tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson
@tbarson49.bsky.social
140 followers 470 following 620 posts
Retired global IT services director. Hopeless eclectic with weaknesses for economics, history, philosophy of science, geopolitics, mathematics, and music. East Lansing, MI
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Jul 17
I think the Economist's strategy in every case is to give the invitee enough rope.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Jul 13
Remind me to wash my hands when the Turks decide to reoccupy Serbia.
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Reposted by Tom Barson
claudia-sahm.bsky.social
Claudia Sahm @claudia-sahm.bsky.social · May 25
“Fifty years from now, you will want to be able to look in the mirror and know that you did what you thought was right, in every part of your life. At the end of the day, your integrity is all you have.” Jay Powell www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/s...
Baccalaureate remarks by Chair Powell at the Princeton University Baccalaureate Ceremony
Thank you, President Eisgruber, for the opportunity to speak here today. Congratulations to the Princeton University class of 2025 on the tremendous achievemen
www.federalreserve.gov
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · May 8
Might one reason be that the US mainly exports that light Texas crude? (I've been told that the US mainly refines heavy oil and exports the higher-priced light stuff. If that's the case, then tariffs could have a big impact. Customers can't buy if they can't sell.)
steverattner.bsky.social
Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · May 8
Despite Trump’s assertions, drill baby drill simply isn’t happening — drillers have started shedding rigs.

My @morningjoe-msnbc.bsky.social Chart
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 25
"To believe that we live in a fallen world is to disgrace every one of our forebears who worked to give us a better future."

Noah Smith puts paid to the oldest cultural criticism trope in the universe. @noahpinion.blogsky.venki.dev

www.noahpinion.blog/p/you-are-th...
You are the heir to something greater than Empire
Our golden age lies in our future, not our past.
www.noahpinion.blog
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 19
This from @shadihamid.bsky.social

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | The dangerous pattern in Trump’s targeting of student activists
The administration doubles down on criminalizing criticism of a foreign country.
www.washingtonpost.com
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 18
Short and to the point by @shadihamid.bsky.social

BTW, a quick search will get you to the defense fund sites for Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | The dangerous pattern in Trump’s targeting of student activists
The administration doubles down on criminalizing criticism of a foreign country.
www.washingtonpost.com
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Reposted by Tom Barson
jowolff.bsky.social
Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · Apr 13
Georgia O’Keefe says good morning.
Luscious red flower in white vase.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 12
Go fast and break things.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · Apr 12
Hours ago, @politico.com revealed that DOGE is working with DHS on automating mass deportation efforts — likely explaining why many US citizens, green card holders, and even a Canadian (in Canada) got threatening emails last night terminating “your parole” and telling them to leave the US in 7 days.
Bike_pimp88 • 21h ago 10:48 ..• U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC 20528 04/11/2025 Notice of Termination of Parole it is time for you to leave the United States. You are currently here because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) paroled you into the United States for a limited period. Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) and 8 C.F.R. § 212.5(e), DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole. Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this notice. If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States - unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here. Any benefits you receive in the United States connected with your parole - such as work authorization — will also terminate. You will be subject to potential criminal prosecution, civil fines, and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government. DHS encourages you to leave immediately on your own. You can use the CBP Home mobile app on your phone to make arrangements for your departure. If you are departing the United States via land, you should report your departure once outside the United States via that same app. If you are having trouble reporting your departure via land, visit https://194.cbp.dhs.gov/home for more information about voluntarily reporting your departure. Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States - the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately. I just got this 5 minutes and I'm not even in the United States or have been for months. I'm in Canada and a Canadian resident. I fly to Vegas tomorrow morning for the weekend and a little concerned? Does this look legit SpellWild110 • 2 points 17 hours ago I just got this email too and I am a US citizen? Born and raised in the US. So confused. permalink embed save report reply + [-Potential_Travel_294 • 2 points 17 hours ago Yeah, so confusing permalink embed save parent report reply + [H] ramoros1865 • 2 points 13 hours ago I go this email last night as well and I have a green card [-| ihatemensomuchursick • 2 points 10 hours ago <image> Got this today at 6ame9the thing is I was born here this is the email that sent it: [automatedmessage@cbp.dhs.gov] (mailto:automatedmessage@cbp.dhs.gov) permalink embed save report reply + [-| ihatemensomuchursick • 2 points 10 hours ago Has anyone clicked the link? + |-]PossibleLast3277 • 1 point 20 hours ago I just got this same email right now permalink embed save report reply + [-JOk-Comfortable948 • 1 point 20 hours ago Me too. I am an LPR since an year now and def concerns me seeing this. I got the email from cbpnoreply@cbp.dhs.gov and email looked legit due to its domain though, hope its a scam email. Crazy idiots not sure what they keep doing. permalink embed save parent report reply + |-]PossibleLast3277 • 1 point 20 hours ago I have daca and i am wondering if i got it because I did advance parole in 2023 permalink embed save parent report reply + |-] Potential_Travel_294 • 1 point 19 hours ago I got the same email twice to my two different email adresses, I think its's a scam. permalink embed save parent report reply + [-]Ok-Comfortable948 • 1 point 19 hours ago I got it twice to my same email. permalink embed save parent report reply + [-]Potential_Travel_294 • 1 point 19 hours ago Yeah, me too, I got twice too to a kind of personal email address, it's even not my work email address. permalink embed save parent report reply + [-]thawk1986 • 1 point 11 hours ago It's legit: https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/mi grants-cbp-one-app-legal-status-stripped-dhs/ permalink embed save parent report reply
tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 12
Sure, Oren Cass is a noted (old-style) Republican policy guy. But an "economist"?

