No longer posting here. At mastodon.social/@delong. Subscribe to braddelong.substack.com. Buy “Slouching Towards Utopia" bit.ly/3pP3Krk
This Musk-Ridden Hellscape
- Tweets 140,301
- Following 5,129
- Followers 152,122
- Likes 23,472
Pinned Tweet
What say the remnant denizens of this dumpster fire? Is it time to leave Twitter for good?
23%
Hell, YES!
14%
What took you so long?
17%
Yes!
46%
Other
109 votes • Final results
33
46
37,739
You asked: <github.com/braddelong/public…>
Marx the economist was among the very first to recognize that the fever-fits of financial crisis and depression that afflict modern market economies were not a passing phase or something that could be easily cured, but rather a deep... 1/
5
63
457
Aiming today for social media supremacy in Business-Economics-History. Launch for “Slouching Towards Utopia” <bit.ly/3pP3Krk>
If I have any social-network credit with you at all, I want to spend it; if I don’t may I borrow some?: Please like, retweet, **and** reply
70
174
421
Slouching Towards Utopia, forthcoming from Basic Books on September 6. 1st sentence:
What I call the “long twentieth century” started with the watershed-boundary crossing events of around 1870—the triple emergence of globalization, the industrial research lab, and the... 1/
21
68
395
Trump tariffs and mass deportation, taken together, would be the largest adverse supply shock ever inflicted on the American economy. They would in all likelihood generate a combination of inflation and depression America has never before seen. Our macroeconomic troubles... 1/
7
93
338
84,477
I see the late David Graeber is in the news today.
I do not trust anything he ever wrote. Let me tell you why.
Let me pick a chapter at random from Graeber’s Debt: The First 5,000 Years… I land on chapter 12… I start reading… I come to the third... 1/
21
55
362
Time for you to step back, take a deep breath, and quit: this campaign has turned you into an evil person. And you need to leave.
And I say this as someone who had thought that PG was one of his favorites.
3
12
302
You can feel ashamed about America's using the A-bomb **without** telling lies about what the Japanese government had decided, and about how much the US government knew about it. This is really, really not a hill you want to die on...
6
11
314
I think it is fair to say that the already-broken American political public sphere has become significantly more broken since November 8, 2018.
On the center and to the left, those like me in what used to proudly call itself the Rubin Wing of the Democratic Party—so-called 1/
17
69
275
I think that the first piece of advice to give is: restrict yourself to #nevertrump. Trumpists are either morons, grifters, or deluded. Those who have made accomodation with neo-fascism to any substantial degree are not people you want around—they will, for one reason or 12/
7
23
236
Of course the story doesn't give the AS team credit. The culture of the NYTimes is: "whenever possible, be the assholes you hated when you were in your 20s"...
2
13
230
I am extremely gratified to find myself at #6 on the NYT nonfiction bestsellers after launch week! And today is the UK launch for “Slouching Towards Utopia”: <fal.cn/3rUOr>. (In US: <bit.ly/3pP3Krk>
I am almost as gratified that Martin Wolf likes it. So… 1/
22
34
259
princelings. We are right to blame them, but shared responsibility is not diminished responsibility. And so the baton rightly passes to our colleagues on our left. We are still here, but it is not our time to lead. 4/
7
18
227
Again if you want to negotiate with China over IP, you start by joining and strengthening the TPP so that the TPP can then confront China about the rules of the globalization game in the Pacific. You do not blow up the TPP on day 1, then follow that ... bradford-delong.com/2019/02/…
9
63
236
braddelong.substack.com/p/po…
Key Insights: Matt Suandi—forced off of his India RCT development-economics project by the COVID plague—has taken the plague year to write a brilliant paper: Matthew Suandi: Promoting to Opportunity: Evidence and Implications from the U.S.... 1/
4
68
250
In another sense, I am now scared that @WilliamShatner—who has done a job with the role of James Tiberius Kirk over his career that is beyond superb—is genuinely offended by my belief that he would not be an especially good carrier group commander...
14
14
201
Thus those of us who have pushed for lightly and cleverly regulating markets to achieve the social democratic ends of strong and equitable growth need to:
1. wake up,
2. recognize that the world is not as we thought it was,
3. adjust.
That is all. 12/
9
44
211
I am a very happy man this morning: @ezraklein @LHSummers
I am incredibly happy & heartened because they really do believe what they say, which means, as my former roommate Robert Waldmann says, I "have not wasted the last 30 years..." 1/
nytimes.com/2022/03/29/opini…
13
21
236
.@HillaryClinton please change your handle from "Hillary Clinton" to "Hillary (+3,000,000) Clinton"...
