Dilek Sayedahmed
@dileksay2.substack.com
Market Design Economist gone rogue | Senior Economic Policy Advisor at WAGE & EIC ✨ One of those academic types who prefers books over people✌🏾 Elaine Benes of economics 🫡 une montréalaise économiste qui fait des choses.
https://dileksay2.substack.com
https://dileksay2.substack.com
Pinned
Just some thoughts from an immigrant economist gal wrapping up this historic election season. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise. The rhetoric of the center-left in the U.S. has been, as usual, frustrating.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
By even conservative measures the number of people killed by the Iranian regime is at least 10,000. Other estimates go significantly higher. These include mass executions, including civilians killed while undergoing medical treatment.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Disappeared bodies, mass burials and ‘30,000 dead’: what is the truth of Iran’s death toll?
Testimony from medics, morgue and graveyard staff reveals huge state effort to conceal systematic killing of protesters
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:28 PM
By even conservative measures the number of people killed by the Iranian regime is at least 10,000. Other estimates go significantly higher. These include mass executions, including civilians killed while undergoing medical treatment.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
I am waiting for the outrage. The meeting councils. The hearing councils. I am waiting for the flooding questions of "yes, but do you condemn..." I am waiting for the emergency fighting anti- committees.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar sprayed with unknown substance at Minneapolis town hall
Man arrested and charged with assault after spraying strong-smelling liquid at Minnesota Democrat from syringe
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 10:42 AM
I am waiting for the outrage. The meeting councils. The hearing councils. I am waiting for the flooding questions of "yes, but do you condemn..." I am waiting for the emergency fighting anti- committees.
I am waiting for the outrage. The meeting councils. The hearing councils. I am waiting for the flooding questions of "yes, but do you condemn..." I am waiting for the emergency fighting anti- committees. I am waiting for ....yeah. Nah. Just kidding. I am just waiting for my coffee.
January 28, 2026 at 10:40 AM
I am waiting for the outrage. The meeting councils. The hearing councils. I am waiting for the flooding questions of "yes, but do you condemn..." I am waiting for the emergency fighting anti- committees. I am waiting for ....yeah. Nah. Just kidding. I am just waiting for my coffee.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Les collègues @justinmassie.bsky.social et @srdj.bsky.social résument admirablement le dilemme auquel le Canada fait face.
www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...
www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...
Face aux États-Unis de Trump | Le Canada se voit-il vassal ou souverain ?
Le Canada s’apprête à publier sa première Stratégie de sécurité nationale depuis 2004. Vingt-deux ans… une éternité s’est écoulée depuis la dernière réflexion d’envergure sur les menaces qui pèsent co...
www.lapresse.ca
January 19, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Les collègues @justinmassie.bsky.social et @srdj.bsky.social résument admirablement le dilemme auquel le Canada fait face.
www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...
www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...
As I was grumpy yesterday, I wrote how the most dangerous aspect of neoliberalism isn't its economic impact, but its political impact. And the myth of “the market." How it becomes a euphemism for the power of money. Why capital hates democracy. Self-interest & egocentrism it entails.
More here:
More here:
Neoliberalism, My Unwanted Companion
Why the Future Is Looking Like History.
dileksay2.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:00 AM
As I was grumpy yesterday, I wrote how the most dangerous aspect of neoliberalism isn't its economic impact, but its political impact. And the myth of “the market." How it becomes a euphemism for the power of money. Why capital hates democracy. Self-interest & egocentrism it entails.
More here:
More here:
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Little bit of "Gosh, I can't believe the company named for an evil crystal ball and led by guys with monarchist fetishes was involved in something ugly." I'm usually sympathetic to the brute reality of needing a job. But you don't have to work for the mob.
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
“In my opinion ICE are the bad guys. I am not proud that the company I enjoy so much working for is part of this,” one worker wrote on Slack.
www.wired.com
January 26, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Little bit of "Gosh, I can't believe the company named for an evil crystal ball and led by guys with monarchist fetishes was involved in something ugly." I'm usually sympathetic to the brute reality of needing a job. But you don't have to work for the mob.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
The Trump administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations, which include rules that keep airplanes in the sky, prevent gas pipelines from exploding and stop freight trains carrying toxic chemicals from skidding off the rails.
Trump’s Department of Transportation Plans to Use AI to Draft New Regulations
The agency oversees rules that keep airplanes in the sky and prevent gas pipelines from exploding, among other things.
truthout.org
January 26, 2026 at 7:05 PM
The Trump administration is planning to use artificial intelligence to write federal transportation regulations, which include rules that keep airplanes in the sky, prevent gas pipelines from exploding and stop freight trains carrying toxic chemicals from skidding off the rails.
Watch and make people watch!
The secret history of Neoliberalism | The Invisible Doctrine | Full Film
YouTube video by Journeyman Pictures
www.youtube.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Watch and make people watch!
The ever-excellent Sarah Kendzior answering your questions, this was fascinating to read:
A Nation on Thin Ice
Your questions answered on Greenland, ICE, Canada, Minnesota, Epstein, more.
substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:31 PM
The ever-excellent Sarah Kendzior answering your questions, this was fascinating to read:
Those who dismiss ecological constraints, sustainable finance, & social economy as “hippie stuff” are often the same actors linked to environmental threats to Greenland and the violence we are witnessing in Minnesota. This is precisely why we must continue researching and teaching these topics.
