Ed Dolan

The Big Money in Today’s Economy Is Going to Capital, Not Labor Soaring profits and stocks funnel more of GDP toward companies, their top employees and shareholders. AI will intensify this trend.

Capital is winning labor is losing. That's it -- the whole story. www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

I ran across a Redditt thread (not new) that suggests US oil companies aren't really much interested in access to Venezuela's heavy sour crude. (See image for a small sample of the thread) Has anyone seen more on this topic from sources that know the industry well? www.reddit.com/r/stocks/com...

Now (

Now a new Gallup poll shows 64% want immigration to stay the same or increase, clearing the way for immigration to resume its role as a safety valve to smooth the transition to a low-fertility future (hat tip to @pkrugman.bsky.social ) paulkrugman.substack.com/p/immigrant-...?

The Birth Dearth: Panic or Celebrate?

In a May '25 post, I cited Gallup data to show that American attitudes made it unrealistic to count on immigration to smooth population trends -- most people wanted to cut immigration or keep it the same. The latest data (next slide) show a sharp change www.milkenreview.org/articles/the... ...

Inflation Eased to 2.7% in Report Distorted by Government Shutdown Consumer prices rose 2.7% in November from a year earlier, according to a delayed government report, slowing from 3% in September.

"
Technical workarounds that the agency used to deal with the collection issues may have biased the November figure downward, causing inflation to be understated." Let's wait to celebrate the end of inflation. www.wsj.com/economy/cons...

Glad you liked it. Stopped mowing our "lawn," amazing how many plant and animal species now inhabit it.

Makes sense to me. Good concept.

The crisis of influence: How war and administrative stagnation undermine Russia’s foreign policy November 16, 2025

According to this account, Russian foreign policy is in disarray. open.substack.com/pub/ironcurt...

Column | Scientists discover an ancient landscape – in our own backyard Newly discovered patches of ancient landscape have somehow managed to survive without being turned into a farm, forest or subdivision.

Great article on the importance of grasslands and biodiversity, including the role of very small, lawn-sized plots with dozens of different plant species. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

As @pkrugman.bsky.social explains, the GOP is shooting itself in the foot with its cutoff of SNAP funding. Just a glance at this map shows that SNAP cutoffs hit red counties (well, darker green on this map) harder than blue. paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-hunger...

Interesting. Is it that the whole concept of private ownership + rental of housing is destructive, or that it can go either destructive or constructive depending on ... depending on what?

This is a little far left for my left-of-centerish views. I have a friend who has long run a small apartment building, fairly as far as I can tell and with moderate but not excessive profit. I get the idea he finds it quite a demanding job to do it right.

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

Administration's immigration policy is disrupting farm labor market. This piece highlights the fact that no one seems to be thinking this through carefully. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

HOME field advantage: Leveraging HUD dollars to build more housing - Niskanen Center This proposal represents the single biggest action HUD could take on its own to increase housing supply and open the possibility to substantially address the U.S. housing affordability crisis.

From @niskanencenter.bsky.social , a potentially powerful tool to ease the nationwide housing shortage. www.niskanencenter.org/home-field-a...

Saying No To Empower Your Yes: Practical Ways To Disagree Without Picking A Fight By prefacing a principled

Sometimes we have to say "no." This yes-no-yes approach makes it easier to do without unnecessary antagonism. www.talkmarkets.com/content/sayi...

2/2 To be a little nuanced, it is not that I'm saying students themselves are making a mistake to choose engineering over philosophy. It's rather that I'm saddened that employers don't realize that humanities majors have a lot to offer their firms. Not to mention what they have to offer as citizens.

1/2 Alarmed by the decrease in college enrollment? Most of the drop is in low-quality schools, says @prestoncooper93.bsky.social . Although humanities majors like me will be saddened by erosion of deeper learning in favor of career-boosting majors. prestoncooper93.substack.com/p/why-the-co...

Opinion | Trump Secured the Border, So Where Are the Jobs? There’s little evidence that less immigration means more opportunities for Americans to work.

It's far too soon to know the full effects of the Administration's war on immigration. But one thing is already clear: It isn't creating jobs www.wsj.com/opinion/trum...

Forget about meaningless year-on-year inflation. What's important is what is happening now. August CPI inflation was 4.5 percent compounded annual rate -- and rising fast.

Breaking down State Senate Bill 79 California debates a major transit-oriented housing reform

This California bill promotes more housing near transit hubs. Lists arguments for and against. Looks to me that the listed arguments against are things that make me like it better. www.slowboring.com/p/breaking-d...

Very good. Let's hope more letters are in the works.

FEMA staff warn Trump officials’ actions risk a Katrina-level disaster About 180 FEMA employees, many of them anonymous, signed a letter to Congress arguing that agency leadership has hindered the ability to effectively manage emergencies.

Those of us in the academic world write about "state capacity." Sometimes that term is just too wonky for those who live on planet Earth. Here is a case study that says exactly what "state capacity" means in that real world. (Hat-tip to @pahlkadot.bsky.social ) www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...

Frustrated, Trump signals pause in his Ukraine peace effort The president, who had said a deal to end the war could be reached soon, expressed frustration over lack of progress and signaled he would pause his efforts.

"President says he’ll decide later “whose fault it is” that Moscow and Kyiv have not moved closer to end the war." (If he hasn't figured that out yet, things don't look good.) wapo.st/3JvvRrN

IMO sustainability depends in large part on oil prices and any impediments to volume of oil exports.

As the Kremlin stalls on peace talks, Russia’s economy shows mounting strain — Meduza The wartime mobilization of Russia’s economy has drained its reserves, though the country has so far avoided slipping into a recession. Civilian industries are stagnating or already shrinking, while o...

By some reports, Russia is "winning" the war in Ukraine. However, the cost to its economy is enormous. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Hackification Arendt’s Law comes for economic data

@pkrugman.bsky.social quotes Arendt: "Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." paulkrugman.substack.com/p/hackificat...

Trump's latest attempt to save coal Frank Rambo joins me to discuss the multi-billion-dollar utility practice of running expensive coal plants and the Trump administration's efforts to prop them up.

Utilities often keep coal plants online even when they are not the cheapest source of power. Trump rules are making this problem worse. We could have a win-win (cut electricity prices AND cut emissions) if we could thwart this coal-friendly practice. www.volts.wtf/p/trumps-lat...

Russia Has High Hopes for Trump-Putin Summit. Peace Isn’t One of Them. The meeting represents a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seeks to end international isolation and separate Russian ties with the U.S. from the fate of Ukraine.

What to expect in Alaska? “The ideal scenario for Putin would be to divorce the issue of relations with America from the issue of Ukraine, hoping that other political and economic matters would make Ukraine of little relevance to Trump.” www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Trump readies federal moves on D.C. crime, takes over D.C. police The president is planning to flex his law enforcement power over Washington, declaring that he would clear the city of homeless people and crack down on crime.

Looks much like Bukele's playbook. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...