Wealth Economics
@steveroth.bsky.social
Entrepreneur, progressive sometime 1%er. (Tax me more.) Addictive reader: trash to tomes. National-accounting & econ geek. Evolution and Shakespeare dweeb. Besotted father. From MO; show me the #s. https://wealtheconomics.substack.com/about
Pinned
Wealth Economics
@steveroth.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Ten Fundamental Economic (Mis)understandings
It's all about the words...
wealtheconomics.substack.com
For my new followers, here's a stake in the ground for my writings, explaining how I think about and understand economics and “the economy.” Took me two decades to get to this…
It's 2,000 words, but it’s a bit of a smorgasbord, so you can take tastes and see if you'd like to read more.
It's 2,000 words, but it’s a bit of a smorgasbord, so you can take tastes and see if you'd like to read more.
Reposted by Wealth Economics
That feeling you get when you post and then it hits you that there’s probably a brilliant @interfluidity blog post answering the question you asked and the questions you didn’t think to ask.
Why doesn’t any lender offer a variable rate interest only with a perpetual term? Assuming prices generally rise over time, the LTV shrinks in expectation.
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
That feeling you get when you post and then it hits you that there’s probably a brilliant @interfluidity blog post answering the question you asked and the questions you didn’t think to ask.
Reposted by Wealth Economics
Goodbye Jimmy Cliff. His vocal in this 1976 SNL performance, good lord---one of the best singers of his generation, of any generation. vimeo.com/155135842
many rivers to cross
jimmy cliff on saturday night live, 1976.
vimeo.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Goodbye Jimmy Cliff. His vocal in this 1976 SNL performance, good lord---one of the best singers of his generation, of any generation. vimeo.com/155135842
Reposted by Wealth Economics
first they mock you… :)
November 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
first they mock you… :)
It's so great seeing all the self-described libertarians out there at the barricades and yelling from the rooftops, protesting these violent attacks on people's liberty.
Oh, wait...
Oh, wait...
Remember when Joe Biden was president and U.S. citizens didn't have to worry about being kidnapped by federal police agents?
In Portland, Oregon, masked ICE GOONS abducted and vanished US citizen Gonzalo Catalan last week. Tragically, his family remains unaware of his whereabouts and has not received any communication from him as of today.
November 23, 2025 at 5:49 PM
It's so great seeing all the self-described libertarians out there at the barricades and yelling from the rooftops, protesting these violent attacks on people's liberty.
Oh, wait...
Oh, wait...
Reposted by Wealth Economics
Sign at the US Military Academy at West Point:
November 23, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Sign at the US Military Academy at West Point:
[email protected] tell us today:
"a good outcome in this [zero net-immigration] economic environment will consist of a low unemployment rate with low or no employment growth." /1
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
"a good outcome in this [zero net-immigration] economic environment will consist of a low unemployment rate with low or no employment growth." /1
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
Opinion | We’re Seeing What a No-Immigration Economy Looks Like
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 4:48 PM
[email protected] tell us today:
"a good outcome in this [zero net-immigration] economic environment will consist of a low unemployment rate with low or no employment growth." /1
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
"a good outcome in this [zero net-immigration] economic environment will consist of a low unemployment rate with low or no employment growth." /1
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...
"The private sector is so much more efficient than government!"
$800B over ten years?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/b...
$800B over ten years?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/b...
November 22, 2025 at 3:41 PM
"The private sector is so much more efficient than government!"
$800B over ten years?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/b...
$800B over ten years?
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/b...
Reposted by Wealth Economics
incentives matter, but disproportionately to the worst people.
November 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
incentives matter, but disproportionately to the worst people.
Yes, I went and asked Grok. Real.
November 21, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Yes, I went and asked Grok. Real.
Okay enquiring minds DEFINITELY want to know:
Which fruit, exactly?
Which fruit, exactly?
Epstein had a tiny & ‘extremely deformed’ fruit-shaped penis, victim says
House Oversight Committee releases photos with blurred faces.
House Oversight Committee releases photos with blurred faces.
November 20, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Okay enquiring minds DEFINITELY want to know:
Which fruit, exactly?
Which fruit, exactly?
New Wealth Economics post:
Does big military spending feed the Wealth Pump firehosing assets to existing wealthholders? It's just one pathway, but yes.
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
Does big military spending feed the Wealth Pump firehosing assets to existing wealthholders? It's just one pathway, but yes.
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
Does Government Military Spending “Fund” Shareholder Dividends, Buybacks, and Concentrated Wealth?
Short answer: yeah. The long answer is…longer.
open.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:33 PM
New Wealth Economics post:
Does big military spending feed the Wealth Pump firehosing assets to existing wealthholders? It's just one pathway, but yes.
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
Does big military spending feed the Wealth Pump firehosing assets to existing wealthholders? It's just one pathway, but yes.
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
Reposted by Wealth Economics
Willingly scarring your body to own the libs. These people are straight up insane. This is Manson Family shit
November 19, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Willingly scarring your body to own the libs. These people are straight up insane. This is Manson Family shit
Reposted by Wealth Economics
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been hated by the left for years and never feared for her life. She’s been hated by the right for two days and had to hire security.
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Marjorie Taylor Greene has been hated by the left for years and never feared for her life. She’s been hated by the right for two days and had to hire security.
Simon Kuznets was just way more interested in firms than in families. And that bias continues to this day.
November 19, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Simon Kuznets was just way more interested in firms than in families. And that bias continues to this day.
It's not *the* answer. Slaphead emoji.
"cash transfers are an inadequate solution…they have limited effects in some key areas". No duh.
