@lajie.bsky.social
International public finance and democracy mainly
Incognito so I can be feisty
Incognito so I can be feisty
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hey it’s a universe baby picture! Look how cute
This two-part illustration represents supernova GRB 250314A as it was exploding and three months after that when #NASAWebb observed it. Webb confirmed the supernova occurred when the universe was only 730 million years old.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Leah Hustak (STScI).
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Leah Hustak (STScI).
December 9, 2025 at 5:31 PM
hey it’s a universe baby picture! Look how cute
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me dressed up and exercising at the airport before my 8 hour flight
December 9, 2025 at 3:20 AM
me dressed up and exercising at the airport before my 8 hour flight
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it is similar to the trick conservatives are trying to pull with the birthright citizenship clause. take something whose meaning is absolutely clear from just a plain reading of the text and transmogrify it into something that says its opposite through obfuscation and esoterica
December 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
it is similar to the trick conservatives are trying to pull with the birthright citizenship clause. take something whose meaning is absolutely clear from just a plain reading of the text and transmogrify it into something that says its opposite through obfuscation and esoterica
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it is actually kind of bananas how unitary executive theorists have taken a straightforward clause requiring the president to "faithfully execute the laws" and transformed it into a grant for the exercise of limitless unenumerated power.
The Take Care Clause was a byproduct of the lessons learned from the Glorious Revolution that the executive should not be able to dispense with the law promulgated by the legislature. It was not a constitutional provision to empower the executive branch— but to constrain it!
December 9, 2025 at 2:20 PM
it is actually kind of bananas how unitary executive theorists have taken a straightforward clause requiring the president to "faithfully execute the laws" and transformed it into a grant for the exercise of limitless unenumerated power.
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This is exactly what the bosses who put Trump into office were trying to achieve. Crushing the tight labor market from the early Biden years that gave workers - for the first time in my adult lifetime - leverage over their bosses.
NEW
US labor market flows remained sluggish in October data released this morning, as hiring slowed to nearly the lowest level since early COVID
The hiring rate fell to 3.2%, layoffs rose to 1.2%, quits fell to 1.8%, and job openings rose to 4.6%
US labor market flows remained sluggish in October data released this morning, as hiring slowed to nearly the lowest level since early COVID
The hiring rate fell to 3.2%, layoffs rose to 1.2%, quits fell to 1.8%, and job openings rose to 4.6%
December 9, 2025 at 3:14 PM
This is exactly what the bosses who put Trump into office were trying to achieve. Crushing the tight labor market from the early Biden years that gave workers - for the first time in my adult lifetime - leverage over their bosses.
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Jared Kushner offers Vladimir Putin a 51% stake in Warner Bros.
December 9, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Jared Kushner offers Vladimir Putin a 51% stake in Warner Bros.
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The issue at stake in 1686 was whether the king was bound by the law.
How are we back here again?
How are we back here again?
In The New Republic, historian Holly Brewer compares the Court's decision to Godden v. Hales, a 1686 case affirming that James II was above the law – which was only repudiated when James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution. newrepublic.com/article/1833...
March 20, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The issue at stake in 1686 was whether the king was bound by the law.
How are we back here again?
How are we back here again?
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The Take Care Clause was a byproduct of the lessons learned from the Glorious Revolution that the executive should not be able to dispense with the law promulgated by the legislature. It was not a constitutional provision to empower the executive branch— but to constrain it!
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The Take Care Clause was a byproduct of the lessons learned from the Glorious Revolution that the executive should not be able to dispense with the law promulgated by the legislature. It was not a constitutional provision to empower the executive branch— but to constrain it!
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A fun game these days is trying to figure out which sector of the economy is going to cause the financial crash. Bank leverage? Crypto? AI infrastructure loans? Start a deadpool with your friends! Bob Kuttner gives a forecast here:
prospect.org/2025/12/09/p...
prospect.org/2025/12/09/p...
