Steve Cicala
@stevecicala.bsky.social
Associate Professor
Tufts University Department of Economics
https://www.stevecicala.com
http://goingelectric.substack.com
Tufts University Department of Economics
https://www.stevecicala.com
http://goingelectric.substack.com
Pinned
Steve Cicala
@stevecicala.bsky.social
· Nov 7
Welcome to the new arrivals. Here's a starter pack of Energy/Environmental economists to get you going:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
bsky.app/starter-pack...
No, we're going to use a clunky app's facial recognition as the determining factor.
Even a REAL ID will be discarded if the smudged camera struggles with nonwhite skin tones.
That's better, right?
Even a REAL ID will be discarded if the smudged camera struggles with nonwhite skin tones.
That's better, right?
“.. Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, 'Where's your papers?' Is that what we've come to?"
January 13, 2026 at 9:39 PM
No, we're going to use a clunky app's facial recognition as the determining factor.
Even a REAL ID will be discarded if the smudged camera struggles with nonwhite skin tones.
That's better, right?
Even a REAL ID will be discarded if the smudged camera struggles with nonwhite skin tones.
That's better, right?
Reposted by Steve Cicala
🚨 Call for Papers: 🚨
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
January 12, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Steve Cicala
mr president what if the killers and abusers wear masks and drive around in vehicles with fake license plates and refuse to identify themselves
Trump encourages the protesters in Iran and writes: “Save the names of the killers and abusers.”
What a great idea! Let’s all do that globally!
What a great idea! Let’s all do that globally!
January 13, 2026 at 2:50 PM
mr president what if the killers and abusers wear masks and drive around in vehicles with fake license plates and refuse to identify themselves
Reposted by Steve Cicala
Understandably the literal murder is getting the most focus in terms of potential state prosecution, but murder is not the only crime. States have laws against assault and battery, and a much larger pool of justifiable cases to pursue.
Note that the fascist is not using the pepper spray for crowd control. He is entering a vehicle unimpeded to depart. He is simply using the pepper spray to physically punish an unarmed citizen he doesn't like.
Big clash this afternoon between DHS agents and protesters in a residential street in Minneapolis, following a DHS agent hitting another vehicle. Tear gas was deployed in people’s yards and agents pepper prayed people.
January 12, 2026 at 9:36 PM
Understandably the literal murder is getting the most focus in terms of potential state prosecution, but murder is not the only crime. States have laws against assault and battery, and a much larger pool of justifiable cases to pursue.
When the left says you can't put a dollar figure on the value of a statistical life, the right nods in vigorous agreement.
* The headline is incorrect. They'll count the lives (we'll see how), but refuse to monetize the reduced mortality in cost-benefit analysis.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
* The headline is incorrect. They'll count the lives (we'll see how), but refuse to monetize the reduced mortality in cost-benefit analysis.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
www.nytimes.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:05 PM
When the left says you can't put a dollar figure on the value of a statistical life, the right nods in vigorous agreement.
* The headline is incorrect. They'll count the lives (we'll see how), but refuse to monetize the reduced mortality in cost-benefit analysis.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
* The headline is incorrect. They'll count the lives (we'll see how), but refuse to monetize the reduced mortality in cost-benefit analysis.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
🚨 Call for Papers: 🚨
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
January 12, 2026 at 6:57 PM
🚨 Call for Papers: 🚨
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
The 5th NBER Regulation Conference will be in Cambridge on April 24, 2026.
This is a great opportunity to talk to people in different fields about shared regulatory issues!
Submissions are due Feb 10.
conference.nber.org/confsubmit/b...
The administration's survival demands an ever-escalating series of scandals to prevent accountability itself from becoming the story.
Does anyone think this is going to level off or settle down for the next 3 years?
There's just no way this lasts until 2029.
Does anyone think this is going to level off or settle down for the next 3 years?
There's just no way this lasts until 2029.
January 12, 2026 at 4:35 PM
The administration's survival demands an ever-escalating series of scandals to prevent accountability itself from becoming the story.
