Michael Francis

Senior Lecturer | Global Affairs, Politics & IR
Political Economy | Conflict | Global Power
Explaining what’s actually going on

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@MikeK06904707 @ThrillaRilla369 Antibiotics are what will save the lives of people who get poisoned by unpasteurised milk - like these 60 people. https://t.co/svUljB6Hh8

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

Which country developed in isolation? Ethiopia also went from Feudalism to a military dictatorship after Italian scorched earth tactics- its entire history is hard to sum up in a tweet - but it remains largely agricultural, in debt and is struggling to change that position within the global system.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

That aid often ties it into a poor position where they are expected to open their economy, not industrialise (China built them a train as World Bank would not fund it). Currently they owe 3.5 billion dollars to the IMF which comes with many conditions and the need for dollars - so they trade low value goods. Only China is helping dig them out in a meaningful way.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

Yet they are a very poor country and their attempts to change their position is a long slow grind - they do not have any IMF pressures as other countries do such as Ethiopia - by having fewer financial pressures they can choose to intervene in their economy with the financial penalties other countries do.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

Not quite the correct concept - it is about pointing out that economic structures exist and that all states participate in the political economy in ways not of their own choosing. Poor countries tend to be at the bottom exporting raw resources or agricultural goods of low value. Any attempt to shift this runs afoul of power that tries to keep the status quo.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@boriquagato To "redeem" the labour theory of value, is not to claim that labour alone determines market prices. It is to treat labour value as a theory of production, surplus generation, and exploitation rather than a literal theory of everyday price formation.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@boriquagato Marx himself actually recognised problems with this. He spoke of socially necessary labour time, not simply labour time.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@skyyjuice @iluminatibot Simple is best but it is not an energy weapon .

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@LornaLong1960 @BBCWorld Then who am I?

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@MileiSays This is awkward ...https://t.co/h7pGBEdD6W

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@LornaLong1960 @BBCWorld Who are we needing defending from?

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@LornaLong1960 @BBCWorld He should stop funding other's wars, get rid of Trident and leave NATO. That would save us a few billion.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@llamalaikum Yet she published that decision making it everyone's business for clicks

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@wilsonhlthcoach Raising kids on a farm without a tetanus vaccine is a daft idea at best.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@icicestpepsi And they were able to monetise it as click bait - and why you think people with Downs only suffer? They often lead very happy lives, some work, some compete in sports, they are part of our faulty world.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@EdKrassen They posted this online for click bait.

[Michael Francis @mdf_michael]

@naiivememe Check your maths