Cullen Hendrix
@cullenhendrix.bsky.social
Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute. Sustainability, security, and political economy. Heart masquerading as head since 1977. You may not believe in climate change, but your insurance company does.
Billionaire families have spent $1.7 BILLION on the 2026 midterms so far — a 5,200% increase since the 2010 midterms. Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day. Big Money is the root of our dysfunction.
I spoke with @nature.com on the US Administration's new $100,000 tax on international students who stay to work. I estimate that the tax will sharply reduce the use of Optional Practical Training & thus talent inflows to the US economy. My estimates in this new paper —> www.iza.org/publications...
US proposes $100,000 charge for international students to do post-graduate work
Proposed rule would choke off a crucial STEM talent pipeline, policy specialists say
nature.com
the reason “AI will create so much abundance we will have a utopian society” rhetoric falls so flat is that the people building it will never, ever share their bounty unless it is taken from them and we all know it
Gianmarco Soresi@gianmarcosoresi.bsky.social · 4d agoMan who won’t give his employees piss breaks claims many piss breaks on the horizon
This would sink a presidency in any other era. I would bet most Americans will never hear it even happened.
Trump bought over $1 million in SpaceX debt days before unveiling space policy
The purchase, revealed in his latest financial disclosure, involved a firm directly affected by his administration’s actions — and led by presidential ally Elon Musk.
wapo.st
This isn't about who they are. This is about who we are. - John McCain, notoriously bleeding heart liberal
Avishay BSG (Ben-Sasson-Gordis)@avishaybsg.bsky.social · 3d agoRemember when we all agreed that Al-Qaeda and ISIS’s televised executions were a mark of retrograde bloodthirsty religious fundamentalism?
This "4 years after college, 20-somethings are poor, because they're 20-somethings &/or in grad school" is so blindingly obvious, the only way to understand why one would use this metric to gauge the worth of majors or the quality of universities is "epic bad faith." There is no other explanation.
Benjamin Seligman@errorbars.bsky.social · 4d agoFour years after graduation I was earning no money in medical school. Oops. (I did become a geriatrician, so maybe the joke is still on me).
But state ownership of the means of production doesn't qualify apparently.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4d agoQ: How do you define socialism personally? JD VANCE: I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls' sports
I really wonder what ism will be next on the all-purpose scare tactics list once the boomers are gone. And for the record this administration is the one ramping up socialism.
You're already getting socialism—and Democratic Socialists have nothing to do with it
The election of New York mayor Zohran Mamdani and the surprising performance of Democratic Socialist or DSA-aligned candidates in Democratic primaries across the United States is reviving interest in ...
piie.com
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4d agoQ: How do you define socialism personally? JD VANCE: I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls' sports
Sure, let's collectively delegate the future of humanity to people like this. I see no issues.
🎃👻🧙♀️ Vio the VVitch 🧙♀️👻🎃@viothevvitch.myatproto.social · 4d agothis is so fucking sad
You really have to admire a national media that treats things like this like a normal Wednesday afternoon.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d agoTrump: "I could've done very bad things to Hillary Clinton. I could've done very very bad things to Joe Biden. I could've done very bad things to Barack Hussein Obama ... I can do whatever I want, if I want."
The kids these days will hardly believe it, but a mere two years ago, the mental & physical (lack of) acuity of Elderly Presidents was the Great Issue of Our Time. Someone should tell Jake Tapper & Alex Thompson, so they can write a book on it
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5d agoTrump: "There's never been anybody in the history of the Nobel Prize that deserves it more. I settled eight wars. I stopped the total obliteration of the world."
Moderating a @piie.com online panel this morning on AI and Economic Transformation with 3 must-listens on all things AI: @chorzempa.bsky.social @filizunsal.bsky.social & @akorinek.bsky.social Register below. www.piie.com/events/2026/...
AI and economic transformation: Growth, adoption, and who captures the gains
Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly and could reshape productivity, economic growth, jobs, and living standards. But AI gains are unlikely to be distributed evenly across countries. How ...
piie.com
NEW: The US government taking equity ownership in private corporations, aka state capitalism, has occurred on & off over the years, usually in emergencies. Under Trump, state capitalism has reached a high-water mark in the face of fiscal pressures, budget priorities, & Republican past objections.
