Political Economy Research Centre

Workshop @Goldsmiths London: (Post-)Neoliberal Authoritarianism? Culture, Critique and Counterstrategies, Call for Proposals We are inviting collective and individual projects to submit proposals on the ideological, affective and technopolitical dimensions of (post)neoliberal authoritarianism for participation in this hybri...

Call for proposals on '(post)neoliberal authoritarianism' for conference at @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social in June - irgac.org/calls/post-n...

‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’: Human capital and endogenous mortality in Gary Becker’s work Chicago School economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner Gary Becker writes that ‘most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent “suicides” in the sense that they could have been postponed if more re...

My new article with @econsocjournal.bsky.social on Gary Becker's analyses on suicide is out! I use Becker's assertion that ‘Most (if not all!) deaths are to some extent suicides’ to reflect on how the late Chicago School framed death and mortality as a choice, thus normalising mortality inequality

The Public Uses of the History of Economics Workshop: "The Public Uses of the History of Economics: Economics Between Institutions and Public Debates"

EVENT: 'The Public Uses of History of Economics - 19th November @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social - all welcome but please register via www.gold.ac.uk/calendar/?id...

My review of The Technological Republic by Palantir CEO Alex Karp and exec Nicholas Zamiska is out. They call for Silicon Valley to re-align with the Pentagon, where democracy is obsolete, engineers shift from apps to weapons, and code becomes law. Tech is no longer just for profit. It’s for war.

Palantir’s Technological Republic: The Militarised Tech Oligarchy is Here - Political Economy Research Centre In his farewell address this January, then US President Joe Biden delivered a striking warning: a “tech oligarchy”, he said, now threatens American democracy. Echoing Eisenhower’s warning about the mi...

As part of PERC's Silicon Valley Ideology series, @alirizataskale.bsky.social reviews The Technological Republic, by Palantir's CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas Zamiska. The books is an unapologetic blueprint for a militarised tech oligarchy that threatens democracy and needs to be resisted.

The (Not So) Hidden Bias in the UK Pension System - Political Economy Research Centre Retirement planning can be daunting – especially in the UK, where a weakened welfare state has led to one of the lowest pension provisions among OECD countries. Rising living costs, job insecurity, an...

The (Not So) Hidden Bias in the UK Pension System by Ariane Agunsoye for @goldperc.bsky.social. Those with interrupted & varied work trajectories suffer in an unequal system, built for the "ideal" full-time, well-paid worker.

www.goldperc.uk/project_post...

‘Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneur Silicon Valley’s tech moguls have increasing political ambitions, as spectacularly illustrated by Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk’s involvements in the US 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential e...

📢🔔 ICYMI - this at 1989 views in less than a month is By FAR our fastest moving article ‘Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneur - @cibled.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Silicon Valley Dynasties: The Pronatalist Project of Big Tech - Political Economy Research Centre In a techno-libertarian twist on traditional pronatalism, Silicon Valley elites position reproduction as an ideological instrument to ‘future-proof’ innovation, based on a privileged upper-class posit...

The PERC blog is back and we celebrate with a new piece for the Silicon Valley series by Anna Rohmann. Anna delves into the pronatalist philosophy that Musk and SV tech elites have advocated for - a vision the Trump administration is gleefully supporting through the implementation of Project 2025

Hi Ann, just a quick word to say the website is back on and that Inga's piece is now a accessible again. Thanks for your patience!

Silicon Valley Dynasties: The Pronatalist Project of Big Tech - Political Economy Research Centre In a techno-libertarian twist on traditional pronatalism, Silicon Valley elites position reproduction as an ideological instrument to ‘future-proof’ innovation, based on a privileged upper-class posit...

The PERC blog is back and we celebrate with a new piece for the Silicon Valley series by Anna Rohmann. Anna delves into the pronatalist philosophy that Musk and SV tech elites have advocated for - a vision the Trump administration is gleefully supporting through the implementation of Project 2025

‘Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneur Silicon Valley’s tech moguls have increasing political ambitions, as spectacularly illustrated by Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk’s involvements in the US 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential e...

