alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
macroeconomist and computer user at http://www.common-wealth.org, editor at www.continuousvariation.com, fellow at stanford, partisan of the republic of letters
Pinned
alex williams
@atwilliams.bsky.social
· Aug 22
"because only that exists which can be posted, bodies themselves fell under the regime of the symbolic" - literal Kittler
Reposted by alex williams
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
Reposted by alex williams
the denial "push the scientific frontier", whatever that means, has already been refuted
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
November 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
the denial "push the scientific frontier", whatever that means, has already been refuted
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
so time to backtrack to the wishy-washy concept of intelligence
mathstodon.xyz/@tao/1155914...
Reposted by alex williams
US PPI #inflation steady (Sep) as higher gas & #tariffs pressure offset by margin squeeze
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
November 25, 2025 at 2:15 PM
US PPI #inflation steady (Sep) as higher gas & #tariffs pressure offset by margin squeeze
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
✅Headline #PPI +0.3%
📈Core +0.1%
🟠Gds +0.9%
🍳Food 1.1%
⛽️Energy 3.5%
📊Core 0.2%
✅Services +0%
🚚Transport 0.8%
⚖️Trade (margins) -0.2%
📈Inflation
🔶PPI: 2.7%
🔶Core: 2.9%
Reposted by alex williams
people get wrongfooted by terfs going “what if a man can just say he’s a woman and win the Olympics” but they will be a lot less sympathetic when that cashes out with “and that’s why the drunkest MAGA grandpas at the track meet are accusing your tomboy daughter of being a secret male”
November 24, 2025 at 9:02 PM
people get wrongfooted by terfs going “what if a man can just say he’s a woman and win the Olympics” but they will be a lot less sympathetic when that cashes out with “and that’s why the drunkest MAGA grandpas at the track meet are accusing your tomboy daughter of being a secret male”
Reposted by alex williams
Hegseth’s Pentagon attacking astronauts and Boy Scouts. What’s next - banning apple pie?
“U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'” —
www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
U.S. ready to cut support to Scouts, accusing them of attacking 'boy-friendly spaces'
Documents show the U.S. military is planning to sever all ties with the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts.
www.npr.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Hegseth’s Pentagon attacking astronauts and Boy Scouts. What’s next - banning apple pie?
Reposted by alex williams
And for readers if a journalist refuses to do at least this—which truly is the bare minimum, any journalist truly interested in covering this space should have a basic working knowledge of different types of models—they are not trustworthy. Do not read them
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 24, 2025 at 10:39 AM
And for readers if a journalist refuses to do at least this—which truly is the bare minimum, any journalist truly interested in covering this space should have a basic working knowledge of different types of models—they are not trustworthy. Do not read them
Reposted by alex williams
this is far too common to be dismissed as anecdota tbh. the sheer number of clubs and social groups that couldn't survive remote, or stayed permanently remote, had a huge impact on the social lives of like 100 million americans bsky.app/profile/adis...
this is just anecdotal but among my social circle like 90% of regularly scheduled in-person hangouts simply imploded over COVID and never returned. it's way, way harder to start these things than end them.
November 24, 2025 at 5:12 AM
this is far too common to be dismissed as anecdota tbh. the sheer number of clubs and social groups that couldn't survive remote, or stayed permanently remote, had a huge impact on the social lives of like 100 million americans bsky.app/profile/adis...
Reposted by alex williams
I’ll be on @maddow.bsky.social soon to talk about why I’m not going to let Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth intimidate me out of doing my job — including oversight of this administration. Tune in.
November 25, 2025 at 2:20 AM
I’ll be on @maddow.bsky.social soon to talk about why I’m not going to let Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth intimidate me out of doing my job — including oversight of this administration. Tune in.
Reposted by alex williams
the virgin why don't we systematically explore the space tangent to the hypersurface
vs the chad Why Don't We Just Tell The Model What Spaces Are Orthogonal By Just Saying It
vs the chad Why Don't We Just Tell The Model What Spaces Are Orthogonal By Just Saying It
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 AM
the virgin why don't we systematically explore the space tangent to the hypersurface
vs the chad Why Don't We Just Tell The Model What Spaces Are Orthogonal By Just Saying It
vs the chad Why Don't We Just Tell The Model What Spaces Are Orthogonal By Just Saying It
i hope AI isnt silicon valley bank all over again
One explanation for economic populism in the US is the recurring cycle of bubbles and bailouts that happens without any democratic input
November 24, 2025 at 10:48 PM
i hope AI isnt silicon valley bank all over again
Reposted by alex williams
You're laughing? We'll be cleaning up Solar Spills for decades, light will be coming out of peoples kitchen faucets. Baby ducks will be covered in sunshine...
November 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
You're laughing? We'll be cleaning up Solar Spills for decades, light will be coming out of peoples kitchen faucets. Baby ducks will be covered in sunshine...
Reposted by alex williams
One of the best to ever do it, rest easy king
Jimmy Cliff - Many Rivers To Cross
YouTube video by worldsgreatestmusic
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
One of the best to ever do it, rest easy king
Reposted by alex williams
Doom E1M3 on a pair of monome grids, by way of #maxmsp. The grid display you see here is laggy bc I’m sending the camera over wifi, but irl there’s no noticeable lag.
Not sure why I’m getting those little flashes on the 256.
Not sure why I’m getting those little flashes on the 256.
February 6, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Doom E1M3 on a pair of monome grids, by way of #maxmsp. The grid display you see here is laggy bc I’m sending the camera over wifi, but irl there’s no noticeable lag.
Not sure why I’m getting those little flashes on the 256.
