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Brian Callaci
@briancallaci.bsky.social
· Sep 11
Crassly dipping my toe onto this platform with self-promotion: My book, Chains of Command: The Rise and Cruel Reign of the Franchise Economy now has a beautiful cover, and a release date: April 20th. So you'll have something to enjoy with your 4/20 Taco Bell order! bookshop.org/p/books/chai...
Children run this country
4 senior House Dems — Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark, Pete Aguilar, & Ted Lieu — voted for a Republican-led resolution to “CONDEMN SOCIALISM,” a symbolic measure that passed the chamber on Wed. The vote comes as NYC mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is set to meet with Pres. Donald Trump at the WH today.
November 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Children run this country
A state doing the bidding of private capital effectively is a Marxist superstructure, not a state with strong "capacity"
November 20, 2025 at 1:39 PM
A state doing the bidding of private capital effectively is a Marxist superstructure, not a state with strong "capacity"
This is the root of Klein's misappropriation of the concept "state capacity" from poli sci. State capacity is govt imposing policies of its own choosing *over the objections of powerful social groups.* I.e. dominant social classes, not shoestring non-profit "groups" fighting environmental racism
who the fuck does Ezra Klein thinks actually writes the overly convoluted regulations he despises?
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
November 19, 2025 at 1:00 PM
This is the root of Klein's misappropriation of the concept "state capacity" from poli sci. State capacity is govt imposing policies of its own choosing *over the objections of powerful social groups.* I.e. dominant social classes, not shoestring non-profit "groups" fighting environmental racism
Reposted by Brian Callaci
"maybe government should work better" is not an original, interesting, or particularly useful argument, much less any serious ideology
Abundance and the Left
Ezra Klein talks with Bhaskar Sunkara about Abundance, Zohran Mamdani’s victory, and why progressives need a state that works at the speed of their ambitions.
jacobin.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:47 AM
"maybe government should work better" is not an original, interesting, or particularly useful argument, much less any serious ideology
Reposted by Brian Callaci
Good. Great, even. Big part of why I voted for him. Thank you Thomas Sowell fan account. Minor point: all left-of-center candidates would be well advised to never utter the word “critique” again as long as they live unless in a soundproofed seminar room
November 18, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Good. Great, even. Big part of why I voted for him. Thank you Thomas Sowell fan account. Minor point: all left-of-center candidates would be well advised to never utter the word “critique” again as long as they live unless in a soundproofed seminar room
Reposted by Brian Callaci
One of my boring theories is that a successful progressive movement needs way more union presidents in public life.
My stupid galaxy brain continues to be "a foundational problems with the modern American left is that its luminaries are largely entertainers & academics, two groups who not only don't have to pass policy but actually benefit from continued leftist marginal status by retaining their cool cred."
November 19, 2025 at 5:33 AM
One of my boring theories is that a successful progressive movement needs way more union presidents in public life.
It's almost like fiscal health reflects economic growth and investment rather than German morality tales about fiscal austerity vs. profligacy
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 AM
It's almost like fiscal health reflects economic growth and investment rather than German morality tales about fiscal austerity vs. profligacy
Reposted by Brian Callaci
A bipartisan note of appreciation to the folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from folks who value honest data www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...
To the BLS Staff from the Leadership of the Friends of BLS — The Friends of the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Welcome back. On behalf of the Friends of BLS, we extend our deepest appreciation to each of you for your work this year. As you return from the recent government shutdown, we want to express this gra...
www.friendsofbls.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:36 AM
A bipartisan note of appreciation to the folks at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from folks who value honest data www.friendsofbls.org/updates/2025...
Reposted by Brian Callaci
Economists when they see a policy change
November 14, 2025 at 12:10 PM
Economists when they see a policy change
Reposted by Brian Callaci
no see using these photos would be beneath the Times, which would never take material from a dubious source, unless it was, say, hacked documents showing that a guy born in Africa had put 'African-American' on his application form for a university he didn't get into. You know, something important.
Can we circle back to the part where the NY Times never disclosed that they have incriminating information on Donald Trump from sent by Epstein that's been sitting on their email servers for nearly a decade?
Stuff like this makes me wonder why there hasn't been any reporting about Trump having affairs during his presidencies
November 12, 2025 at 11:11 PM
no see using these photos would be beneath the Times, which would never take material from a dubious source, unless it was, say, hacked documents showing that a guy born in Africa had put 'African-American' on his application form for a university he didn't get into. You know, something important.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
I don’t have much hope that the economics discipline is willing and able to reform itself from the inside but here’s a pretty damn freaking obvious place to start.
Epstein Bantered Regularly With Larry Summers
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:49 AM
I don’t have much hope that the economics discipline is willing and able to reform itself from the inside but here’s a pretty damn freaking obvious place to start.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
🚀 I'm on the #EconSky Job Market!
My JMP asks a classic question:
Do large, dominant firms foster or hinder innovation?
To study this, I turn to the Great Merger Wave (1895–1904), when >2,600 U.S. firms combined into corporate giants like U.S. Steel and DuPont.
A JMP 🧵👇 (1/13)
My JMP asks a classic question:
Do large, dominant firms foster or hinder innovation?
To study this, I turn to the Great Merger Wave (1895–1904), when >2,600 U.S. firms combined into corporate giants like U.S. Steel and DuPont.
A JMP 🧵👇 (1/13)
November 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
🚀 I'm on the #EconSky Job Market!
My JMP asks a classic question:
Do large, dominant firms foster or hinder innovation?
To study this, I turn to the Great Merger Wave (1895–1904), when >2,600 U.S. firms combined into corporate giants like U.S. Steel and DuPont.
