The week in review: @ntinatzouvala.bsky.social & @azohra.bsky.social on international law under Trump 2.0, @shaabiranks.bsky.social on the gansterfication of US foreign policy, and Matthew Scherer on the AI bubble. Plus: ALPE elections, congressional testimony on court packing, and more!

Not great, Bob.

If you're in Mass state govt, you have until Fri. @ 11:59 PM to vote for Lenore for the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board! Lenore is a 3rd-generation union member, attorney, AND professor of econ & public policy who is an EXPERT on PENSION FUNDS! Doesn't get any better. PRIMvotes.com

"This current arrangement is far from stable, and the turn toward nakedly corrupt transactionalism is less a new paradigm of power than a form of crisis looting at the level of the state."

Between the ballroom, insider trading, golden statue, and insurrectionist slush fund, it's starting to feel like the president is losing his way. As a patriot, I wish him well and hope he returns to the sound policymaking for which he is known.

Together with the terrific @azohra.bsky.social, we curated this symposium on IL and the current moment: lpeproject.org/blog/somethi.... Features wise contributions by @wanshucong.bsky.social @jbentonheath.bsky.social @shaabiranks.bsky.social @richardjoyce.bsky.social & Sarah Sherman-Stokes

Today I'm publicly releasing a paper that answers that question (download link in the comments) using data on 5.4 million local businesses across the US: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... During the first year of the current administration, ICE raids caused serious economic damage in seven ways:

gonna need a ”this represents both a genuine departure from, and the culmination of the internal contradictions of,“ sign to tap

Good stuff, as always, from Ntina and Zohra:

The week in review: @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social on legislative primacy; Amna Akba, @joesoss.bsky.social, and @joshpage.bsky.social on criminal-legal predation; and Justin Deystone on critical theory and capitalism. Plus, some jobs, CfPs, and new articles in the 🧵👇

Trump bought $1 million-$5 million worth of Nvidia stock a week before Nvidia announced a major deal with Meta. The previous month, Trump bought $500,000-$1 million worth of Nvidia stock a week before the Commerce Department approved the sale of Nvidia chips to China. www.notus.org/money/donald...

"certain kinds of problems solicit our attention because they seem fit for a malleable and contestable foreground, while others sink into a sedimented, naturalized, and unassailable background. The task of critical legal theory is to mark the differences and illuminate pathways for transformation."

What is the role of legal theory in helping us understand and advance a critique of capitalist society? Today, Justin Deystone reflects on a new symposium that brings together Marxist thinkers, Law and Political Economy scholars, and critical legal theorists.

Mamdani's proposed city-backed insurance represents a critically important step to make affordable housing sustainable, but today's must-read post argues we ultimately need a state-wide public disaster insurance program that spreads the risk across NY nycpolicyforum.substack.com/p/making-mam...

Today, Amna Akbar interviews @joesoss.bsky.social and @joshpage.bsky.social about their recent work on the predatory dimensions of criminal legal governance.

Thrilled to see this interview about #LegalPlunder that my co-author @joshpage.bsky.social and I did with Amna Akbar posted at @lpeblog.bsky.social

A really insightful interview throughout, but I was particularly struck by this point.

This would constitute one of the most brazen, most appalling acts of corruption in U.S. history. I know we’re numb to all of this but this is a seven-alarm fire. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/b...

Yah! Who does this guy think he is? Trying to pass himself off as a DOCTOR when he's just a lowly MD, Rhodes Scholar, Public Health Professor, Wayne County Health Director.

If you know anyone in New Mexico looking for a sweet, goofy husky, send them my way!

Meet our new foster, Lana Banana.

Some good reflections on what it will take to get from here (our juristocratic, presidentialist nightmare) to there (the promised land of legislative supremacy).

A great companion is this piece today from @ksabeelrahman.bsky.social in the @lpeblog.bsky.social -- lpeproject.org/blog/taking-...

👀 “Article VI, Section 9, of the Virginia Constitution gives the legislature unlimited authority to set the retirement age for judges.” Virginia law provides VA Dems a simple solution to overturn the state’s rogue scotus’s redistricting ruling - retire it - and then appoint a new one.

Some are calling it the greatest collab since Despacito.

A nice example of how public hearings can mobilize democratic constituencies (laudatory).

Today my worlds come together with Greg Baltz's post on the NYC Rent Guidelines Board hearings & their importance as tenant organizing infrastructure, jointly published by @nycpolicyforum.bsky.social & @lpeblog.bsky.social nycpolicyforum.substack.com/p/how-tenant...

With "the decline of the truly shareholder-owned corporation and the rise of far more insulated patrimonial firms... today’s vibrant debates over diversity’s place in stakeholder or shareholder capitalism may actually be the last utterances in a dying language."

The week in review: a spring scouting report on some of the hottest new LPE articles, and Andrew Miller on how personalized markets undermine solidarity. Plus, new books, events, and articles from Shaun Ossei-Owusu, Aziz Rana, Kate Andrias, Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, and more! 🧵

There's something being left out of then conversations around Local Law 97: the impact on rent-stabilized tenants! Arielle Swernoff digs into how compliance works for rent-stabilized buildings & the meaningful improvements it could mean for tenants! nycpolicyforum.substack.com/p/what-local...

Sharp piece about how personalized pricing and consumer profiling aren't just bad for consumers, but also undercut democratic decision-making:

fabulous list!!

Solid gold and ton heavy.

Today, a spring scouting report on some of the hottest new LPE and LPE-adjacent articles. Congrats to all the authors on such wonderful placements 🎉

really important, thanks @azohra.bsky.social for staying attuned to this

As Socrates said, "All my haters become my waiters when I sit down at the table of success."

The week in review: Patrick Lin on surveillance pricing, and @quinnslobodian.com and @bentarnoff.com on the political economy of Elon Musk. Plus, a call for hot new LPE scholarship, a law and political minor at (gasp) the University of Chicago, and more! 🧵

"the DOJ may have successfully prosecuted the activists under the terrorism law for tagging a building with the phrase “ICE = Pigs.”"

This really is a must-read post. The details from the Prairieland trial are harrowing and show just how far the the Trump administration is willing to go to criminalize political activity.

Very important essay (actually)

"if Fordism and post-Fordism were both, in different ways, organized to secure social peace, Muskism is oriented toward social war." Don't miss today's deep dive into the political economy of "Muskism." 👇👇

I think absolutely everyone should read this. It offers simple and well thought out ways that the Mamdani Administration can counter the targeting of working class immigrants in NYC by both predatory financial services and the federal government

"If Muskism is class rule in triumph, it may come to be a triumph that devours itself."

We got a chance to do something for @lpeblog.bsky.social on Muskism as a possible successor to post-Fordism, drawing on the concepts of Michel Aglietta and the Regulation School. This one was really fun! lpeproject.org/blog/muskism...

Great piece with some really creative policy ideas. Someone get Zohran on the phone!

@bentarnoff.com and I went long on the Muskism-Fordism comparison, drawing on the Regulation School to ask what social settlement is being offered alongside the Big Tech regime of accumulation and whether they aren‘t perversely harmed by the absence of counterparty. lpeproject.org/blog/muskism...

"and he just…he tweeted it out." @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social

Today, Patrick Lin explains how surveillance pricing is making it easier for corporations to exploit consumers, how states are starting to push back against these practices, and why those efforts are running into First Amendment challenges.

Please help share the word ( 🔁 ) that the LPE Blog is on the hunt for hot new LPE and LPE-adjacent scholarship!