JW Mason
@jwmason.bsky.social
Associate professor of economics, John Jay College-CUNY, senior fellow at the Groundwork Collaborative. Blog and other writing: jwmason.org. Study economics with me: https://johnjayeconomics.org. Anti-war Keynesian, liberal socialist, Brooklyn dad.
Brad Setser has been writing for years about the problems with Ireland's GDP data, and the distorting effect this has on EU stats as a whole. www.cfr.org/blog/ireland...
November 27, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Brad Setser has been writing for years about the problems with Ireland's GDP data, and the distorting effect this has on EU stats as a whole. www.cfr.org/blog/ireland...
Very interesting. But I was surprised to read that it's the left that opposes an increase in income tax. My impression had been that the big constraint was the Manifesto pledge, which Reeves and others in the government feel they can't break. I would have thought the broad left would be pro-tax.
November 25, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Very interesting. But I was surprised to read that it's the left that opposes an increase in income tax. My impression had been that the big constraint was the Manifesto pledge, which Reeves and others in the government feel they can't break. I would have thought the broad left would be pro-tax.
My last point: While it doesn't satisfy the Sahm rule, a one-point rise in unemployment over two years is a degree of labor-market weakening that, historically, has almost always been associated with recessions. This isn't just a statistical oddity, it reflects feedback between income and demand.
November 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
My last point: While it doesn't satisfy the Sahm rule, a one-point rise in unemployment over two years is a degree of labor-market weakening that, historically, has almost always been associated with recessions. This isn't just a statistical oddity, it reflects feedback between income and demand.
My third point is that the large rise in Black unemployment over the past few months is a reminder that aggregate demand has important distributional consequences. Strong labor markets disproportionately help less privileged workers, weaker labor markets disproportionately hurt them.
November 25, 2025 at 9:18 PM
My third point is that the large rise in Black unemployment over the past few months is a reminder that aggregate demand has important distributional consequences. Strong labor markets disproportionately help less privileged workers, weaker labor markets disproportionately hurt them.
My second point is that the employment population ratio, while falling, is still quite high by historical standards. We should not forget how rapid the recovery was from the pandemic, compared with previous recessions.
November 25, 2025 at 9:13 PM
My second point is that the employment population ratio, while falling, is still quite high by historical standards. We should not forget how rapid the recovery was from the pandemic, compared with previous recessions.
Should we expect stock prices to rise by another 280 percent, like, immediately? Sure why not. www.ft.com/content/a7f1...
November 24, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Should we expect stock prices to rise by another 280 percent, like, immediately? Sure why not. www.ft.com/content/a7f1...
That is what it looks like, yes. Which should be our starting point for wondering if there is something deeper going on. youngvulgarian.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 6:05 PM
That is what it looks like, yes. Which should be our starting point for wondering if there is something deeper going on. youngvulgarian.substack.com
This outstanding essay by @itsmccarthy.bsky.social in Hammer and Hope captures a frustration that I have long felt with a certain strand of left opinion-makers. hammerandhope.org/article/iden...
November 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
This outstanding essay by @itsmccarthy.bsky.social in Hammer and Hope captures a frustration that I have long felt with a certain strand of left opinion-makers. hammerandhope.org/article/iden...
This makes OpenAI and co very different from earlier internet companies. With something like Google or Microsoft, the fixed costs of developing their products may be very high, but the cost of each additional sale is minimal. So you can scale your way to profitability. That doesn't work here.
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
This makes OpenAI and co very different from earlier internet companies. With something like Google or Microsoft, the fixed costs of developing their products may be very high, but the cost of each additional sale is minimal. So you can scale your way to profitability. That doesn't work here.
The folks at FT Alphaville take @edzitron.com seriously, for what it's worth. And by his/their estimates, OpenAI's costs of inference - the cost of running the models, not counting the cost of developing them - are almost double their revenue, and the gap is getting wider. www.ft.com/content/fce7...
November 20, 2025 at 3:01 PM
The folks at FT Alphaville take @edzitron.com seriously, for what it's worth. And by his/their estimates, OpenAI's costs of inference - the cost of running the models, not counting the cost of developing them - are almost double their revenue, and the gap is getting wider. www.ft.com/content/fce7...
