Yu-Ming Liou
@yumingliou.bsky.social
Unfrozen caveman political economist. In my day, we didn't have fancy tools like causal identification, but we knew how to ask: “cui bono?"
Former political scientist. Now I do research for an internet thing. The good one, though.
Washington, DC
Former political scientist. Now I do research for an internet thing. The good one, though.
Washington, DC
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Birthright citizenship is probably not integral to liberal democracy, but it is integral to *American* liberal democracy. Our vision of what we are as a country, as a nation beyond an ethnicity, requires it.
December 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Birthright citizenship is probably not integral to liberal democracy, but it is integral to *American* liberal democracy. Our vision of what we are as a country, as a nation beyond an ethnicity, requires it.
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
open.substack.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Study after study shows campaign ads barely move the needle. So where does money’s real power come from? I ranked the five ways money corrupts politics—from least to most corrosive. What I’ve learned from 15 years of tracking political money:
Occasionally, we are reminded that Donald Trump is a born-and-bred New Yorker.
December 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Occasionally, we are reminded that Donald Trump is a born-and-bred New Yorker.
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
The fact that a second strike like that in an armed conflict is definitely a war crime should not completely negate the fact that *there is no war* and ALL the strikes are cold-blooded murder. The whole chain of command are murderers.
December 5, 2025 at 1:20 AM
The fact that a second strike like that in an armed conflict is definitely a war crime should not completely negate the fact that *there is no war* and ALL the strikes are cold-blooded murder. The whole chain of command are murderers.
This is a really cool (and timely) experiment!
I’ll admit that I’m biased in favor of the idea that “corruption” is a winning frame for Democrats, but pretty strong results (in a survey experiment)!
I’ll admit that I’m biased in favor of the idea that “corruption” is a winning frame for Democrats, but pretty strong results (in a survey experiment)!
The graph below shows the effect. Treatment with the question about the CZ pardon (full text in previous post) reduced perception that Democrats are more corrupt by 6.6 pp.
The point is, these are malleable perceptions, and as the breakout by party id shows, even malleable among partisans
The point is, these are malleable perceptions, and as the breakout by party id shows, even malleable among partisans
December 4, 2025 at 9:19 PM
This is a really cool (and timely) experiment!
I’ll admit that I’m biased in favor of the idea that “corruption” is a winning frame for Democrats, but pretty strong results (in a survey experiment)!
I’ll admit that I’m biased in favor of the idea that “corruption” is a winning frame for Democrats, but pretty strong results (in a survey experiment)!
Police unions mentioned:
December 4, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Police unions mentioned:
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
This is disgusting, un-American, and evil. And the men standing there and grinning are pathetic pieces of dogshit
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."
December 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
This is disgusting, un-American, and evil. And the men standing there and grinning are pathetic pieces of dogshit
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
The latest from @ymriofficial.bsky.social - more than 1 in 5 young men who voted for Trump now regret it, including almost half his Independent supporters. This less-ideological, less-online population is appalled by Trump's policies.
youngmenresearchinitiative.substack.com/p/who-are-th...
youngmenresearchinitiative.substack.com/p/who-are-th...
Who Are the Young Men Who Regret Their Trump Vote?
According to most available data, Trump’s approval ratings are dropping across the electorate. Young men tell a similar story.
youngmenresearchinitiative.substack.com
December 3, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The latest from @ymriofficial.bsky.social - more than 1 in 5 young men who voted for Trump now regret it, including almost half his Independent supporters. This less-ideological, less-online population is appalled by Trump's policies.
youngmenresearchinitiative.substack.com/p/who-are-th...
youngmenresearchinitiative.substack.com/p/who-are-th...
In fact, “Xinjiang” (literally “New Frontier”) came to be predominantly Uyghur Muslim by population and culture due to an *earlier* genocide perpetrated by an earlier Chinese government (the Qing dynasty).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar...
December 3, 2025 at 3:05 AM
In fact, “Xinjiang” (literally “New Frontier”) came to be predominantly Uyghur Muslim by population and culture due to an *earlier* genocide perpetrated by an earlier Chinese government (the Qing dynasty).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar...
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Statehood for D.C. is an ethical obligation at this point, required to protect the rights of our residents to govern ourselves against such out-of-state troops being sent to patrol our city.
NEW: Republican-led states, in a new filing at the D.C. Circuit, say D.C. residents are irrelevant, D.C. belongs to everyone else. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
December 2, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Statehood for D.C. is an ethical obligation at this point, required to protect the rights of our residents to govern ourselves against such out-of-state troops being sent to patrol our city.
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
a kind of funny thing about this thesis is that it's basically the same as the whole Ygelsias et al. 'moderate on cultural issues to win' thing with the serial numbers filed off. but for some reason this is based economic populism and not pathetic centrist selling out
December 1, 2025 at 5:00 PM
a kind of funny thing about this thesis is that it's basically the same as the whole Ygelsias et al. 'moderate on cultural issues to win' thing with the serial numbers filed off. but for some reason this is based economic populism and not pathetic centrist selling out
Apart from everything else, white supremacists can’t even name their terrorist group without plagiarizing from Al Qaeda?!
