John McLaren
johnmclaren.bsky.social
John McLaren
@johnmclaren.bsky.social

Economist, classical music nerd, and family man.

Economics 44%
Political science 23%
Pinned
I'm seeing a huge spike in interest in tariffs from people who normally don't work in the economics of international trade. Here are a few useful things to know about them. (1/14)
Pretty willd how the DOJ just straight up stopped releasing the Epstein files even though they're legally obligated to do so.

You have now officially coined the term for this kind of behavior. “The easy Eeyore reply.“ This will now enter the lexicon.

I think it’s dangerous to open a second front while the War on Christmas is still ongoing.

This is like all of those Supreme Court nominees asked what their view of Roe v. Wade was. “Gosh, haven’t heard of that one. I’ll have to get back to you.”

Jerome Powell is now the *de facto* leader of Antifa.

But I have to admit that he does have a point. Some White people *were* treated badly as a result of Civil Rights law. Specifically, White people who banned Black people from renting their apartments.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/us/politics/donald-trump-housing-race.html
“White people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university, to college."

I'm still furious that Harvard didn't send me my invitation.

I was due! As one of the white people!
once again shoutout to every dipshit who insisted it was hysterical to talk about trump and white supremacy in the same breath www.rawstory.com/trump-267487...

And that dinner with Kanye and Fuentes was *after* Kanye had started praising Hitler and making so many anti-Semitic statements that he lost all of his corporate sponsorships.

https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-kanye-west-entertainment-donald-trump-21ea30fc30a9a97074581015b25e18bf
“White people were very badly treated, where they did extremely well and they were not invited to go into a university, to college."

I'm still furious that Harvard didn't send me my invitation.

I was due! As one of the white people!
WARNER: It used to take 5 to 6 months to get trained. They've now lowered the training period to 47 days. Why 47 days? Because Donald Trump's the 47th president. Tell me that's a rational approach

KERNEN: I'm not taking that bait

WARNER: Joe! You can't pick your facts
🙂

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Representatives were elected for every voting precinct in the city. The Cville Dems are here for everyone! Sign up for our newsletter at cvilledems.org, or contact the Chair at [email protected].

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Jason Vandever was re-elected as Treasurer (4/5).

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Ruth Goldeen was re-elected as Secretary (3/5).

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Bellamy Brown was elected as Vice Chair (2/5).

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This weekend (1/10/26) the Cville Dems had our bi-annual re-organization meeting and election of members and officers for the next two years. Josh Throneburg was re-elected as Chair (following a term as Co-Chair with Nancy Damon) (1/5).

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The Fed was designed to operate independently, insulated from political pressure, so that it can make tough decisions based on data and the long-term health of the economy, not the whims of any one president.

One thing they seem to have got wrong is that UPenn apparently requires the advisor’s name on the title page of the dissertation as if he/she is a co-author. Very unusual, but no sign of anything fishy.

I know so much about him that I want to date him!

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Five armed masked federal agents to guard a Target restroom while Greg Bovino uses the facilities. A scene equally at home in authoritarian regimes and comedies about authoritarian regimes
ICE at Midway Target and seem to possible be leaving. Lots of community members here

Good for the soul.

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Massive crowd in Market Street Park on a cold Sunday afternoon to protest against ICE. Organized by Indivisible Charlottesville and partner organizations, 1-11-2026.
Somali aunties were giving out samosas to the anti ICE protesters in Minneapolis.
This seems to strongly suggest that the incoming president of UVA doctored his CV to the edge of outright dishonesty, and that the most recent changes came months before Jim Ryan was forced, as if they were made in anticipation in Ryan’s removal. augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...
How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find
Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.
augustafreepress.com
New York City turned OUT.
@handsoffnyc.bsky.social ✊❤️
Auchincloss: "When you have a badge & gun and you are interacting with a citizen who has committed no crime, the onus of responsibility is on you to exercise good judgment. Nobody watching that video will buy the argument that he had no other resort other than to shoot her in the face 3 times."
A blistering critique of UVA’s presidential search process that also raises some serious concerns about Beardsley’s resume. That guy has got to go.

augustafreepress.com/news/vanishi...
How UVA’s presidential search missed what took us an hour to find
Inside Higher Ed frames the controversy surrounding Scott C. Beardsley's appointment as the University of Virginia's president.
augustafreepress.com

Reposted by John McLaren

Video: Regarding Trump’s Threats to Greenland, Sen. Tim Kaine Vows “Congress will stop him, both Democrats and Republicans…We’re not going to do it the ‘hard way’ and we’re not going to do it the ‘easy way’ either.” bluevirginia.us/2026/01/vide... h/t @atrupar.com

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The sheer indignity of citing a dictionary to a judge and then him taking a look at it and saying “ok but did you read the second line.” I would move to Mars.

This is *always* how it works with metals tariffs. We saw this with the Bush steel tariffs and the Trump I tariffs. You get a few jobs in steel and you lose a lot of jobs in every industry that *uses* steel. It kills manufacturing. There’s been a lot of work on this. #econsky
Manufacturing has been contracting for most of the past year. If you drill down you'll see metal manufacturing is doing ok, because Trump pummeled their competition with tariffs. Meanwhile the downstream US firms (machinery, electronics, autos) that have to *buy* more expensive metal are screwed.

A Turning Point for Trump’s Marauding Secret Police talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/a-tur...
A Turning Point for Trump’s Marauding Secret Police
People who don’t like Donald Trump are kinda gun-shy talking about turning...
talkingpointsmemo.com