A JMP 🧵👇 (1/13)
My JMP asks a classic question:
Do large, dominant firms foster or hinder innovation?
To study this, I turn to the Great Merger Wave (1895–1904), when >2,600 U.S. firms combined into corporate giants like U.S. Steel and DuPont.
A JMP 🧵👇 (1/13)
Reposted by Brian Callaci
The people who empower Trump would never countenance any man being held to account for hurting girls. That would offend their whole notion of justice (the strong get to eat the weak)
It’s a strange situation when we’ve established the POTUS is a criminal, we’re just trying to find a crime his party wouldn’t be okay with.
November 12, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The people who empower Trump would never countenance any man being held to account for hurting girls. That would offend their whole notion of justice (the strong get to eat the weak)
Reposted by Brian Callaci
Honestly, we could have used a lot more cancel culture.
Insights from Larry Summers
"I observed that half the IQ In world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population..."
"I observed that half the IQ In world was possessed by women without mentioning they are more than 51 percent of population..."
November 12, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Honestly, we could have used a lot more cancel culture.
"Deregulate and just let Sam Altman and his investors build whatever they want" may not be the best, most efficient, or socially optimal way to build out infrastructure
November 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM
"Deregulate and just let Sam Altman and his investors build whatever they want" may not be the best, most efficient, or socially optimal way to build out infrastructure
Reposted by Brian Callaci
Somehow James Talarico following porn stars got covered before this
mainstream media report on jd vance’s twitter mutuals, challenge level: impossible
He has already chosen, what the fuck are we doing here
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
November 8, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Somehow James Talarico following porn stars got covered before this
Reposted by Brian Callaci
I often think about how the government hounded Aaron Swartz to death for scraping Jstor, yet all these AI companies scraped almost literally all of human knowledge (and continue to do so even when they're told to stop) and have had no criminal consequences.
November 8, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I often think about how the government hounded Aaron Swartz to death for scraping Jstor, yet all these AI companies scraped almost literally all of human knowledge (and continue to do so even when they're told to stop) and have had no criminal consequences.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
he won an absolute majority in a 3 person race. the 100k or so people in those neighborhoods don't all have substacks.
November 8, 2025 at 3:20 AM
he won an absolute majority in a 3 person race. the 100k or so people in those neighborhoods don't all have substacks.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
November 7, 2025 at 7:39 AM
The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Brian Callaci
"you will recognize here precisely the same clipped, decontextualized, link-free, moronically breathless style of tweeting deployed by “financial news for low-trust illiterates” accounts like Unusual Whales or ZeroHedge (or, for that matter, in a slightly different arena, PopCrave)"
November 7, 2025 at 6:21 PM
"you will recognize here precisely the same clipped, decontextualized, link-free, moronically breathless style of tweeting deployed by “financial news for low-trust illiterates” accounts like Unusual Whales or ZeroHedge (or, for that matter, in a slightly different arena, PopCrave)"
Public servants should make a LOT more.
But I think this also illustrates an overlooked corrosive effect of inequality. If private CEOs make millions, then non-profit directors, union presidents, and governors feel like should make $500k for similar work.
But I think this also illustrates an overlooked corrosive effect of inequality. If private CEOs make millions, then non-profit directors, union presidents, and governors feel like should make $500k for similar work.
ryan is right. people HATE hearing this. but it is just a matter of simple incentives. if you want a more representative legislature — and if you want a legislature more resistant to corruption — then you need to jack up the salaries. serving as mayor of NYC should net you a cool 500K *at least*
people hate hearing this but it's 100% true, creating a huge pay gap between political leaders, their staffs, and other elites is a recipe for corruption. of course the flip side of that is taxes on the rich should be jacked way the hell up
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Public servants should make a LOT more.
But I think this also illustrates an overlooked corrosive effect of inequality. If private CEOs make millions, then non-profit directors, union presidents, and governors feel like should make $500k for similar work.
But I think this also illustrates an overlooked corrosive effect of inequality. If private CEOs make millions, then non-profit directors, union presidents, and governors feel like should make $500k for similar work.
Reposted by Brian Callaci
Bidenomics: Truly Transitory Inflation, Remarkably Successful on Employment & Growth—But Unable to Break Through the Media Misinformation Machine
My attempt to set forth a balance sheet: Bidenomics was an extraordinary success. The economy healed fast; the…
braddelong.substack.com/p/bidenomics...
My attempt to set forth a balance sheet: Bidenomics was an extraordinary success. The economy healed fast; the…
braddelong.substack.com/p/bidenomics...
Bidenomics: Truly Transitory Inflation, Remarkably Successful on Employment & Growth—But Unable to Break Through the Media Misinformation Machine
My attempt to set forth a balance sheet: Bidenomics was an extraordinary success. The economy healed fast; the story never did. A brief moderate transitory inflation. A long and strong jobs and...
braddelong.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Bidenomics: Truly Transitory Inflation, Remarkably Successful on Employment & Growth—But Unable to Break Through the Media Misinformation Machine
My attempt to set forth a balance sheet: Bidenomics was an extraordinary success. The economy healed fast; the…
braddelong.substack.com/p/bidenomics...
My attempt to set forth a balance sheet: Bidenomics was an extraordinary success. The economy healed fast; the…
braddelong.substack.com/p/bidenomics...
Incredible
An amazing chart-crime from researchers at the Dallas Fed to illustrate “Gosh people sure say a lot of things about AI singularities but most of it is kind of unhinged speculation! So let’s assume things will keep being normal! Some of the economists did a conservative projection that says that…”
November 7, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Incredible