David Passmore
@davidpassmore.bsky.social
Distinguished Professor, Emeritus, Penn State University, https://davidpassmore.net; live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a Niagara Falls native.
Economics
26%
Education
12%
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police….They are afraid of words and thoughts…[that] terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest…are thrown into panic.”
- Churchill
- Churchill
Today, attending a weekly breakfast meeting of The Battle of Homestead Foundation, a group that, in the Howard Zinn tradition, studies the "People's History" of labor conflict in Pittsburgh, a history often told through industrial capitalism.
battleofhomestead.org
www.youtube.com/@battleofhom...
battleofhomestead.org
www.youtube.com/@battleofhom...
“There is infinite hope,” Franz Kafka tells us, “only not for us.”
~ imprecisely translated
~ imprecisely translated
Opinion | James Carville: Out With Woke. In With Rage.
www.nytimes.com
Le peuple se lève?
"We are not even two weeks from the government shutdown, and the public conversation on the matter has fled the building....[N]o matter what you believe, there’s a simple truth. The shutdown will have zero lasting consequence for next year’s midterms."
bit.ly/3KeZu19
"We are not even two weeks from the government shutdown, and the public conversation on the matter has fled the building....[N]o matter what you believe, there’s a simple truth. The shutdown will have zero lasting consequence for next year’s midterms."
bit.ly/3KeZu19
Tracking the Short-Run Price Impact of U.S. Tariffs
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...
www.nber.org
SHORT-RUN PRICE IMPACT OF U.S. TARIFFS
Prices began rising immediately after tariffs announced. Imported goods rose twice as much as domestic. Tariff costs gradually but steadily transmitted to U.S. consumers, with additional spillovers to domestic goods.
www.nber.org/papers/w34496
Prices began rising immediately after tariffs announced. Imported goods rose twice as much as domestic. Tariff costs gradually but steadily transmitted to U.S. consumers, with additional spillovers to domestic goods.
www.nber.org/papers/w34496
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...
www.nber.org
FORECASTING SOCIAL SCIENCE
"Confidence in the accuracy of one's forecasts is perversely associated with lower accuracy."
www.nber.org/papers/w34493
"Confidence in the accuracy of one's forecasts is perversely associated with lower accuracy."
www.nber.org/papers/w34493
Tell me about the beautiful spider you found. Such interesting insects!
My best regards,
David
My best regards,
David
Astarian Scriptures of Surazeus
astariad.neocities.org
I alert you that "Laika Floats in Outer Space" was written by cartographer and epic poet, Surazeus (pen name of Simon Seamount; bit.ly/Suzeu). He is the author of a prodigious body of work about the lives and ideas of "26 Greek Philosophers in 120,680 lines of blank verse."
Devotion to craft.
TY!
Devotion to craft.
TY!
Wealthy People Have Always Shaped Universities. This Time Is Different.
www.nytimes.com
THE UNIVERSITY YOU OWN
"The ultrawealthy have long lorded their money and might over university presidents, pelting them with ideas and demands, promises and threats.
"Now they have an ally in the White House."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
"The ultrawealthy have long lorded their money and might over university presidents, pelting them with ideas and demands, promises and threats.
"Now they have an ally in the White House."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/u...
Best times of day.
Like a ship that's tossed and driven
Battered by an angry sea
When the storms of life are raging
And the fury falls on me
I wonder what I have done
To make this race so hard to run
— Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993)
Battered by an angry sea
When the storms of life are raging
And the fury falls on me
I wonder what I have done
To make this race so hard to run
— Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993)
Interesting that the TX GOP was cited for racial gerrymandering. They will not grab those seats. And, CA map redraw will stand. Why? They asked the people to decide!
I find it difficult to separate what happened when functions are shuttled to new departments from what is being "reengineered" or left by the wayside. But, maybe I am a Piggy who should be quiet?
WHAT A SUCKER
“I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialise the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency,” said Harry Truman after exiting presidency.
bit.ly/48bpLFR
The buck stopped right there.
Give 'em hell, Harry!
