Binyamin Appelbaum

Binyamin Appelbaum

@bcappelbaum.bsky.social

I write about the economy for the opinion pages of The New York Times. Verification: https://go.bsky.app/8WhdCDa

19,765 Followers 882 Following 465 Posts Joined Jul 2023
2 weeks ago

good lord that was boring

30 0 0 0
1 month ago
Preview
Opinion | Meet the Federal Debt, the Fed’s Actual New Boss (Sorry, Kevin Warsh)

My column on why the Fed is in trouble no matter who Trump puts at the top.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/o...

24 7 0 0
1 month ago
Post image

President Trump, rickrolling the American people.

72 17 23 3
2 months ago
Post image

This is correct.
www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...

37 8 1 0
2 months ago
Preview
Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center

Every year the National Opera broadcasts a performance on the big screen at Nationals Stadium. It's a lot of fun & maybe they should just take over that venue for all their performances. The baseball thing isn't going that well anyway.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/a...

26 3 2 2
3 months ago
Preview
Michael and Susan Dell Donate $6.25 Billion to ‘Trump Accounts’ for Children The donation will seed tax-deferred investment accounts for roughly 25 million American children.

Or here's a crazy thought. Maybe instead of relying on philanthropy we could collect taxes from rich people.

www.wsj.com/us-news/mich...

68 25 3 4
3 months ago
Post image

Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

11,865 4,080 146 447
3 months ago
Preview
Opinion | Trump Promised Lower Prices. His Policies Are Raising Them.

The president recently shared a photo of a White House bathroom that he had renovated by covering everything in marble. What Americans need is a president who is more focused on the cost of toilet paper. It’s up more than 3 percent so far this year.

45 11 0 0
4 months ago

What you really don't want is to replace the taxis with goats, or the hot dogs with camel meat.

18 1 3 0
4 months ago

1 and 4 sound awesome?

16 1 4 0
4 months ago

The Court is once again upholding Article VIII of the Constitution, which clearly states that the president is allowed to do whatever he wants except break the economy.

116 26 2 1
4 months ago
Post image

Live from New York:

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

118 20 4 4
4 months ago
Post image

It's a great job Donald. It looks exactly like bathrooms used to look in Lincoln's day.

Maybe take a few months off the job and focus on restoring the rest of the White House? It would be a real public service.

432 63 74 8
4 months ago

Of course land votes. That's the whole problem.

53 6 1 0
4 months ago

They say AI is going to replace human writers but I would like to see AI try to top this:

25 9 3 0
4 months ago
Post image

Crazy that the building did that to itself

251 56 10 2
5 months ago

This does raise some interesting questions about the utility of the subsidies...

14 1 0 0
5 months ago
Preview
Opinion | The Real Stakes of the Shutdown

President Trump is seeking to deprive millions of Americans of their health insurance. Senate Democrats are refusing to acquiesce.

24 6 0 0
5 months ago
Preview
Opinion | Why Is Your Flight Always Delayed? Blame Government Shutdowns.

Shutdowns tend to be brief because Americans are soon reminded that the government does important things. But the end of a shutdown doesn’t mean that everything springs back to normal. Some of the damage endures.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/o...

40 12 2 1
5 months ago

And what are we to make of the 1 percent of atheists who agree?

22 0 4 0
5 months ago

The owners of local TV stations were a conservative force in American politics and society even back when there were a lot of them. But allowing them to consolidate has certainly made it easier for them to flex those muscles.

28 5 0 1
6 months ago
Preview
Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison for Plotting Coup in Brazil

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe…

32 3 1 1
6 months ago
Preview
Opinion | Trump Thought He Was Leading on Trade. No One Is Following.

A sign of the folly of Mr. Trump’s trade policy is that it has inspired no apparent envy.

25 2 2 2
6 months ago
I can

I can

17,260 4,070 354 340
6 months ago

I went to lunch yesterday and there were two S.C. national guardsmen at the next table who had clearly been at the restaurant for a while when I got there, and who were still chilling when I left. And I hope they spent the whole day inside enjoying the air conditioning. Much safer for all of us.

22 2 1 0
6 months ago
Preview
Opinion | The Government Just Walloped Google. That’s Good Business.

Tech companies like to tell stories in which government rarely appears except as an outside force threatening to break the beautiful things they’ve created.

The story that doesn’t get told is how their successes have relied on the government's interventions.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/02/o...

136 15 1 1
6 months ago

The mental health benefits of not knowing any history right now must be massive. Moving through your day with total equanimity. What happens next? Who knows? Maybe something good

12,073 2,252 97 129
6 months ago

They should arm the National Guard troops with flyswatters. Put them to work doing something actually useful. The mosquitos in DC are out of control.

54 9 2 0
6 months ago

The thing I've always wondered about is, say you're a young person in DC interested in law enforcement. How do you decide which of the several dozen flavors police you want to be?

6 0 2 0
6 months ago
Preview
Opinion | Trump Is Trying to End Fed Independence

President Trump’s attempt to fire the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook is a grab for power in defiance of the nation’s laws, and if it succeeds, it will be to the detriment of the nation’s interests.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

23 3 1 1