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Robert N. Stavins

@robertstavins.bsky.social

850 followers 140 following 480 posts

A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA; University Fellow, Resources for the Future; Research Associate, NBER -- But Just My Opinions .. more

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Economics 60%

Energy 18%

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Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 1h

Daily reports from Portland, Ore., police in the month leading up to Trump’s decision to send in federal troops paint a picture that’s different from what his public statements portrayed

urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=htt...

What’s Really Going On in Portland, According to Police Reports

Protests outside an ICE facility were dwindling in size and at times ”low energy” in the days and weeks before President Trump called in troops, according to official law-enforcement logs.

urldefense.proofpoint.com

Reposted by Robert N. Stavins, Sanford F. Schram, Henry Jones

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 14h

RFK JR: There are many other confirmations -- there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol

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Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 17h

How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State

www.nytimes.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power. What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Trump Takes Aim at Illinois Governor and Chicago Mayor

www.nytimes.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 3d

Worth reading: "State Terror, American Style" open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

State Terror, American Style

Forget about “soft autocracy”

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 3d

If only half of this were happening, it would still be very frightening.
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

October 5, 2025

On Friday the Minnesota Star Tribune reported a conversation on the messaging app Signal between one of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, Anthony Salisbury, and a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense P...

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 7d

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

An Autocracy of Dunces

How stone-faced generals, Wall Street pushback, and a government shutdown may save America’s quickly declining democracy

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 8d

A wonderful person has passed: Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91 www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/o...

Jane Goodall, Eminent Primatologist Who Chronicled the Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91

www.nytimes.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 8d

Read this …

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Bulging Biceps Don’t Win Modern Wars

Hegseth’s speech was vile. It was also stupid.

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 8d

A must-read column today:

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

September 30, 2025

Last Thursday, September 25, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suddenly announced he was calling about 800 of the nation’s top military generals and admirals, along with their top enlisted advisors, to m...

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 9d

Not new, but a helpful review and reminder…

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Fossil Fuels and Fossilized Minds

What’s driving the doomed attempt to revive coal?

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 10d

Excellent Discussion re the Comey Indictment www.execfunctions.org/p/the-comey-...

The Comey Indictment

Lindsey Halligan's case

www.execfunctions.org

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 10d

Crazy hsph.harvard.edu/news/slashin...

Slashing of funding for mRNA vaccine development raises concern | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cancelled nearly $500 million in contracts that funded mRNA vaccine development. The mRNA

hsph.harvard.edu

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 11d

Worth reading, imho … open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

September 27, 2025

Yesterday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released items from a third batch of documents associated with the criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 11d

Excellent re European economy open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Notes on Europe’s Economy

Reports of its death are greatly exaggerated

open.substack.com

James Comey @jamescomey.bsky.social · 14d

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Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 14d

Worth reading, imho www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Why the White House is abandoning solar

President Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright insist that solar power will never be a reliable source of energy.

www.washingtonpost.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 14d

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Why Is Trump Bailing Out Argentina?

This is about ideology and Trumpian fealty, not America’s interests

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 15d

Very much worth seeing, reviewing, and reading ... histecon.fas.harvard.edu/landscapes-o...

LANDSCAPES OF METHANE

Photographs from Southwestern Pennsylvania by JULIAN GIORDANO

histecon.fas.harvard.edu

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 18d

Please watch and listen to this video podcast conversation of Ezra Klein and Spencer Cox, Republican Governor of Utah!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJB8...

Spencer Cox Wants to Pull Our Politics Back From the Brink | The Ezra Klein Show

YouTube video by The Ezra Klein Show

www.youtube.com

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Robert N. Stavins, Gerald Friedman

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 18d

So what happened to the $50K in cash Tom Homan got in the Cava bag?

Was it deposited in his bank account and reported as income that he paid taxes on?

Is it under his mattress?

