Stephen Walt

Economist Amartya Sen won a Nobel in part for asking: Why did India avoid the mass famines that killed tens of millions in China? His answer: a free press. Journalists could expose suffering and shame governments into action. Silence and avoidance, by contrast, can be deadly.

Universities have an enormously positive economic impact on communities across the country. Think what they might be able to do if they tried banding together instead of waiting to be picked off one by one.

Until Trump Fired Her, She Was an Economist With Bipartisan Support Erika McEntarfer led the agency that produced key data on jobs and inflation. Then July’s report showed a weakening economy, and President Trump accused her of “rigging” the numbers.

Erika McEntarfer led the federal agency that produced key data on jobs and inflation. Then President Trump lashed out over the agency’s most recent jobs report and fired her for releasing monthly data showing weak hiring. He called the data “rigged” without offering any evidence.

Show me your budget, and I'll show you your values

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump | Rashid Khalidi The university’s draconian policies and new definition of antisemitism make much teaching impossible

“Columbia’s capitulation has turned a university that was once a site of free inquiry and learning into a shadow of its former self, an-anti university… a place of fear and loathing, where faculty and students are told from on high what they can teach and say.”

-Rashid Khalidi

Just for comparison, we absolutely freaked out as a country over temporary single-digit inflation that cost the average household far less than this per year (& was almost fully offset by government transfers & income gains).

www.cbo.gov/publication/...

Really worth a read:

Why does Trump keep attacking Fed chair Powell (a man he reappointed)? Because he needs to manufacture a scapegoat to blame when his economic policies backfire.

This is the thing about student course evaluations—they were never originally intended as measures of teaching quality. That purpose was stapled onto them later.

Trump will do anything to distract from the Epstein scandal.

In paragraph 11, the story finally mentions the US’s role in arming Israel and protecting it from diplomatic sanction. This is how the topic is addressed: What an embarrassment.

Want to get back at that prof who gave you an A- on an exam? Or maybe you don't think people of color or women should be professors?

Make up a story about antisemitism, plop it into an anonymous student evaluation, and watch as your prof's life is upturned faster than you can spell "fascism."

Does anyone seriously believe that the radical assault on US universities—led by the Trump administration but not confined to them—will end once all of them cut “deals?” I don’t.

YouTube video by The Brief Podcast Harvard Versus Trump: The Battle for Academia's Soul with Harvard Prof. Stephen Walt

I had a very enjoyable conversation with Jim Clancy on his podcast “The Brief,” even though a lot of the discussion wasn’t upbeat. We covered a lot of ground (Harvard’s situation, the Middle East, geopolitics, etc.) and you can check it out here: youtu.be/2zxxN4bY7Ck?...

Trump’s Missed Opportunities Are Piling Up The Trump administration had an unprecedented chance to change the United States for the better.

Trump’s combination of political adroitness and policymaking ineptitude is an unfolding tragedy for the American people, argues columnist @stephenwalt.bsky.social.

Paul Krugman Brutally Wrecks Trump’s Europe Deal: “Scam on His Voters” As the emerging details of Trump’s trade agreement with Europe puncture his hype, economist Paul Krugman explains at length why it’s actually a big loss for our country—and especially for his MAGA bas...

Americans to pay more taxes on European goods isn’t a win for the US.

Very good on US-EU trade “deal” from @pkrugman.bsky.social in convo with @gregsargent.bsky.social.

Makes me wonder if Krugman left NYT because he wanted to do economics, and bosses pushed for “is Trump winning?” narratives.

One of the most consequential things Trump is doing. Deserves as much attention as the Epstein mess. But good luck with that. He is changing the policy so that greenhouse gases cannot be regulated and climate change can’t be addressed. Trump is killing the future.

It looks like Harvard is not up to the task of leading the defense of academic freedom and democracy in the United States. It was a big ask, to be sure, and sadly, it appears Harvard is not big enough. History will not look kindly on us.

Thanks for the plug. The points you make are important and worth pondering. The first one—that Trump will undermine efforts to balance—worries me a lot and I briefly acknowledged that danger in the article. Balancing behavior is not automatic, and can be undermined by inept statecraft.

Just so’s we’re all clear, almost 3/4 of everything we buy from Europe is now 15% more expensive.

Tariffs, Twaddle, and Trump: A Deal Fit for a Dolt Mr. Big Deal--who brands himself the ultimate dealmaker--is too dumb to know it's a done deal that he ends up with a raw deal every time

Don’t believe the administration’s hype about these supposedly great trade deals. www.blueamp.co/p/tariffs-tw...

This article is a must read for all of us involved in, or who care about, what is happening at our universities:

bsky.app/profile/bost...

An excellent set of proposals from David Rothkopf.

If we were a more serious country actually concerned about things like 🇺🇸 power, rising 🇨🇳, & <insert int'l security threat/issue ______," this would be a national crisis & a presidency-ending scandal. But since we just like to pretend we care about this stuff & glorify the military, here we are.

"...another lesson of history is that it is broad rot at the top of a society that ultimately brings down great nations and empires." @djrothkopf.bsky.social with another excellent essay. The Epstein-Trump Scandal may be his undoing, but we've got other serious problems too.

Herr Goebbels Angered By Anti-Nazi Wit Comedians Banned For Humorous Remarks on Leaders --The Montreal Star, 4 Feb 1939

1939

Pete Hegseth is wearing a suit, looking to his right. A headline reads: "A Clash Over a Promotion Puts Hegseth at Odds With His Generals." Photo by Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Suspicions about leaks and a mistrust of senior military officers have defined much of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first six months on the job. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/u...

I suspect many American institutions--law firms, universities, the news media, the Republican Party--were more susceptible to authoritarian takeover than was expected because they were already so dependent on the largess of billionaires.

If you depend on oligarchy, you can't fight for democracy.