8
47
186
If tomorrow were just going to be insane, it would be like every day has been since November 8, 2016. But tomorrow is going to be special super-super-double-super-batshit-insane...
In fact, tonight is already special super-super-double-super-batshit-insane...
7
9
153
David Walsh went to the Niskanen Center conference. He got hives: bradford-delong.com/2019/02/…
10
27
175
Madeleine Albright can only call [the American version of a twenty-first century neo-fascism](books.google.com/books?isbn=…), devoted to entrenching plutocracy and stoking ethnic and religious hatreds, with which a great many people who ought to know better are making accommodation. 6/
5
12
161
braddelong.substack.com/p/th…
Pause for a second, and just look at what the Powell-Brainard Fed (with a major assist from the Biden administration, and earlier from the Pelosi caucus in the House driving income support) has accomplished. Worlds, worlds, worlds better than the... 1/
3
38
172
* In a well-run society the top executives of Perdue pharmaceuticals should now be in jail for life for how they responded the market forces by addicting Americans to Oxycontin.
* It is a very different world in the world I thought years ago that I lived in. 11/
2
23
155
"Gosar" is a last name of Slovenian origin—from the Slavic peoples.
Last I checked Slovenians are not Anglo-Saxons. In fact, back before the Norman Conquest, the place Anglo-Saxons thought Slavs belonged was as slave[e]s...
7
7
144
Republican coalition partners, we failed to energize our own base, and we failed to produce enough large-scale obvious policy wins to cement the center into a durable governing coalition. We blame cynical Republican politicians. We blame corrupt and craven media bosses and 3/
3
12
142
"Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the 20th Century". Forthcoming from Basic Books on September 6, 2022 <bit.ly/3pP3Krk>; 97th-98th sentences:
"It is in hopes of transcending the nonsense to glimpse the world aright that I’ve written... 330-slouching/
10
23
169
I must say, I now feel I understand what went down in Germany Sep 1932-Mar 1933 and in Italy Jun-Dec 1922 much better than I did back in 2015...
5
10
135
braddelong.substack.com/p/ha…
First: Question: Have Harald Uhlig & Company Read Lisa Cook’s Paper at All? Answer: No
Only somebody who has not read the paper, and does not care that they have not read the paper, would say so.
So last Wednesday I was peacefully working away... 1/
4
25
146
No matter what our domestic economic problems, it is still essential to remind ourselves that for humanity as a whole the years since 1980 have seen the greatest improvement in economic well-being, globally, of any forty-yer period in human history. ... bradford-delong.com/2019/10/…
5
45
156
A proposal for teaching econometrics in the age of social distancing: Twitch, but watching @causalinf clean a dataset in real time...
6
11
152
On the right, however, things are much worse. Looking to the right of the Rubin Wing of the Democratic Party, we see rubble. Then we see more rubble. And more rubble. Beyond that, rubble. And then, at the far end of the political spectrum, what former Secretary of State 5/
3
17
134
braddelong.substack.com/p/br…
First: We are a half-vaxxed country. And a country that looks like it is going to stay half-vaxxed: there is just too much money to be made by media grifters and too much political hay to be made by right-wing politicians seeking to win the Trump... 1/
5
36
135
after former Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin, and consisting of those of us hoping to use market means to social democratic ends in bipartisan coalition with Republicans seeking technocratic win-wins—have passed the baton to our left. Over the past 25 years, we failed to attract 2/
6
14
130
The Trump Administration Has Made America #1: Worst in the World at Coronavirus Response
The trajectory of cases since the 100th reported case is now "ahead" of all other counries. The Trump administration truly has made America #1!
bradford-delong.com/2020/03/…
21
68
143
The electorate of all those who care enough to be motivated to vote for Chief Neoliberal Shill has spoken: I am defeated. Congratulations to @scottlincicome on a well-fought campaign. I wish him luck. He will need it. 1/
8
12
138
I remember back in the... spring of 1981, I think it was. I asked my professor, William Thomson, visiting from Rochester, roughly this: "The utilitarian social welfare function is Ω = U(1) + U(2) + U(3)... The competitive market economy maximizes a market social welfare 1/
2
42
136
As I sometimes say, in 1993 I realized I could either win “Civilization” on God Mode or be a semi-effective Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. Opportunity costs!
8
8
137
could achieve. Why isn't the unequal distribution of ex ante lifetime income—inequality of opportunity—conceptualized by us economists as the greatest of all market failures? And why isn't the distribution of political power that creates & preserves a property order of unequal 3/
2
23
124
I remember hearing from one not very senior White House aide in mid 2009: “ you do not understand what it is like in here. People crave the approval of David Brooks above everything else...” 4/END
10
20
121
Frankfurt School Critical Theory in a Nutshell:
Inside the iron cage of capitalist ideology. But with a 10 inch long bone, and the other comforts of late capitalist consumerism. The door is open. But that does not seem to matter…
6
17
120
Meanwhile, we are going to blow past China in total number of cases in three days, in spite of having started with two months' warning while they started with zero...
