Chris Grant

Fair enough, and I’m not an expert, but I think that as the victor we could’ve taken first step and articulated vision, and we didn’t. Wasn’t it Rumsfeld who nixed real econ aid to Russia? And talking to people who were in State Dept at the time suggests that Russia in NATO was never on the table.

Yeah that stuff was silly, but it made me think that the big opportunity after fall of USSR was for US to articulate a long-term vision of gradual NATO expansion east with the eventual goal of Russia joining. That missed opportunity was the nugget of truth in the “NATO is to blame” nonsense.

Sure, but why is licorice candy disgusting but pastis is delicious? That question seems like it could be the basis for a rich field of study.

His peanut butter oreos were like $10 per package, at least at the SF organic bodega where I would see them, but still worth it.

Hard disagree. Moving from DC to coastal California has been glorious. Only two weather-related things I miss are drinking ice coffee on summer mornings and eating/drinking/hanging out outside on summer nights… and I can deal with that.

Handmade sign at the No Kings protest in Philadelphia. It says "Billionaires Are The Only Minority Ruining This Country"

#NoKings

Aren’t RRP balances functionally equivalent to reserves? To me, it would make no sense for the Fed to set IOR lower than the RRP rate; but if it did, and banks moved reserves to RRP, they’d still just be exchanging one Fed liability for another.

Even with new Ts being issued I think it would just shuffle reserves among banks—unless Treasury actually builds up its TGA balance (i.e. not spend the cash it gets from issuance). Basically the aggregate volume of reserves is fully determined by the Fed—banks can’t change it afaik.

The Lost Boys

Completely agree. This is an excellent opportunity to show some fucking backbone and stand up for immigrants and immigration. Naturally I expect Democrats to fumble it.

I saw a chart in FT article a few months ago showing polls of US opinion on immigration. Trend was towards favorable for decades… right until Trump announced candidacy in 2015 and then swung negative. Crystal clear that this is an elite-led shift, so can be countered with principled pro stance.

Great article. Climate resilience was a big part of the reason I moved from the Bay Area to Humboldt, CA… although I’m not an expert and there are certainly risks here too.

Not serious, but a comment I saw on the FT’s write up points out that the formula makes a modicum of sense mathematically, if you assume x-m is small and m is the only variable in the whole economy that responds to delta tau. Oh also no retaliation. And the bilateral frame is bullshit. So no.

Yes! This has strong “all your base are belong to us” energy. I’m definitely going to find uses for it. 😂

Interested in banana slug

And critically, these are not contradictory positions! Warning about the political effects of the rightward drift of mainstream Dem econ policy and the blooming fascism of the GOP from Goldwater to Reagan to Limbaugh to GWB/Rove to Trump are two sides of the same coin.

I think it was actually the centrist/mainstream Dems that stymied action on econ policy, or even moved it to the right. There were always people on the left pushing for a stronger safety net, limitations on corporate power, etc. Instead we got the Third Way. 1/

I agree with all these points but wouldn’t discount the importance of the tight pandemic labor market as a proximate cause. The raving about the “labor shortage” and insane backlash to WFH lines up well with the pro-Trump swing among billionaires and elevation of anti-union Musk to co-president.

Seems clear they want the wholesale destruction of the admin state and all public constraints on their further accumulation of wealth & power—then to pillage the remains. Hurting their chosen outgroups is an added bonus, and “waste” just a transparent fig leaf.

Completely agree on the need to reform tax expenditures but think this understates what they’re trying to distract from.

Flourless cake recipe from King Arthur. Ironic. Looks fantastic though 🤤

Bigtech would be the perfect place to start a nationwide white collar unionization campaign.

I’ve been thinking about how the lobbying system in DC contributes to incumbency/gerontocracy in Congress. If you’re looking to buy influence, the benefits of having long term relationships with a stable cast can justify big contributions to reelection funds.