Political posturing to get into the news cycle, without any risk of it ever becoming a reality.

That’s about 95% of all political news it seems. Mostly used to distract from the many scandals.

Not entirely correct, I reckon that De Grauwe uses a fictional example to assert his point.

For the exact measures that are currently on the table, I can refer you to this VRT page, which says:

• exemption of 10.000 euros in profit
• a tax of 10% on all profits above 10.000
• And then the exemptions for the “strongest shoulders”: For people who own more than 20 percent of the shares of a company, there is an exemption of 1 million euros. The added value between 1 and 2.5 million euros is taxed at 1.25 percent, that between 2.5 and 5 million euros at 2.5 percent and that between 5 and 10 million euros at 5 percent. Only from a profit of 10 million euros you pay the ‘full’ added value tax of 10 percent.

Nuclear or batteries come with their own kind of logistical problems.

Edit: It might sound that I’m being a contrarian, but I’m with you. Europe has dug itself in a deep hole, and I’m not sure how it will manage its way out without depending on dictatorships.

Sharing the non-paywalled version from the original post: https://archive.is/2025.05.29-170356/https://www.ft.com/content/39d4678d-a7e1-4fce-b8d8-eb799cfed3e6

Love Clutch, thanks for sharing!

So American LNG imports? Doesn’t sound too attractive an option nowadays, although a great bargaining chip in the tariff deals.

I did not expect a mention of Dries Van Langenhove in the article. Convicted in Belgium for sowing hatred and denying the holocaust, so now he fled to the rest of Europe to spread his filth.

History might not repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme!

Well put! :)

There might indeed be ways around the filter, e.g. a stable, non-exploitative society but they would never reach space. The filter might indeed not even exist, space could indeed still be young but I’m not very convinced. If space were young, and if it were to expand as it currently does, civilizations would have fewer opportunities as there would be fewer visible stars to explore. As time grows, chances get smaller still.

Let’s say humans do cling on. I believe they will face challenges that are too steep to make long-term survival probable. Not only the heavily pollution and the unlivable climate, but the depletion of basic minerals will probably prove too great an obstacle. That band of humans must have held on and maintained all current technology, and have sufficient power sources, to be able to do some deep underground mining, as all easy-to-reach minerals have already gone. Without technology or those minerals, I’m not sure how we’ll be growing food or cleaning the air to breathe.

Increasing the reach of their power by risking internal cohesion. Brexiteers railing against Poles did not wake up the EU, apparently.

I believe we’re seeing a universal law in action: any technologically advanced civilization will end up destroying itself. Whether it’s the warming due to extracted fossil fuels, or a nuclear war, or AI, …, there is, and must be, a seed of destruction in every advanced civilization. I purposefully say ‘must be’ because of the Fermi paradox, which should indicate to us all how any sci-fi future is forever beyond our grasp.

Not only last year. The trend should break this year, but with the EU still faffing around with these new sanctions, I’m not sure whether it will.

I’m guessing he stands to earn more on the coming SpaceX contracts than he lost on Tesla.

The Office when Michael left.

Terminator 3 is the last of that series in my eyes. The others - although not too shabby (excluding Salvation of course) - I regard as fan fiction.

Arrested Development - that last season just did not agree with me.

Community - things dropped off quickly when Troy left.

Absolutely. You’d think an “economy-focused” party like N-VA would gladly accept migrants to fill up these “bottom-rung” jobs. Instead, they prefer feeding the anti-migrant rhetoric even if, as the OECD claims, it will hurt our economy.

Is there any other way to interpret this, except that N-VA prioritizes racism – or at least pandering to racists – over the health of the Belgian economy?

Belgium :)

In my country we have 2 kings, one of whom complains he does not get enough money to fuel his yacht. No joke.