Andrew Merrifield
@andrewmerrifield.bsky.social
Former academic, policy analyst, general government dogs-body in South Africa. Got a degree from the Maxwell School/Syracuse...
with all the noise about white domination in South Africa, it is worth looking at the Palma Ratio of inequality... yes, SA was an unequal society under Apartheid, but inequality really sky-rocketed when the ANC took over...
May 11, 2025 at 6:55 AM
with all the noise about white domination in South Africa, it is worth looking at the Palma Ratio of inequality... yes, SA was an unequal society under Apartheid, but inequality really sky-rocketed when the ANC took over...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
Not a single international cargo ship at the Port of Seattle. The port is dead. The last ship from China will dock at a West coast port on the 29th, and the last Chinese ship will dock on the East coast around May 10th. After that, there will be no more shipments arriving from China. We’re screwed.
April 27, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Not a single international cargo ship at the Port of Seattle. The port is dead. The last ship from China will dock at a West coast port on the 29th, and the last Chinese ship will dock on the East coast around May 10th. After that, there will be no more shipments arriving from China. We’re screwed.
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
FUNDSTRAT tonight:
“.. in the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers. .. A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”
“.. in the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers. .. A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”
April 9, 2025 at 2:37 AM
FUNDSTRAT tonight:
“.. in the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers. .. A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”
“.. in the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers. .. A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”
not an American so I have ben trying to avoid US (Trump/Musk) news as much as possible, but I see the Venezuelans are being booted out - what happened to the Haitians that were supposed to be eating everyone's pets? Did they give up or were they also given the bum's rush? Asking for a friend...
March 22, 2025 at 2:29 PM
not an American so I have ben trying to avoid US (Trump/Musk) news as much as possible, but I see the Venezuelans are being booted out - what happened to the Haitians that were supposed to be eating everyone's pets? Did they give up or were they also given the bum's rush? Asking for a friend...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
Anyone who is surprised by this wasn't paying attention. This was always an anti-woman candidate and administration. I hope the women who voted for Trump wake up soon.
DOJ Asserts Trump Hypothetically Has Power To Purge All Female Agency Heads, Or Those Over 40 talkingpointsmemo.com/news/doj-tru...
DOJ Asserts Trump Hypothetically Has Power To Purge All Female Agency Heads, Or Those Over 40
The Trump Department of Justice asserted in court Tuesday that, under their...
talkingpointsmemo.com
March 18, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Anyone who is surprised by this wasn't paying attention. This was always an anti-woman candidate and administration. I hope the women who voted for Trump wake up soon.
1/n I don't post threads often as there is little interest outside of South Africa in South Africa, but in light of our recent Budget presentation, I feel inclined to comment. I'm not a public finance specialist, but I have previously considered as knowledgeable about infrastructure and published
March 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM
1/n I don't post threads often as there is little interest outside of South Africa in South Africa, but in light of our recent Budget presentation, I feel inclined to comment. I'm not a public finance specialist, but I have previously considered as knowledgeable about infrastructure and published
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
AOC is probably the most famous Dem in the country and has had a target on her back since Day 1 and she's out there every day bringing the fire.
Fuck off if you don't actually want to defend the country and just want to suck up my tax dollars in a cushy job.
Fuck off if you don't actually want to defend the country and just want to suck up my tax dollars in a cushy job.
“Frightened for the safety of their families.”
America, 2025.
America, 2025.
March 8, 2025 at 5:28 PM
AOC is probably the most famous Dem in the country and has had a target on her back since Day 1 and she's out there every day bringing the fire.
Fuck off if you don't actually want to defend the country and just want to suck up my tax dollars in a cushy job.
Fuck off if you don't actually want to defend the country and just want to suck up my tax dollars in a cushy job.
an interesting article about a much needed response to the Nazi... but it doesn't consider the implications of a decline in the value of Tesla stock on the loans Musk took out to finance some of his businesses including Twitter. Anyone with financial nous know about that?
On the one hand, Alex has a point that #teslatakedown raises some important questions. But on the other hand, who doesn’t enjoy having a car that catches on fire and stops moving on highways while propping up the empire of the Great Replacement Theory billionaire who is randomly firing everyone
March 8, 2025 at 3:43 PM
an interesting article about a much needed response to the Nazi... but it doesn't consider the implications of a decline in the value of Tesla stock on the loans Musk took out to finance some of his businesses including Twitter. Anyone with financial nous know about that?
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
gently suggest that everyone who wrote or edited this at the @nytimes.com be gently guided into a career that's not journalism because this is uhhh, real bad
The Times has moved on from sane-washing lies to just straight up creating them.
