Justin Lahart

An MIT Student Awed Top Economists With His AI Study—Then It All Fell Apart Aidan Toner-Rodgers shot to academic fame in a field hungry for new insights and revelatory research. But a computer scientist thought something seemed off.

“There is no world where this makes any sense,” said David Autor, one of the MIT professors who had previously championed his student’s research. www.wsj.com/economy/aida...

"We monitor many frequencies. We listen always. Came a voice, out of the babel of tongues, speaking to us. It played us a mighty dub."

Just imagining what this might do to December interest-rate futures, which are based on average monthly levels - especially for what is very much a live meeting

Strong signal about December FOMC meeting from NY Fed President John Williams. Rate cut likely.

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@wsj.com

The Middle Class Is Buckling Under Almost Five Years of Persistent Inflation Workers are growing tired of an economy in which everything seems to get more expensive.

After nearly five years of high prices, many middle-class earners are weary. Wasn’t life supposed to be more affordable by now?

How Larry Summers’s Power Delayed the Reckoning Over His Epstein Ties The former Treasury Secretary and Harvard president’s enormous network and clout kept him immune from past Jeffrey Epstein revelations. But this time was just too much.

www.wsj.com/us-news/larr...

Larry Summers Taking Leave From Teaching at Harvard The university is reviewing information about the acclaimed economist’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Breaking: Larry Summers is taking a leave from teaching at Harvard after criticism over his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

Bonus panel here: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/stats-3
#smbc

Trump Plays Hardball With GOP Lawmakers as Epstein Vote Approaches Marjorie Taylor Greene says president is publicly targeting her to discourage other Republicans from supporting the measure.

President Trump is making a last-ditch push to dissuade House Republicans from supporting a measure this week to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Not sure this comment passes mustard

This map make me think of this map

Job Seekers Stare Down a Gloomy Holiday Hiring Season Large companies say they are likely to add far fewer seasonal workers than in other recent years.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of U.S. workers take on seasonal jobs during the holidays. This year those jobs look harder to come by.

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

It’s Going to Be Really Hard to Work Out How Much the Shutdown Hurt the Economy The effect will probably be mostly temporary, but will leave a data fog at an otherwise uncertain time for the economy.

The shutdown and the damage done www.wsj.com/economy/gove...

CPS reference week was last week, so would be a tight squeeze for the household survey

Man, the shutdown even came for beer o’clock

Good post from a while back from @ygorodnichenko.bsky.social and Oli Coibion on Umich/NY Fed differences. sites.utexas.edu/macro/2025/0...

Concepts and Definitions (CPS) Concepts and Definitions (CPS)

Forgot until just now that this is one of those years when the CPS reference week for November comes early. Is this week. www.bls.gov/cps/definiti...

Am I right that if the Social Security cap was $1 trillion, this year's shortfall could potentially get taken care of?

chart showing that not-seasonally adjusted GDP is strong in the fourth quarter vs adjusted GDP

How much does it matter that the shutdown disruptions are happening during what is on an unadjusted basis usually the strongest quarter of the year for economy?

Unlike ADP, Revelio includes government jobs.

What Happened When Small-Town America Became Data Center, U.S.A. Business is surging for contractors and bars. Out-of-town workers are flooding hotels and RV parks. Cash is flooding into government coffers. But the newfound prosperity comes with costs.

great story www.wsj.com/us-news/what...

An AI tool that tells PR flacks pitching stories what I write about, since they obviously can't be bothered to figure that out for themselves

Fed Lost Access to Private Jobs Data Ahead of Government Shutdown Payroll processing firm ADP ended its data-sharing with the central bank after a speech highlighted the already-public collaboration.

One thing about alternative data: Its continued availability can turn on the whims of the data provider www.wsj.com/economy/cent...

From the picture-worth-a-thousand-words dept.

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/is-t...

Unemployment Claims Filed by Federal Workers Shoot Higher Data from states show that initial unemployment claims filed by federal government workers have jumped up this month.

The number of unemployment claims filed by federal workers has grown sharply, reaching their highest level since a 34-day government shutdown that ended in January 2019.

New Yorkers Are Losing Their Favorite Bathroom: REI The retailer’s Soho store is a beloved spot to do your business—but not necessarily the revenue-generating kind.

REI’s New York store is a beloved spot to do your business—but not necessarily the revenue-generating kind. Its planned closure is being mourned by Manhattan bathroom aficionados.

Walmart, Once a Byword for Low Pay, Becomes a Case Study in How to Treat Workers The largest private employer in the U.S. increased wages in a bid to jump-start sales

When Walmart enacted the biggest pay raise in history, it destroyed $21.5 billion in market value. Today, it credits the moves with its gains.

Question is, is this the leading edge, since people can take time to file. And how much is people coming off severance vs. recently fired?

Always learn stuff from Orley Ashenfelter's excellent podcast irs100.princeton.edu/podcasts