On this Mother's Day, happy to see this great op-ed by @lauralindberg.bsky.social on how important contraceptive information and access is so that people can control when to have children and how to space them.

the latest @planetmoney.bsky.social is a closeup of the WNBA players renegotiating their contract -- with a pinch hitter (? does this work in this context) Nobel-prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin www.npr.org/2026/05/08/n...

Sounds like MAHA vs WSJ here, and who knows what will happen www.foxnews.com/politics/tru...

"Her treatment of debates over the domestic use of federal troops, for example, rescues a set of obscure statutes and half-forgotten deployments from the footnotes of history and shows how they helped build today’s strong norm against using the military as an internal political tool.” 🙏

RIP, “syllabic palindrome” and visionary Donlyn Lyndon, Last Surviving Creator of the Sea Ranch, Dies at 90 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/a...

Makary on the hot seat. This administration’s view of FDA appears to be: approve it unless it’s mRNA, approve it as long as there’s money to be made www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

We can hope that 2025 and 2026 were the nadir in the quality of immigration enforcement. Chicago. Minneapolis. Before them, LA. We must remember these places and events, and we must vote and hold elected officials accountable www.pulitzer.org/winners/staf...

Human and AI radiologists make a good team. Just one or just the other, not so much at least so far. Superb article www.wsj.com/tech/ai/joan...

“I wear the chain I forged in life! I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”

This photo makes me so sad for our country Podcasters aren’t policymakers. They probably shouldn’t be in the Oval Office. Admittedly, this is better than Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, or Laura Loomer. That isn’t saying much. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/s...

If ever there were a call to restrict phones in K-12 and award extra credit for going to a dance with friends (and with your phone off), here it is. Workers who specialize in human connections seem likely to benefit a lot from the AI revolution www.nytimes.com/2026/05/03/o...

Jay Powell is holding the line. An unprecedented set of circumstances, and an unpredented test. He has passed and is continuing www.linkedin.com/pulse/jay-po...

Every Wednesday at noon pacific I read the next best thing after this sign - video game manuals! Wait come back it’s fun! Please join for @instructionderby.bsky.social over at twitch.tv/nicmcconnell 12pm Pacific Every Wednesday!

A class at my kids’ school put up little statements about the good they want to do in the world and I was over the moon about this one - then I learned they meant to say “teach people in jail” which is also good!

I absolutely agree, Spirit and Frontier are doing exactly what we need competition to do … … except obfuscate. It was Frontier or Spirit that just deceptively advertised its product to me, and I will never forget how much I resented them for it. Need a CFPB for air www.wsj.com/lifestyle/tr...

A former colleague reflects on Powell’s decision to stay: Fed independence is not an abstraction. It is the daily practice of making decisions on the merits.... It is maintained by chairmen who absorb pressure and keep the room functioning, and sometimes by chairmen who delay their own retirement.”

A very nice valedictory kind of piece Charles III is a complicated figure, but it’s impressive how he showed up for his country, ironically for democracy, and also for humanity and peace www.nytimes.com/2026/05/02/o...

Danco Laboratories has filed an emergency application at #SCOTUS, asking the Court to immediately freeze the Fifth Circuit’s ruling, and to pause it for the duration of its (forthcoming) appeal.

N.I.H. Reinstates Employee Put on Leave After Criticizing Trump Research Cuts www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/u...

So that’s what a half accordion looks like!

Your commentary on this has been really illuminating and I've learned a lot from it, thank you. Though I'd say it's worse than multicollinearity—which need not create bias given a large enough sample. Alito's reasoning exemplifies 'collider bias' (a.k.a. bad controls) which necessarily creates bias.

“though [the President] could not formally pull out [of NATO] without the approval of Congress.” Darn straight. The media keeps forgetting that this is one thing that the House, Senate, and President Biden all could agree on, and it’s law now. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Past President Dr. Irma T. Elo will present the #PAA2026 Presidential Address entitled, "Stalled Progress and Enduring Inequalities: US Mortality in the 21st Century" on Friday, May 8th following the awards ceremony. See the full program: buff.ly/vDpQfeI @pennpsc.bsky.social

Useful to note that echoing Warsh’s prepared remarks, nobody has a problem with policymakers’ stating opinions about the Fed. Powell leads with that here The problem is unprecedented legal action against the Fed by the Trump Justice Department & the risk of further legal action with phony pretexts

Today the Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could terminate Temporary Protected Status for 1.4 million migrants. With 19 colleagues incl. 3 Nobel laureates, I estimated the economic impact of ending TPS. We find losses >$45bn per year —> www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25... cc @piie.com

Having worked with many lawyers over the years, I have met countless ones who cannot conceive of what legal value is added by social scientists. This should be the quintessential, textbook example to place before them: most lawyers don’t have an idea what bad control/collider bias is. We do.

