Simon Lester
@simonlester.com
Founded WorldTradeLaw.net & ChinaTradeMonitor.com Non-Resident Fellow @bakerinstitute.bsky.social
Trade Policy feed: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xqzu2eazvxb5fohoc4nap33y/feed/aaab5ctu4u4fc
Trade Policy feed: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xqzu2eazvxb5fohoc4nap33y/feed/aaab5ctu4u4fc
You hear this sort of thing a lot from Democrats critiquing the Democratic party, but unless they offer specifics on what language or policies they have in mind, it's hard to know what to do with it.
November 14, 2025 at 5:29 PM
You hear this sort of thing a lot from Democrats critiquing the Democratic party, but unless they offer specifics on what language or policies they have in mind, it's hard to know what to do with it.
People need to realize their ideas about past "middle class prosperity" are mostly nonsense.
November 9, 2025 at 12:22 AM
People need to realize their ideas about past "middle class prosperity" are mostly nonsense.
Apparently @economist.com has an AI tool called SCOTUSbot that it used to analyze the IEEPA tariff cases, and while I like the predicted result, I'm not convinced this adds any value.
November 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Apparently @economist.com has an AI tool called SCOTUSbot that it used to analyze the IEEPA tariff cases, and while I like the predicted result, I'm not convinced this adds any value.
Rick Scott has weighed in to provide some more details on the Trump health plan that won't work.
November 8, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Rick Scott has weighed in to provide some more details on the Trump health plan that won't work.
With the caveat that Winsome Earle-Sears seemed like a candidate engineered by a top team of political scientists to lose this election, 57%-42% is ... wow.
November 5, 2025 at 11:52 AM
With the caveat that Winsome Earle-Sears seemed like a candidate engineered by a top team of political scientists to lose this election, 57%-42% is ... wow.
All eyes will be on the statewide races in VA (and NJ), but on the other site Dave Wasserman tells us to look at the Virginia House races too (not sure how quickly we will get those results).
November 4, 2025 at 11:48 PM
All eyes will be on the statewide races in VA (and NJ), but on the other site Dave Wasserman tells us to look at the Virginia House races too (not sure how quickly we will get those results).
I don't think it helps the debate about what Democrats should do to pick an obscure thing that some Democrat somewhere may have said -- like on teaching eighth grade algebra -- and then attribute it to Democrats generally.
November 4, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I don't think it helps the debate about what Democrats should do to pick an obscure thing that some Democrat somewhere may have said -- like on teaching eighth grade algebra -- and then attribute it to Democrats generally.
And while I have your attention Bernie Sanders, I'd love to hear more about which "flaws" you are ok with in the Democratic party.
November 3, 2025 at 5:49 PM
And while I have your attention Bernie Sanders, I'd love to hear more about which "flaws" you are ok with in the Democratic party.
I know I'm expecting too much precision out of a politician here, but just to clarify for Bernie Sanders, agreeing to let China join the WTO is not the same thing as a free trade agreement with China (and there were plenty of tariffs on China after they got in).
November 3, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I know I'm expecting too much precision out of a politician here, but just to clarify for Bernie Sanders, agreeing to let China join the WTO is not the same thing as a free trade agreement with China (and there were plenty of tariffs on China after they got in).
Here's the conclusion from the amicus brief in the IEEPA tariff cases by @aratojulian.bsky.social, Rachel Brewster, @harlangcohen.bsky.social, David Singh Grewal, @jbentonheath.bsky.social, @timlmeyer.bsky.social, Greg Shaffer, and Chantal Thomas.
October 24, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Here's the conclusion from the amicus brief in the IEEPA tariff cases by @aratojulian.bsky.social, Rachel Brewster, @harlangcohen.bsky.social, David Singh Grewal, @jbentonheath.bsky.social, @timlmeyer.bsky.social, Greg Shaffer, and Chantal Thomas.
October 24, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Also worth noting that Reagan negotiated and signed a free trade agreement with Canada, and in that context had some very positive things to say about free trade.
www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/spe...
www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/spe...
October 24, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Also worth noting that Reagan negotiated and signed a free trade agreement with Canada, and in that context had some very positive things to say about free trade.
www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/spe...
www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/spe...
Bluesky getting some prominent placement in the NY Times due to the Trump administration's trolling.
October 19, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Bluesky getting some prominent placement in the NY Times due to the Trump administration's trolling.
Checking in on how the budget balancing went for FY25:
- Total Receipts: $5.235 Trillion
- Total Outlays: $7.01 Trillion
So, not very well.
fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/...
- Total Receipts: $5.235 Trillion
- Total Outlays: $7.01 Trillion
So, not very well.
fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/...
October 17, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Checking in on how the budget balancing went for FY25:
- Total Receipts: $5.235 Trillion
- Total Outlays: $7.01 Trillion
So, not very well.
fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/...
- Total Receipts: $5.235 Trillion
- Total Outlays: $7.01 Trillion
So, not very well.
fiscaldata.treasury.gov/static-data/...
What if all forms of constitutionalism, to one degree or another, are results oriented?
October 3, 2025 at 2:21 PM
What if all forms of constitutionalism, to one degree or another, are results oriented?
More on the treatment of deal countries here:
September 30, 2025 at 1:55 AM
More on the treatment of deal countries here:
What happens to imports from places that have deals?
September 30, 2025 at 1:51 AM
What happens to imports from places that have deals?
I think that if Ezra Klein actually went to a white evangelical church in Alabama and talked about abortion with them it might wake him up to some realities of politics. Or it might not, who knows.
September 28, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I think that if Ezra Klein actually went to a white evangelical church in Alabama and talked about abortion with them it might wake him up to some realities of politics. Or it might not, who knows.
I would be more inclined to follow someone's advice on pharmaceuticals and vaccines if they weren't also telling us they had made Skittles healthy.
September 26, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I would be more inclined to follow someone's advice on pharmaceuticals and vaccines if they weren't also telling us they had made Skittles healthy.
It's often the case that the Trump administration isn't really anti-globalism, they just have their own version of globalism they want to push on everyone, like with this example from immigration policy.
wapo.st/3VB8pw4
wapo.st/3VB8pw4
September 26, 2025 at 12:52 PM
It's often the case that the Trump administration isn't really anti-globalism, they just have their own version of globalism they want to push on everyone, like with this example from immigration policy.
wapo.st/3VB8pw4
wapo.st/3VB8pw4
Foreign aid given per capita
September 23, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Foreign aid given per capita
The WaPo says it supports Trump on getting Bagram back. This isn't even a Bezos thing, they've just always been super hawkish.
September 21, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The WaPo says it supports Trump on getting Bagram back. This isn't even a Bezos thing, they've just always been super hawkish.
Upon request, I went looking for something to yell at Matt Stoller about, and it took me about 5 seconds of scrolling before I found him demonstrating his inferiority complex in relation to Kamala.
September 20, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Upon request, I went looking for something to yell at Matt Stoller about, and it took me about 5 seconds of scrolling before I found him demonstrating his inferiority complex in relation to Kamala.
I see a fair number of people offering a rebuttal to the argument that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs caused the Great Depression, but I've rarely come across anyone arguing that. I think most people understand that the tariffs were an aggravating factor rather than the cause.
September 19, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I see a fair number of people offering a rebuttal to the argument that the Smoot-Hawley tariffs caused the Great Depression, but I've rarely come across anyone arguing that. I think most people understand that the tariffs were an aggravating factor rather than the cause.
I feel like the people trying to spread a fear of China need to work on the plausibility of their scenarios.
September 15, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I feel like the people trying to spread a fear of China need to work on the plausibility of their scenarios.