Pick Your Financial Crash - The American Prospect
What are the risks of a financial crash in the coming year? Let us count the ways.
prospect.org
December 9, 2025 at 2:55 PM
A fun game these days is trying to figure out which sector of the economy is going to cause the financial crash. Bank leverage? Crypto? AI infrastructure loans? Start a deadpool with your friends! Bob Kuttner gives a forecast here:
prospect.org/2025/12/09/p...
prospect.org/2025/12/09/p...
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Every young generation explores retro technology because it’s cheap and plentiful and exotic but it’s more alluring when current technology gets actively shittier, more evil and invasive.
December 7, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Every young generation explores retro technology because it’s cheap and plentiful and exotic but it’s more alluring when current technology gets actively shittier, more evil and invasive.
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OK, seriously. This is wild.
Judge Jay Bybee (1) raises a new issue — the Domestic Violence Clause of the Constitution — to consider in the troop deployment cases; (2) extensively details its historical application;
Judge Jay Bybee (1) raises a new issue — the Domestic Violence Clause of the Constitution — to consider in the troop deployment cases; (2) extensively details its historical application;
December 9, 2025 at 3:37 AM
OK, seriously. This is wild.
Judge Jay Bybee (1) raises a new issue — the Domestic Violence Clause of the Constitution — to consider in the troop deployment cases; (2) extensively details its historical application;
Judge Jay Bybee (1) raises a new issue — the Domestic Violence Clause of the Constitution — to consider in the troop deployment cases; (2) extensively details its historical application;
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We don't have to guess how an at-will public employment system will be used under Trump, because we have a de facto at-will system already in place.
Under that system, here are some of the reasons you can be fired from the federal government:
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
Under that system, here are some of the reasons you can be fired from the federal government:
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
December 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
We don't have to guess how an at-will public employment system will be used under Trump, because we have a de facto at-will system already in place.
Under that system, here are some of the reasons you can be fired from the federal government:
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
Under that system, here are some of the reasons you can be fired from the federal government:
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
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New, from me: by embracing unitary executive theory, the Supreme Court is moving towards making all public employees fireable at the will of the President.
This will not just hurt government competence, it will aid democratic backsliding. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
This will not just hurt government competence, it will aid democratic backsliding. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
At will? Whose will?
Removing independent agency heads is part of a broader assault on a nonpartisan government
donmoynihan.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:06 PM
New, from me: by embracing unitary executive theory, the Supreme Court is moving towards making all public employees fireable at the will of the President.
This will not just hurt government competence, it will aid democratic backsliding. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
This will not just hurt government competence, it will aid democratic backsliding. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/at-will-wh...
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We know, based on loads of comparative evidence, that presidential systems are unstable and prone to clientelism, democratic backsliding, and the like. SCOTUS is doing its best to amplify all the worst aspects of presidential systems. They're cutting the wires that hold the system up.
the unitarian notion of accountability is, in general, very strange as it holds that a single election — the president’s reelect — is more democratically accountable than the rolling process of democratic assent produced by legislative elections and congressional oversight.
December 9, 2025 at 2:51 PM
We know, based on loads of comparative evidence, that presidential systems are unstable and prone to clientelism, democratic backsliding, and the like. SCOTUS is doing its best to amplify all the worst aspects of presidential systems. They're cutting the wires that hold the system up.
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The U.S. *was* feeding poor people then Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and JD Vance illegally killed off USAID.
Seeing a leader of the United States adopt this line is revolting. While the US remains imperfect, it is also the global leader in FDI as well as the world’s leading destination for inbound investment. China would love to have an economy like America’s.
December 9, 2025 at 1:57 AM
The U.S. *was* feeding poor people then Elon Musk, Donald Trump, and JD Vance illegally killed off USAID.
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it took putin many, many years to consolidate the power he currently has, trump just doesn't have that kind of time, and everyone knows it.
December 9, 2025 at 7:46 AM
it took putin many, many years to consolidate the power he currently has, trump just doesn't have that kind of time, and everyone knows it.
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a lot of this shit might make more sense if trump were going to live another decade or two in power, but he isn't going to. these people are all behaving as if trump at 79 years old is putin when he was 48 years old, and that there'll never be any negative consequences.
