Been tough to feel like marketing my work lately, so here goes... Each Wed, I write a quick bit on the US economy, link some worthy things I read, share a thing that made me laugh, and call it #WednesdayWisdom Here's the lastest one open.substack.com/pub/srrfunfa...

Renee Good was killed exercising her First Amendment rights. Alex Petti, apparently, Second Amendment. I recommend you do not quarter “soldiers.”

Authoritarian regimes use the resistance they provoke as a justification for further escalations

I cannot get over how evil this is.

My hunch: this opinion piece won't age well, so let's revisit it in a few months. wapo.st/4q3Tk41

3 in 4 Americans are wondering why on earth Washington Post-Ipsos are even asking this question.

"It is offering grace to bad-faith actors because institutions have internalized the idea that bad-faith actors must, particularly in this moment, be granted that grace."

“What independence means is that the technocrats at the Central Bank use economic reasoning, data” to achieve economic goals, says Fmr. Fed Chair & Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen‬. ‘Americans need to worry’ about political interference. It’s “a recipe for runaway inflation.” #Velshi

On February 3, 2010, argentine president Cristina Kirchner fired the head of the central bank, setting off a 15 year spiral of inflation that would eventually peak last year at 220%. Let's say, on that day, you bought lunch for $20 argentine pesos. Today, that same lunch would cost you $4,156 pesos

Lmao because I know Brendan, and he’s a great guy, and a smart professor, and I’m pretty sure he knows both AC’s and fans use electricity, and there are trade offs, and I’m also sure he’s well versed in why both are still in use :-)

Unbiased, apolitical government statistics is such a deep well of knowledge. “Nice stats you have here. It’d be a shame if sumthin’ ‘appened to ‘em.”

New @budgetlab.bsky.social tariff analysis incorporating 1) the US-Vietnam framework announced July 2, and 2) the July 7 letters to 14 countries with new "reciprocal" tariff rates, which go into effect August 1. In brief... 1/10

"Repeat this mantra as your prescription is denied on religious grounds: Everyone dies. Everyone dies. Everyone dies. Let the liberals weep, for you are free and clear, though not in the medical sense, of course."

Voice of America is silent. I remember in the Cold War when the Soviet Union wanted nothing more than to silence the Voice of America. Today's the day it happened.

“We think what they’re doing is horrible, wrong, illegal and unconstitutional, but it’s worse if they’re doing it without our permission than if we just let them, right?” No.

I think some in the Senate have convinced themselves that the backlash to folding will be limited to “the left” and therefore ignorable. Those people are deeply and profoundly misreading the moment and the stakes. Virtually every swing district House Dem walked the plank to vote NO for a reason.

Thread

Big fan of twitter - not a fan of X. Been here for a while…still not sure on the interface (like, I can barely read this on my iPad with my glasses). Thoughts on how I can improve my experience?

I once watched a child die of measles in an MSF hospital in Congo. An absolutely pointless, crushing tragedy to witness.