@haitchfive @akkartik the key point is that Trump is trying to pursue balance in *bilateral trade relationships* which is incoherent and super-restrictive of meaningful trade.
the sensible policy is to require each country to be in *overall balance* with the rest-of-world. it is not remotely sensible to try to prevent or remedy every bilateral imbalance. if a country buys coffee from columbia but sells the same value of microchips to the US, it is in balance.
@akkartik oh, god no. please see the prior piece. https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/04/01/if-we-werent-idiots-balance-of-payments-edition/index.html
bilateral, as opposed to overall balance, is stupid to purse. tariffs are a terrible means, certainly to pursue balance (to which they are entirely ill suited), for the most part even for industrial policy (which they are better suited for and do perhaps arguably have some role).
“The phenomenon of induced demand is as real for transit as it is for highways: If you provide a more attractive service, more people will use it. If you cut service, riders will disappear.” #JonathanEnglish https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-14/the-toronto-suburb-where-the-humble-bus-is-king
Delaware, like Columbia, is learning that you just can’t appease these people.
i mean, they tried https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/elon-musk-delaware
Screenshot of a tweet in which Elon Musk writes “At this point, any lawyer recommending incorporation in Delaware is committing malpractice”
@buermann @DeanBaker13 from the piece: “I have been told very confidently by people who know the Internet much better than me that this change would either mean nothing to the huge sites (they would just hire more lawyers) and also that it would force them to adopt a subscription model where people had to pay to use their sites.”
i have a guess who “people” is there…
“Section 230: We Really Should Talk About It” by @DeanBaker13 https://cepr.net/publications/section-230/
On how the Great Depression hit Romania. Let's not do this shit again, anywhere.
by @Balutescu
https://blogulluibalutescu.blogspot.com/2025/03/marea-criza-in-romania.html
(in Romanian, Google Translate will get you there if Romanian isn't your thing.)
Great paragraphs from @jamellebouie.net to have on hand next time you find yourself conversing with the MAGA-pilled. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/opinion/vance-abrego-garcia-immigration.html
Text: Vance begins with a lie. “Consider that Joe Biden allowed approximately 20 million illegal aliens into our country.” That is a load-bearing “approximately,” to say the least. The U.S.-Mexico border is where the greatest number of immigrants enter the country. But according to an analysis by FactCheck.org, from 2021 to 2024 Customs and Border Patrol officers stationed there released 2.5 million people into the United States, with notices to report to immigration authorities for further hearings and processing, out of 6.5 million “encounters” across the U.S.-Mexico border and legal ports of entry. In addition, an estimated 1.6 million people evaded law enforcement to enter the country, for a total of 4.1 million people. You may think that’s still too many. But it’s nowhere near what Vance says it is. Vance goes on to assert that this imaginary horde of “20 million illegal aliens” placed “extraordinary burdens on our country” and “committed violent crimes, or facilitated fentanyl and sex trafficking.” It’s been shown again and again that immigrants commit crimes at a lower rate than citizens do. Stating otherwise is demagogic innuendo meant to short-circuit the rational mind and inflame prejudice.
i don’t think enough attention has been paid to the heroism of Senator Van Hollen. 1/
He put himself in real danger. Bukele could have locked him up on some pretext, and it’s not at all clear the US executive would have done anything about it other than smile. US courts would legit have no jurisdiction. There would just be outraged liberals. 2/
It remains unclear how Van Hollen succeeded at getting a meeting with Abrega Garcia after first having been refused. I don’t know how he pulled that rabbit from a hat, but I tip my hat and give him credit for it. 3/
Van Hollen: “If you deny the constitutional rights of one man, you threaten the constitutional rights and due process for everyone else in America.” Amen. /fin
@resl i agree. we in fact should welcome, construct, reinforce a multipolar world, but not one in which the poles are competing vicious powerseeking kleptocracies. it’s time to rescue liberal internationalism from its collapse into neoconservatism. https://zirk.us/@interfluidity/114347921966154291
govern so incompetently you create a real emergency, then assume extraordinary powers by declaring a state of emergency.
@marick (as did i, though probably earlier than your kid. and as am i, displeased is gently put.)
“ICE detainer” on a US citizen whose mom has presented his birth certificate to a judge. The judge acknowledges the birth certificate and its authenticity, but claims she lacks jurisdiction to release him. Presumably ICE releases him when they review the certificate. But it’s hard now to presume. https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/17/u-s-born-man-held-for-ice-under-floridas-new-anti-immigration-law/
@light does not sound relaxing …
all so-called independent agencies are fully accountable to Congress, the only meaningfully democratic branch of our govt. also the most dysfunctional branch of our govt. but there’s no saving American democracy without curing that dysfunction.
see David Andolfatto https://xcancel.com/dandolfa/status/1912535963294740729
kind of emblematic of what DeSantis and Rufo have done to New College.
Google news headlines: “Former New College marketing director drove naked around Lakewood Ranch” “Former spokesperson for Gov. DeSantis arrested, charged with exposure of sexual organs” “New College of Florida marketing director arrested, fired from job”
@Phil @jbouie @jeffjarvis i'm glad you didn't go in, but i suggest maybe you don't know how it felt to be a Congressperson hated by the crowd in the circumstances that prevailed inside. or Mike Pence for that matter.
@Phil @jbouie @jeffjarvis there are distinctions. but legitimately fearing for ones life is key license to act, even fatally, in self-defense. and there was lots of that fear. we are all fortunate it went down with as little loss of life as it did.
@Phil @jbouie @jeffjarvis i'll do my best not to kill anyone, even if they do sneak into my house. trespass of a country is far less intimate and threatening to life and property than a home. a home invader provokes real safety and self-defense concerns that an undocumented migrant typically does not. 1/
@Phil @jbouie @jeffjarvis why shouldn't the J6-ers, by your reasoning, have been shot for trespassing univited into the People's House? to be clear, i think that would be awful and dumb, and think non-violent mere trespassers among j6-ers ought to have been more leniently treated. but from all accounts, many Congresspeople legit feared for their lives, in the way one might during a home invasion. /fin
@Phil @jbouie @jeffjarvis i mean, just ctrl-f the word "jail". it's nearly all trespassing or trumped up "disorderly conduct". https://www.crmvet.org/tim/timhis63.htm
an occupy protester jailed 90 days on trumped up "assault of a police officer" https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/occupy-wall-street-protester-sentenced-to-90-days-jail-for-assault-idUSBREA4I0K0/
Federalized prosecutions of George Floyd protests. https://m4bl.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Struggle-For-Power-The-Ongoing-Persecution-of-Black-Movement-by-the-U.S.-Government.pdf
states like FL criminalize association as "riot" and legalize vehicular homicide. https://slate.com/business/2021/04/drivers-hit-protesters-laws-florida-oklahoma-republicans.html
