Maybe active labor market policy, of a scale and vigor never before attempted, would actually be the panacea.
it’s a pretty square day:
5/5/25
5*5=25
Elon Musk is pulling up the very ladder he climbed to his perch. Gee, I wonder why you do that.
See @ryanlcooper https://prospect.org/environment/2025-05-05-doge-obliterating-american-industry/
one way to understand the moment we're in as "As Seen On TV". when TV was new, people did not understand how alien, how different, it was as a source of knowledge and information. they treated it with level of trust it did not deserve. so "seen on TV" constituted endorsement. 1/
we collectively learned that "seen on TV" could be bought or influenced, well beyond what was openly disclosed a ads or sponsorships, and "As Seen On TV" has faded to a kind of campy joke (even a way of imbuing products with camp). 2/
similarly, we collectively have not understood how different the internet and social media are from other media, have been caught of guard, are making dumb inferential mistakes. but maybe, like with television, we do eventually, collectively learn. 3/
of course, on TV and on the internet, the influencers and manipulators will be learning and changing too. maybe internet media evolve so fast we are destined to lose the cat and mouse game. 4/
maybe, but maybe not. we are changing our priors not just with respect to existing internet platforms, but also with respect to emerging media. that's a bit sad, to lose the sense of hope new media used to bring! but maybe it constrains media toward greater virtue. /fin
is localist left or right?
“french films” undermining our morals again.
we are all experiencing moral injury.
it’s not narcissism it’s just ordo amoris.
you read the news about the gears of the world, and it’s interesting. but never forget there’s somebody gettting crushed right now by the gears of the world, perhaps hundreds or thousands or millions of people. and it’s interesting. but as the gears turn it could be you or your loved ones crushed. and to everybody else it will still be interesting.
from "Trade Balances: It’s the Spending, Stupid" by @SteveRoth https://wealtheconomics.substack.com/p/trade-balances-its-the-spending-stupid
Text: Here’s the simple understanding to estimate US production from actual measured spending: • Tally up US total spending on new final goods and services. FSDP. • Subtract spending on goods and services that were not produced in the US. Imports. • Add other countries’ spending on goods that were produced in the US. Exports. You’re done.
@BenRossTransit but it will only work out over decades if we actually start working it out. (and then we can enjoy at least pieces of the worked-out future now!)
@BenRossTransit i agree with all of this.
(i don't think eliminating single family zoning would go too far in getting a lot of multifamily built in affluent SFH neighborhoods. but the fact that we continue to build out and zone new SFH neighborhoods is SAF (stupid as fuck). and our collective habit of building this way drains the potential market for better ways of living in all the ways you describe.)
if we're going to get trigonometric, i feel like cosplay sounds less fun that sinplay.
i think housing policy should put its thumb on the scale for dense, multifamily, LARGE apartments.
great buildings are where families are raised, not post-college dorms for singles and young couples.
perhaps it’s constructive if Donald Trump is dickish in a way that captures the attention of Catholic bishops, just before the conclave.
( interfluidity office hours in a couple of minutes, on the half hour, if you want to chat. https://www.interfluidity.com/office-hours/ )
One way to think about it all is through the lens of the EU's three freedoms:
1. free movement of people
2. free movement of goods and services
3. free movement of capital
Right populist movements have demonized the first and second, but been entirely mum about the third. I wonder why that is.
@Arianity a bit more on that here https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/04/20/keynesian-compromise/index.html
@Arianity (same with learning by doing, etc. if Oceana wants to get into manufacturing, it can subsidize its own industry. if that cuts into Industria’s boat sales, it may also cut into Oceania fish sales. so Oceania may want to find ways of shifting into manufacturing that are complementary rather than substitute for what Industria produces. if the concern is resilience, then it will want to subsidize substitutes, but maybe it increases imports of ore to maintain fish exports.)
@Arianity yes. balance only addresses balance! diversity/resilience of supply of key goods requires distinct policy.
however, balance helps with that, because you don’t have to do endless rounds of trade arguments about “nontariff barriers” or whatever for your industrial policy. you export as much value as you import. your policy can affect what you import + export, but not mercantilistically “cheat” to win net exports. so that buys countries freedom for their industrial policy