Skanda Amarnath
@skandaamarnath.bsky.social
15K followers 1.7K following 750 posts
Executive Director of Employ America Macro / Labor / Finance / Energy / Chart posting
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Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
bettermarkets.bsky.social
Kate Judge, Co-Chair, Better Markets Academic Advisory Board & Columbia Law Prof. joins @jeremykress.bsky.social, Assoc. Professor U-M Business and Co-Faculty Dir. U-M Ctr on Finance, Law & Policy; @skandaamarnath.bsky.social, Exec. Dir. @employamerica.bsky.social to discuss what's next for the Fed.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
sellingtheta.bsky.social
seeing the squad depth that prevents a drop off from starters missing it’s like watching color tv for the first time
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
sellingtheta.bsky.social
the cure for male loneliness is watching Arsenal go away in Europe without Saka, Saliba, Havertz, Odegaard, Jesus, White and not freaking out
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
peark.es
Third straight year where there's been a week with a *huge* spike in initial claims filings for Texas. Prior two times were big one-offs. If that's the case again, the national claims data looks completely different...v similar to last couple of years.
Charts of NSA jobless claims for Texas since 2022 and national ex Texas jobless claims (also NSA)
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
timbartik.bsky.social
My papers arguing that the "Abundance Movement" needs broadening to include place-based jobs policies for distressed places are being released today, with a long paper at the Upjohn Institute & a shorter summary at Brookings Metro.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
prestonmui.bsky.social
Point 2: The framework prevented the Fed from being forward-looking in their rate-making decision, delaying their decision to raise rates.

It's true that their 2020 forward guidance was based on realized outcomes...
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
prestonmui.bsky.social
My reading of the record is that the real effect of this language was to expand the Fed's assessment of the labor market beyond just the U-3 unemployment rate (the long-run projection of which did not change much), esp. to participation and empl. rates.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
prestonmui.bsky.social
Point 1: The role of "broad-based and inclusive." RR argue that the Fed pursued an “overly optimistic interpretation of maximum employment" in order to "increase job opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups" because of this.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
prestonmui.bsky.social
In a paper last year, Romer and Romer (2024) critique these additions to the framework, arguing that this language contributed to delaying the Fed's rate hikes in response to inflation in 2021-2022. I disagree with three key points in their paper.

eml.berkeley.edu/~cromer/Repr...
eml.berkeley.edu
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
prestonmui.bsky.social
The Fed is currently undergoing a review of its framework, which will codify monetary policy strategy over the next few years.

In 2020 they made added this language to the statement, placing a greater emphasis on the full employment aspect of the mandate
skandaamarnath.bsky.social
The trade component of this is the most underrated and most compelling.

Plenty of components and equipment involved in growing the supply side for electricity where the US either imports or benefits from import competition.

Not just from China, but Japan, Korea, EU...
wertwhile.bsky.social
He repealed much of the IRA. They tried to explicitly tax wind and solar build out. They’re taxing imported products that are vital for electricity connection. Just blame Trump.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
peark.es
Also for all the talk of consumer spending weakness, auto sales volumes accelerated late last year and if you look through swings driven by front-running of tariffs and the unwind, they're very much holding those gains.
Chart showing auto sales monthly for the past 10 years per Ward's Automotive
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
peark.es
"why are stocks rising instead of falling because Orange Man Bad" maybe because guidance raises outnumbered guidance cuts by 60 reports last week, 99th percentile since 2001. Absolute number of guidance hikes was 84, in the 98.9th percentile for all weeks since 2001. Crazy strong!
Chart showing the net number of guidance raises (guidance raise - guidance lowered) for US stocks since 2001
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
timlatimer.bsky.social
A lot of folks still have 2000-2010s era power prices in their heads as “normal” with an expectation that we will return to “normal” at some point.

There are many reasons that isn’t true, but this is probably the biggest among them. We are in a new era of power prices.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
wang-seaver.bsky.social
Partly it's mineral-specific strategy. But mostly the US needs not piles of minerals but knowhow + operating projects, for which price volatility + market illiquidity dissuade investment.

This problem calls for an active reserve fund, not a passive hoard of minerals.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
wang-seaver.bsky.social
Should a US national critical minerals reserve program act more like the National Defense Stockpile or more like the Strategic Petroleum Reserve? Major new report by my team deep dives into this question, looking at 15 minerals relevant to energy.

My thoughts🧵:

thebreakthrough.org/issues/energ...
Taking Inventory of Critical Mineral Stockpiling
The Breakthrough Institute is an environmental research center based in Berkeley, California. Our research focuses on identifying and promoting…
thebreakthrough.org
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
baumann.bsky.social
The affirmative xG case is never going to sway everyone, especially when there's some ugly eye test involved. But if you're saying "he plays the same position as Saka" you learned nothing from last season, and if you're saying "Chelsea transfers never work" you shouldn't be allowed to drive a car
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
baumann.bsky.social
I'm convinced Noni Madueke is going to be a great Arsenal player, mostly because the arguments against him have been (and I say this advisedly) based on some of the stupidest takes I've seen in any sport in the past decade.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
peark.es
US oil rig counts (proxy for drilling activity) down 13% YTD.
Chart of weekly Baker-Hughes US rig counts
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
timlatimer.bsky.social
Seems like something happened in April that really shifted the prospects of the US oil and gas industry. 🤔
peark.es
US oil rig counts (proxy for drilling activity) down 13% YTD.
Chart of weekly Baker-Hughes US rig counts
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
goonlighting.bsky.social
Oh he's such a skillful politician, is he? Someone ask Zohran about Madueke and let's see how he handles that hot potato.
Reposted by Skanda Amarnath
employamerica.bsky.social
Employ America’s deep understanding of the macroeconomic picture and innovative legal thinking positions us uniquely well to meet this moment. We’re eager to dive into a new era as an organization, and craft the policies needed to unleash the full potential of the US economy! /end