Does anyone think this is going to level off or settle down for the next 3 years?
There's just no way this lasts until 2029.
Does anyone think this is going to level off or settle down for the next 3 years?
There's just no way this lasts until 2029.
Reposted by Steve Cicala
This @insideclimatenews.org piece by @dangearino.bsky.social formed a good basis for discussing the much overlooked topic of utility regulation, and was a nice complement to @stevecicala.bsky.social's excellent (and very readable) recent article in AEA Papers & Proceedings tinyurl.com/y85brdn6
A Former California Utility Exec Explains Why Your Electricity Bills Are So High - Inside Climate News
The former industry insider and amateur wrestler Mark Ellis is exposing the little-known factors that electricity bills and threaten the energy transition. People across the country are starting to li...
insideclimatenews.org
January 12, 2026 at 1:51 PM
This @insideclimatenews.org piece by @dangearino.bsky.social formed a good basis for discussing the much overlooked topic of utility regulation, and was a nice complement to @stevecicala.bsky.social's excellent (and very readable) recent article in AEA Papers & Proceedings tinyurl.com/y85brdn6
Reposted by Steve Cicala
Finished teaching a new course on energy markets and the clean energy transition last month. Was a blast and have lots of thoughts for next year.
One takeaway is the value of going beyond academic journals/textbooks and incorporating media articles, podcasts, and video. Here's a few we covered... 🧵
One takeaway is the value of going beyond academic journals/textbooks and incorporating media articles, podcasts, and video. Here's a few we covered... 🧵
January 11, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Finished teaching a new course on energy markets and the clean energy transition last month. Was a blast and have lots of thoughts for next year.
One takeaway is the value of going beyond academic journals/textbooks and incorporating media articles, podcasts, and video. Here's a few we covered... 🧵
One takeaway is the value of going beyond academic journals/textbooks and incorporating media articles, podcasts, and video. Here's a few we covered... 🧵
It's been 6 months. Who's to say the stove is still hot?
Seems like we are due for a check of stove temperatures.
Are they still hot when touched?
Only one way to find out!
Are they still hot when touched?
Only one way to find out!
January 12, 2026 at 1:37 PM
It's been 6 months. Who's to say the stove is still hot?
Reposted by Steve Cicala
What can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?
January 12, 2026 at 1:44 AM
What can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?
Reposted by Steve Cicala
Doc Rivers, Steve Kerr, the T-Wolf fans, Sportsguy Nick Wright. More please. Let’s go sports world. You want to see brave? Be an immigrant walking to work in Minneapolis. That’s brave. You just have to say “state murder is bad.” It’s not fucking hard and it’s needed from all corners.
Doc Rivers: "What happened in Minnesota was a straight-up murder"
January 10, 2026 at 10:46 PM
Doc Rivers, Steve Kerr, the T-Wolf fans, Sportsguy Nick Wright. More please. Let’s go sports world. You want to see brave? Be an immigrant walking to work in Minneapolis. That’s brave. You just have to say “state murder is bad.” It’s not fucking hard and it’s needed from all corners.
Given the ICE signing bonuses and the state of American media, how can journalists afford to not pursue this?
A baller move would be a journalist getting hired as an ICE agent to document everything.
January 10, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Given the ICE signing bonuses and the state of American media, how can journalists afford to not pursue this?
Reposted by Steve Cicala
For those interested in energy and environmental econ, here’s a good place to start if you’re looking for people to follow
January 10, 2026 at 1:04 PM
For those interested in energy and environmental econ, here’s a good place to start if you’re looking for people to follow
This is the consequence of not declaring a red line and sticking to it.
All these people saying “Well *I* don’t follow those accounts…”
My friend, you would never associate yourself with 4chan. You’re not a 4chan person.
And yet X is worse and you’re unreflective about it.
All these people saying “Well *I* don’t follow those accounts…”
My friend, you would never associate yourself with 4chan. You’re not a 4chan person.
And yet X is worse and you’re unreflective about it.