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/o...
Opinion | ‘I Hope I Am Wrong, but I Am Pretty Pessimistic’: Four Economists Dissect Trump’s Tariffs
The most dramatic effort to remake the post-World War II trade system was underway — until it wasn’t.
www.nytimes.com
tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 11
Nils Gilman nails it.

@nilsgilman.bsky.social

www.persuasion.community/p/how-univer...
How Universities Can Save Themselves
The crisis of the universities is worse than they realize. They must rediscover their core mission.
www.persuasion.community
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 10
“It looks as if Lenin thinks nationalism has more affective/unifying pull, that is, revolutionary potential, than class. This despite the fact that class conflict may well be one of the grounds that is one of the sparks that leads to revolt.”

digressionsimpressions.substack.com/p/nation-cla...?
Nation > Class in Lenin on Imperialism.
One reason why J.A.
digressionsimpressions.substack.com
tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
OK, I get your point now. I made the behavioral observation (need for brevity made it seem critical -- I'm really talking about the mariginal utility of income) and you pointed out they were also being good Rawlsians. Fair enough.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
OK. But why do we care about what Rawls says is "acceptable"? If you were arguing this outcome was a Nash equilibrium, that would at least follow from original US/China "game" example.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
Whether they would vote for it, if given the prospective choice, is another question. Whether they would punish a politician who did this, after the fact, is yet another. But I'm pretty sure a politician get more of their votes in the gain scenario than in the loss one. Disagree? 4/4
tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
The question is whether the same behavior will be observed when we substitute losses for gains. I guess I can imagine lower income voters acquiescing to a tax increase if theirs get framed as a sacrifice and the hated elite's as a deserved punishment. 3/4
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
...how will groups act, not how should they act.

My sense, based on the recent election, is that lower income voters will accept any permanent gain (e.g., a tac cut) as evidence that "He fought for me," with no apparent expectation that he won't feather his own (or his class's) nest even more. 2/4
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 9
So, Branko, apologies (a deadline to blame) for not responding immediately.

But I don't understand the appeal to Rawls here. When we switched from the "game" to inequality (no game, in my view) it seemed like the discussion had to go forward in terms of behavioral laws. In other words... 1/4
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 8
Yeah, I guess libertarians get the same right-twice-a-day broken clock guarantee that I get.

But, yes, his example is spot-on.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 8
I have a hard time imagining them being content the direction of your example outside of, say, a "national emergency" (with its applied promise of recompense upon resolution).

But maybe the fallout of "Liberation Day" will be a kind of test case. 2/2
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 8
Well, the lower-income Trump voter seems to use this logic, but in the opposite direction. They will accept huge income gains for the wealthy as long as a small income gains (say, a tax cut) are earmarked for them.

1/2
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 8
Note that this isn't economics, or even "political economy". Only in a pure great power conflict "game" could you possibly justify the assertion that the least-loser "wins" via an implicit claim that less is more.
brankomilan.bsky.social
Branko Milanovic @brankomilan.bsky.social · Apr 8
When people write that US is losing with tariffs, they fail to understand the nature of the game the US is playing. It is playing a lose-lose game, but that game makes sense if the US thinks that China will lose more, and thus in relative sense US will be up. Absolute losses do not matter as such.
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 5
Will read. But do see today's WaPo piece in which USTR's cited economists take down the formula.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | Trump White House cited economists for its tariff formula. They pan it.
Economists say the administration’s formula fails to take into account whether conditions change.
www.washingtonpost.com
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 4
You're a goner for sure.

(But it sounds really interesting.)
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tbarson49.bsky.social
Tom Barson @tbarson49.bsky.social · Apr 4
Looks like a prison!