaths
#FollowTheMoney š§µ56/n
- nurses, art gallery workers, conservation NGOs, academics, etc - all these jobs that people do out of love for something/one are poorly paid. Love is exploited. More love = less money.
Only love of money itself and nothing else is rewarded with money (high salaries, bonuses, etc). Maybe not surprising - what do you expect in capitalism - but not much honesty about it. All that neoliberal motivational #Passion talk (āmy work is my passionā) - exploitative bollocks.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ57/n
This LinkedIn post resonates ā¦ wanted to share here just in case there are others who are in this situation too.
Also one reason I hardly ever add to this š§µany more is that, of course, I am literally trying to #FollowTheMoney, or rather, divert some from somewhere to my bank accountš #JobSearch #FediHire
This week, a friend told me theyād taken a job with lower pay and a smaller title. āItās not my dream job,ā they said. āBut I need the money.ā My heart ached for him. The last two years have been the hardest Iāve seen in 30 years of watching the job market. Talented people who once had their pick of opportunities are taking lower salaries/titles because they donāt have any choice. This in a world thatās full of āFind your purpose.ā And āDo work that lights you up every damn day.ā F**k purpose for a minute. Thereās no shame in taking the job that feeds your family. Thereās no shame in staying in an industry you donāt love if it keeps the lights on. Some of us are just trying to get through the month. And thatās okay. This season wonāt last forever. I used to believe I had to ālove what I doā every day. That if I wasnāt perfectly aligned with my highest values, I was failing. What a load of privileged bullshit. I once seriously considered selling used knickers on eBay. It was twenty years ago and I was broke and desperate. I never went through with it but it tells you where my head was. To those of you who are between jobs, just remember you more resilient, more adaptable, more courageous than any job title can measure. And this too shall pass. | 158 comments on LinkedIn
#FollowTheMoney š§µ 58/n
I think so much about middle class-ness at the moment. More research in news this week how itās the top 10%, those with incomes over Ā£36,000, who are largely responsible for CO2 emissions; but itās even more than that; middle-class aspirations shape everything. So conscious of this now as I am so driven in finding work so as not to have to sell our (nice, middle class, highly mortgaged house). Then a friend just sent me this - must read. #ClimateDiary
#FollowTheMoney š§µ59/n
Meanwhile our lovely king..
Meanwhile also, as I am listening to the radio as I am typing this: yet another horrific attack in northern #Gaza. Another 50 killed, after yesterdayās 80. This is our world.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ60/n
āThe wealth of the worldās 3,000 billionaires has surged by $6.5tn (Ā£4.8tn) in real terms over the past decade, according to Oxfam, equivalent to 14.6% of global outputā
Capitalism is shit.It is by the rich for the rich and destroys everything else in the process. Letās keep saying it!
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jun/26/billionaires-wealth-oxfam-report?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
#FollowTheMoney š§µ61/n
Just adding this here. A little poll I did a while back!
So, does anyone on here still believe in capitalism? #Capitalism [ ] Yes [ ] No
#FollowTheMoney š§µ62/n
A key dimension to capitalismās destructivism is, of course, its complete intertwining with warfare. Here more than anywhere itās crucial to #FollowTheMoney, as Craig Murray does beautifully in this piece.
Dystopia UK: Genocidal RAF Squadron Targeted by Palestine Action is Owned by a Hedge Fund
If you thought RAF jets were owned by the RAF, think again. The RAF squadron targeted for a repaint by Palestine Action due to its involvement in supplying Israelās genocide, does not in fact belong to the RAF at all. It belongs ultimately to Polygon Global Partners LLP, a Hedge Fund. Through a chain of [ā¦]
#FollowTheMoney š§µ63/n Excellent article by Tim White on how across Europe #privateequity has been buying up significant proportions of housing and driving up rental prices. A key dynamic in growing inequality that contributes to alienation and rise of far-right.
Everything is about #Assets.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ64/n The article made me think once again about Monopoly, and how perfectly it captures what the world is like. Originally called āthe Landlord Gameā, it was invented in 1903 by left-wing feminist Lizzie Magie who wanted to expose how rentier capitalism works through a game. She more than succeeded but - this being capitalist US - never got the credit for it. Interesting piece about it all here.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ65/n
Why is the FTSE 100 at a record high? Could it be that the markets love war, chaos, the prospect of building concentration camps and more? Is the City rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of making profit from oppression?
Why is the FTSE 100 at a record high? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/07/11/why-is-the-ftse-100-at-a-record-high/ Why is the FTSE 100 at a record high? Could it be that the markets love war, chaos, the prospect of building concentration camps and more? Is the City rubbing its hands in glee at the prospect of making profit from oppression?
#FollowTheMoney š§µ66/n Have to add this here, too. As Takei says, always follow the money!
Soencer Hakimian: I have good reason to believe that somebody knew the copper tariffs were coming and traded the news ahead of time, and made an ungodly amount of profit.
Trump announced his new 50% copper tariff at 12:58 PM yesterday.
But as my charting shows, the price of copper began spiking at 12:56 PM.
