Ed Dolan
@dolanecon.bsky.social
1K followers 2.3K following 350 posts
Economist, Senior Fellow at Niskanen Center. Political economy, social policy, environmental economics and more.
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dolanecon.bsky.social
Trump's rule-breaking is going far beyond what even the most pessimistic imagined. These data shows that rule-breaking populist rulers do not make their countries great -- far from it! tiny.cc/pya7001
dolanecon.bsky.social
This is a little far left for my left-of-centerish views. I have a friend who has long run a small apartment building, fairly as far as I can tell and with moderate but not excessive profit. I get the idea he finds it quite a demanding job to do it right.
dolanecon.bsky.social
2/2 To be a little nuanced, it is not that I'm saying students themselves are making a mistake to choose engineering over philosophy. It's rather that I'm saddened that employers don't realize that humanities majors have a lot to offer their firms. Not to mention what they have to offer as citizens.
dolanecon.bsky.social
1/2 Alarmed by the decrease in college enrollment? Most of the drop is in low-quality schools, says @prestoncooper93.bsky.social . Although humanities majors like me will be saddened by erosion of deeper learning in favor of career-boosting majors. prestoncooper93.substack.com/p/why-the-co...
dolanecon.bsky.social
Forget about meaningless year-on-year inflation. What's important is what is happening now. August CPI inflation was 4.5 percent compounded annual rate -- and rising fast.
dolanecon.bsky.social
This California bill promotes more housing near transit hubs. Lists arguments for and against. Looks to me that the listed arguments against are things that make me like it better. www.slowboring.com/p/breaking-d...
Breaking down State Senate Bill 79
California debates a major transit-oriented housing reform
www.slowboring.com
dolanecon.bsky.social
Very good. Let's hope more letters are in the works.
dolanecon.bsky.social
Those of us in the academic world write about "state capacity." Sometimes that term is just too wonky for those who live on planet Earth. Here is a case study that says exactly what "state capacity" means in that real world. (Hat-tip to @pahlkadot.bsky.social ) www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025...
FEMA staff warn Trump officials’ actions risk a Katrina-level disaster
About 180 FEMA employees, many of them anonymous, signed a letter to Congress arguing that agency leadership has hindered the ability to effectively manage emergencies.
www.washingtonpost.com
dolanecon.bsky.social
"President says he’ll decide later “whose fault it is” that Moscow and Kyiv have not moved closer to end the war." (If he hasn't figured that out yet, things don't look good.) wapo.st/3JvvRrN
Frustrated, Trump signals pause in his Ukraine peace effort
The president, who had said a deal to end the war could be reached soon, expressed frustration over lack of progress and signaled he would pause his efforts.
wapo.st
dolanecon.bsky.social
IMO sustainability depends in large part on oil prices and any impediments to volume of oil exports.
dolanecon.bsky.social
@pkrugman.bsky.social quotes Arendt: "Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty." paulkrugman.substack.com/p/hackificat...
Hackification
Arendt’s Law comes for economic data
paulkrugman.substack.com
dolanecon.bsky.social
Utilities often keep coal plants online even when they are not the cheapest source of power. Trump rules are making this problem worse. We could have a win-win (cut electricity prices AND cut emissions) if we could thwart this coal-friendly practice. www.volts.wtf/p/trumps-lat...
Trump's latest attempt to save coal
Frank Rambo joins me to discuss the multi-billion-dollar utility practice of running expensive coal plants and the Trump administration's efforts to prop them up.
www.volts.wtf
dolanecon.bsky.social
What to expect in Alaska? “The ideal scenario for Putin would be to divorce the issue of relations with America from the issue of Ukraine, hoping that other political and economic matters would make Ukraine of little relevance to Trump.” www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Russia Has High Hopes for Trump-Putin Summit. Peace Isn’t One of Them.
The meeting represents a victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who seeks to end international isolation and separate Russian ties with the U.S. from the fate of Ukraine.
www.wsj.com
dolanecon.bsky.social
You can't fight the culture wars and make government more efficient at the same time. The see-saw battle over paper vs. plastic straws is a case in point, says @gabemenchaca.bsky.social of @niskanencenter.bsky.social www.eatingpolicy.com/p/grasping-a...
Grasping at (Paper) Straws
You can have government efficiency or wage the culture war, but not both at once
www.eatingpolicy.com
dolanecon.bsky.social
1/2 @pkrugman.bsky.social explains here why Trump's Japan trade deal, if fully implemented, will increase rather than decrease the US trade deficit. The key is the simple equation US Trade Deficit = Net Foreign Investment to US. ... open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...