Great to see @cibled.bsky.social very relevant article on Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the ideology of the 'founder' appear in @jcultecon.bsky.social - www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

We are pleased to say that, somewhat mysteriously, www.perc.org.uk is now up and running again, after some domain name registration problems

‘Founder as Victim, Founder as God’: Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the two bodies of the entrepreneur Silicon Valley’s tech moguls have increasing political ambitions, as spectacularly illustrated by Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk’s involvements in the US 2022 midterm elections and 2024 presidential e...

Great to see @cibled.bsky.social very relevant article on Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and the ideology of the 'founder' appear in @jcultecon.bsky.social - www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Next Tuesday, come to the launch of Finance Aesthetics hosted by @goldsmithspress.bsky.social w/ @maxhaiven.bsky.social @erosamon.bsky.social @adriennebuller.bsky.social @mikkelkfrantzen.bsky.social & Emma Sofie Brogaard - all welcome but registration required www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finance-ae...

Next Tuesday, come to the launch of Finance Aesthetics hosted by @goldsmithspress.bsky.social w/ @maxhaiven.bsky.social @erosamon.bsky.social @adriennebuller.bsky.social @mikkelkfrantzen.bsky.social & Emma Sofie Brogaard - all welcome but registration required www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finance-ae...

Finance Aesthetics A Critical Glossary

'Finance Aesthetics: A Critical Glossary' is the latest publication from the @goldsmithspress.bsky.social PERC series, with a stellar lineup of contributors www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-p...

Launch of Finance Aesthetics - 8th April 5-7pm, @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social w/ @mikkelkfrantzen.bsky.social @erosamon.bsky.social @maxhaiven.bsky.social @adriennebuller.bsky.social & Emma Sofie Brogaard - register here - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finance-ae... @goldsmithspress.bsky.social

Another Age of Anxiety: Psychological Distress and the ‘Asset Economy’ - William Davies, 2025 Rates of ‘anxiety disorder’ have risen rapidly in the 21st century, provoking much public debate as to the causes. However, despite attending to varieties of me...

New OA article by Will Davies in @theoryculturesociety.org 'Another Age of Anxiety: psychological distress and the 'asset economy'' - journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Finance Aesthetics A Critical Glossary

'Finance Aesthetics: A Critical Glossary' is the latest publication from the @goldsmithspress.bsky.social PERC series, with a stellar lineup of contributors www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-p...

Launch of Finance Aesthetics - 8th April 5-7pm, @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social w/ @mikkelkfrantzen.bsky.social @erosamon.bsky.social @maxhaiven.bsky.social @adriennebuller.bsky.social & Emma Sofie Brogaard - register here - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/finance-ae... @goldsmithspress.bsky.social

Hi Ann, yes it has, unfortunately! We didn't receive any prior notice, and it is proving harder to get it back than we expected. But we are working on it. It might take a couple of weeks but the website will hopefully be back online soon.

Silicon Valley: from Tech Utopia to Reactionary Dystopia - Political Economy Research Centre Silicon Valley helped elect a president who is clearly looking out for its interests – by weakening antitrust laws, rolling back regulations, cutting social programs, and loosening labor protections. ...

2025 seems the right moment to have PERC's 'Silicon Valley Ideology' series back on! We start with @alirizataskale.bsky.social 's reflections on SV tech giants' calculated embrace of Trump and the Right, their hatred of democracy and the reactionary tech future they have in store for us. More below👇

Controlling Capital - Political Economy Research Centre Capital controls are restrictions on international capital flows which may include taxes, prohibitions, or approvals. These restrictions were used extensively in the post-war era but progressively los...

We inaugurate our brand new bluesky account with a new post by @ingarade.bsky.social on capital controls. Drawing on Keynes, Inga argues that capital controls might be essential to the economic and democratic management of Western societies. More below 👇

Controlling Capital - Political Economy Research Centre Capital controls are restrictions on international capital flows which may include taxes, prohibitions, or approvals. These restrictions were used extensively in the post-war era but progressively los...

www.perc.org.uk/project_post...

In this blogpost at @goldperc.bsky.social I discuss why Keynes believed that capital controls were essential to the economic and democratic management of Western societies