In retrospect picking Wisconsin to win it all was a mistake.
Nate Jensen
@natemjensen.bsky.social
Professor of Government at UT Austin. Here until Jeff Bezos buys this platform. If you follow me, I will hate on you. natemjensen.com
Had a great time talking with @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social about why the IRA had limited political returns -- and the future of US climate policymaking heatmap.news/podcast/shif...
A New Theory About Why Biden’s Big Climate Law Failed
Rob looks back on the political theory behind the Inflation Reduction Act with the University of Michigan’s Alexander Gazmarian.
heatmap.news
Fascinating new research paper asks: why did Biden receive so little political credit for his enormous investments in manufacturing? Turns out people give all the credit to governors (ironically, in this case, mostly red-state governors who were hostile to the policy!).
Why Biden-era clean energy investment policies had limited political returns | PNAS
The Biden Administration enacted the largest federal policy framework to incentivize clean energy and decarbonization in U.S. history. We examine w...
pnas.org
Crazy to think the Amazon HQ2 competition was over what the company claimed would be 50,000 jobs. www.bizjournals.com/washington/n...
Amazon cuts 16,000 jobs in second major layoff round as company restructures operations - Washington Business Journal
Amazon is cutting 16,000 jobs across its ranks — a second major round of layoffs for the company in recent months.
bizjournals.com
The Line city concept was both bonkers and interesting. And now it will be an office park. www.fastcompany.com/91481217/sau...
Saudi Arabia's the Line is collapsing into a hyphen
Originally envisioned as an extravagant 105-mile-long smart city, the Line is reportedly shrinking into a pragmatic data center hub.
fastcompany.com
Happy Kids Finally Out of the House Day to all who celebrate.
Economic Development Bluesky. I'm putting together my syllabus on local economic development and looking for good readings on the arts and economic development. Suggestions?
I’m old enough to remember when Kansas and Missouri called a truce on stealing companies across the border. www.kcur.org/politics-ele...
Kansas City, Missouri, pulls out of ‘border war’ truce as Kansas works to poach Chiefs and Royals
The Kansas City Council ended its years-long agreement to stop the economic tug of war between the Kansas and Missouri sides of the metro. Both states offered big incentives to the Chiefs and Royals, ...
kcur.org
Everyone getting in on publicly funded stadium scams. www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Wrexham AFC receives £18m from government despite Hollywood backing
Welsh government grants used to fund football club even though it is owned by wealthy movie stars
theguardian.com
Elf on the Shelf is slowly getting more dark. I expect stuffed animal big game hunting soon.
Elf on a shelf playing tennis. -Artist unknown. And running out of ideas.
The problem with the IRA's "build it and they will come around" approach to politics. newrepublic.com/article/2027...
The Quick and Shameful Death of Biden’s Biggest Policy
It was far too easy for Republicans to kill the Inflation Reduction Act. Where did those who crafted it go wrong?
newrepublic.com
This looks interesting. www.nber.org/papers/w3449...
Forecasting Social Science: Evidence from 100 Projects
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
At the DMV. I am ticket R55. They called just called T51, I7, and P8. Like a dystopian novel here.
$5 billion more in subsidies? They already started construction. Why add $5 billion to a project already here? www.syracuse.com/micron/2025/...
Trump’s big bill boosts Micron’s tax break for Clay chip plants by about $5 billion
Trump's tax and spending law gives a bigger tax credit to semiconductor manufacturers who build new plants.
syracuse.com
These WNBA team valuations are so high yet so many claim they are losing money. Would love to read more on the economics of the league. www.espn.com/wnba/story/_...
Source: C's minority owner buying Sun for $325M
A group led by Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca has a deal in place to buy the WNBA's Connecticut Sun for a record $325 million and plans to move the team to Boston, a source confirmed to ESPN.
espn.com
Complicated story. Ford says they would have built even without tax credits. This project was popular with state officials but locals tried to block it. The politics is complex. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/b...
Ford Says Battery Plant’s Tax Break Survived Republican Attacks
nytimes.com
I honestly forgot about this site. Can I point out that covering “only” 25% of a stadium’s costs is still madness. frontofficesports.com/josh-harris-...
Josh Harris Delivers What Dan Snyder Couldn’t: A D.C. Stadium
A newly struck $3.8 billion stadium deal further shows how Commanders owner Josh Harris accomplished what predecessor Dan Snyder could not.
frontofficesports.com
🚨Check out this hot off the presses article with @ericjstokan.bsky.social and @natemjensen.bsky.social in Policy Studies Journal! In the paper, we examine public support for the Amazon HQ2 development across space and time, in a novel application of the political market framework!
I’m too tired to write up anything on Texas Film Incentives. Half a billion $ coming to Hollywood.
Painful grifter ad on Texas film incentives. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpgr...
True To Texas - Let's Bring Productions Home
YouTube video by True to Texas
youtube.com
Is cyrpto good for reducing government central reserve risk? Economists: What? Wait, what? www.kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/cryp...
Crypto Holdings by US Public Authorities - Clark Center Forum
This Finance survey examines (a) Central banks’ international reserves portfolios would have substantially lower risk if they were to hold a substantial portion of their reserves in crypto assets; (b)...
kentclarkcenter.org