Not sure why I’m getting those little flashes on the 256.
one thing thats crazy about the current era in the states is that it is clear across most domains that science got processed by a lot of people as "traumatic encounter with the real" and now they are just making decisions based on that trauma.
elon, peter, anti-vaxxers, all the same problem
elon, peter, anti-vaxxers, all the same problem
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 4:32 PM
one thing thats crazy about the current era in the states is that it is clear across most domains that science got processed by a lot of people as "traumatic encounter with the real" and now they are just making decisions based on that trauma.
elon, peter, anti-vaxxers, all the same problem
elon, peter, anti-vaxxers, all the same problem
Reposted by alex williams
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
even if you grant him the point, it still clearly says that republicans hate specific people and democrats hate specific ideas.
wonder which one of those parties has been taken over by school shooters and wehraboos
wonder which one of those parties has been taken over by school shooters and wehraboos
November 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
even if you grant him the point, it still clearly says that republicans hate specific people and democrats hate specific ideas.
wonder which one of those parties has been taken over by school shooters and wehraboos
wonder which one of those parties has been taken over by school shooters and wehraboos
Reposted by alex williams
The Trump administration inherited an economy that the Economist called "the envy of the world" in a cover story a week before the election and easily could've coasted on that success (again) but instead they set it on fire.
November 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The Trump administration inherited an economy that the Economist called "the envy of the world" in a cover story a week before the election and easily could've coasted on that success (again) but instead they set it on fire.
Reposted by alex williams
Remember this? The most amazing thing about this remarkable 2002 car commercial is that it didn’t seem to realize at the time, or perhaps didn’t care, how effectively it made the point that cars and car infrastructure are a HUGE waste of space in cities. Award-winning 2002 ad for Saturn car company.
Saturn Ion commercial
YouTube video by Eliyahu Biton
youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Remember this? The most amazing thing about this remarkable 2002 car commercial is that it didn’t seem to realize at the time, or perhaps didn’t care, how effectively it made the point that cars and car infrastructure are a HUGE waste of space in cities. Award-winning 2002 ad for Saturn car company.
im always extracting nice views from the sky
Anti-solar NIMBYs aren't beating the accusations of being pretty dim bulbs. "Extracting from the sky" is a good one
November 24, 2025 at 2:31 AM
im always extracting nice views from the sky
Reposted by alex williams
I think broadcast, especially in areas like economics, always has to operate with the Stan Lee Marvel comics rule and remember every issue might be somebody’s first.
That doesn’t mean you dumb down, it means you explain and don’t assume knowledge.
That doesn’t mean you dumb down, it means you explain and don’t assume knowledge.
To add to this - it's not like the public is being well served by broadcast news moving at the pace of 24 hour scrolling and the politically obsessed - it just means every election large numbers of people end up googling 'what is austerity?' 'What is brownfield?' etc. etc.
This is bizarre. Like the editor of the guardian or mail or any other paper complaining repeatedly about the front page lead they decided to run with.
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
Very good example of what's wrong with broadcast news - they've given up deciding for themselves what is or isn't news and what the priorities are
November 23, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I think broadcast, especially in areas like economics, always has to operate with the Stan Lee Marvel comics rule and remember every issue might be somebody’s first.
That doesn’t mean you dumb down, it means you explain and don’t assume knowledge.
That doesn’t mean you dumb down, it means you explain and don’t assume knowledge.
Reposted by alex williams
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
Reposted by alex williams
Difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was. Spending in FY2025 was not only than in FY2024 – but higher than it was projected to be when Trump first took office.*
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Difficult to overstate how profound a failure DOGE was. Spending in FY2025 was not only than in FY2024 – but higher than it was projected to be when Trump first took office.*
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
The little bit of spending DOGE cut has already killed hundreds of thousands and will eventually lead to millions of deaths.
Reposted by alex williams
In normal democracy terms, we've in bad shape and things are getting worse.
In consolidated authoritarianism terms, we're doing pretty well, as the regime is haphazard, meeting resistance, and growing increasingly unpopular.
Depends on one's perspective. I started using the latter standard in Jan.
In consolidated authoritarianism terms, we're doing pretty well, as the regime is haphazard, meeting resistance, and growing increasingly unpopular.
Depends on one's perspective. I started using the latter standard in Jan.
It is good to see the pushback on Trump lead to real losses for him. But it's hard to be optimistic when he still wields the enormous power of the presidency. ICE is still rampaging, HHS is harming people, the U.S. may be about to sell out Ukraine, the boat strikes...he's still doing so much damage.
November 22, 2025 at 5:48 PM
In normal democracy terms, we've in bad shape and things are getting worse.
In consolidated authoritarianism terms, we're doing pretty well, as the regime is haphazard, meeting resistance, and growing increasingly unpopular.
Depends on one's perspective. I started using the latter standard in Jan.
In consolidated authoritarianism terms, we're doing pretty well, as the regime is haphazard, meeting resistance, and growing increasingly unpopular.
Depends on one's perspective. I started using the latter standard in Jan.
Reposted by alex williams
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
AirBnB CEO calling it “vibe revenue” just 👨🍳 😘
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
The underlying cause of every bubble - debt masquerading as financial innovation - depends on not just short financial memory & speculative neophytism, but reinventing jargon of finance, like how each generation of kids has new ways to say same things.
November 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
Reposted by alex williams
I know this is rhetorical but my stab at a real answer: because they are trying to get funding from VC people who are ideologues like Peter Thiel and Thiel doesn’t want us to have libraries
Why is startup culture always “I am inventing a coffeeproof phone you can put in your coffee cup to keep it warm with cell radiation” and never “I’m inventing a new library wholesaler to replace the single company that is shutting down and sending libraries into crisis”
November 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
I know this is rhetorical but my stab at a real answer: because they are trying to get funding from VC people who are ideologues like Peter Thiel and Thiel doesn’t want us to have libraries