Economics on Misha Velthuis

Entrada de aterrizaje para gente curiosa sobre el Fediverso

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0200

This post is also available in English.

Introducción

Hola! Si estás leyendo esto, lo más probable es que ya te haya hablado hasta el cansancio del Fediverso. Como no puedo callarme al respecto, y como me veo enviando los mismos enlaces a todo el mundo todo el tiempo, pensé que sería bueno tener una “entrada de aterrizaje” a la que poder referir a la gente.

Ante todo, gracias por tomarte el tiempo de leer esto. Mi entusiasmo por el Fediverso nace de la convicción de que nuestro mundo digital puede y debe ser mejor, pero para ello sí que hace falta que todas y todos nos paremos un momento y nos tomemos algo de tiempo para explorar.

Landing post for people curious about the Fediverse

Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0200

Esta publicación también está disponible en español.

Introduction

Hello! If you read this you have most likely been harassed by me about the Fediverse. Because I can’t shut up about it, and because I find myself sending around the same links to everyone all the time, I thought it would be good to have a “landing post” to refer people to.

First of all, thanks for taking the time to read this. My enthusiasm about the Fediverse is rooted in a conviction that our digital world can and must be better, but it does require all of us to pause and take some time to explore!

Escaping technofeudalism

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0200

From capitalism to technofeudalism

A few months ago I wrote a piece about capitalism. The premise was that, to see the distinctiveness of our current capitalist world, it helps to go back in time to see what it looked like before. A bit like traveling helps to see the distinctiveness of your hometown.

What distinguishes our capitalist present from our feudalist past, I wrote, is the separation of labour from the means of production, the ensuing emergence of money relations and markets, and the resulting systematic imperative for capitalists to reduce costs to retain market share.

Some thoughts on feudalism and capitalism

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0200

A Dutch version of this post has been published on doorbraak.eu.

Introduction

In this post I put together some ideas on capitalism, what it is, what it is not, and why it makes sense to recognize that we’re in it.

The reason why I am writing this, is because I feel that the term “capitalism” is often thrown around without too much care. As something that has to do with markets and profits. Or as something that is simply “not socialism or communism”.

If we can't get our act together digitally, we won't have our act together anywhere: reason 2

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 09:33:00 +0200

This is the second part of a two-part series. See also this article. Both articles first appeared in a slightly different form on the blog of OpenTech(AUC).

“…if we can’t convince people to take over the means of production when it only requires a USB stick with Linux and a short online course on bash/python, how are we ever going to gain control over (and share the fruits of) other, more material and inert kinds of technology?”

A ceasefire is not enough: a radical insistence on decolonization

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 09:33:00 +0200

A Dutch version of this article has been published on doorbraak.eu.

Israel and Hamas have signed a ceasefire: “we” finally have what we have been chanting for.

So what now? Business as usual? Move on with our lives?

Many people are eager to do so, and many are already doing so.

But this is unacceptable.

So what do we do?

The miserable truth is that the worst kinds of injustice can often not be undone: we cannot raise 100,000 Palestinians back from the death.

What is capitalism and how to step out of it

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 09:33:00 +0200

This post is part of a series about the alleged return of feudalism with the advent of Big Tech.

What is capitalism? What words, ideas and/or concepts would you generally associate with it?

Some might say it is all about “technological development” driven by the “desire to be rich”. Others might say something like “greed” and the “naked pursuit of power”.

But greed, lust for power and even technological development have been around for much longer than capitalism.

If we can't get our act together digitally, we won't have our act together anywhere: reason 1

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 09:33:00 +0200

This post originally appeared on the website of OpenTech(AUC).

Imagine you’re at a house party, and people are getting drunk. Slowly but steadily, they are raising their voice. And as more and more people do, you are going to have to raise your voice as well. At the end of the night, everyone is screaming in each others’ ears, without being any more audible than when everyone was talking at a normal volume.

Internalize this, environmental economists

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 17:15:00 +0100

“We only have to internalize the externalities”.¹ That’s what “environmental economists” say. For example by imposing a tax on the production/consumption that damages the environment, or by requiring producers/consumers to buy tradable emission rights.

But there are some fundamental issues in their way of thinking:

Whatsapp is a bad deal

Sun, 06 Oct 2024 18:01:00 +0200

This blog post first appeared in February 2024 on the website of OpenTech(AUC).

Whatsapp is a bad deal

Normally, when you feel you’re getting the short end of a stick, for example when the supermarket sells you expensive mushy cauliflowers, or when the organization you volunteer at treats you disrespectfully, you go and find what you need somewhere else.

This ability to “defect” to an alternative when you feel you’re not getting a good deal, is an important “power” that helps you get reasonable deals.¹

Omgaan met personeelstekort

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 22:15:00 +0200

Mensen willen sneller en beter geholpen worden in de winkel, maar niet meer werken, geen hogere lonen betalen, en geen migratie.

Nederland is een groot terras waar iedereen elkaar geld aanbiedt om een schort om te doen en bitterballen te halen, maar iedereen - voor dat geld - uiteindelijk gewoon eigenlijk liever blijft zitten mopperen op de onderbezette bediening (“en ze spreken geeneens Nederlands!”).

Misschien is het een soort ontgroeipijn, en gaan mensen zich langzaam realiseren dat ze de tijd en het geld die ze op dat terras hadden willen uitgeven aan andermans diensten/producten, ook kunnen gebruiken om wat leuks voor zichzelf of voor een ander te doen/maken. Zonder product of dienst te consumeren.

How many people work for me?

Mon, 23 Aug 2021 15:05:00 +0200

Every day a certain amount of work is done. Food is grown. Machines are built and operated. Stuff is transported. If I would add up all the time - the seconds, minutes, hours - that other people work to provide me with the things that I consume, would I arrive at 1 FTE? 2 FTE? 5?¹ In other words: BP may have tricked me into thinking about my carbon footprint, but what is my labour foot print??

Land van melk en heling

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 00:20:00 +0200

Als je in Amsterdam een gestolen fiets koopt, dan is dat mooi goedkoop, maar ben je ook strafbaar. De lage kosten van de fiets komen immers direct voort uit een onderliggende diefstal, die je met de aanschaf van de fiets bovendien in stand houdt. Dat heet heling.

Maar als de spullen die we uit Colombia importeren goedkoop gehouden worden doordat de mensen die misstanden aankaarten worden vermoord, mogen we daar gewoon iedere dag ongestraft van profiteren.