we verifiably do not do a good job of mitigating the societal impacts of technology on labor. this leaves us with things like the entire state of west virginia yearning for the return of the coal economy, whatever's going on with detroit, etc

Again, we learn that most people can make sensible decisions regardless of their level of income or wealth. Trouble is, many politicians base their careers on the myth of the irresponsible poor

this is why I think publications that focus almost solely on culture war issues are so empty. The genuine economic, health, welfare etc impacts of policy are much more important than Ivy League coursework discourse but become sideshows to these people.

why don't they just build the entire government out of federal reserve

Guys, you can just watch a recent Hallmark Christmas movie. It has all the things you claim to want.

Similarly, I'm always a bit confused when people talk about the comparative social life across cities. Just seems like the wrong unit of agglomeration.

Surprised that so few people in a poll of "The Argument" subscribers could remember reading "Abundance". /s

Bro do you know what the fuck America is?

This guy is going to STEAL OUR TEETH. 👇

Quick reminder that when Elon Musk was in government, he lied about massive fraud, and did so to eliminate safety net programs as well as government capacity to oversee real fraud. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/musks-frau...

Zero Marginal Product Workers, But Leftishly

Just having a normal economy, probably.

Reading the MVPF literature, it's clear that a lot of interventions with no direct crime implications still get a lot of bang for the buck out of the indirect effects on crime.

at the christmas revels in Boston which this poem is written for, this is the dance they perform in the shortest night solstice portion and I think about it every single year youtu.be/jv0wku4LJrI?...

I remember when the US had effective humanitarian programs in-house.

@rianjohnson.bsky.social I need a confirmation on whether this was an intentional rickroll

in your 20s, you'll come across someone who's wrong online. it's very important than you spend the next 40 years of your life learning and arguing about this topic online long after they've moved on, built a career, and raised a family.

I chaired a BLS advisory panel to describe key social & econ issues around employment that a new NLSY2026 panel could illuminate. We did a Work Arrangements (employee/contractor, platform, temp help, gig...) subreport, excerpt summarizes existing evidence on platforms. www.bls.gov/nls/pdf/defi...

New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok! So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...

Turns out, maybe fewer than before?

Inspired by @besttrousers.bsky.social, I tried to figure out how many gig workers there are kevinonthemargin.com/the-great-gi...

In conjoint analysis performed for the National Academy of Social Insurance, removing the FICA cap and raising FICA taxes is overwhelmingly popular and bipartisan. But mass politics is not the aggregation of calm cost-benefit analyses. www.nirsonline.org/wp-content/u...

A good exercise to do prior to your year-end giving. I support these three charities that work to alleviate global poverty (in reverse alphabetical order): 1. @unicefusa.org 2. @pih.org 3. www.givewell.org

guys GUYS do you want to feel _completely insane_ please enoy this 1989 public television program called ECON AND ME which features, in part, a diverse group of children walking in a circle chanting OPPORTUNITY COSTS OPPORTUNITY COSTS youtu.be/keit6rlKXCk

The guy who put a 19 year old named Big Balls in charge of gutting key government services: “experience matters when lives are at stake”

If you think of Stancil’s posts as fandom drama it all clicks into place

The one-shot and repeated extortion games have somewhat different equilibria

A randomized trial of the Becoming a Man program found nearly a 50% reduction in violent crime arrests by teaching young men to slow down reflexive decisions. Small interventions can save lives at scale.

Every movie/TV shows has a Bit where different characters have extremely specific coffee preferences, and I never encounter this in real life.

"If you add <constant> to <data series> the new data series is higher than the original <data series> by approximately <constant>." Good ol' reliable.

Great to see Jobs-Plus (which MDRC helped develop and evaluated in the US) making a difference in the UK! via @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

👇

Actual 2025 tariff rates are, to date, far less than statutory rates, but the costs of the tariffs are mostly borne by the US – estimated tariff pass-through to US prices in 2025 is 94%. Tariffs on imports act like a 1 to 2pp tax on US manufacturing. brentneiman.com/research/GN2...

When USAID cuts came, people died because life saving food, water, and medicine, dried up. That left groups who didnt rely on USAID to fill the void. One org, Alaska Health Project South Sudan, showed me how they are fighting like hell to do exactly that. I hope you will read:

I’ve felt this happening to me over time, and I don’t like it.

there should be Brazilian Krispy Kreme where the guy has forty donuts on a rapier

I still can’t believe it that I wrote a @latimes.com 2025 Best Science Book Selection. As a #phd student. 🤯 Mama, we made it. #blacksky #Godsplan

Like why not just flip it around: Isn't it great that almost all the best talent in the world want to do their research in the USA?

Saying that "on average, nudges [or insert any other intervention here] aren't very effective" is a bit like saying that "on average, vehicles are not very fast".

Give me a big enough sword and a place to stand and I’ll pierce the zeitgeist

I like to imagine that there is a rivalry between two top ham-sniffers: one, a meticulous keeper of precise traditions, the other a brash bad-boy with a colossal nose.

I make arguments for a living. What's my argument? "Eh, this is probably wrong but I'm too lazy to look."

a lot of people don't realize that Christmas carols and traditions are actually folk memories of suppressed pre-Christian events, namely the end of the Third Age and the Fall of Sauron.

he’s just coming up with hallmark movie plots ‘what does abundance have to do with the harried big city architect who moves back home to save her grandpas bakery?’

The government failed at actually redacting the Epstein files because DOGE cancelled the feds adobe acrobat premium subscription is the funniest shit.

Behavioural economics has deep roots. This (1982!) paper by Akerlof and Dickens shows how cognitive dissonance can be woven into standard (rational) economic decision making models and more accurately predict actual behaviour: buff.ly/JhhamLh HT @matthewgnagler.bsky.social

NORAD Santa tracker is Woke

They’re not perfect, but golly, public universities are one of the best engines of economic mobility we have