David Ticoll

We're getting extremely close to the day when America spends more money to build data centers than office buildings

Only 5 years ago, office construction spending was 7x data center spending

August 1, 2025 AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations Statement from the American Economic Association on the Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today. The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day. Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias. The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity. Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions. We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure. Lawrence Katz President, American Economic Association Katharine Abraham President-Elect, American Economic Association Karen Dynan Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics Kenneth Troske Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

In other news, computer science applications were down about 27% Y-o-Y in Ontario univerities this spring.

This report from the Joint California Policy Working Group on AI Frontier Models is an important step towards effective and balanced AI regulation. It builds meaningfully on the International AI Safety Report and offers a thoughtful framework for policymaking at the frontier of AI development. 🧵
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Wild how the Fed chair saying that *entire regions of the United States* won’t be able to get a mortgage in the next decade barely registered as a news event

Treating tiny condos - that no one wants to live in - as an investment that will appreciate forever turned out to be a disastrous policy and market illusion. Though it was, for several years, a boon for developers.

Fascinating and deeply unsettling trends. Is it any wonder why right-wing parties are bombarding young men with “the world is broken” messaging?

Yoshua Bengio nonprofit startup aims to create safe AI systems that have intellectual distance from humans and act as more like a detached scientist than a personal companion or human agent.

Europe greatly lags the US - as does Canada, for similar reasons…

Jaime Watt:

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

Behind the Curtain: Top AI CEO foresees white-collar bloodbath Hardly anyone is paying attention.

At a time when people are understandably focused on the daily chaos in Washington, these articles describe the rapidly accelerating impact that AI is going to have on jobs, the economy, and how we live.

I agree, but having trouble coming up with an alternative. Any ideas?

BYD sells more electric vehicles in Europe than Tesla for first time Chinese car group has been pushing to expand into overseas markets for past few years

number of fully electric cars sold in europe last month

tesla: 7,165
byd: 7,231

the chinese ev maker passing tesla for the first time

-ft/jato dynamics

Could ‘mission government’ solve Ottawa’s delivery problems? Mark Carney’s government may adopt a focused “mission” model—but delivering results means reforming how Ottawa works.

“Those familiar with early briefings say Carney’s mindset seems to be: ‘How quickly can we do this? How do we accelerate? How do we show action?’ There’s a rigor to the way he thinks, and the system will have to adapt to keep up.“

policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/ma...

!!

a graph of G7 GDP growth, as described in the tweet

US & EU GDP data are now in, which means another update to my G7 GDP chart

Here's each country's cumulative increase in real GDP, since just before the pandemic:

🇺🇸 +12.9%
🇨🇦 +8.7% (thru Q4)
🇮🇹 +5.9%
🇫🇷 +3.7%
🇬🇧 +3.4% (thru Q4)
🇯🇵 +0.9% (thru Q4)
🇩🇪 +0.0%

"WE'VE ARRANGED A society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. And this combustible mixture of ignorance and power, sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don't know anything about it?" "Science is more than a body of knowledge, it's a way of thinking. A way of skeptically interrogating the universe with a fine understanding of human fallibility. If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then we're up for grabs for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along."

I think a lot about what Carl Sagan said in one of his final interviews.

Advantage Liberal: What advanced modeling tells us about why the Liberals are winning - Abacus Data %

Advantage Liberal: What advanced modeling tells us about why the Liberals are winning

abacusdata.ca/2025-federal...

Sign the Pledge for Canada This petition is intended as an invitation to Canadians to reflect on the current challenges Canada faces and what we can all do to respond to the risks and to contribute to building a more resilient ...

I just signed the Pledge for Canada, initiated by @charlieangus104.bsky.social !

actionnetwork.org/petitions/pl...

Opinion: Jean Chrétien: Canadians will never give up the best country in the world to join the U.S. The former prime minister says it’s time to enact a Plan B to handle Donald Trump’s outrageous threats

Yes, let’s get it together Canada! 🇨🇦 www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

@cathmckenna.bsky.social

my favorite new podcast. these guys are the best.

Tragedy of the commons

Technological Remedies for Social Problems: Defining and Demarcating Techno-Fixes and Techno-Solutionism - Science and Engineering Ethics Can technology resolve social problems by reducing them to engineering challenges? In the 1960s, Alvin Weinberg answered yes, popularizing the term “techno-fix” in the process. The concept was immedia...

Kudos to @henriksaetre.bsky.social & @evanselinger.bsky.social for a brilliant paper on techno-solutionism. Read this if only for zingers: "Like everyone else, people in the tech industry can have complex inner lives and act for mixed reasons." [::giggle:: to "can"] link.springer.com/article/10.1...

A spectacular - but not the only - example of Canada’s failures to harness socially relevant data in the public interest. Hopefully, as @picardonhealth.bsky.social suggests, we’ll get it right this time.

Daron Acemoglu nets out the challenges of our time in this remarkably brief Nobel acceptance speech (🧵)

Great 🧵👌👇

So long, Bob Dylan Bob Dylan bids farewell to British audiences in a poignant performance at the Royal Albert Hall during his ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour.

Bob Dylan’s final concert at Royal Albert Hall… Whatever his wrongs (and rights), hail a poetic voice of a generation.

www.spectator.co.uk/article/so-l...