Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈
LightNews LightNews
banner
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈
@josephpolitano.bsky.social
71K followers 530 following 9.2K posts
Writing a data-driven newsletter about economics @ apricitas.io

Nuance? In this Economy

Full Employment Stan, Brazilian Coffee Tariff Victim |
Posts Replies Media Videos
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Poetic accident I was reading it in Baltimore!
A picture of the book “Ways and Means: Lincoln and his cabinet and the financing of the civil war” in front of Baltimore harbor A picture of Baltimore harbor
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Another book haul. You think I can be stopped? I can’t even stop myself
A picture of four books, “A Rage for Justice: The Passion and Politics of Phillip Burton” by John Jacobs “The Ministry of Time” by Kalene Bradley, “Into the bright sunshine: young Herbert Hoover and the fight for civil rights” by Samuel Freedman and “Kololo Hill” by Neema Shah
November 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Nowadays Thug life is apparently when you want to return to 2015 tariff rates
The “Pay Back” Numbers being quoted by the Radical Left Lunatics, who would love to see us lose on Tariffs because of how bad it would be for our Country, are much higher than those being stated by our Fake Opposition — Opposition mainly from Foreign Countries that would do anything to be allowed to charge us Tariffs without retribution. The actual Number we would have to pay back in Tariff Revenue and Investments would be in excess of $2 Trillion Dollars, and that, in itself, would be a National Security catastrophe. Those opposed to us in the United States Supreme Court are giving low Numbers so that the Court will think it is easy to get out of this terrible situation that these Anarchists and Thugs have put us into!
November 10, 2025 at 9:14 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Meme saying Truth Nuke showing a nuke going off in back of a burning Wojak
November 10, 2025 at 7:19 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
coping, seething, etc
All Air Traffic Controllers must get back to work, NOW!!! Anyone who doesn’t will be substantially “docked.” For those Air Traffic Controllers who were GREAT PATRIOTS, and didn’t take ANY TIME OFF for the “Democrat Shutdown Hoax,” I will be recommending a BONUS of $10,000 per person for distinguished service to our Country. For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU. You didn’t step up to help the U.S.A. against the FAKE DEMOCRAT ATTACK that was only meant to hurt our Country. You will have a negative mark, at least in my mind, against your record. If you want to leave service in the near future, please do not hesitate to do so, with NO payment or severance of any kind! You will be quickly replaced by true Patriots, who will do a better job on the Brand New State of the Art Equipment, the best in the World, that we are in the process of ordering. The last “Administration” wasted Billions of Dollars trying to fix antiquated “junk.” They had no idea what they were doing! Again, to our great American Patriots, GOD BLESS YOU - I won’t be able to send your money fast enough! To all others, REPORT TO WORK IMMEDIATELY. GOD BLESS AMERICA! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP
November 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Committing self-harm by reading another Oren Cass oped in the FT, but what always strikes me as stupid about his work is the idea of tariffs as panacea. "If we had tariffs we wouldn't need stringent environmental standards" no Oren actually those two things are unrelated
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/191e3601-9838-45cb-a976-c265ea9a9263 If Mexico, Canada and the US commit to maintaining balanced trade among themselves, labour and environmental standards need not be so carefully policed. Each country will have an incentive to manage its currency in a co-operative manner. An agreement would establish protocols where imbalances do emerge. Tariffs could increase or decrease accordingly — a safety valve to open and shut, rather than one unscrewed and tossed aside.
November 10, 2025 at 3:11 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
It’s a very unfair city, every street has a different kind of gorgeous building
A picture of a stone church in Baltimore A picture of a Parisian-style apartment complex in Baltimore A picture of a white fronted building with detailed engravings in Baltimore
November 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Good morning, Baltimore!
A picture of a light rail train emblazoned with the Maryland flag in front of a large series of apartment buildings in downtown Baltimore
November 9, 2025 at 5:25 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
A picture of Dr Manhattan blowing up Rorschach but captioned with “the poorest person on Twitter may have access to more beauty and meaning in life than the most wealthy person in the world”
November 9, 2025 at 4:10 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
New book haul again, can’t stop won’t stop
A picture of two books, “The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank Savings and Trust” by Justine Hill Edward’s and “For the Sun After Long Nights: The Story of Iran’s Women-Led Uprising” by Nilo Tabriz and Fatemeh Jamalpour
November 8, 2025 at 8:45 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Sign of the times is I saw Jehovah’s Witnesses passing out pamphlets on how to cope with rising prices (screenshot of the online version because no way was I gonna grab a physical copy)
A picture of “AWAKE!” mag by the Jehovah’s Witnesses with the cover saying “coping with rising prices”
November 8, 2025 at 6:52 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
9/10 Canadian provinces and 2/3 territories have now exceeded their pre-COVID GDP

Fastest: Nunavut (24.2%), PEI (17.4%), BC (13.7%), Yukon (13.3%), Nova Scotia (12.7%)

Slowest: NW Territories (-6.6%), Newfoundland & Labrador (-5.3%), Manitoba (6.5%), Alberta (8.4%), New Brunswick (8.7%)
A map of 2019-2024 GDP growth by province in Canada
November 8, 2025 at 5:14 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Canada's provincial economic accounts came out this week—in 2024, all provinces & Nunavut grew!