Spanish police said on Monday they had broken up the country's first known cell linked to The Base, a white supremacist group designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union
www.reuters.com/business/med...
www.reuters.com/business/med...
Spain dismantles cell linked to neo-Nazi terrorist group The Base
Spanish police said on Monday they had broken up the country's first known cell linked to The Base, a white supremacist group designated as a terrorist organisation by the European Union.
www.reuters.com
December 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Apart from everything else, white supremacists can’t even name their terrorist group without plagiarizing from Al Qaeda?!
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
You people have got to stop saying this kind of thing. I’m sorry that 15 years ago a CS professor said something obnoxious in a faculty meeting but the idea that humanities degrees are “not tied to capitalism” while STEM degrees are is some of the purest bullshit I’ve ever seen in my life.
November 30, 2025 at 8:09 PM
You people have got to stop saying this kind of thing. I’m sorry that 15 years ago a CS professor said something obnoxious in a faculty meeting but the idea that humanities degrees are “not tied to capitalism” while STEM degrees are is some of the purest bullshit I’ve ever seen in my life.
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Senator Kelly is correct.
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
November 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Senator Kelly is correct.
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
November 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
From Frederick Douglass's 1867 "Composite Nation" speech, a defense of Chinese migration to the United States at a time when anti-Chinese sentiment was intensifying.
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
teachingamericanhistory.org/document/our...
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Given the justification was in part because they might communicate with someone, pete could ask Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and his XO what the law of armed conflict says about that, except oops, the allies shot them dead in 1945 after a trial
WaPo with reporting that Pete gave an explicit order to JSOC during the first strike post impact to immediately follow up in order to, and I quote, "kill them all"
November 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Given the justification was in part because they might communicate with someone, pete could ask Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and his XO what the law of armed conflict says about that, except oops, the allies shot them dead in 1945 after a trial
What if the real machine god was just the sloppy ouroboros we made along the way
November 28, 2025 at 12:52 PM
What if the real machine god was just the sloppy ouroboros we made along the way
Reposted by Yu-Ming Liou
Why is the West Virginia National Guard in DC?
November 26, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Why is the West Virginia National Guard in DC?
From my perspective as 1) a working human subjects researcher 2) the child of civil servants 3) the spouse of an attorney 4) the brother of a physician:
These professions really seem to ALL have MUCH clearer professional ethical rules than journalism.
These professions really seem to ALL have MUCH clearer professional ethical rules than journalism.
“…we know (from the released emails) that [Thomas Jr.] had potentially incriminating information about [Trump and] Jeffrey Epstein; we don’t know whether he sat on it, gave it to his editors or what. The Times should be a lot more forthcoming about this than they have been.“
Three lessons in unethical media behavior
Plus: Some moments that made me proud to be a journalist
margaretsullivan.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:43 PM
From my perspective as 1) a working human subjects researcher 2) the child of civil servants 3) the spouse of an attorney 4) the brother of a physician:
These professions really seem to ALL have MUCH clearer professional ethical rules than journalism.
These professions really seem to ALL have MUCH clearer professional ethical rules than journalism.
A propos the Nuzzi / RFK Jr. debacle:
I have a proposal for Woke 2.
It is as a general rule good to avoid discussing other people’s appearance. However, if someone wants to make “being hot” their whole personality, we can in fact ask the obvious question.
I have a proposal for Woke 2.
It is as a general rule good to avoid discussing other people’s appearance. However, if someone wants to make “being hot” their whole personality, we can in fact ask the obvious question.
November 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM
A propos the Nuzzi / RFK Jr. debacle:
I have a proposal for Woke 2.
It is as a general rule good to avoid discussing other people’s appearance. However, if someone wants to make “being hot” their whole personality, we can in fact ask the obvious question.
I have a proposal for Woke 2.
It is as a general rule good to avoid discussing other people’s appearance. However, if someone wants to make “being hot” their whole personality, we can in fact ask the obvious question.
People will say anything at all.
I guess he just really enjoys sweetened cream cheese?
I guess he just really enjoys sweetened cream cheese?
I get a lot of hate for this view and in turn I'd only ask if you've ever had a pie as good as a typical cheesecake. The answer is no, you have not. Cheesecake invalidates the whole pie category. Hell, regular cake barely survives the cheesecake onslaught on the strength of carrot cake alone.
The dirty secret of pies is that they have the lowest ceiling potential of all sweets. Your best pie is merely fine. Your median pie is bad.
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
People will say anything at all.
I guess he just really enjoys sweetened cream cheese?
I guess he just really enjoys sweetened cream cheese?
Where I’ve landed with this is that most Americans are suburbanites and if you live that way (driving everywhere in a climate-controlled car) wearing winter clothes and clearing snow seem like a big inconvenience somehow?
By the way I think the number one thing that the internet underrates in housing choice is that people (insanely, in my view) seem to love hot weather
November 25, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Where I’ve landed with this is that most Americans are suburbanites and if you live that way (driving everywhere in a climate-controlled car) wearing winter clothes and clearing snow seem like a big inconvenience somehow?