Zohran can take control of the meeting by bringing Broadway memorabilia and kicking off the conversation with commentary on the greatness of Cats and Phantom of the Opera.

I wish people making this argument would realize they are also arguing against minimum wage laws, unions, and really any policy that compresses the wage distribution. You’re basically saying affordability *requires* an underclass of cheap and exploitable laborers.

I’m having PTSD flashbacks to the original Obamacare debates, and reformocons insisting that, no, seriously, health insurance with a $50,000 annual deductible is a really good idea!

The plan is to stop subsidizing the big, fat insurance companies and give money directly to people so they … can buy coverage from the big, fat insurance companies?

@oren_cass Like, I get the desire to hit Matt Yglesias or Justin Wolfers in the face with a pie. I experience the impulse myself often enough! But reading whatever they suggest and always doing the opposite does not a sound pro-worker econ strategy make.

@oren_cass I very much applaud the new focus on labor market tightness by populist/pro-worker/whatever conservatives! Bravo! But to think immigration restrictions are the best tool for the job is not the result of bravely unorthodox analysis. It’s the result of culture war brain poisoning.

One of the most telling tidbits in this whole debate is a line in this @oren_cass piece where he admits the literature on immigration’s labor market impact is “plainly inconclusive.” https://t.co/640qaGTqMz Then why are you leaning so hard on immigration restrictions as THE tool?

If fiscal & monetary policy is dedicated to “discipline” & “sound money,” you won’t get tight labor markets no matter how many immigrants you kick out. OTOH, dedicate those tools to full employment, and there’s no reason to think immigration can prevent labor market tightness.

The basic argument here is that productivity gains via technology and automation are driven by tight labor markets. Which is entirely true! The question that goes unasked is whether immigration restrictions are a particularly effective way to achieve tight labor markets.

This is how you do it 🍻

Larry Summers’ political clout finally being undone by an icky association with Jeffrey Epstein is right up there with Al Capone finally going to jail for tax evasion.

The book is always better!

Market competition is a lot like sports competition. If you don’t set the right rules, the participants will compete to win by doing all sorts of stupid shit (think flopping in soccer) that doesn’t actually serve the broader social purpose of the competition.

I think enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act again would be a good idea. But not because it will lead to lower prices at mom & pop stores. Rather, it makes sure stores are competing on who can offer a better shopping experience, as opposed to who can capture more market leverage.

I think the most useful takeaway from the Great Stadium Ticket Pricing Debate of 2025 is we need a natural experiment to sort all this shit out. Well, Mamdani and Khan can give us our natural experiment! So let’s get on with it.

Banks primarily rely on deposits because they’re a much cheaper source of reserves than Fed loans. But Fed loans are more expensive because policymakers want them to be more expensive, because policymakers want banks to primarily rely on deposits.

Yeah, as a total interior decor philistine, someone’s gonna need to explain to me the significance of West Elm as a signifier.

Uhm, yes it does. A basic question here is whether a business’ chosen prices are the one-and-only equilibrium that make continued operation and growth possible. Or if other equilibria are possible once regulators start enforcing price controls.

Gonna have to #Actually myself here: According to a (very brief) fact finding endeavor (I asked ChatGPT) it looks like capacity utilization at NYC stadiums ranges from 90% to 95% or thereabouts.

If you think of a tariff as just another tax that removes demand from the economy, lower inflation and higher unemployment is exactly what you’d expect.