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Karthik Sankaran

@rajakorman.bsky.social

6.5K followers 1.2K following 5K posts

Bay Area US. Aging macro expat. Cheap lunch guy. 1st to ever rhyme Duce and Juche. Neoliberal peacenik. Has Herder immunity. Virulent vector of dad jokes. 1/3 each phlegm, spleen & dad humors.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · Jul 5

I threw everything in here—the dollar, bonds, the future of the defense umbrella, the insistence on centrality, stablecoin, why centrality is not always strength, the evolution of US & global (r,g ) dynamics, and a shoutout to Steven Solomon. But no dad jokes alas.

Phenomenal World @phenomenalworld.bsky.social · Jul 5

“The months since April 2 have clarified the multiple contradictory desires of the Trump administration vis-a-vis its position in the global economic hierarchy.”

@rajakorman.bsky.social on Trumponomics, dollar diplomacy, and multipolarity

www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/mon...

Monetizing Primacy | Karthik Sankaran

Trumponomics, dollar diplomacy, and multipolarity

www.phenomenalworld.org

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 55m

Quite apart from everything else, I am annoyed that a certain cabinet official keeps using the word fulsome according to its secondary rather than primary meaning.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1h

I agree the $ is not weak (certainly not against the Yen). But it has weakened (contrary to expectations about how the tariffs would affect it) on the back of a few different shifts in both US and RoW policies. My peeve is people misidentifying a trigger for a the move thus far this year.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1h

Listening to Adam Posen right now, who is talking about possible changes in the role of the dollar (I think he's right), but even he is attributing it to Liberation Day.

Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 14d

Please stop saying the $ is weak because of Liberation Day. The $ is weak because of what Vance said in Munich on Valentine’s Day.

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Once we used to care
Now its all up to EU.

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 14d

This is important IMO. The $ selloff this year may have been exacerbated by liberation day tariffs on April 2, but what really kicked it off was Vance’s speech in Munich in mid-Feb followed by Merz’s early March response to increase German defense spend & can the debt brake.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2h

Do you have links to recent polling Mark?

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2h

Because this came up, I figure there are people here who need to know this. There’s a great essay by Peter Loewenberg called Freud in the Academy, the gist of which is that grad school is an Oedipal enterprise where you love your advisor but also need to kill him & his work so you can have his job.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 5h

I’ve been to Standing Room Only events before, but this is crazy!

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 6h

As the old saying goes, sometimes its about the Return On Assets, sometimes its about the Return OF assets.

Toby Nangle @tobyn.bsky.social · 10h

Still, even if it's not strictly central banks (who knows?), someone's been buying @katie0martin.ft.com's pet rock. And it seems likely govts are involved.

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Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

alialiafro.bsky.social @alialiafro.bsky.social · 6h

Fembot?

a woman wearing a wig and a purple furry top

ALT: a woman wearing a wig and a purple furry top

media.tenor.com

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 7h

Lust Language Model, aka Artificial Interest.

404 Media @404media.co · 18h

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced in a post on X Tuesday that ChatGPT is officially getting into the fuckable chatbots game, with “erotica for verified adults” rolling out in December.

🔗 www.404media.co/chatgpt-erot...

ChatGPT’s Hail Mary: Chatbots You Can Fuck

As recent reports show OpenAI bleeding cash, and on the heels of accusations that ChatGPT caused teens and adults alike to harm themselves and others, CEO Sam Altman announced that you can soon fuck t...

www.404media.co

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 16h

Interesting story on polarization of modern SK politics and the influence of 2 rival historians.

How two duelling history influencers explain South Korea’s polarised politics

economist.com/1843/2025/10...

How two duelling history influencers explain South Korea’s polarised politics

The country’s recent brush with martial law has deep roots

economist.com

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

The 3 season Berlusconi miniseries on MHz features the 2011 Bund BTP spread as a key plot device in the coda episode.

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, France is trading wide to Italy, but for historical context, here are some longer term (r,g) graphs for France and Italy.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

Instead if calling it the economics nobel, maybe they should call it Riksy Business?

Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

Charles Taggart @sikolnam.bsky.social · 1d

Michael C. Mann’s 1491 does the best job of addressing this that I’ve observed. His section on the Northeastern US has settlers stumbling upon huge caches of corn and manicured orchards, thinking it divine provenance. Euros’ first look at the Amazon was bustling, their second look…nothing.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

It’s Charles C. Mann. Confusingly, there is a Power Michael Mann & Global Warming Michael Mann, neither of whom is the Michael Mann who made Heat.

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

So it turns out that not all Science is WEIRD.

Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

Tuffy @smtuffy.bsky.social · 1d

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 1d

Because…

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · Aug 4

Did you know that by the 2nd half of the 16th century, when a customer ordered Patatas Bravas at a Spanish diner, the waitress would yell to the kitchen “New World Order?”

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2d

Trying to match last year’s rich meming opportunities.

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Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

Pseudoerasmus @pseudoerasmus.bsky.social · 2d

Aghion (et al) have a paper on China, they recognised long ago & before many that the Chinese model departs from the East Asia model in having a Darwinian struggle-to-the-death competition of firms behind a wall of protection. It pairs Schumpeterian growth theory w the economics of industrial policy

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2d

Last year was a lot richer in possibilities. open.substack.com/pub/sankaran...

Meme Streets

As I’m sure everyone knows, the Economics Nobel was awarded this week to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson.

open.substack.com

Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 2d

Gordoliberalism!
(Origins of this joke go back to the 2008 G20 summit).

Nathan🌹 @nathanwylabour.bsky.social · 4d

A moving and intelligent call to action here from Gordon Brown. And yet another reminder of why he is my political hero.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Don’t fall for the authoritarian hype – Reform and the hard right can be stopped in their tracks | Gordon Brown

From the US to Europe and Asia, grievances are being exploited to gain power. But moderate voices are still in tune with the majority, says former prime minister Gordon Brown

www.theguardian.com

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Karthik Sankaran @rajakorman.bsky.social · 3d

There’s a dissertation in American history or cultural studies waiting to be written comparing Diane Keaton’s kitchen in Manhattan with her kitchen in Something’s Gotta Give.

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Reposted by Karthik Sankaran

buster skeetin @busterskeetin.bsky.social · 3d

The joke is made better by the fact that many people would pronounce it "val-ay" like the people who park cars, when valet, meaning servant, is pronounced "val-it"

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