Jonathan Borowsky
@jborowsky.bsky.social
I'm a dad. I stan intermediate micro. I research how policy shapes markets, decisions, & outcomes in early childhood care & education.
Anyone can say they're "for the people"... and almost everyone does. Especially right-wing demagogues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
November 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Anyone can say they're "for the people"... and almost everyone does. Especially right-wing demagogues ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .
Isn't it quite traditional, historically, for populist leaders to be wealthy oligarchs, using democracy as an excuse to step outside of constitutional constraints? E.g. Caesar, the Gracchi.
November 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Isn't it quite traditional, historically, for populist leaders to be wealthy oligarchs, using democracy as an excuse to step outside of constitutional constraints? E.g. Caesar, the Gracchi.
Apparently, Harvey Weinstein was at this party too!
November 18, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Apparently, Harvey Weinstein was at this party too!
Well, I imagine that Gifty is talking about Larry Summers, who seems to have emailed a lot with Jeffrey Epstein. Summers comes off very, very badly in those emails... based on some things I've read, Summers was asking Epstein for advice on how to hit on women including professional mentees.
November 16, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Well, I imagine that Gifty is talking about Larry Summers, who seems to have emailed a lot with Jeffrey Epstein. Summers comes off very, very badly in those emails... based on some things I've read, Summers was asking Epstein for advice on how to hit on women including professional mentees.
It's much easier for big media outlets to swat away defamation allegations... even baseless ones can be a lot of stress and financial burden for individuals to deal with.
So I can understand why individuals might prefer to leave it to newspapers to name the names.
So I can understand why individuals might prefer to leave it to newspapers to name the names.
November 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
It's much easier for big media outlets to swat away defamation allegations... even baseless ones can be a lot of stress and financial burden for individuals to deal with.
So I can understand why individuals might prefer to leave it to newspapers to name the names.
So I can understand why individuals might prefer to leave it to newspapers to name the names.
I'm not a macroeconomist, but in grad school one told me that individual credit constraints weren't that important for aggregate consumption because, like, the poor don't consume very much.
November 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I'm not a macroeconomist, but in grad school one told me that individual credit constraints weren't that important for aggregate consumption because, like, the poor don't consume very much.
Fine, but then your point seems quite different from OP's, which was explicitly Keynesian.
Yours, basically, is distributionally biased tech change can make the economy suck for ordinary people. That seems right. OP's claim was that automation is deflationary. Which I'm not sure I understand.
Yours, basically, is distributionally biased tech change can make the economy suck for ordinary people. That seems right. OP's claim was that automation is deflationary. Which I'm not sure I understand.
November 14, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Fine, but then your point seems quite different from OP's, which was explicitly Keynesian.
Yours, basically, is distributionally biased tech change can make the economy suck for ordinary people. That seems right. OP's claim was that automation is deflationary. Which I'm not sure I understand.
Yours, basically, is distributionally biased tech change can make the economy suck for ordinary people. That seems right. OP's claim was that automation is deflationary. Which I'm not sure I understand.
Demand for some, not all, goods and services is mass-market. For example, demand for private airplanes and household servants is concentrated in the wealthy. Obv distribution matters for wellbeing and to what is produced. I'm not sure you have argued it matters in a Keynesian sense.
November 14, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Demand for some, not all, goods and services is mass-market. For example, demand for private airplanes and household servants is concentrated in the wealthy. Obv distribution matters for wellbeing and to what is produced. I'm not sure you have argued it matters in a Keynesian sense.
Automating auto manufacturing is not generally held to have reduced aggregate demand. (Although it may have redistributed demand from auto workers to the owners of capital.)
I don't see an argument making the causal link from roboticization to monetary consequences. Am I missing something?
I don't see an argument making the causal link from roboticization to monetary consequences. Am I missing something?
November 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Automating auto manufacturing is not generally held to have reduced aggregate demand. (Although it may have redistributed demand from auto workers to the owners of capital.)
I don't see an argument making the causal link from roboticization to monetary consequences. Am I missing something?
I don't see an argument making the causal link from roboticization to monetary consequences. Am I missing something?
I read it. I don't really understand how the argument fits together. The critical suppressed premise seems to be that "robots building robots would reduce aggregate demand". This seems to ignore that robots, like other forms of capital are owned, and the owners consume goods and services.
