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Brian Albrecht

@briancalbrecht.bsky.social

4.5K followers 310 following 120 posts

Applied economic theorist: competition and information. Chief Economist @LawEconCenter Price Theory Newsletter http://pricetheory.substack.com.

pricetheory.substack.com.

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Nov 26

My advise on tariffs

1. Don't tax intermediate goods
2. Don't tax everything under the sun

www.ft.com/content/d950...

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Ben Casselman @bencasselman.bsky.social · Aug 22

The U.S. has enjoyed a decades-long economic advantage thanks to its reputation as the safest place in the world for investors to put their money and for entrepreneurs to build their businesses.

President Trump may be chipping away at that advantage.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/b... #EconSky

Trump’s Attacks on Institutions Threaten a Bulwark of Economic Strength

www.nytimes.com

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 21

Markets must become competitive. The market is a process.

This is the core (pun very much intended) idea underlying the shortcut of supply and demand. www.economicforces.xyz/p/markets-mu...

Markets must become competitive

Only through a process do markets become competitive

www.economicforces.xyz

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Eric Boehm @ericboehm87.bsky.social · Aug 21

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Claudia Sahm @claudia-sahm.bsky.social · Aug 20

“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said. www.bloomberg.com/news/article... Amen.

Fed’s Cook Says She Won’t Be Bullied Into Stepping Down

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook signaled her intention to remain at the central bank in defiance of calls for her resignation by President Donald Trump over allegations of mortgage fraud.

www.bloomberg.com

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 20

When I think, “what countries policies should we emulate?” I definitely think The Bahamas and Sudan www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/defaul...

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 19

Thanks :)

Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 19

“Let me make what appears to have become a radical argument: Simple economics is surprisingly good at making real-world predictions.”

trying to break the mold with a defense of economics
www.wsj.com/opinion/you-...

Opinion | You Can’t Break the Laws of Economics

Supply and demand invariably overcome any effort to defy or outsmart them.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Stan Veuger @stanveuger.bsky.social · Aug 12

www.axios.com/newsletters/...

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

David Perez-Reyna @davidperezreyna.bsky.social · Aug 12

Very nice blog entry by @BrianCAlbrecht
Why do economists have "tariff derangement syndrome"? It's not politics—tariffs violate every principle of good taxation we've learned over the past century.
1/8

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 9

And in the meantime, actually add tariffs on Canada, the EU, and a bunch of other allies

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · Aug 9

Start a trade war with China. Escalate when they retaliate. Repeat until a near-embargo. Meet to agree on a 90 day pause. Get nervous about that agreement, so re-meet to re-agree to that 90 day pause. As the 90 day pause draws to a close, meet to agree to a 90 day pause.

Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 9

Thanks :)

Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Alexandra de Gendre @adegendre.bsky.social · Aug 8

@briancalbrecht.bsky.social strikes again with a brilliant newsletter on why tariffs are a terrible idea. Put in very simple terms. Read it!

👉🏽 www.economicforces.xyz/p/6-reasons-...

6 reasons why tariffs are a terrible way to raise revenue

Some principles of taxation

www.economicforces.xyz

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 7

I've been trying it out a bit

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 7

Why do economists hate tariffs more than other taxes?

Today's newsletter is 6 reasons why tariffs are a terrible way to raise revenue

tl;dr they violate all the main results of how to raise revenue efficiently www.economicforces.xyz/p/6-reasons-...

6 reasons why tariffs are a terrible way to raise revenue

Some principles of taxation

www.economicforces.xyz

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Aug 4

Uber is good, actually. From @mattyglesias.bsky.social www.slowboring.com/p/uber-is-go...

Ride-sharing apps are good, actually

The real "cautionary tale" is that the old taxi cartels were bad

www.slowboring.com

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

econmaett @econmaett.github.io · Jul 30

Shameless 𝘵-𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 exercise🚨 (see post by @briancalbrecht.bsky.social ‬⬇️) to recreate the 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞 by @bellmanequation.bsky.social.

t-hacking: www.economicforces.xyz/p/t-hacking
#rstats | #econsky | #dataviz

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Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Alexandra de Gendre @adegendre.bsky.social · Jun 13

Another excellent newsletter by @briancalbrecht.bsky.social on whether tariffs are likely to increase innovation, with lots of top references from empirical research (from @rjuhasz.bsky.social , David Autor, Nick Bloom, @johnvanreenen.bsky.social & others)

🔗 www.economicforces.xyz/p/will-tarif...

Will tariffs spur innovation?

Research suggests not.

www.economicforces.xyz

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Mar 6

Economics has core insights that get ignored by politicians.

The most fundamental?

A price isn't just a number—it's a signal wrapped in an incentive.

But why do policymakers need to know this?
www.economicforces.xyz/p/prices-are...

Prices are signals (and politicians keep shooting the messenger)

Economic policy insight #1: A price is a signal wrapped in an incentive.

www.economicforces.xyz

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Jan 10

That's exactly my point. You want to align private and social incentives, not simply reduce traffic no matter what.

Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Jan 10

You're right. It's my fault and the subset of the audience who can't bother to read 1k words's fault.

Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Jan 10

Basically all of my replies are reenforcing why I wrote the post. People assume any reduction of an externality is good so reducing driving is necessarily good.

If that's the goal, you wouldn't shut the fee off at night

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Jan 10

I'm once again asking people to read what I actually wrote www.economicforces.xyz/p/congestion...

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Brian Albrecht @briancalbrecht.bsky.social · Jan 10

I lament this change. Of course.

And I don't hold you entirely responsible for it, in case that wasn't clear.

Reposted by Brian Albrecht

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · Jan 10

Tons of food for thought in this great article by @bencasselman.bsky.social.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/b...

Economists Are in the Wilderness. Can They Find a Way Back to Influence?

Economists have long helped to shape policy on issues like taxes and health care. But flawed forecasts and arcane language have cost them credibility.

www.nytimes.com

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