Aya

Some personal news

Obama's biggest sin in the eyes of Washington DC was cutting a deal that objectively did what DC claimed to have wanted.

Metaphors this literal feel lazy idk

Really hard to look at this and all the other examples of bravery and kindness from ordinary people in this moment not think also of the tremendous cowardice exhibited over the past year by some of the richest, most well-protected people in business, media and politics

Wanna know something? Right before migrants get loaded onto an ICE removal flight, they return their gray jumpsuit and get deported in whatever they were wearing when captured. Have heard from many migrants that the planes are freezing and some shackled people are in summer tank tops and flip flops.

So they’re arresting members of the press now for covering the very events they instigated. And of course to prevent more coverage.

Saw a sign a while back that borrowed from the Martin Niemöller poem:

“First they came for the press. We don’t know what happened after that.”

This is quite a post

www.planetearthandbeyond.co/p/reality-is...

Judge slams government for conspiring to chill free speech of pro-Palestine students U.S. District Judge William Young said he’d force the Trump administration to “jump through hoops” if it wants to deport more pro-Palestine protesters.

New: “This is the modern Fugitive Slave Act,” said a judge when describing ICE behavior nationwide.

It’s quite likely that being called a “fucking bitch” is one of the last things a dying Renee Good ever heard.

I demand leaders who are as filled with pure, diamond-hard rage over this as I am.

I believe this is absolutely not asking for too much.

ICE AGENT: “I love my job. I can’t believe they pay me to do this. I’d do it for free. I only went to high school and I make $200,000.”

/2 Anyway, America was never about everyone loving liberty; America was always about enough people loving liberty and being willing to defend it to keep down the people with totalitarian souls.

As crypto and private credit hit the mainstream, investor risk seen multiplying U.S. investors may soon have access to a greater array of products tied to asset classes like private credit and crypto as the Trump administration and SEC push to open markets, a change that some investment advisors say puts too much onus on individuals to protect themselves.

As crypto and private credit hit the mainstream, investor risk seen multiplying reut.rs/4pVTavk

Inflation is making homelessness worse Rising housing costs, combined with persistent inflation for basic necessities like gas and food, have left more Americans newly homeless and millions more fearing they’ll soon lose their homes.

Thinking today about this sentence:

"Every $100 increase in median rent is associated with a 9 percent increase in the estimated homelessness rate, according to a 2020 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office."

YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC Happy Hanukkah

It was such a joy to celebrate Hanukkah with Mandy, Kathryn and their son, Gideon. As Jewish New Yorkers across our city prepare to light candles and mark the seventh night today, I wish you and your families a Hanukkah full of light and love.

youtu.be/KIxAKyioXng

I've been blown away by the generosity shown to my book this year, and wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the books that meant the most to me in 2025—along with a few I'm especially excited to see out in the world in the new year.

THREAD

lol but like historically, if you want rights you have to fight for them. There is no silver bullet and there is no messiah.

Free Buses Can Be a Reality — Just Look at Maryland Zohran Mamdani’s plan for free buses is not a pipe dream. Montgomery County, Maryland, made its buses free this year.

It’s not just NYC that loves free buses: two Maryland counties and the city of Baltimore already have them, and offer a great model for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social and all lovers of free public transit!

truthout.org/articles/fre...

evergreen

They’re busy podcasting, unfortunately

Jared Bernstein and Aya Ibrahim are LIVE for Let’s Do Lunch! They’re breaking down how inflation affects you + answering your burning econ questions Tune in:
https://open.substack.com/live-stream/79918

Jared Bernstein is LIVE tomorrow at 12:00pm ET for another episode of Let’s Do Lunch with special guest Aya Ibrahim!

Got questions about Trump’s tariff failures or whether we’re heading toward a recession? Drop them below.

A Nobel laureate on why stablecoins may be nothing of the sort Payments systems must be built on public infrastructure, not speculative tokens, writes Jean Tirole

“Stablecoins may dazzle as the latest financial fad. But they risk destabilising finance while enriching a few.” In a guest essay, an economics professor outlines the drawbacks of these digital tokens

Trump Appointees Roll Back Enforcement of Fair Housing Laws

“We took an oath to defend the constitution. These are the moments we took that oath for.”

Incredible bravery by Paul Osadebe & many others at HUD fighting to keep discrimination out of housing against an admin hellbent on ignoring it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/r...

That's right. What's more alarming is ~97% of the current highway storm drains in the United States were designed using rainfall information that was published in *1961* using 1930s-1950s data. We're using infrastructure built for the rainfall of nearly a century ago. engrxiv.org/preprint/vie....

Opinion | These Invisible Whales Could Sink the Economy (Published 2021)

In 2021, I warned that “family offices”—investment firms that manage the $ of tech titans & other billionaires—have more assets combined ($6TN) than all of private equity ($4TN).

Unlike PE, the public has NO insight into where they put that money. Zero.

www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/o...

A New Democratic Think Tank Wants to Curb the Influence of Liberal Groups

The gag is, I don’t think Harry Reid would support this.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/u...

A $19bn industry is about to pay its workforce for the first time The economics of American college sports have been upended

In 43 states, the highest-paid public employee is a college coach. Yet the athletes propping up the $19bn college-sports industry earned no salary--until this year. My piece on the upending of one of America's strangest economic systems
www.economist.com/united-state...

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