November 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
I read it. I don't really understand how the argument fits together. The critical suppressed premise seems to be that "robots building robots would reduce aggregate demand". This seems to ignore that robots, like other forms of capital are owned, and the owners consume goods and services.
Will no-one own the robots? If the robots own themselves they may well have credit cards, in which case, the question will be "what do they want".
If someone owns the robots, that someone will have credit cards.
If someone owns the robots, that someone will have credit cards.
November 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Will no-one own the robots? If the robots own themselves they may well have credit cards, in which case, the question will be "what do they want".
If someone owns the robots, that someone will have credit cards.
If someone owns the robots, that someone will have credit cards.
What do you mean, "fixed", it is already perfect. Safe for children and hilarious for adults!
November 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
What do you mean, "fixed", it is already perfect. Safe for children and hilarious for adults!
He'd probably be supportive of the part where Patel used thousands of dollars of government resources and staff to go on a cool date, though.
November 9, 2025 at 1:07 AM
He'd probably be supportive of the part where Patel used thousands of dollars of government resources and staff to go on a cool date, though.
He's totally going to move the Presidency to Mar-a-Lago and rent out the White House as a retreat center for oligarchs.
November 5, 2025 at 4:15 PM
He's totally going to move the Presidency to Mar-a-Lago and rent out the White House as a retreat center for oligarchs.
Interesting, thank you for your response! So, are majoritarian systems now viewed as more vulnerable to extremism than PR? I'm curious about the mechanisms, I would have thought that PR made parties more powerful and thus extremist takeover over a major party would tend to have a bigger impact.
November 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Interesting, thank you for your response! So, are majoritarian systems now viewed as more vulnerable to extremism than PR? I'm curious about the mechanisms, I would have thought that PR made parties more powerful and thus extremist takeover over a major party would tend to have a bigger impact.
The forecast computed based on what?
November 3, 2025 at 12:27 PM
The forecast computed based on what?
Anyway, I'm not a political scientist. But of course neither is Duchin. She's a mathematician, so presumably the complex math part is the draw for her, rather than something to be avoided.
November 3, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Anyway, I'm not a political scientist. But of course neither is Duchin. She's a mathematician, so presumably the complex math part is the draw for her, rather than something to be avoided.
Isn't proportional representation bad tho? I remember people talked about it a lot in early 2000s. Arguments against were increased polarization and insulating corrupt reps against removal (both already big problems in the US).
November 3, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Isn't proportional representation bad tho? I remember people talked about it a lot in early 2000s. Arguments against were increased polarization and insulating corrupt reps against removal (both already big problems in the US).
I think they will be interesting people. I hope they get what they need to be happy and successful. JFK's dad was a total monster too, but he turned out pretty good. Not sure he was happy, and certainly had his issues, but did a lot of good in the world.
October 31, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I think they will be interesting people. I hope they get what they need to be happy and successful. JFK's dad was a total monster too, but he turned out pretty good. Not sure he was happy, and certainly had his issues, but did a lot of good in the world.
I think it's funny how ppl get upset about his kids hearing protestors call Vance a bad guy. Like, these kids are probably going to go to good schools and colleges. They're going to learn about what a bad guy their dad is in history class.
October 31, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I think it's funny how ppl get upset about his kids hearing protestors call Vance a bad guy. Like, these kids are probably going to go to good schools and colleges. They're going to learn about what a bad guy their dad is in history class.
If you're running for office and "have" to talk to reporters about your indictment, talking to annoying reporters who ask you about it aggressively, saying nothing in response and then hanging up on them is a pretty clever way to do it.
October 30, 2025 at 10:12 PM
If you're running for office and "have" to talk to reporters about your indictment, talking to annoying reporters who ask you about it aggressively, saying nothing in response and then hanging up on them is a pretty clever way to do it.
Emily in Judaism: A Report on the Banality of Romance.
October 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Emily in Judaism: A Report on the Banality of Romance.
9/16, feels like that's a bit better than random given three options and a bit of a weird base distribution!
October 29, 2025 at 4:05 PM
9/16, feels like that's a bit better than random given three options and a bit of a weird base distribution!