9
18
110
Thank you @LisaMurkowski for your leadership & protecting care for millions in AK & across the US! #IStandWithPP nitter.app/cards/d70y…
2
34
105
wealth seen as the greatest of all "regulatory capture by a special interest group" flaws in the working of society, economy, and the state?" Thomson did not have a good answer. My other teacher Joe Kalt, however, did. "These Chicago Boys are all right-wing Marxists," he said 4/
2
14
111
* Back to my first point: Market friendly policies work a lot less well than I thought they would.
* Relying on the Federal Reserve rather than on boosting government purchases to do the bulk of the work of economic recovery in the early 2010s was a disaster. 10/
6
21
101
another, stab you in the back the first moment that it seems opportune. Failing to require a #nevertrump litmus test seems wise. Admittedly, it is unlikely to lead to power and Fox News. But it is the right thing to do. And I urge you to Do the Right Thing 13/
2
2
104
...disability of the system.... However, I don't think that his theory of business cycles and financial crises holds up.... Marx the economist was among the very first to get the industrial revolution right: to understand what it meant for human possibilities and the human... 2/
2
5
111
Worst Coronavirus Response in þe World Led by þe Most Incompetent, Ignorant, & Undisciplined President Imaginable: Donald Trump: Why am I not surprised þt þis president backed upby þe most corrupt political party in þe world produces þe worst response? bradford-delong.com/2020/05/…
11
35
119
All three of these reasons have been proved false:
* There are no broad bipartisan political coalitions.
*Mitt Romney would not support Mitt Romney’s own health care plan when Obama proposed it as the Affordable Care Act. 7/
2
20
99
Well, well, well… <bit.ly/3pP3Krk>
#1407 in Kindle Store
#1 Best Seller in Economic History…
#1 Best Seller in Macroeconomics…
#1 Best Seller in 20th Century World History…
#1 Best Seller in Economics…
#1 Best Seller in Business & Money/Biography & History…
12
7
118
It's gone from "a great boss, he'll be a great president" to "a so-so president, but he cares about me" to "not great, but his policies are on balance good for me" to "bad, but hurts people I hate" to "awful, but he hates people I hate" to "at least his awfulness makes libs sad"
3
16
98
Ah. Covington Catholic High School. 1600 Dixie Hwy, Park Hills, KY 41011. "Dixie". It is interesting: Four times as many Kentuckians fought for the Union as for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Perhaps rename it "Grant Hwy"?
14
19
102
OH WOW!
The Economist’s review of “Slouching Towards Utopia” **BLUSH**:
Economist: Bradford DeLong Reconsiders the 20th Century’s Economic History <economist.com/culture/2022/0…>: ‘Slouching Towards Utopia is an impressive achievement, written with wit and style and a… 1/
11
14
106
If Donald Trump wants a WVA grand jury, shouldn't he go commit a crime in WVA instead of DC?
4
14
102
A Note on Reading Big, Difficult Books: bradford-delong.com/2019/12/…
4
31
112
**Caveats:**
Paul Krugman says: you may only be getting here now, but I have been here waiting for you for a decade.
Bob Reich says that you may only be getting here now, but I have been here waiting for you for more than a quarter century. 13/
6
8
89
WTF?! Where is the demand-side inflationary boom? Stagflation emerges after an unfavorable supply-cost shock? Where is the unfavorable supply-cost shock?
4
4
95
* John McCain would not support his own global-warming control plan when Obama proposed in the form of cap-and-trade.
* George H.W. Bush would not support his own entitlement-cutting-and-financing plans when Obama—to the horror of not only left but centrist 8/
1
12
86
By Popular Demand: What Is “Modern Monetary Theory”?: bradford-delong.com/2019/01/…
11
34
108
We have the constructive invocation of Amendment #25 by the security services as a response to the partisan breakdown of congress's ability to fulfill its constitutional order.... It is unlikely to end well...
1
9
80
And "Slouching Towards Utopia" Is a Go..., by @delong braddelong.substack.com/p/an…
SO PLEASE PREORDER IT!!!!
Here are two early blurbs:
Robert Waldmann: “I remember reading an earlier draft 30 years ago. You haven't wasted the 30 years. This book is vastly improved. It is... 1/
15
14
104
Ross Douthat says: “I’ll vote for Trump unless you give me policy wins X, Y, Z, & W! What, you won’t? Then it is **your** fault I am voting for Trump!"
