William Blair Santos Allen
@willballen.bsky.social
Retired consultant in international macro finance and capital markets. Converted to MMT as truth.
Now humble second career as lover of all things nautical and USCG licensed Master Mariner.
Finally doing something socially productive?
Now humble second career as lover of all things nautical and USCG licensed Master Mariner.
Finally doing something socially productive?
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Demolishing the East Wing of the White House before finalizing plans for what will be built above its ruins is a near-perfect metaphor for Trump's approach to economic policy. The only difference is the wrecking crew doesn’t claim the rubble is evidence of unprecedented growth.
November 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Demolishing the East Wing of the White House before finalizing plans for what will be built above its ruins is a near-perfect metaphor for Trump's approach to economic policy. The only difference is the wrecking crew doesn’t claim the rubble is evidence of unprecedented growth.
The Guardian forgot to mention the best ever maritime film: A Night to Remember 1950 based on Walter Lotd’s book about Titanic. How could they completely leave this one off the list?
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
You’re gonna need a bigger boat: the 20 best films set on water – ranked!
As L’Atalante is re-released, we count down the best movies set largely on ships, boats, barges, yachts, steamers and trimarans. Submarines banned, as they’re under water
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:33 AM
The Guardian forgot to mention the best ever maritime film: A Night to Remember 1950 based on Walter Lotd’s book about Titanic. How could they completely leave this one off the list?
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Google has started automatically opting you in to let it read your stuff to train AI. You need to turn this off in SEVERAL places in your settings (not just for Gmail), if you want to maintain privacy and confidentiality.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Gmail can read your emails and attachments to train its AI, unless you opt out
A new Gmail update may allow Google to use your private messages and attachments for AI training. Here's how to turn it off.
www.malwarebytes.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Google has started automatically opting you in to let it read your stuff to train AI. You need to turn this off in SEVERAL places in your settings (not just for Gmail), if you want to maintain privacy and confidentiality.
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Trump and company were looking for some help calculating new tariffs?
A French court has blocked the export and foreign purchase of a 17th century arithmetic machine invented by Blaise Pascal to help ease the laborious task of calculating taxes.
French court blocks foreign purchase of 17th century calculator
A French court has blocked the export and foreign purchase of a 17th century arithmetic machine invented by Blaise Pascal to help ease the laborious task of calculating taxes.
l.euronews.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Trump and company were looking for some help calculating new tariffs?
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Quiet, piggy.
November 18, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Quiet, piggy.
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Am gagging. I'd rather eat cat food than watch this.
Pirro: "Mr President, there is in this room a group of people who love you, who believe in you, and who are so proud to be in this Oval Office and to be part of this amazing day because you have changed the course of America."
November 10, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Am gagging. I'd rather eat cat food than watch this.
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Did you know that "noon" never used to be at 12? Or that a "second" is actually the second of something?
These are just a couple of the revelations in my latest wordy nerdy video.
Do please give it a watch:
youtu.be/TK-8gfqmFNo?...
These are just a couple of the revelations in my latest wordy nerdy video.
Do please give it a watch:
youtu.be/TK-8gfqmFNo?...
Time words don't mean what you think
YouTube video by RobWords
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Did you know that "noon" never used to be at 12? Or that a "second" is actually the second of something?
These are just a couple of the revelations in my latest wordy nerdy video.
Do please give it a watch:
youtu.be/TK-8gfqmFNo?...
These are just a couple of the revelations in my latest wordy nerdy video.
Do please give it a watch:
youtu.be/TK-8gfqmFNo?...
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Mamdani won campaigning with price controls for essentials.
Harris lost shying away from her own price gouging policy for food.
Trump won fantasizing about bringing prices of essentials down.
Sheinbaum won a landslide controlling prices of essential groceries.
Harris lost shying away from her own price gouging policy for food.
Trump won fantasizing about bringing prices of essentials down.
Sheinbaum won a landslide controlling prices of essential groceries.
November 7, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Mamdani won campaigning with price controls for essentials.
Harris lost shying away from her own price gouging policy for food.
Trump won fantasizing about bringing prices of essentials down.
Sheinbaum won a landslide controlling prices of essential groceries.
Harris lost shying away from her own price gouging policy for food.
Trump won fantasizing about bringing prices of essentials down.
Sheinbaum won a landslide controlling prices of essential groceries.
Pocket change. JPM balance sheet is maybe 3 or 4 trillion? Laughable.
Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin has imposed a record fine on JPMorgan for systemic failings in its anti-money-laundering controls.
Germany fines JPMorgan €45 million for anti-money-laundering failings
Germany’s financial watchdog BaFin has imposed a record fine on JPMorgan for systemic failings in its anti-money-laundering controls.
l.euronews.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Pocket change. JPM balance sheet is maybe 3 or 4 trillion? Laughable.
“Critics dismiss this as pie-in-the-sky socialism. But what they’re really objecting to is more fundamental: the idea that democratic governments should guarantee people’s basic needs, even if it means intervening in markets”
If guaranteeing essentials sounds radical in 2025, it speaks to how far we’ve drifted from democracy’s core promise. Markets will not save democracy.
My new piece for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My new piece for @theguardian.com:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Zohran Mamdani shows how Democrats can defeat authoritarians like Trump | Isabella Weber
Democrats have two choices: fight to make life affordable again for ordinary people or watch voters embrace authoritarians
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:27 PM
“Critics dismiss this as pie-in-the-sky socialism. But what they’re really objecting to is more fundamental: the idea that democratic governments should guarantee people’s basic needs, even if it means intervening in markets”
“McDonald's CEO raked in $18.2M last year — over 1,000x the company's median employee pay.”
Walmart and McDonald’s are among the top employers of workers who rely on food stamps.
McDonald's CEO raked in $18.2M last year — over 1,000x the company's median employee pay.
Walmart's CEO pocketed $27.4M — 930x the company's median employee pay.
See the problem?
McDonald's CEO raked in $18.2M last year — over 1,000x the company's median employee pay.
Walmart's CEO pocketed $27.4M — 930x the company's median employee pay.
See the problem?
November 4, 2025 at 10:01 PM
“McDonald's CEO raked in $18.2M last year — over 1,000x the company's median employee pay.”
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Here’s the original clip of Ronald Reagan from April 25, 1987, where he delivered a complete and total rebuke against tariffs. Trump's calling Reagan’s words here “FAKE” and “fraudulent.” They’re 100% real. And the original clip is actually far worse for Trump, as much is left out of the ad:
October 24, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Here’s the original clip of Ronald Reagan from April 25, 1987, where he delivered a complete and total rebuke against tariffs. Trump's calling Reagan’s words here “FAKE” and “fraudulent.” They’re 100% real. And the original clip is actually far worse for Trump, as much is left out of the ad:
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
When Trump says cattle ranchers "have to get their prices down," don't forget he also:
-Ended a USDA program to help states fight meatpacking monopolies
-Filled his admin with Big Ag insiders
-Revoked Biden's pro-competition executive order
Where's the beef?
-Ended a USDA program to help states fight meatpacking monopolies
-Filled his admin with Big Ag insiders
-Revoked Biden's pro-competition executive order
Where's the beef?
October 23, 2025 at 8:45 PM
When Trump says cattle ranchers "have to get their prices down," don't forget he also:
-Ended a USDA program to help states fight meatpacking monopolies
-Filled his admin with Big Ag insiders
-Revoked Biden's pro-competition executive order
Where's the beef?
-Ended a USDA program to help states fight meatpacking monopolies
-Filled his admin with Big Ag insiders
-Revoked Biden's pro-competition executive order
Where's the beef?
Argentina: “The issue isn’t that talented economists leave the country, but that many return from US PhD programs armed with orthodox models that have repeatedly failed our economies. They bring back the intellectual framework that justifies the very policies that keep generating crises.”
On the Argentine crisis and the year's Nobel nakedkeynesianism.blogspot.com/2025/10/arge...
Argentina, Economic Science and this year's "Nobel"
Trump wanted the Peace one, Milei the one in Economics A few random thoughts about some recent news. Today, Javier Milei met with Donald Tru...
nakedkeynesianism.blogspot.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Argentina: “The issue isn’t that talented economists leave the country, but that many return from US PhD programs armed with orthodox models that have repeatedly failed our economies. They bring back the intellectual framework that justifies the very policies that keep generating crises.”
“There is an obvious way out of this. Water, energy and transport should be brought back into public ownership and run for public benefit rather than private extraction.”
“For right-wing populists, the cost of living crisis is the gift that keeps on giving, allowing them to blame the experience of declining living standards on migrants and perceived ‘outsiders’.”