November 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Had a great talk last night with Chris Hughes about his new book Marketcrafters.
November 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Had a great talk last night with Chris Hughes about his new book Marketcrafters.
I can't understand why anyone would make policy this way.
"Oh we're not raising income taxes rates, we're just making people more pay the higher rates." Why play these games to pretend to follow a rule that is just something you made up in the first place? www.ft.com/content/6cbb...
"Oh we're not raising income taxes rates, we're just making people more pay the higher rates." Why play these games to pretend to follow a rule that is just something you made up in the first place? www.ft.com/content/6cbb...
November 14, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I can't understand why anyone would make policy this way.
"Oh we're not raising income taxes rates, we're just making people more pay the higher rates." Why play these games to pretend to follow a rule that is just something you made up in the first place? www.ft.com/content/6cbb...
"Oh we're not raising income taxes rates, we're just making people more pay the higher rates." Why play these games to pretend to follow a rule that is just something you made up in the first place? www.ft.com/content/6cbb...
Just a perfect fall day here at Tompkins Square. That is all.
November 13, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Just a perfect fall day here at Tompkins Square. That is all.
As a fan of Graeber, Sahlins, Christopher Boehm and Rebecca Solnit, I'm very sympathetic to these ideas, and am now excited to read Goliath's Curse. www.noemamag.com/humanitys-en...
November 13, 2025 at 4:18 PM
As a fan of Graeber, Sahlins, Christopher Boehm and Rebecca Solnit, I'm very sympathetic to these ideas, and am now excited to read Goliath's Curse. www.noemamag.com/humanitys-en...
Happening 6pm this Monday, at John Jay: I will be talking with Chris Hughes about his new book, Marketcrafters.
November 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Happening 6pm this Monday, at John Jay: I will be talking with Chris Hughes about his new book, Marketcrafters.
To the extent there is such a thing as a New York Democratic establishment, I would say Dean Fuleihan is a better representative of it than Chuck Schumer is. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
November 12, 2025 at 8:08 PM
To the extent there is such a thing as a New York Democratic establishment, I would say Dean Fuleihan is a better representative of it than Chuck Schumer is. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
I just put up a new blog post with links to four interviews/panels I have done recently on Zohran Mamdani and New York City policy questions, plus a few additional thoughts. jwmason.org/slackwire/ta...
November 12, 2025 at 4:58 AM
I just put up a new blog post with links to four interviews/panels I have done recently on Zohran Mamdani and New York City policy questions, plus a few additional thoughts. jwmason.org/slackwire/ta...
Put that on your bumper sticker.
November 10, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Put that on your bumper sticker.
Another NYC housing map, this one a reminder that over the past 25 years much more of the city has been downzoned than upzoned. www.osc.ny.gov/files/report...
November 6, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Another NYC housing map, this one a reminder that over the past 25 years much more of the city has been downzoned than upzoned. www.osc.ny.gov/files/report...
Here’s a map of the vote on the housing proposals, districts voting Yes in green. (For proposal 2, but 3 and 4 are the same.) What’s noteworthy about it is this: It’s almost identical to a map of districts voting for Mamdani.
November 6, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Here’s a map of the vote on the housing proposals, districts voting Yes in green. (For proposal 2, but 3 and 4 are the same.) What’s noteworthy about it is this: It’s almost identical to a map of districts voting for Mamdani.
Brooklyn geography: My election district went 77% for Zohran, but you walk one block west, and it's 83% Cuomo.
November 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Brooklyn geography: My election district went 77% for Zohran, but you walk one block west, and it's 83% Cuomo.
As near as I can tell, there were two districts that went for Sliwa — one in Brooklyn, one in Maspeth, both made up of a single voter. Someone could find those two people and interview them.
November 5, 2025 at 2:03 PM
As near as I can tell, there were two districts that went for Sliwa — one in Brooklyn, one in Maspeth, both made up of a single voter. Someone could find those two people and interview them.
Once more unto the breach.
(I’m the one with the big beard near the center, the 13-year old is with me.)
(I’m the one with the big beard near the center, the 13-year old is with me.)
November 4, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Once more unto the breach.
(I’m the one with the big beard near the center, the 13-year old is with me.)
(I’m the one with the big beard near the center, the 13-year old is with me.)