Chris Cunningham
econcunningham.bsky.social
Chris Cunningham
@econcunningham.bsky.social
Urban, Housing, Real Estate and Public Economics; former Fed Economist, Founder Citinomics.com; Syracuse grad, dad, hiker, living in Den Haag, NL.
What distinguishes NL from these other countries? Perhaps not having much of an auto industry, and a relative dearth of cars perhaps?
The second China shock
Full 2025 Chinese trade data now out. Headline is clearly a historical global record $1.2 trillion surplus with the world

What of Europe?

📈China's trade surplus with the EU: +18.1%
📈 with Germany: +108%
📈 with France: +23.9%
📈 with Italy: +32.6%
📈 with Netherlands: +1.4%
January 14, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
Pretty hard to square this with freezing the Gang of Eight out for "security".
January 5, 2026 at 4:48 AM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
4/ Andreessen’s VC firm also backs Pronomos Capital, which backs Praxis. bsky.app/profile/jenn...
👀 Praxis is a Thiel-backed “network state” project that aims to build its OWN COUNTRY. In Nov, Praxis founder Dryden Brown wrote about wanting Greenland 4 Praxis. In Dec, Trump named Thiel partner Ken Howery as ambassador to Denmark & said the US shld buy Greenland. Praxis & Dryden are thrilled...1/
February 26, 2025 at 3:21 AM
This was insightful (and depressing), but I wonder if some of the value of fast passes and exclusive clubs is the manifested class sorting.

Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...
Opinion | Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:58 AM
Lululemon founder getting cheeky.
December 29, 2025 at 5:46 PM
The ultimate corporate hack: blanket your community with lead so they become stupid and vote republican which let's you continue to pollute.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/c...
A Top Source of Lead Pollution Faced Tighter Rules. Then Trump Intervened.
www.nytimes.com
December 26, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
“A Bulgarian man from Chicago arrested during the recent fall immigration enforcement 'blitz' has died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Michigan private prison.”
December 20, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
Great analysis from Simon Mongey showing evidence of broad weakening of demand for workers in 2025.

Evidence that developments are hurting Americans with the least earning power the most, opposite recent years.
December 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
Grading and googling hallucinated citations, as one does nowadays, and now that LLMs have been around for a while, I've discovered new horrors: hallucinated journals are now appearing in Google Scholar with dozens of citations bc so many people are citing these fake things
December 15, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
Battery costs plummet; economics transformed. #econsky
This is incredible (good news too): “After a 40% fall in 2024 in battery equipment costs, it’s clear we’re on track for another major fall in 2025…The economics for batteries are unrecognizable, & the industry is only just getting to grips with this new paradigm”
www.pv-magazine.com/2025/12/12/b...
Batteries now cheap enough to make dispatchable solar economically feasible
Energy think tank Ember says utility-scale battery costs have fallen to $65/MWh outside China and the United States, enabling solar power to be delivered when needed.
www.pv-magazine.com
December 14, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
The 78-year-old media mogul has been found guilty on charges of conspiring to commit sedition and foreign collusion, in the most closely watched trial since Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement six years ago on.ft.com/4rUb1nA
December 15, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
Respect. #Budapest
🇭🇺Massive demonstrations in Budapest, Hungary against the Viktor Orbán’s regime.

Protesters carried toys and torches under the banner “Protect the children!” showing solidarity with children who became victims of abuse in the state care system
December 15, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path. … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.” www.cnn.com/2025/12/14/p...
JetBlue plane near Venezuela avoids ‘midair collision’ with US Air Force aircraft | CNN Politics
A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a US Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing hi...
www.cnn.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
ICE pepper-sprayed this 1-year-old girl.

Once at the hospital, the doctor had to call in a poison control specialist.

They had never seen anyone that young pepper sprayed.

Another horrific story.

More details below.
December 14, 2025 at 11:31 PM
A heart rendering post.
I might die on this hill, but the heart shape is the undisputed champion of biscuit cutter efficiency.
December 14, 2025 at 10:33 AM
AI is fast easy and often wrong
December 13, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Fietslichtjes Parade
December 11, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Man it's so fucking transparent.
Days after FIFA awarded Trump a fake peace prize, DOJ moves to drop charges in FIFA corruption case www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/n...
U.S. Moves to Drop Charges in International Soccer Corruption Case
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Reposted by Chris Cunningham
My university, Kyiv School of Economics, is hiring postdocs & professors of all levels! Join the best economics department in Ukraine, with excellent colleagues, modern campus and make an impact teaching the new generation of Ukrainians!
Link: www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing....
#EconSky #econjobmarket
American Economic Association: JOE Listings - August 1, 2025 - January 31, 2026
www.aeaweb.org
December 11, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I guess I'm an econometrician first, because I thought this article was about using quantum computing to make investment decisions. Like the some kind of innovation in stochastic calculus.
December 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
72 fewer steps for apartment, many fewer steps for apartmentkind.
BREAKING TODAY: Vancouver Council finally passed UNANIMOUSLY building bylaw changes allowing single-stair buildings up to 6 storeys, with a @lucymaloney.bsky.social amendment for corresponding zone changes. Congratulations to all who’ve championed this including @lanefab.com & @holz-bau.bsky.social.
Single stair code changes coming to @cityofvancouver.bsky.social council today.

It’s been several years of work getting to this point.

It’s not everything that I’d want but it’s a good first step, with external single stairs and low/mid rise scissor stairs as entirely new housing options.
December 11, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Powell said that there's not much the Fed can do about housing supply and that's basically right. However, if we're going back to QE anyway, why not go back to MBS? Beyond lowering financing cost, it could ameliorate the lock-in effect on the <4% mortgages.
December 10, 2025 at 8:56 PM
The Miran 50 point descent is just the most lackey, political move I've ever seen at the FOMC. He got a cut in the face of rising inflation and a 180 to quantitative easing. Take the win. It's not even in Trump's interest as it just burns Fed credibility to be such an open tool.
December 10, 2025 at 8:43 PM