If a new app was produced which had, as its core features, the generation of sexual deep fake images of children and calls for a violent global far-right revolution, then not only would it be swiftly banned, but you wouldn't have a single mainstream politician willing to associate themselves with it
January 9, 2026 at 1:52 PM
This is the consequence of not declaring a red line and sticking to it.
All these people saying “Well *I* don’t follow those accounts…”
My friend, you would never associate yourself with 4chan. You’re not a 4chan person.
And yet X is worse and you’re unreflective about it.
All these people saying “Well *I* don’t follow those accounts…”
My friend, you would never associate yourself with 4chan. You’re not a 4chan person.
And yet X is worse and you’re unreflective about it.
Reposted by Steve Cicala
Funniest part of The Naked Gun reboot imo:
January 8, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Funniest part of The Naked Gun reboot imo:
Reposted by Steve Cicala
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
It's a mug's game to take the administration's claims at face value and attempt to negotiate on those terms in good faith. It embodies weakness.
This has nothing to do with cost-sharing (or security for that matter), and everything to do with ego-stroking by planting flags on maps.
This has nothing to do with cost-sharing (or security for that matter), and everything to do with ego-stroking by planting flags on maps.
January 7, 2026 at 8:01 PM
It's a mug's game to take the administration's claims at face value and attempt to negotiate on those terms in good faith. It embodies weakness.
This has nothing to do with cost-sharing (or security for that matter), and everything to do with ego-stroking by planting flags on maps.
This has nothing to do with cost-sharing (or security for that matter), and everything to do with ego-stroking by planting flags on maps.
It’s never a bad time to remind the public that the price of oil is determined by total global supply and demand.
Reshuffling who buys from whom will yield zero benefit to US consumers.
www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...
Reshuffling who buys from whom will yield zero benefit to US consumers.
www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...
Trump says US to get 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela at market price
Trump pledged to use proceeds from the sale of this oil "to benefit the people" of both countries.
www.npr.org
January 7, 2026 at 2:36 PM
It’s never a bad time to remind the public that the price of oil is determined by total global supply and demand.
Reshuffling who buys from whom will yield zero benefit to US consumers.
www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...
Reshuffling who buys from whom will yield zero benefit to US consumers.
www.npr.org/2026/01/07/n...
This is the correct read of the situation.
He needs to be managed like the spoiled, petulant toddler that he is.
He needs to be managed like the spoiled, petulant toddler that he is.
Senior EU officials believe Trump simply wants to be the President who paints the stars and stripes – and maybe his own name – on the giant white island which appears to dwarf the United States on traditional
maps and globes. This is far from over
ENDS
maps and globes. This is far from over
ENDS
January 7, 2026 at 11:45 AM
This is the correct read of the situation.
He needs to be managed like the spoiled, petulant toddler that he is.
He needs to be managed like the spoiled, petulant toddler that he is.
Reposted by Steve Cicala
The 90s did not deserve OK Computer.
This list is about as appealing as a Guy Fieri menu.
This list is about as appealing as a Guy Fieri menu.
The Billboard Modern Rock tracks from 30 years ago
Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ
January 5, 2026 at 12:28 PM
The 90s did not deserve OK Computer.
This list is about as appealing as a Guy Fieri menu.
This list is about as appealing as a Guy Fieri menu.
Incredible that they’ll have collected reliable poll results by then.
January 4, 2026 at 1:42 AM
Incredible that they’ll have collected reliable poll results by then.
Anyone have a sense of why Trump isn’t so outraged that Putin would invade Ukraine?
Look out, Taiwan.
Look out, Taiwan.
January 3, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Anyone have a sense of why Trump isn’t so outraged that Putin would invade Ukraine?
Look out, Taiwan.
Look out, Taiwan.
Reposted by Steve Cicala
Rest in peace, Kate Ho.
Katherine Ho, esteemed health economist and ‘true role model,’ dies at 53
A memorial will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York.
www.princeton.edu
December 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Rest in peace, Kate Ho.