... namely the sense that voters to the right of center are being asked to sacrifice various commitments or interests to defeat Trumpism, even as their would-be leaders or partners to the left give up none of their partisanship and indeed become ever-more ideologically purist.
5
7
72
This blood-and-soil Kentucky neo-fascist Trumpist nationalism is, I believe, highly destructive, pernicious, and positively un-American. It needs to be fought against. In the center and on the left we fight it with the opposed "Massachusetts" picture of American nationalism— 17/
9
6
90
I found myself casting my memory back to the early days of the Clinton administration, when I was carrying spears for the Lloyd Bentsen Treasury. We were trying to construct a coalition for a "crime bill"—tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime. Bob Dole in the Senate... 1/
3
35
84
braddelong.substack.com/p/gl…
My one-time student Glory Liu has a book coming out: Glory M. Liu (2022): Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 978069120381) <amazon.com/Adam-Smiths-Ameri…>... 1/
3
21
93
They buy the Marxian proposition that the state is an executive committee for rigging the economy in the interest of the ruling class. But they think that that is a good thing as long as the ruling class is based on wealth, however previously acquired. All their objections are 5/
2
11
84
braddelong.substack.com/p/re…
I believe that Noah Smith and Neil Irwin have this right. There is now a better than even chance that the US economy faces something like stagflation over the next two years.... Does this mean that, had the Fed known then what we know now about... 1/
4
24
93
I'm sorry. I agree w/ Rebecca: to get fired after 10 days by somebody you called a hack politician inherited money dude from Queens is funny
1
6
83
DeLongTODAY: Nudging Ourselves Toward Full Employment...
I confess that I do not understand worries that Biden's $1.9 trillion relief, support, and stimulus reconciliation Bill will badly "overheat" the economy. It might, in 1/
<braddelong.substack.com/p/de…><delongtoday.com/today>
4
26
85
Why say "Dems moving left" rather than "recognizing centrist tech plans R 2 easily undermined by bad Republican actors w/ bad motives"?
8
15
77
Jack, why is "/18: Congress must, for the country's sake, immediately impeach & remove Donald Trump from office" missing from this?
3
16
64
us: we are his children. The Massachusetts-style American nationalism of election—that America really consists of those of us who have come here to build a common Utopia—is very powerful, much more correct, sociologically healthy, and something we all can be proud of in a 19/
5
6
85
...reviewed the ms.
Not everything Graeber writes is wrong—some of it is right, and some of it is quite good.
But nothing David Graeber writes is trustable.
Today we have Daniel Immerwahr <thenation.com/article/societ…> writing that David Graeber and David Wengrow’s claim... 11/
1
5
89
So saying: “Ok, go be strangers in a strange land and never see your families again” is legitimate pressure? What kind of monster are you?
6
2
70
I WASN'T SEROIUS! I WAS JUST TRYING TO BE IRONICALLY EDGY!! NOW I AM NOT SURE WHETHER I HAVE REALLY GUILT-TRIPPED YOU, OR WHETHER YOU ARE ONLY MOCKING ME BY PRETENDING THAT I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY GUILT-TRIPPED YOU!!!!!
2
1
82
Democrats—proposed them as a grand bargain with John Boehner.
* The wreck that Republican federal and state legislators and corrupt partisan judges have made of affordable care act implementation he still a wonder to behold. 9/
1
12
75
braddelong.substack.com/p/is…
For 40 years now, I have been a short-run China bull and a long run China bear.
It has seemed clear to me, at every point in time, China has a working short-run development model, and that the legacy of the Maoist version of really-existing... 1/
6
13
84
Much of what our machines find impossible
Our brains find so trivially easy
That we call such capabilities “unskilled"
2
25
87
Second, I at least regard your cultural-historical task as being to wean Republicans away from Trumpist neo-fascism as an orienting frame. Trumpist neo-fascism is, I think, a version of Kentucky-style American nationalism. Kentucky-style American nationalism is a species of 14/
4
5
73
The past year has seen one-fifth of the jump in investment that the boosters of the Trump tax cut were claiming would happen back in last 2017: bradford-delong.com/2019/03/…
11
33
75
the [Niskanen Center](niskanencenter.org) (on whose Advisory Board I sit).
What can those of us who sit to the left of the Niskanen Center and who do wish for a healthy public sphere—i.e., those of us who are not interested in concern trolling for the moment, as much 10/
3
5
71
Senator... please tell me the name of somebody not you who has a better chance of winning in Missouri. If you cannot come up with a name, I am afraid there are 330 million—no, 7.8 billion—people who need your help here. And you gotta step up. It’s not fair. But it is what it is..
17
7
78
Have you ever read the account of the first repeated prisoner's dilemma ever played? I at least find it hilarious... j-bradford-delong.net/econom…
3
26
79