Trump's state capitalism reaches a high-water mark
The practice of the US government taking equity ownership in private sector corporations, known as state capitalism,[1] has occurred on and off over the years, usually in emergencies. For example, the...
piie.com
Something tells me this isn't the guy to get to the bottom of the Cornell 7 rape allegations:
![at which Kotlikoff delivered the opening remarks. Following the debate, on the walk from Goldwin Smith Hall to the parking lot at Day Hall, Kotlikoff was questioned by a small group of Students for a Democratic Cornell (SDC) members who asked him about freedom of speech and the school's Expressive Activity Policy, which imposes significant limitations on students' ability to protest,[17] and expressed concerns about suspensions of student demonstrators. Although Kotlikoff largely did not answer, the students continued questioning him as he entered his car. Kotlikoff accelerated his vehicle into one student and, after hitting him, turned and rolled over another student's foot before driving away.[18][19] In a later university statement emailed to students, faculty, and staff, Kotlikoff claimed that students were "banging on [the car's] windows" and "shouting".[20] Video evidence of the incident published by the Cornell Daily Sun showed that both of these claims were false.[21][19] The student who's foot had been run over said he had been too fearful of retaliation to press charges "considering Michael Kotlikoff is the boss of CUPD". SDC later told the Cornell Daily Sun that "there was no attempt to intimidate Kotlikoff, physically or verbally and students consistently remained a safe distance away from him.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:t5bzq2l75vef7uzlr3ddtpsx/bafkreihlspv4mogitaxsh2fymtiw6tdawakzxxxuhd6xfen2phg6lpghx4)
I spoke with Eduardo Porter of @theguardian.com about the increasing role of the state in the economy under Trump. Socialism comes in many flavors, and for all the talk of economic freedom socialism is increasing under Trump 2.0.
Republicans say they hate communists. So why do they like Donald Trump?
Trump supporters may be surprised to learn the state takeover of means of production is not driven by the left
theguardian.com
US tariffs are taxes on Americans. They’re not taxes “on China” or “on Canada”. They’re taxes on Americans who buy anything with any ingredient made abroad, or sell anything to people who do—that is, taxes on all Americans.
Cullen Hendrix@cullenhendrix.bsky.social · last wk.School music programs are getting absolutely bodied by tariffs, per @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/b...
This + all the concern about Chinese connected vehicles seems like it calls out for stronger regulation of vehicle spyware. Instead we accept commercial surveillance and stand on national security to keep lower-cost Chinese vehicles at bay.
Your Car Is Probably Spreading Your Info To Advertisers And Other Third Parties Without Your Knowledge Or Consent: Study - Jalopnik
A study by Northeastern University in collaboration with Consumer Reports found that late-model cars are contantly sending information about you.
jalopnik.com
At least when dinosaurs went extinct it wasn't a handful of greedy dinosaurs that made it happen.
This is actually my billionaire dream. To run a foundation that exists to benefit and support K-12/collegiate music & marching bands. The Arts are always a casualty of policy, in a bipartisan way. They really do need our support. Kids who do the Arts are smarter kids.
Cullen Hendrix@cullenhendrix.bsky.social · last wk.School music programs are getting absolutely bodied by tariffs, per @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/b...
The amount of clarinets and trumpets my family went through in middle and high school before settling into our more professional instruments would shock you. Kids are kids, breaking instruments is part of the process of learning instruments.
This is what it's increasingly coming to. Echoes the American car fleet: unattainable new prices means a nation increasingly jalopy-fied.
t0ussaint ☭黑人问号脸@t0ussaint.bsky.social · last wk.my dad ran a music school & always told people to go to the pawn shop to get instruments, then take them to the local music shop to let em fix it up. you get a like new instrument for a lot less. he used to love to go to estate sales to get pianos/organs for cheap to fix up & tune to keep or resale
As a professional composer I would not be where I am without school music programs and access to affordable starter instruments. Pain infliction for the sake of inflicting pain.
Cullen Hendrix@cullenhendrix.bsky.social · last wk.School music programs are getting absolutely bodied by tariffs, per @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/b...
School music programs are getting absolutely bodied by tariffs, per @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/b...
