Frank Braconi
@frankbraconi.bsky.social
Economist with background in affordable housing and government. Currently affiliated with NYU's Schack Institute. Liberalism always wins the long game.
I can't watch some hosts on cable TV anymore because of all the chortling and guffawing. Fascism isn't any funnier if it's imposed under stupid pretexts.
August 23, 2025 at 3:54 PM
I can't watch some hosts on cable TV anymore because of all the chortling and guffawing. Fascism isn't any funnier if it's imposed under stupid pretexts.
Anyone who thinks they can predict the course of events wrt to Iran is a fool. But looking at the record of the past 80 years, military action seems to more often lead to disastrous consequences than good ones.
June 22, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Anyone who thinks they can predict the course of events wrt to Iran is a fool. But looking at the record of the past 80 years, military action seems to more often lead to disastrous consequences than good ones.
On matters of national security & military action, we the people are privy to little of the relevant information. You have to trust the people you elected to make the right decisions. This administration has given us zero reason to believe they will make the right decisions.
June 22, 2025 at 4:52 PM
On matters of national security & military action, we the people are privy to little of the relevant information. You have to trust the people you elected to make the right decisions. This administration has given us zero reason to believe they will make the right decisions.
Ben Shapiro worrying that Trump's corruption risks creating an appearance of corruption.
“None of this is an amazingly good look.” #TrumpCorruption
May 25, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Ben Shapiro worrying that Trump's corruption risks creating an appearance of corruption.
Harboring all of the fully justified resentments of a person with degrees from public universities, I never thought I'd see the day when I thought Harvard was being mistreated.
May 23, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Harboring all of the fully justified resentments of a person with degrees from public universities, I never thought I'd see the day when I thought Harvard was being mistreated.
For the rest of my life, I will never comprehend how America could choose to make Donald Trump its unaccountable King.
May 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
For the rest of my life, I will never comprehend how America could choose to make Donald Trump its unaccountable King.
Aside from everything else, am I the only one who thinks it would be a bit tacky for the US President to be flying around the world in a used airplane donated by Qatari royalty?
May 15, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Aside from everything else, am I the only one who thinks it would be a bit tacky for the US President to be flying around the world in a used airplane donated by Qatari royalty?
Trump now thinks he can do any corruption he wants because Republicans control Congress and the Supreme Court and have basically told him he can do anything he wants.
May 12, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Trump now thinks he can do any corruption he wants because Republicans control Congress and the Supreme Court and have basically told him he can do anything he wants.
It should be clear by now that one of Trump's goals for a second term is to monetize the Presidency more effectively than he did in his first. Selling hotel rooms to Secret Service and foreign dignitaries is small potatoes and barely tapped the $billions of income potential the Presidency offers.
May 4, 2025 at 4:00 PM
It should be clear by now that one of Trump's goals for a second term is to monetize the Presidency more effectively than he did in his first. Selling hotel rooms to Secret Service and foreign dignitaries is small potatoes and barely tapped the $billions of income potential the Presidency offers.
I didn't anticipate that federal support for science would become a major partisan divide in economic policy. It wasn't so long ago that Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer" or that Newt Gingrich was pushing to increase federal funding for science. Dems should attack on that front.
May 2, 2025 at 11:43 PM
I didn't anticipate that federal support for science would become a major partisan divide in economic policy. It wasn't so long ago that Richard Nixon declared a "war on cancer" or that Newt Gingrich was pushing to increase federal funding for science. Dems should attack on that front.
Reposted by Frank Braconi
Science is not a switch that can be flipped on or off. If we do not act now to alter our current trajectory it will undermine our prosperity, our democracy, and our children’s futures for decades to come. You need science. Science needs you. savesciencenow.org
April 30, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Science is not a switch that can be flipped on or off. If we do not act now to alter our current trajectory it will undermine our prosperity, our democracy, and our children’s futures for decades to come. You need science. Science needs you. savesciencenow.org
As a former economic forecaster, I'd humbly suggest that Democrats shouldn't base their criticisms of Trump on predictions that his policies WILL cause a recession. Turning points in the economy are really hard to predict. That inflation WILL increase bc of Trump's tariffs is a safer bet.
April 30, 2025 at 3:31 PM
As a former economic forecaster, I'd humbly suggest that Democrats shouldn't base their criticisms of Trump on predictions that his policies WILL cause a recession. Turning points in the economy are really hard to predict. That inflation WILL increase bc of Trump's tariffs is a safer bet.
There's no way to get around the basic fact that the American public failed. All of our institutions either punted or failed, and left it up to the voters to be the last line of democracy's defense. And the voters failed too.