Fastest: Nunavut (6.9%), PEI (3.8%), Nova Scotia (3.1%), Alberta (3%), Saskatchewan (3%)

Slowest: Yukon (-2.5%), NW Territories (-0.8%), British Columbia (1.1%), Ontario (1.6%), Manitoba (1.7%)
A graph of RGDP growth by Province-Territory in Canada
November 8, 2025 at 5:14 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
God you gotta love Lincoln (from Roger Lowenstein’s Ways & Means on the financing of the civil war, on the original debate about creating the Greenback)
Grievously for the bill, Chase had deep reservations regarding the probity of legal tender. He also had constitutional worries, although Lincoln may have mollified those. According to one visitor, the President said “Go back to Chase and tell him not to bother himself about the Constitution. Say that I have the sacred instrument here, and I am guarding it with great care”
November 8, 2025 at 3:55 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Finally, Republican greedflation
A picture of a scientist looking at a test tube
November 7, 2025 at 8:59 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
I got bad news: Sound Transit is subject to tariffs
a slide deck showing tariffs are affecting sound transit costs
November 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Ridership on the Seattle Link light rail also continues to grow rapidly in the wake of recent extensions—the system has carried nearly 40M passengers over the last year, and ridership is up 21%

More extensions coming this year & next should boost ridership even further!
a graph of ridership on the Seattle link showing it rise to 40M total over the last twelve months
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Phoenix's Valley Metro Rail is also experiencing a spike in ridership since the recent opening of the B line to south Phoenix—ridership is up 21% compared to last year, hitting the highest levels since COVID
a graph showing ridership on the valley metro rail in Phoenix rising to 15M annualized
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Ridership on the Bay Area's Caltrain also continues to grow in the wake of the route's electrification—ridership is up 45% compared to this time last year, hitting the highest levels since the onset of the pandemic
a graph of ridership on Caltrain showing a spike to 15M
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
The good news is that LA Metro's ridership is recovering a bit from the intense ICE raids and federalization of the CA national guard that began in June—compared to last year, 1.4% more Angelenos are taking public transit amidst continued bus recovery & expansions to metro rail
a graph of year-on-year ridership for LA Metro showing a fall in June followed by a rebound in September
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Ridership losses on LA Metro mean that Chicago's CTA has passed them to once again become the second-largest transit agency in America (behind only NYC's MTA).

DC's WMATA is also close to passing LA Metro to claim the #3 spot
a graph of total ridership for the 2nd-5th largest US transit agencies
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Another month of US transit data is just in, & DC's WMATA remains the fastest-growing major US transit agency, with ridership up 12% compared to last year

King County Metro (Seattle, +7.5%) & SEPTA (Philly, +6%) have performed well, while LA Metro & NJTransit have lost riders🧵
a graph of ridership growth the top 10 us metro agencies, with WMATA, Metro (Seattle), SEPTA, CTA, MTA, MBTA, Muni, and LIRR seeing growth while LA Metro and NJTransit shrink
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
Canadian Unemployment by Province:

Newfoundland & Labrador: 10.1%
Prince Edward Island: 8.5%
New Brunswick: 7.9%
Alberta: 7.8%
Ontario: 7.6%
Nova Scotia: 6.7%
British Columbia: 6.6%
Manitoba: 5.8%
Saskatchewan: 5.5%
Quebec: 5.3%
unemployment rates by province in Canada
November 7, 2025 at 1:44 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
NEW CANADIAN JOBS DATA:

Employment Growth: +67k
Unemployment Rate: 6.9% (-0.2%)
Prime Age (25-54) Employment Rate: 83.5% (+0.2%) Employment Level: 21.1M
A graph of Canadian unemployment, employment growth, prime age employment rates, and employment levels
November 7, 2025 at 1:44 PM
josephpolitano.bsky.social
SO excited to finally have this amazing book in my hands. Had to come to the Peterson institute to grab a copy before it (officially) becomes available in the US, stayed for the amazing talk between Kapur, Subramanian, and Simon Johnson
A picture of the book “A sixth of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey” by Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian A picture of a signed copy the book “A Sixth of Humanity” by Kapur and Subramanian
November 5, 2025 at 9:51 PM