Our Director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social in @theguardian.com 🔗👇
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Our Director @mathewlawrence.bsky.social in @theguardian.com 🔗👇
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Soaring bills are the gift that keeps on giving for Reform. Shame Labour doesn’t have the guts to do anything about them | Mathew Lawrence
A cost of living crisis is not inevitable if there is the will to stop companies extracting profits from Britain’s essential services, says Mathew Lawrence of the Common Wealth thinktank
www.theguardian.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
“There is an obvious way out of this. Water, energy and transport should be brought back into public ownership and run for public benefit rather than private extraction.”
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Cartoon by @billbramhall.bsky.social.
October 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Cartoon by @billbramhall.bsky.social.
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
I really appreciate this review of Gilded Rage in The Bulwark. I hoped that some of the book's concerns -- corruption, authoritarianism, rule of law, inequality, our shared stake in society -- would have broad appeal.
www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...
www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...
Why Our Tech Overlords Took a Hard Right Turn
A new book tells the story of how Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs became angry admirers of authoritarianism.
www.thebulwark.com
October 10, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I really appreciate this review of Gilded Rage in The Bulwark. I hoped that some of the book's concerns -- corruption, authoritarianism, rule of law, inequality, our shared stake in society -- would have broad appeal.
www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...
www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...
“The problem we have to deal with is that these [AI] companies are selling access to the freely shared products of human social activity, as the product of their own particular capitals”
I turned my thread on Ai from earlier this eevning into a blogpost. jwmason.org/slackwire/ac...
Actual Intelligence – J. W. Mason
jwmason.org
October 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
“The problem we have to deal with is that these [AI] companies are selling access to the freely shared products of human social activity, as the product of their own particular capitals”
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Também é preciso ter em conta que o surto inflacionista foi acompanhado por um aumento extraordinário dos lucros das empresas. A nível internacional, as principais empresas que transacionam produtos agrícolas viram os seus lucros triplicar. 5/
Hungry for profits - Monopoly power in global agriculture - SOMO
In the last three years, the profits of the five biggest traders in agricultural commodities tripled. Read more.
www.somo.nl
October 3, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Também é preciso ter em conta que o surto inflacionista foi acompanhado por um aumento extraordinário dos lucros das empresas. A nível internacional, as principais empresas que transacionam produtos agrícolas viram os seus lucros triplicar. 5/
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun reform, universal child care, and a living wage.
The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”
It’s about control.
The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”
It’s about control.
October 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have Medicare for All, a Green New Deal, gun reform, universal child care, and a living wage.
The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”
It’s about control.
The right-wing agenda isn’t about “life.”
It’s about control.
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Latest Post: I had to comment on the tariff revenue chart.
(Hat tip to @josephpolitano.bsky.social about the data update. He had monthly Treasury data, I just used the BEA quarterly series.)
open.substack.com/pub/bondecon...
(Hat tip to @josephpolitano.bsky.social about the data update. He had monthly Treasury data, I just used the BEA quarterly series.)
open.substack.com/pub/bondecon...
Tariffs And Fiscal Policy
The customs duties data for the United States was recently updated, and we can assess the “success” of Trump 2.0’s tariff policies so far.
open.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Latest Post: I had to comment on the tariff revenue chart.
(Hat tip to @josephpolitano.bsky.social about the data update. He had monthly Treasury data, I just used the BEA quarterly series.)
open.substack.com/pub/bondecon...
(Hat tip to @josephpolitano.bsky.social about the data update. He had monthly Treasury data, I just used the BEA quarterly series.)
open.substack.com/pub/bondecon...
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
not one word on Milei's corruption scandal that led to the local elections losses, hey FT editors, sleeping at your desks?
September 25, 2025 at 8:33 AM
not one word on Milei's corruption scandal that led to the local elections losses, hey FT editors, sleeping at your desks?
Reposted by William Blair Santos Allen
Wondering why grocery prices are high?
Little-to-no competition across the entire food supply chain allows for a price gouging free-for-all.
Corporate monopolies get rich, and we pay the tab.
What is Trump doing about it? Nothing.
Little-to-no competition across the entire food supply chain allows for a price gouging free-for-all.
Corporate monopolies get rich, and we pay the tab.
What is Trump doing about it? Nothing.
September 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Wondering why grocery prices are high?
Little-to-no competition across the entire food supply chain allows for a price gouging free-for-all.
Corporate monopolies get rich, and we pay the tab.
What is Trump doing about it? Nothing.
Little-to-no competition across the entire food supply chain allows for a price gouging free-for-all.
Corporate monopolies get rich, and we pay the tab.
What is Trump doing about it? Nothing.