Ryan D. Edwards

What Sweeping Revisions and a Blowout Month Tell Us About the U.S. Job Market From the Biden to Trump economies, healthcare keeps surging.

Superb graphics in this

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Nancy Mace interviewed on NPR sounding like a well informed and wise person about the Epstein files

Aw man, what a total bummer. You were the best, Dawson!! I want yore life

Twin Cities health care workers describe 'fear,' 'intimidation' due to ICE in hospitals Health care workers are experiencing fear and anxiety about going to work with ICE agents present in hospitals and clinics.

It’s hard to tell, and that’s the point. It sounds like ICE is in public areas of medical centers, or with hospitalized detainees, which are lawful acts.

But terrorizing the health workforce by asking immigration status is unnecessary. It’s like checking teachers

www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

While independent bookstores are giving out free whistles, hosting protest sign making events, and donating proceeds to mutual aid, Amazon is *checks notes* providing technology that assists ICE in their terrorizing of communities.

Independent bookstores deserve your support. Amazon does not.

Grand Obtuse Pugilists

Opinion | Mass Deportation and Florida Jobs The state passed an E-Verify law. Job growth quickly declined.

“Republicans who want every illegal worker deported cite the rule of law, but they also decline to allow legal pathways to work in the U.S. There are human and economic costs to all this”

www.wsj.com/opinion/flor...

I really miss Brooks and Capehart. Also Shields and Brooks. And Shields and Gigot. And Gergen and Shields

My manuscript "The Economics of Noncompete Clauses" is now out in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

Few topics have garnered more debate and policy attention over the last few years. This article brings us up to speed on the debate and the current answers.

pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/...

Disturbing chart. More than forty years ago, I completed an undergrad degree in modern history and economics. Still think that combination was the greatest education/preparation to understand (and in my case write about) the world.

Opinion | ‘Bluey’ Is the Most Conservative Show on TV The hit series proves it’s still possible to make an old-fashioned, family friendly program.

The notion that “Bluey” could ever be described with a political word like “conservative” reveals much more about the critic than the show

Kindness, caring, and growing up aren’t political at all. They’re eternal

www.wsj.com/opinion/free...

A table. The columns are United States, Australia, France The rows are: Drinking while pregnant (Will Kill Baby, Don't Overdo It, Actively Good for You and Probably Baby) Smoking while Pregnant (We're Arresting You Now, Don't Be Stupid, Eh, Don't Overdo It) Exercising while Pregnant (Pretty Good for You, Great For You, Will Kill You and Baby) Being Near a Cat While Pregnant (Wash Your Hands, Why is This On The List?, Most Dangerous Thing You Can Do)

this @kjhealy.co banger came up in Facebook memories and it deserves to live here too

Stephen Miran, Temporary Fed Governor, Resigns From White House Role Miran’s resignation ends an unusual dual role he had held since he joined the central bank in September.

It’s good to keep your word

www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].

So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem

has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]

Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.

Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

5 papers from the Super Bowl of Economics Planet Money went to the annual meeting of the American Economics Association, and we saw some fascinating papers presented there.

5 papers from the AEA Annual Meeting

www.npr.org/sections/pla...

Mankiw: Back from the abyss

gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2026/01/cong...

Opinion | ‘I Have Been Dismayed About Warsh’s Tone’: Three Economists Debate Trump’s Pick for the Fed

The argument that tariffs only increase prices (once) and not inflation strikes me as extremely dumb given the experience of the oil shocks of the 1970s

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

NEVER VOTE REPUBLICAN

Opinion | Is the ICE Crackdown Finally Backfiring on Trump?

“…you can deal with far more dangerous situations with far less force than we’re seeing. I know this. I’ve seen this with my own eyes, and when you see these videos and you have experience dealing with more dangerous situations, trust me, it’s more shocking.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

And Streets is in D. Perfect key, just lays well for most of us

State attorneys general, get those statements. File those lawsuits. RNs would probably line up volunteering to testify against ICE

❤️

Streets of Minneapolis speak for themselves

Don’t miss Tom Joad

Now Tom said,
“Ma, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there”

YouTube video by Kris Heuer Bruce Springsteen at First Avenue 1/30/26

youtu.be/5GRisKrwPik?...

Opinion | What MAGA Sees in the Minnesota Mirror

I’m sorry but it’s appalling to me that Justice Alito would repeat the false claim in late December after DOJ filed to dismiss with prejudice in November

He’s got plenty of law clerks to fact check but apparently has little interest in facts

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/o...

Opinion | Guan Heng Gets U.S. Asylum A judge grants refuge to a worthy dissident, no thanks to DHS.

“The bureau’s bloody-mindedness even after Mr. Guan’s case was widely publicized is further proof that DHS needs new leadership.”

www.wsj.com/opinion/guan...

Jay Powell just described the Supreme Court case about whether Trump can fire Lisa Cook as "perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed's 113 year history."

Screenshot of TruthSocial post by President Trump complaining that Mayor Frey won't enforce federal immigration law, and calling it a "very serious violation of the Law."

In Printz v. United States, #SCOTUS held that the Constitution bars the federal government from forcing or otherwise compelling local or state governments to enforce federal law.

The liberal squish who wrote the majority opinion in that case? Justice Antonin Scalia:

tile.loc.gov/storage-serv...

YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Health Insurers in Shock After Medicare Holds Line on 2027 Payments Big companies lose nearly $90 billion in market capitalization after Medicare proposed a relatively flat rate increase for next year.

“So Much For the Mid-Terms” is my favorite nugget

www.wsj.com/health/healt...