Downplay a movie The Good, the Bad, and the Mildly Unattractive A Fistful of Quarters The Slightly Soiled Dozen The Somewhat Impressive Seven

Daniel S. Goldberg@profgoldberg.bsky.social · 6d ago

Downplay a movie Peasant of the Rings Bill & Ted's Mediocre Adventure Ferris Bueller's Regular Day Help Momma Off The Train

It is sickening and illegal and poisonously anti-American to steal OUR tax dollars, mandated by our Congress for the public good, and pervert them into a plaything of authoritarian patronage. Flaying our public institutions is the opposite of Conservative and it harms all Americans.

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

nytimes.com

📢We're hiring 📢 Short notice, but Melbourne Institute is looking for a Senior Research Fellow (level C) to work on applied industrial microeconomics research using Australian administrative datasets. Apply here: unimelb.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UOM_Ex...

Nice paper by my colleague Seth Richards-Shubik and Ian McCarthy. Terrific combination of important topic, good data, and rigorous, appropriate, methods (including formal identification argument for search model parameters). Well done - we need more of this kind of research!

NBER@nber.org · 2w ago

Primary care physicians learn about specialist quality from their patients’ outcomes, but informational frictions lead to suboptimal referrals. About one-quarter of patients referred to a different specialist under improved information, from McCarthy and Richards-Shubik www.nber.org/papers/w35486

This is a terrible abuse of the 301 process. These tariffs should be tossed out, and once again, Congress should take steps to reassert its powers to set taexes. The President illegitimately raised taxes today. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/b...

Trump Administration to Impose New Tariffs of Around 10% on Over 80 Nations

The administration announced new duties tied to countries’ imports of goods made with forced labor, replacing a global 10 percent tariff set to expire at midnight.

nytimes.com

🧵Important new paper by Gaston Illanes and colleagues on the performance of merger simulation. Far from perfect at point prediction, but performs better at distinguishing high from low price change mergers than commonly used alternatives. www.nber.org/papers/w35473

A Large-Scale Evaluation of Merger Simulations

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

Important initial development. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/b...

Judge Temporarily Pauses Paramount-Warner Bros. Deal

The delay is intended to give the court time to consider a lawsuit that argues the $111 billion merger violates antitrust laws.

nytimes.com

I'm so grateful to the colleagues who have been willing to read my forthcoming book How Economics Discovered Women in advance (#4).

🧵Happy 250th America! My grandparents came here to escape relentless persecution & grinding poverty in Belarus, Ukraine & Hungary. They found freedom & opportunity & were able to build good lives for themselves, their children & their grandchildren. They loved America - as do I.

This strengthens the power of the President and weakens Congress. If you like this because you support Trump, consider the consequences when someone you don’t like is in the White House.

Truthout@truthout.org · last mo.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled to allow President Donald Trump to fire a member of the FTC without citing due cause, upending decades of precedent that restricted presidents from removing political appointees from independent commission boards.

This is the end of federal “independent” agencies - they are no longer independent (& may no longer be bipartisan). I don’t have an opinion on the legal aspects of SCOTUS’s decision, but I think it’s bad for the functioning of these agencies & bad for the country. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06...

Live Updates: Supreme Court Expands Presidential Power Over Regulators, but Not the Fed

nytimes.com

On this day in 1865, slavery finally came to an end in the United States. Today, 161 years later, we celebrate abolition and rededicate ourselves to making sure that our country’s painful history is never forgotten or erased.

Read the story at the link. The Republican Party in Texas is actively promoting Islamophobia - for shame.

Juan Salinas II@4nsmiley.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A Muslim Texan sought to find his place in the party at the state GOP convention. He left in tears. www.texastribune.org/2026/06/15/t...

We’re all in this together. I’m very proud that the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation helped our Muslim neighbors. “The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh…helped the Attawheed Islamic Center in Carnegie, PA apply for a grant through the state security grant program. religionnews.com/2026/06/11/a...

Mosques face increasing challenges to provide security amid growing anti-Muslim fervor

(RNS) — Muslim organizations suspect they are not afforded fair access to Nonprofit Security Grant Program administered through the Department of Homeland Security.

religionnews.com

Not good. Certainly makes it look like this was a political decision and DOJ just mailed it in.