Attached: 2 images Always follow the money.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ67/n
Forgot that this post should havev been part of this thread, really! š
Attached: 1 image Someone just said āHe who has the golden goose makes the golden ruleā to me, and, googling this, I came across this book about the Kingdom of Id. Now as good a time as ever to share, I thought! #Trump #Golden #WizardOfId
#FollowTheMoney š§µ68/n Have been reading up a bit on Elbit Systems, the Israel military corporation that has been a key supplier in rhe genocide, that Palestina Action protested about, and that the UK government may shortly be signing a Ā£2billion contract wirh to train UK military. Was wondering whether UK pension funds may be investing in Elbit Systems - and yes, they are!
āgood returnsā
#FollowTheMoney š§µ69/n I then looked up whether USS (the university oension scheme) invests in Elbit, and of course, yes, indirectly , they do
#FollowTheMoney š§µ70/n and THIS is the USS statement on this - really worth reading. #Gaza
Financialisation is so evil.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ71/n Great to see Zack Polanski use āFollow The Moneyā as a political slogan - so it should be! (apologies for sharing an X post, tried to find the video elsewhere, failed) #ZackPolanski
#GreenParty #UKPolitics
Now this is how you announce your election victory! Finally the Green Party have good comms - and finally they have a leader whoās totally confident using anti-elite populist rhetoric that will enthuse a far wider voter base. No more meekness!
#FollowTheMoney š§µ72/n āVice like gripā - nice.
āIn 2025 you can still buy advantage, massively increasing your chance of getting into the most powerful roles in the country. This is grossly unfair, and a waste of talent on a huge scale. If we want a fairer country and a stronger economy, employers and policymakers must take responsibility for levelling the playing field, where privilege is no longer a passport to power.ā
#FollowTheMoney š§µ73/n
American billionaires have reached $7.6 trillion of personal wealth , up $4.7 trillion (or 160%) in the less than eight years since the first Trump-GOP tax law was enacted in December 2017.
Most of that wealth increase has never been taxed and may never be under current law.
Number of billionaires grew from 551 to 905. But the top 15 - each worth over $100 billionā have seen their wealth grow by more than 300%.
https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaires-7-trillion/
Total Billionaire Wealth Is Up 160% Since First Trump Tax Law; Proposed New Levy Would Finally Tax Unrealized Gains of the Wealthiest American billionaires reached a record breaking $7.6 trillion of personal wealth as of Labor Day 2025, up $4.7 trillion (or 160%) in the less than eight years since the first Trump-GOP tax law ā¦
#FollowTheMoney š§µ74/n Just finished listening to this 2part #TheDig podcast interview with Melinda Cooper about her book āCounterrevolution. Extravagance and Austerity in Public Financeā, and really cannot recommend it enough. A really excellent, grounded and stimulating account of the neoliberal ācounterrevolutionā as a deliberate project carried out over several decades by different political actors making fiscal choices that reshaped economy, values and politics
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dig/id1043245989?i=1000729326228
#FollowTheMoney š§µ75/n what i particularly appreciated:
1. Disaggregating each decade - how assets became the key focus of economic over time
2. How this links to a conservative political project - the family the key unit for multiple reasons
3. How asset economics the material basis for far right populism
4. Brilliant focus on changing construction worker politics,property speculators (Trump) and homeownership - construction such a key sector in all this
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dig/id1043245989?i=1000731213819
#FollowTheMoney š§µ76/n i have just ordered the book (Counterrevolution) - i really feel itās so important to get a grounded understanding of how this world that we now all live in was created - and, as Melinda Cooper brings out so clearly: none of this was inevitable, it was all done, bit by bit, on purpose. This doesnāt make it any easier to undo necessarily but understanding all this is surely a first, key step.
Here also Katrina Forresterās review in the LRB
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v47/n12/katrina-forrester/i-appreciate-depreciation
#FollowTheMoney š§µ77/n This piece really chimes with Melinda Cooperās analysis ā¬ļø (74-76) and many previous posts: itās about how asset capitalism (and AI) is hollowing out the middle class, with a small number joining the elite, the rest working increasingly on close to minimum wages. Also speaks to my own recent experiencesā¦ and many others too, I imagine. Especially recent graduates. The whole university>white collar job>decent salary model is crumbling.
#FollowTheMoney š§µ78/n #ZohranMamdaniās win has to be logged here - for three reasons!
1. This š§µ all about the #oligarchy, the way it structures our world, and Mamdani taking it on directly, talking about it, making us all #SEEtheoligarchy is just š„
Mamdani condemns āoligarchy and authoritarianismā in speech directly talking to Trump
#FollowTheMoney š§µ79/n
2. Melinda Cooperās brilliant #Counterrevolution (posts 74-76 ā¬ļø ) describes how #NewYork was the place that the neoliberal counterrevolution began - where fiscal policies redistributing money towards the rich, assets and property (Trumpās world!) were first tested and then taken elsewhere.
So exciting that New York is now the place where a different, socialist politicsl economy is emerging! Go New York! Let this spread everywhere from here, too!
Pauline von Hellermann
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