"X doesn't solve everything" is never an argument against doing X. And that's the argument this author's book is making.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
"cash transfers are an inadequate solution…they have limited effects in some key areas". No duh.
"X doesn't solve everything" is never an argument against doing X. And that's the argument this author's book is making.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Cash Grants Aren’t a Long-Term Solution to Global Poverty
Direct cash grants are a popular means of providing global development aid. But there are better ways to help poor people.
www.bloomberg.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
It's not *the* answer. Slaphead emoji.
"cash transfers are an inadequate solution…they have limited effects in some key areas". No duh.
"X doesn't solve everything" is never an argument against doing X. And that's the argument this author's book is making.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
"cash transfers are an inadequate solution…they have limited effects in some key areas". No duh.
"X doesn't solve everything" is never an argument against doing X. And that's the argument this author's book is making.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Imagine a "complete" market where "all information is known"! lol. Cue Akerlof's Market for Lemons...
When states like Colorado passed policies requiring employers to disclose salary information in job postings, what happened?
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
It increased competition, and raised wages, without harming employment or changing skill requirements.
Improved functioning of markets, helped workers.
November 18, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Imagine a "complete" market where "all information is known"! lol. Cue Akerlof's Market for Lemons...
Annoying: the NIPAs hide households' (regressive!) sales-tax outlays inside consumption expenditures. There's no breakout available, so we can't tally up HHs' total tax outlays. N.B. HHs' property taxes *are* included in NIPA Personal Taxes.
(@itep.org does the yeoman's work on this.)
(@itep.org does the yeoman's work on this.)
November 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Annoying: the NIPAs hide households' (regressive!) sales-tax outlays inside consumption expenditures. There's no breakout available, so we can't tally up HHs' total tax outlays. N.B. HHs' property taxes *are* included in NIPA Personal Taxes.
(@itep.org does the yeoman's work on this.)
(@itep.org does the yeoman's work on this.)
Field report: My 30-something child’s ACA premiums +40%. +$840 a year.
November 15, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Field report: My 30-something child’s ACA premiums +40%. +$840 a year.
Typically great @interfluidity.com post today on the whole "affordability" business. /1
drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/11/12/r...
drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/11/12/r...
Real purchasing power over time is not economic welfare over time
drafts @ interfluidity
drafts.interfluidity.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Typically great @interfluidity.com post today on the whole "affordability" business. /1
drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/11/12/r...
drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/11/12/r...
OK this is good. Trump is going after his own SCOTUS cabal.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 AM
OK this is good. Trump is going after his own SCOTUS cabal.
!!! Did Bezos write this? The comment I posted:
Beyond mentioning the “wealthy and well connected” in the second paragraph, his speech doesn’t even mention the powerful (except Cuomo the Scion), much less vilify them. ⬇️⬇️
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Beyond mentioning the “wealthy and well connected” in the second paragraph, his speech doesn’t even mention the powerful (except Cuomo the Scion), much less vilify them. ⬇️⬇️
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Zohran Mamdani drops the mask
The mayor-elect divides New Yorkers into two groups: the oppressed and their oppressors.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:47 PM
!!! Did Bezos write this? The comment I posted:
Beyond mentioning the “wealthy and well connected” in the second paragraph, his speech doesn’t even mention the powerful (except Cuomo the Scion), much less vilify them. ⬇️⬇️
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Beyond mentioning the “wealthy and well connected” in the second paragraph, his speech doesn’t even mention the powerful (except Cuomo the Scion), much less vilify them. ⬇️⬇️
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
It makes me crazy that Hax and other “advice” columnists are *always* in the most-read lists at both WP and NYT.
November 9, 2025 at 4:18 PM
It makes me crazy that Hax and other “advice” columnists are *always* in the most-read lists at both WP and NYT.
New Wealth Economics post: studying wealth accumulation and distribution, while ignoring 10s of $trillions in capital gains wealth accumulation over decades, is a non-starter. @jarobb.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
Inequality Researcher David Splinter Really Doesn’t Like (or Understand) Haig-Simons Income
And economists have widely ignored it, even while dubbing it the “preferred” measure of income.
open.substack.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:35 PM
New Wealth Economics post: studying wealth accumulation and distribution, while ignoring 10s of $trillions in capital gains wealth accumulation over decades, is a non-starter. @jarobb.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
open.substack.com/pub/wealthec...
“Imperial“ is right. He doesn’t want to be a king, he wants to be an emperor.
With large portraits of himself, 24-karat golden adornments and a triumphal arch, President Trump is asserting his power through what might be called an imperial aesthetic, or visual cues designed to project personal command and grandeur.
The imperial aesthetic at the heart of Donald Trump’s presidency
In addition to his accumulation of political power, Trump has embraced visual cues designed to project personal command and grandeur.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:39 AM
“Imperial“ is right. He doesn’t want to be a king, he wants to be an emperor.
The last ten years from the perspective of someone who only receives income for working.
Wages +16%. Home prices +95%. Shares of stock +158%.
Why we need a universal Common Wealth Dividend, to distributed the unearned property income that we all create together.
Wages +16%. Home prices +95%. Shares of stock +158%.
Why we need a universal Common Wealth Dividend, to distributed the unearned property income that we all create together.
November 3, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The last ten years from the perspective of someone who only receives income for working.
Wages +16%. Home prices +95%. Shares of stock +158%.
Why we need a universal Common Wealth Dividend, to distributed the unearned property income that we all create together.
Wages +16%. Home prices +95%. Shares of stock +158%.
Why we need a universal Common Wealth Dividend, to distributed the unearned property income that we all create together.