New WSJ reporting: "During a December visit to Washington, David Ellison offered assurances to Trump administration officials that if he bought Warner, he'd make sweeping changes to CNN, a common target of President Trump's ire, people familiar with the matter said..."
Behind Paramount’s Relentless Campaign to Woo Warner Discovery and President Trump
David Ellison has launched a hostile takeover bid for Warner Discovery, taking his case directly to shareholders after Netflix clinched a deal.
www.wsj.com
December 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
a lot of this shit might make more sense if trump were going to live another decade or two in power, but he isn't going to. these people are all behaving as if trump at 79 years old is putin when he was 48 years old, and that there'll never be any negative consequences.
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Nice piece from @nikvenkatesh.bsky.social on the basic difficulties of trying to be a Moral Company. It's not about the badness of the individuals in charge (though, you know, that can be a thing) - it's the realities of needing investment in a market economy.
theconversation.com/why-openai-i...
theconversation.com/why-openai-i...
Why OpenAI is a prime example of the ethical limits of capitalism
Money and morality are a challenging corporate combination.
theconversation.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Nice piece from @nikvenkatesh.bsky.social on the basic difficulties of trying to be a Moral Company. It's not about the badness of the individuals in charge (though, you know, that can be a thing) - it's the realities of needing investment in a market economy.
theconversation.com/why-openai-i...
theconversation.com/why-openai-i...
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Passant au-dessus de 1 000 milliards de dollars, l’excédent commercial chinois inquiète le monde
Passant au-dessus de 1 000 milliards de dollars, l’excédent commercial chinois inquiète le monde
Malgré la baisse des exportations aux Etats-Unis, la Chine continue d’inonder les autres zones géographiques de ses produits.
www.lemonde.fr
December 9, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Passant au-dessus de 1 000 milliards de dollars, l’excédent commercial chinois inquiète le monde
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For a century, Congress has been delegating power to executive agencies *on the premise*, supported by longstanding Supreme Court precedent, that it could bundle that delegation with restrictions meant to confer a degree of independence on those agencies. The power and the restraint were a PACKAGE.
December 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM
For a century, Congress has been delegating power to executive agencies *on the premise*, supported by longstanding Supreme Court precedent, that it could bundle that delegation with restrictions meant to confer a degree of independence on those agencies. The power and the restraint were a PACKAGE.
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Interesting I thought water only flowed down the map
December 9, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Interesting I thought water only flowed down the map
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I hate the fact that I can’t go to a party without missing more tariff mess
December 9, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I hate the fact that I can’t go to a party without missing more tariff mess
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Trump is considering demolishing 4 historic Washington buildings, incl those that housed the Dep of Housing and VOA, per former gov official
WH is independently soliciting bids to recommend demolition of the historic buildings, w/o input of the General Services Administration.
WH is independently soliciting bids to recommend demolition of the historic buildings, w/o input of the General Services Administration.
December 9, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Trump is considering demolishing 4 historic Washington buildings, incl those that housed the Dep of Housing and VOA, per former gov official
WH is independently soliciting bids to recommend demolition of the historic buildings, w/o input of the General Services Administration.
WH is independently soliciting bids to recommend demolition of the historic buildings, w/o input of the General Services Administration.
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however many trillions spent on developing Algorithms and hoovering up as much data as possible and amazon's recommendation algorithm still goes "oh you bought one window air conditioner? okay, do you want 15 more?"
December 8, 2025 at 1:45 AM
however many trillions spent on developing Algorithms and hoovering up as much data as possible and amazon's recommendation algorithm still goes "oh you bought one window air conditioner? okay, do you want 15 more?"
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There was a huge crowd at the Indiana Statehouse in opposition of redistricting. Let's see if the Senate listens to Hoosiers or to Washington.
December 8, 2025 at 10:52 PM
There was a huge crowd at the Indiana Statehouse in opposition of redistricting. Let's see if the Senate listens to Hoosiers or to Washington.