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Reposted by Robert N. Stavins

Ian Weissman, DO @drianweissman.bsky.social · 19d

Nobel Prize winner for his work on mRNA vaccines says that ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist in the body is absolutely impossible. Dr. Drew Weissman says that the vast literature shows that the Covid vaccines are safe.
www.statnews.com/2025/09/20/d...

Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is “absolutely impossible”

In a Q&A with STAT, Nobel winner Drew Weissman addressed concerns raised about Covid shots at a recent meeting of federal vaccine advisers.

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol, Robert N. Stavins , and 43 more Jan W. Mueller, Richard S.J. Tol, Robert N. Stavins, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Juliet B. Schor, Paul R. Bierman, Patrick A. Jansen, Patrick Dunleavy, Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens, American Library Association, Melissa Johnson, Fabián Muniesa, Jacob Montgomery, Joseph Schafer, Juan Cole, Sanford F. Schram, John Foot, Michael Kevane, Trevon D. Logan, Smith, Nancy T. Ammerman, Robert C. Richards, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Aaron Sojourner, W. Andy Knight, Gerald Friedman, Will Lowe, Caroline Fohlin, Els Torreele, Michael D. McDonald, James Goodwin, Jason Lyall, Victor Pickard, Mark Rice, Henrik Skaug Sætra, Steven S. Taylor, James Connelly, Brandon Whitcher, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Carlos Carroll, Colin Woodard, Virginia Sapiro, David Darmofal

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19d

There is no world in which it is normal for the president to publicly call upon his attorney general to hurry up and prosecute his political foes. It’s like the Watergate tapes but posted on social media. Let’s get a grip on what’s happening here.

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Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Richard S.J. Tol, Colin F. Camerer , and 39 more Jonathan Portes, Richard S.J. Tol, Colin F. Camerer, Richard E. Lenski, Robert N. Stavins, Ashish Arora, Elena Litchman, Joshua S. Weitz, Tom Clark, Bryan D. Jones, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Diane Ravitch, David Rothschild, Luca Rossi, Eric Goldman, Peter Holmes, Juan Cole, Orin S. Kerr, Daniel W. Drezner, Iikka Korhonen, Trevon D. Logan, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, Aaron Sojourner, McKenzie Wark, Holger Hestermeyer, Lesley Bartlett, Jacob T. Levy, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Scott A. Imberman, Robert B. Reich, Elizabeth Stevenson, James Goodwin, Wolfgang Huber, Andrew Rudalevige, Nathan Richardson, Alexandra Cirone, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Prakash Kashwan, Timothy D. McBride, Southern Africa

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 19d

Critical part of the President's new $100,000 charge for H1-B visas: The Administration can also offer a $100,000 discount to any person, company, or industry that it wants. Replacing rules with arbitrary discretion.

Want visas? You know who to call and who to flatter.

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Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 21d

Worth reading, despite the fact that it does not solve problems … www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/o...

Opinion | The Era of Dark Passions

www.nytimes.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 21d

My latest essay at my blog: www.robertstavinsblog.org/2025/09/18/a...

An Economic View of the Environment - One Economist's Perspective on Climate and Other Policy

One Economist's Perspective on Climate and Other Policy

www.robertstavinsblog.org

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 23d

Highly recommended www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/o...

Opinion | Our Vanishing Culture of Argument

www.nytimes.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 24d

A Disagreement from Bob Bauer with Jack Goldsmith's recent arguments about the Tariff Case and the Major Questions Doctrine open.substack.com/pub/executiv...

A Disagreement about the Tariff Case and the Major Questions Doctrine

A response to Jack Goldsmith

open.substack.com

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Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 24d

Recommended …. open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

My Head Talks on Bloomberg

On tariffs, housing and more

open.substack.com

Robert N. Stavins @robertstavins.bsky.social · 26d

Very informative -- Talking With Erica Groshen, Former BLS Commissioner open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Talking With Erica Groshen, Former BLS Commissioner

When labor data become a political issue

open.substack.com

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