“I could never lend myself to any transaction, however respectable, that would commercialise the prestige and dignity of the office of the presidency,” said Harry Truman after exiting presidency.
bit.ly/48bpLFR
The buck stopped right there.
Give 'em hell, Harry!
21 NOVEMBER 1787
On this day in history, the Treaty of Versailles of 1787 was signed to establish an alliance between France and Vietnam.
Yes, friends, other subsequent treaties were signed in Versailles.
Remember, in the U.S., "Le peuple est l'État, et ce n'est pas une déclaration séditieuse!"
On this day in history, the Treaty of Versailles of 1787 was signed to establish an alliance between France and Vietnam.
Yes, friends, other subsequent treaties were signed in Versailles.
Remember, in the U.S., "Le peuple est l'État, et ce n'est pas une déclaration séditieuse!"
Ape ancestors and Neanderthals likely kissed, new analysis finds |
A new study led by the University of Oxford has found evidence that kissing evolved in the common ancestor of humans and other large apes around 21 million years ago, and that Neanderthals likely
www.ox.ac.uk
KISSING IS A ...
"non-aggressive, mouth-to-mouth contact that did not involve food transfer."
Thank G_D for science.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
"non-aggressive, mouth-to-mouth contact that did not involve food transfer."
Thank G_D for science.
www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-11...
"A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that previously made the case that vaccines don’t cause autism now says they might."
bit.ly/48n1iyl
“I don’t think…” said Alice. “Then you shouldn’t talk,” said the Hatter.
bit.ly/48n1iyl
“I don’t think…” said Alice. “Then you shouldn’t talk,” said the Hatter.
Opinion | Marjorie Taylor Greene Was Not on Our Bingo Card
www.nytimes.com
PERHAPS A SPIRITUAL EPIPHANY?
"I cannot stop wondering if I’ve sold Marjorie Taylor Greene short."
~ Frank Bruni, New York Times contributing Opinion writer.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/o...
"I cannot stop wondering if I’ve sold Marjorie Taylor Greene short."
~ Frank Bruni, New York Times contributing Opinion writer.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/o...
SEEMS LIKE POPE LEO'S TEACHINGS ARE RESONATING THOUGH ACTIVE CATHOLICS
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/u...
The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books
www.nytimes.com
Spinoza argued that "Everything one needs for salvation is already at hand," and "All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/m...
Let’s Get It Started – Enbridge In Early Stages of Major Crude Oil Pipeline Expansion Program
Buoyed by record crude oil flows and the expectation of further growth in Western Canada, Enbridge has been sanctioning more pipeline expansion projects and discussing plans to add more capacity.
bit.ly
MORE ROUTES FOR OIL
Western Canadian production of heavy crude oil will continue rising. New pipeline takeaway capacity will be needed to handle those increasing volumes.
bit.ly/CrudEx
Western Canadian production of heavy crude oil will continue rising. New pipeline takeaway capacity will be needed to handle those increasing volumes.
bit.ly/CrudEx
WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEWS THAT SUPPLY CHAIN WEAK TO CHINESE?
“U.S. policymakers still lack transparency around the scope of these vulnerabilities as well as a broader appreciation of what could happen if Beijing ever chose to weaponize these economic dependencies in a conflict scenario."
“U.S. policymakers still lack transparency around the scope of these vulnerabilities as well as a broader appreciation of what could happen if Beijing ever chose to weaponize these economic dependencies in a conflict scenario."
Nov 17 median estimate by Metaculus market participants of likelihood of the U.S. carrying out military attack against Venezuela's territory or military forces by 1 January 2026:
50% <--- up 5% in the past week.
Variation of estimates appended.
www.metaculus.com/questions/39...
50% <--- up 5% in the past week.
Variation of estimates appended.
www.metaculus.com/questions/39...
SUSPICIOUS COINCIDENCES?
On this day in history, Actor Danny DeVito was born (1944); the first known case of COVID-19 was traced to a man who visited Wuhan, China (2019).
Think it over, you sheeples!
On this day in history, Actor Danny DeVito was born (1944); the first known case of COVID-19 was traced to a man who visited Wuhan, China (2019).
Think it over, you sheeples!