Congratulations, Trump Administration. The USA and Kazakhstan share an ignominious distinction. Big geographically and same shade of Less Academic Freedom For another depressing take, stay for the time series comparison of USA with India under Modi and Turkey under Erdogan

Demography friends, we have some exciting things happening at #PAA2026 in St. Louis, please join us! @popassocamerica.bsky.social www.populationassociation.org/paa2026/rela...

“for the first time in my adult life, the moral and strategic heart of the defense of liberal democracy doesn’t beat in Washington. It doesn’t beat in London or Paris or Berlin or Ottawa, either. It’s in Kyiv” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/26/o...

“Were the Iran war to turn out a complete and unqualified success, that would represent the sharpest imaginable break with the American tradition in foreign policy.” Yes, but now do one about American *diplomacy*. www.wsj.com/opinion/dona...

Tillis records on X this morning what the Administration is privately saying about the Fed subpoenas, and he raises the gate. I hope he’s right, and they keep their word www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Good overview of Bhattacharya’s fireside chat yesterday at #NASEM.

It’s Independent Bookstore Day today! Please visit your favorite indie store and enjoy the book-filled, book-loving vibes. But if you can’t do that, consider getting something you’ve wanted to read at Bookshop.org. They support indie shops. Everyone wins! It’s cool when that can happen.

Emmet Sheehan day reminder His gloves all say “K ALS” Every time that sentiment is on an MLB mound is truly amazing #EndALS

Now we wait to see whether Tillis agrees this is credible or just a smokescreen by the U.S. Attorney in DC www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

“China’s investments in science and technology pose a real threat, but by drawing new revenue from the prediction and online sports gambling industry and reforming our tax code, we can invest in our future.” Oh come on. Rahm Emanuel is scraping the bottom of the barrel www.wsj.com/opinion/trum...

Turning away the world’s best and brightest is shattering one our greatest national assets, one of the precious national treasures ensuring American children’s future.

A US special forces soldier involved in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was arrested for allegedly betting on that operation, netting him $400,000 in profits, according to a person familiar with the matter. www.cnn.com/2026/04/23/p...

“At NIH, we never censor scientists. At CDC, however,”

A few fellow NIHers/NIH alum will listen along with me (in personal capacities, off the clock). I'll share our collective reactions and corrections here. So, follow along this Friday afternoon around 3pm. And if you're planning to watch, please join in!

youtu.be/E4ruVRwkKGY?... Here's the video

Incredible shots of the exchange between Rep. AOC and RFK, Jr. at today’s congressional hearing. (image credit: WSJ reporter @lizessleywhyte.bsky.social)

WARREN: Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda with which you disagree KEVIN WARSH: He said he thought I'm out of central casting. I think I'd look older, grayer, and maybe show up with a cigar WARREN: Quite adorable

Wash to Sen. Warren: "Well, I do have a disagreement, actually, Senator, with the President. I think even this morning, he said that he thought I was out of central casting. I think, Central Casting, I'd look older grayer, maybe show up here with a cigar, of sorts."

I hope Ellen Meade is right and Warsh dislikes inflation more than being disliked … or subpoenaed www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

Max Power!! Vote Max Power!

The GC Wealth Project, a flagship project of the GC CUNY Stone Center, presents an overview of its core work in Scientific Data. Check out this vast collection of data on wealth levels/trends/composition and more. Multiple expansions and updates coming soon! wealthproject.gc.cuny.edu/index.html 👇

Sage words about preposterous pricing by the plutocrats who have seized control of basically all of professional sports. Maybe the Green Bay Packers are the exception Democratizing forces in sports these days are independent and minor league teams www.wsj.com/sports/socce...

There’s something deeply wild about how Miran says the neutral rate will fall because of population growth n falls, and Warsh implies … that it won’t rise when productivity growth g rises My neoclassical growth model brain is exploding www.wsj.com/economy/cent...