Leah 'AntiTrustButVerify' Nylen@leahnylen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

As we reported on Friday, the Justice Department closed its antitrust review of the Paramount-WBD deal. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Two really excellent overviews of the key facts about horizontal (e.g. hospital-hospital) and vertical (e.g. insurer-provider) consolidation in health care by Zack Cooper & the Health Care Affordability Lab, Yale. cdn.prod.website-files.com/682cf1c62562... cdn.prod.website-files.com/682cf1c62562...

The Econ team is hiring at the Center for American Progress! We're looking for a Policy Analyst with strong quantitative and writing skills; experience working with economic data; and an interest in compelling, evidence-based public policy arguments. [1/2] www.americanprogress.org/job/policy-a...

Policy Analyst, Economic Policy

American Progress is seeking a Policy Analyst to support its Economic Policy team’s efforts to promote an economy that works for all. The Policy Analyst position requires strong quantitative and writi...

americanprogress.org

Federal agencies that once honorably served the public are being compromised by the President’s lackey appointees to serve him and his cronies. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Inside Trump’s Takeover of the American Regulatory Machine

President dives into the weeds, shaping mergers and weighing in on psychedelic drugs, in a sharp departure from the past.

wsj.com

An amicus brief on economic issues in FTC v. Meta (fundamental flaws in market definition) and the impacts on appropriate enforcement. Signed on by Florian Ederer Steven Salop Nancy L. Rose Allan Collard-Wexler Larry White, and me.

Um ………….. what?!

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Paxton: "He's a threat to our very way of life. I mean, he's a vegan who thinks God is nonbinary."

Introduce yourself with 10 artists you’ve seen live. Loggins & Messina Led Zeppelin Grateful Dead Crosby, Stills & Nash The Tubes Stephen Stills The Who Simon & Garfunkel Peter Rowan Bruce Springsteen

gelbach@gelbach.bsky.social · 2mo ago

SRV Taylor Swift Iron Maiden U2 David Bowie Black Sabbath Depeche Mode Metallica Ben Folds Stevie Wonder

On #MemorialDay we remember and honor the dedicated men and women of our armed services who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We owe them a debt that cannot be repaid.

I am heartsick over this. Once again, innocent, defenseless people are dead because of baseless hatred. Hate speech leads to hate crimes. Politicians, public figures, social media, have to stop exploiting fear of those who are different and promoting hatred. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/u...

San Diego Mosque Attack Comes Amid Rising Reports of Islamophobia

nytimes.com

Important new paper by Robert Metcalfe, Alexandre Sollaci & Chad Syverson. They show that proposed mergers that lead to greater market power will have smaller efficiencies & vice versa. This has important implications for enforcement agencies & courts in assessing mergers. www.nber.org/papers/w35221

Proposed Mergers Where Efficiencies Are Needed Most Might Be the Least Likely to Deliver Them

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

It was our good fortune at @cmuheinzcollege.bsky.social Carnegie Mellon University to have Distinguished Professor Jonathan Kanter address the graduates at commencement. You can watch his inspiring address here www.youtube.com/live/7CHSd4Z... at about the 57’ mark.

2026 Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy - Hooding, Diploma & Awards Ceremony

YouTube video by Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University

youtube.com

“We are directing our anger at the part of the system that is most visible and frustrating (insurers’ restrictions on care) while ignoring the part of the health system that is most responsible for high costs and economic pain: hospital prices.” lnkd.in/eEiMjqtX www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/o...

Opinion | This Is the Biggest Culprit for High Health Care Spending

nytimes.com

“We are directing our anger at the part of the system that is most visible and frustrating (insurers’ restrictions on care) while ignoring the part of the health system that is most responsible for high costs and economic pain: hospital prices.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/o...

Opinion | This Is the Biggest Culprit for High Health Care Spending

nytimes.com

Slightly diminish a book Nineteen Eighty Three

gelbach@gelbach.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Slightly diminish a book Bleak Rowhouse

Slightly diminish a book The Pretty Good Gatsby

Martin Gaynor@martingaynor.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Slightly diminish a book To Lightly Injure a Mockingbird

Slightly diminish a book To Lightly Injure a Mockingbird

gelbach@gelbach.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Slightly diminish a book Bleak Rowhouse