April 29, 2025 at 5:35 PM
There's no way to get around the basic fact that the American public failed. All of our institutions either punted or failed, and left it up to the voters to be the last line of democracy's defense. And the voters failed too.
One of the things that irritated me most about how the press treats Trump is that they never ask for specifics. They let him get away with saying NAFTA, TPP, Paris, & JCPOA were each "the worst deal ever." They never attempt to expose his ignorance. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/w...
In Iran Talks, Trump Is Edging Toward Reviving an Old Deal
The two sides set an agenda for additional negotiations in the coming days, which could include technical details on uranium enrichment.
www.nytimes.com
April 20, 2025 at 3:19 PM
One of the things that irritated me most about how the press treats Trump is that they never ask for specifics. They let him get away with saying NAFTA, TPP, Paris, & JCPOA were each "the worst deal ever." They never attempt to expose his ignorance. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/w...
Maybe university research is valuable to society?
April 16, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Maybe university research is valuable to society?
So now we can can back to Trump & Musk dismantling the Federal government so they can give large tax cuts to wealthy people?
April 9, 2025 at 6:27 PM
So now we can can back to Trump & Musk dismantling the Federal government so they can give large tax cuts to wealthy people?
Trump spoke about his hair-brained scheme to replace the income tax with tariffs during the campaign. Why didn't the press give it the scrutiny that Harris' policy proposals got? Why has the media treated Trump's reality-show political career as serious but his wacky policy proposal as just "jokes"?
April 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Trump spoke about his hair-brained scheme to replace the income tax with tariffs during the campaign. Why didn't the press give it the scrutiny that Harris' policy proposals got? Why has the media treated Trump's reality-show political career as serious but his wacky policy proposal as just "jokes"?
When the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed, the US unemployment rate was about 9%. Now it's 4.1%.
April 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM
When the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act was passed, the US unemployment rate was about 9%. Now it's 4.1%.
Managing our trade relationships is something you expect our government to do, and sometimes it has to get tough with partners that are discriminatory. But that should be done quietly on a case-by-case basis. Giving the entire world's economy an abrupt trade shock is just plain crazy and reckless.
April 3, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Managing our trade relationships is something you expect our government to do, and sometimes it has to get tough with partners that are discriminatory. But that should be done quietly on a case-by-case basis. Giving the entire world's economy an abrupt trade shock is just plain crazy and reckless.
This whole process is a perversion of our constitution. We are not supposed to be waiting for the announcement of what new taxes the King has decided to impose on his whim. Where is Congress?
April 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
This whole process is a perversion of our constitution. We are not supposed to be waiting for the announcement of what new taxes the King has decided to impose on his whim. Where is Congress?
Reposted by Frank Braconi
The Department of Government Efficiency, for example
April 1, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The Department of Government Efficiency, for example
A lot of progressives seem to agree with MAGA that the US government is ineffective and has lost touch with the needs of regular people. Well, I'm going to defiantly stand up for the opposite: the US government does a lot of things well and people will only realize after Trump & Musk break it.
April 1, 2025 at 5:08 PM
A lot of progressives seem to agree with MAGA that the US government is ineffective and has lost touch with the needs of regular people. Well, I'm going to defiantly stand up for the opposite: the US government does a lot of things well and people will only realize after Trump & Musk break it.
The Democratic Party has made damaging political errors on immigration and some social issues. But by treating the American electorate as fully rational and informed, the Times' editorial board shows it's also in denial.
March 29, 2025 at 4:13 PM
The Democratic Party has made damaging political errors on immigration and some social issues. But by treating the American electorate as fully rational and informed, the Times' editorial board shows it's also in denial.
The hard fact that US allies have to face: It's not just that Trump is unstable and predatory, it's that the American electorate is unstable and predatory. Trump will be gone in four years but the American voter will not. Our allies can't depend on a people that elected this twice.
March 27, 2025 at 3:23 PM
The hard fact that US allies have to face: It's not just that Trump is unstable and predatory, it's that the American electorate is unstable and predatory. Trump will be gone in four years but the American voter will not. Our allies can't depend on a people that elected this twice.
None of this will matter. The Cult will devise a four-dimensional chess explanation for the recklessness. Those who recognize Trump as an incompetent fraud will simmer. The other third of Americans are "too busy living their lives" to pay attention.
March 25, 2025 at 5:14 AM
None of this will matter. The Cult will devise a four-dimensional chess explanation for the recklessness. Those who recognize Trump as an incompetent fraud will simmer. The other third of Americans are "too busy living their lives" to pay attention.