Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David H Feldman

@dhfeldman.bsky.social

2.5K followers 660 following 3K posts

I write about the economics of higher education and international trade. Love New Mexico & cats. My books: https://academic.oup.com/book/7559 https://academic.oup.com/book/5108 Social media posts are my own views and do not reflect my employer. .. more

Videos

David John Feldman is a British legal academic, author and former judge. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge, and served as an international judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Dayton Agreement from 2002 to 2010. He is known for having shaped the development of civil liberties and human rights law in the United Kingdom. .. more

Economics 44%

Psychology 20%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · Apr 15

Thank you to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (@piie.com), and to my coauthor Gary Hufbauer for allowing me my say on the Trump Administration's venal power grab in destroying the world's rules-based trading system.

www.piie.com/blogs/realti...

The world trading system is dying: You should fear its replacement

Too few Americans may understand what Canadian prime minister Mark Carney is talking about when he refers to a “system of global trade.” Too few may grasp what we are losing and what we are likely to ...

www.piie.com

3 12 39

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 4h

Absolute no brainer. Just ... say ... NO.

Here in Virginia, the Democrats who control our Senate essentially told the University of Virginia that kissing Trump's ring would cost them state support. Do Trump's bidding, sell your soul for fake federal silver, and lose real, tangible state funding.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 7h

2/ Wife wanted The Aviation ...

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 9h

Time for a wet martini.

1 5

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 10h

Schroedinger's Cat of global policy. Trade negotiations are, and are not, happening at the same time. No one knows which until you open up the White House gift box to see who has put what into it for Trump.

1 4

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 13h

Of course not. This is Republican merit at work!

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 13h

You don't find "via ECG" that a heart is 14 years younger than a person's chronological age. Heart age determination is a complex mix of judgments. Pardon if I do not accept the word of this physician.

1 5

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 13h

You don't have to look closely to see the myriad ways the GOP is moving to ensure that even as a minority they will win in our gerrymandered system with its constricted voting rights. and if that fails, they will ensure that free and fair elections never happen again.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 14h

Those "heavily armed Trump loyalists" know that they may very well face prosecution (not just dismissal) if the GOP ever loses power. One reason why I fear that this administration will never voluntarily exit. JD Vance as VP can decide not to certify and send things to the red majority of states.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 14h

A case in point showing why black people fare worse in custody...

1 2

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 17h

In any sane world, the Securities and Exchange Commission would be investigating, assisted by the FBI. The agencies would be independent and free to take the case right to the top if that's where the evidence pointed.

Our Republican friends would never allow that now, while their team is profiting.

9 51

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 17h

Ukrainian mass attacks should be readied (dozens of cruise missiles plus hundreds of drones) to shut down Moscow's grid if the need arises.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 17h

In any sane world the Securities and Exchange Commission, assisted by the FBI, would be all over this ...

2 14

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 18h

Words matter. Amazing how easily people use false euphemisms to soften the truth so much that it turns into falsehood. And they know what they are doing. I don't know what fraction of "journalists" are outright liars and shills, but it's alarmingly high.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 18h

A man who is completely impervious to evidence and unwilling to seek it out, shielded from the 25th amendment by a sycophantic party whose only mantra is power by any means. And over 40% of Americans are OK with this.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "Portland, I mean -- every time I look at that place it's burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don't put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up."

1 1

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Boeing will just have to surrender 10% of its capital value to the administration in order to keep doing business in China. That's how the party of business now governs. The payoffs are out in the open.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Sears hasn't the wit to understand Bostock v Clayton County. She does have the wit to pander to the homophobia endemic in the Republican party.

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19p...

www.supremecourt.gov

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Democrats can play hard ball too ...

www.cbs19news.com/news/state-s...

State Senate Dems tell UVA to reject education compact

Democrats in the state Senate write that if UVA signs the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, “there will be significant consequences in future Virginia budget cycles.”

www.cbs19news.com

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

"We still have laws, yes?"

Apparently, no. We have the whims of our grifter-in-chief. They override any inconvenient laws.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Consider the source.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

... A guy who knows how to use power to enrich himself and his family & friends using tactics well known to Don Corleone. His concern isn't maximizing national economic growth or helping people improve their lives. He has absolutely no moral code and that has set the tone for his administration.

Reposted by Timothy Snyder, Stephen M. Walt, Steven Heydemann , and 12 more Timothy Snyder, Stephen M. Walt, Steven Heydemann, Joe R. Feagin, David Feldman, David Peetz, Rosemary A. Joyce, Janet Murray, Alan Richardson, Michael D. McDonald, Henry Jones, Greg Linden, Aviel Roshwald, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

1.3K 480 2.4K

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Just how does the GOP think that mass firings will be blamed on the Democrats?

Our politics are broken, because the GOP has gone off the rails morally. Normal ethical guidelines no longer motivate or constrain them.

1 21

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

NY City's "distribution system" is all messed up, but Don Corleone's new plan can fix it.

Drivel on steroids.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Now we see what UVA does. If they accede to this federal overreach, I imagine a future governor Spanberger will quickly remove all BOV members who kowtowed to Trump, and for cause, after which UVA will rescind its agreement.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

Well, that means it's a weird aberration and she will return to crazy shortly, or she has been acting all along when that suited her purposes and chooses to become "normal" when that suits her purposes. I don't trust either behavior.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

This is fodder for a DOJ investigation in the next administration. Our Republican friends will call this lawfare, of course, but it won't be.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

3/ weaken

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

3/ All the norms that forced compromise in the past were conditioned on meaningful checks on power that no longer exist.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

2/ If Democrats trust that their GOP colleagues will meet them halfway, then they have just slit their own throats in the next election because no GOP commitment would be honored by a lawless authoritarian executive.

The Republicans do not practice old style politics. They will not compromise.

David H Feldman @dhfeldman.bsky.social · 1d

This is America's governing party. This is who our Republican "friends" are at present. This is why calls to deescalate Democratic rhetoric and to seek "common ground" cannot work. The Dems know the GOP will not negotiate in good faith. The GOP wants absolute power and control, by any means.