January 25, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Those who dismiss ecological constraints, sustainable finance, & social economy as “hippie stuff” are often the same actors linked to environmental threats to Greenland and the violence we are witnessing in Minnesota. This is precisely why we must continue researching and teaching these topics.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Memory is a fragile thing in this moment, so it is important to keep in mind that Hakeem Jeffries refused to whip his caucus against ICE funding earlier this week.
January 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Memory is a fragile thing in this moment, so it is important to keep in mind that Hakeem Jeffries refused to whip his caucus against ICE funding earlier this week.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter Jr. were murdered. Marimar Martinez was shot. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and jailed.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
January 25, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter Jr. were murdered. Marimar Martinez was shot. Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and jailed.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
The next could be you.
What’s at stake isn’t just our democracy. It’s also your safety and security and that of your loved ones.
This is personal — to every one of us.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Some straightforward and useful accounting here from M Gessen:
January 25, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Some straightforward and useful accounting here from M Gessen:
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Every anniversary, they remind us we failed. And indeed, we lost more than words can convey.
But we also found each other.
And this connection—grounded in the possibility of a different tomorrow—keeps them up at night, 15 years later.
May we never stop remembering. #Jan25
But we also found each other.
And this connection—grounded in the possibility of a different tomorrow—keeps them up at night, 15 years later.
May we never stop remembering. #Jan25
January 25, 2026 at 1:08 PM
Every anniversary, they remind us we failed. And indeed, we lost more than words can convey.
But we also found each other.
And this connection—grounded in the possibility of a different tomorrow—keeps them up at night, 15 years later.
May we never stop remembering. #Jan25
But we also found each other.
And this connection—grounded in the possibility of a different tomorrow—keeps them up at night, 15 years later.
May we never stop remembering. #Jan25
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
Israel’s creative way to continue breaking the ceasefire in Gaza
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
January 25, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Israel’s creative way to continue breaking the ceasefire in Gaza
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
tfw when the imperialism is boomeranging
January 25, 2026 at 1:42 PM
tfw when the imperialism is boomeranging
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
I am keeping rereading the below quote by James Baldwin from Nothing Personal (1964), which is his critique of American society at the height of the civil rights movement. He reflects on social isolation and police brutality.
January 25, 2026 at 5:20 PM
I am keeping rereading the below quote by James Baldwin from Nothing Personal (1964), which is his critique of American society at the height of the civil rights movement. He reflects on social isolation and police brutality.
American exceptionalism is indeed a hell of a drug.
In 2026 — more than a year since their authoritarian lunatic president started threatening our sovereignty and economy — New York Times columnists are still smugly telling Canadians that we’re going to be theirs someday.
January 25, 2026 at 3:17 PM
American exceptionalism is indeed a hell of a drug.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
In 2026 — more than a year since their authoritarian lunatic president started threatening our sovereignty and economy — New York Times columnists are still smugly telling Canadians that we’re going to be theirs someday.
January 25, 2026 at 3:12 PM
In 2026 — more than a year since their authoritarian lunatic president started threatening our sovereignty and economy — New York Times columnists are still smugly telling Canadians that we’re going to be theirs someday.
It’s essential that when someone expresses distress about their government and hopes their country can do better, you promptly inform them that it has always been this bad—and that this is simply how things are.
How sweet & easy. How unconvincing. This is why "how things are" need so much costume.
How sweet & easy. How unconvincing. This is why "how things are" need so much costume.
January 25, 2026 at 3:07 PM
It’s essential that when someone expresses distress about their government and hopes their country can do better, you promptly inform them that it has always been this bad—and that this is simply how things are.
How sweet & easy. How unconvincing. This is why "how things are" need so much costume.
How sweet & easy. How unconvincing. This is why "how things are" need so much costume.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
David Smith continues not to pull his punches
‘This is what fascism looks like’: terror in Minneapolis reminiscent of civil war
Alex Pretti’s death could be a moment of reckoning for Democrats to call time on Trump waging war on his people
www.theguardian.com
January 25, 2026 at 1:44 PM
David Smith continues not to pull his punches
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
As someone who has spent over 35 years trying to explain that violence is inherent to policing only to have most people be OK with this, I could be excused if I decided to just give up. But I'm not. I knew we would be where we are today. I still think that we do not have to live like this.
January 24, 2026 at 8:39 PM
As someone who has spent over 35 years trying to explain that violence is inherent to policing only to have most people be OK with this, I could be excused if I decided to just give up. But I'm not. I knew we would be where we are today. I still think that we do not have to live like this.
Reposted by Dilek Sayedahmed
“As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health told TIME….The only parallel offered by online databases occurred in the Holocaust.”
www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
More than 30,000 may have been killed in Iran protests, officials say — report
* * *
www.timesofisrael.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:20 AM
“As many as 30,000 people could have been killed in the streets of Iran on Jan. 8 and 9 alone, two senior officials of the country’s Ministry of Health told TIME….The only parallel offered by online databases occurred in the Holocaust.”
www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...
www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_ent...