March 8, 2025 at 6:07 AM
gently suggest that everyone who wrote or edited this at the @nytimes.com be gently guided into a career that's not journalism because this is uhhh, real bad
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
"The privilege to misgovern may be all but universally enjoyed in practice. But it takes some nerve today to espouse it consistently in public" John Dunn, The Cunning of Unreason, more than 20 years old but very relevant today...
February 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
"The privilege to misgovern may be all but universally enjoyed in practice. But it takes some nerve today to espouse it consistently in public" John Dunn, The Cunning of Unreason, more than 20 years old but very relevant today...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
I just want to say for the record that when the history books are written centuries from now, I believe the election of Donald Trump in a free and fair election in 2024 will go down as one of the most senseless and self-destructive own goals in human history
January 31, 2025 at 10:37 PM
I just want to say for the record that when the history books are written centuries from now, I believe the election of Donald Trump in a free and fair election in 2024 will go down as one of the most senseless and self-destructive own goals in human history
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
As a result, there will be more unwanted pregnancies, more women & girls who have suffered rape will be forced to bear children, & more lives ruined. But Trump doesn't care. #Shame
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
Trump uses executive power to reinstate anti-abortion pacts
President Donald Trump on Friday used his executive authority to restore U.S. participation in two international anti-abortion pacts, including one that cuts off U.S. family planning funds for foreign organizations if they provide or promote abortions.
www.reuters.com
January 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
As a result, there will be more unwanted pregnancies, more women & girls who have suffered rape will be forced to bear children, & more lives ruined. But Trump doesn't care. #Shame
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
planners should be like catholic priests but instead of celibacy they're just not allowed to have a car
Planners should have to design cities from behind a Rawlsian veil of ignorance. That is to say: the planner will have to live in the city they design, but they don't know *where* in the city.
January 4, 2025 at 6:57 AM
planners should be like catholic priests but instead of celibacy they're just not allowed to have a car
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
Elder explaining life
January 1, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Elder explaining life
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
In Medellín, a city of 2.5 million people in Colombia, the Green Corridors urban restoration project has planted 880,000 trees and 2.5 million plants, reducing pollution and bringing temperatures down by 2 degrees C. #ShareGoodNewsToo reasonstobecheerful.world/green-corrid...
How a Colombian City Cooled Dramatically in Just Three Years
With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures -- and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.
reasonstobecheerful.world
March 17, 2024 at 1:33 PM
In Medellín, a city of 2.5 million people in Colombia, the Green Corridors urban restoration project has planted 880,000 trees and 2.5 million plants, reducing pollution and bringing temperatures down by 2 degrees C. #ShareGoodNewsToo reasonstobecheerful.world/green-corrid...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1k/month. A year later, nearly half had housing.
They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays.
The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k.
www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...
They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays.
The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k.
www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...
Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1,000 a month. A year later, nearly half of participants said they had housing.
Participants in Denver's basic-income program reported having more-secure housing, though results were similar in the trial and control groups.
www.businessinsider.com
November 26, 2024 at 12:47 AM
Denver gave people experiencing homelessness $1k/month. A year later, nearly half had housing.
They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays.
The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k.
www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...
They also had fewer ER visits, nights spent in a hospital, and jail stays.
The report estimates that this reduction in public service use SAVED the city $589k.
www.businessinsider.com/denver-basic...
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
It's disheartening that in an age where knowledge has never been more accessible - the United States is about to be governed by an administration so primitive and ignorant as to believe that tariffs are good and that vaccines are bad.
November 26, 2024 at 3:17 AM
It's disheartening that in an age where knowledge has never been more accessible - the United States is about to be governed by an administration so primitive and ignorant as to believe that tariffs are good and that vaccines are bad.
Reposted by Andrew Merrifield
posting a picture to present some 'zen' on the timeline...
November 17, 2024 at 4:23 AM
posting a picture to present some 'zen' on the timeline...
1/n as a way of introduction to this site, apart from my brief bio, I thought I'd try explain something about the political trajectory in South Africa. It will be anecdotal and brief and dependent on interest, I may elaborate on specific issues.
November 12, 2024 at 6:20 AM
1/n as a way of introduction to this site, apart from my brief bio, I thought I'd try explain something about the political trajectory in South Africa. It will be anecdotal and brief and dependent on interest, I may elaborate on specific issues.
I am wondering if women in the US are going to evoke the Lysistrata option? Not just as a protest, but as a public health measure in those states that have abortion bans. Surely any pregnancy in those states is a risk (as sadly we have seen in Texas and Georgia already)?
November 10, 2024 at 10:06 AM
I am wondering if women in the US are going to evoke the Lysistrata option? Not just as a protest, but as a public health measure in those states that have abortion bans. Surely any pregnancy in those states is a risk (as sadly we have seen in Texas and Georgia already)?