What are the checks and balances on the power of Elon Musk?

The question we'll all be asking over the next year or more. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 6 hours ago

Macroeconomics: The predator of foolish regimes

One thing no ruler can control. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 days ago

America is losing the physical technologies of the future

Electrical technology isn't just a climate thing. It's about national power and prosperity. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 3 days ago

At least five interesting things: Will of the Masses edition (#55)

Abandoning X; Drone world; Asian voters' rightward shift; China and the Global South; Polycrisis; Illegal immigration's fiscal impact; Iranian power | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 5 days ago

Why are so many Americans acting like a pack of ghouls?

A few theories about the seeming collapse in public morality. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 7 days ago

How we'll know if Trump is going to sell America out to China

Keep an eye on the export controls. They are the key. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 8 days ago

How Paul Krugman changed the public face of economics

He's a great economist, but he also changed how we talk about the subject. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 10 days ago

Insurance companies aren't the main villain of the U.S. health system

It's mostly the providers overcharging you, not the middlemen. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 11 days ago

Democrats need to loudly reject progressive extremism

Ignoring it just isn't enough. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 13 days ago

At least five interesting things: Nerdy economics edition (#54)

The DBCFT; Construction productivity and regulation; Rationality and complexity; U.S. productivity growth; Demand-side inflation; Health care monopsony and innovation | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 16 days ago

Manufacturing is a war now

And the democracies are losing. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 17 days ago

"Paycheck-to-paycheck" and five other popular myths

Being educated and reading a lot on the internet is no proof against myth-conceptions. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 19 days ago

No, you are not on Indigenous land

Pieces of territory belong to institutions, not to racial groups. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 21 days ago

The best-case scenario for Trump's second term

An optimistic Thanksgiving post. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 23 days ago

The alternate reality of RFK and the antivaxers

Human consensus versus the laws of the Universe. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 24 days ago

At least five interesting things: The new conservative era (#53)

Conservative poll shift; Democratic machine politics; science and politics; some good news; better teachers; the AI slowdown; consumer confidence | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 26 days ago

Four years of Noahpinion

What happened to the world in 2024, and what I wrote about it | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 27 days ago

Nobody knows how to stop humanity from shrinking

The big looming problem that almost no one is talking about. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 29 days ago

What drove Asian and Hispanic voters to the right in 2024

A guest post by Dhaaruni Sreenivas. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

America doesn't really have a working class

Why class politics is unlikely to succeed where identity politics failed. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Why targeted tariffs are more effective than broad tariffs

Something the Trump administration should probably think about. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Liberalism is the rebellion now

Belief in individual freedom and dignity is being driven underground. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

7 Reasons Democrats Should Be Optimistic About Their Chances in 2026 and 2028

A guest post by Wally Nowinski. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

At least five interesting things: Trump aftermath edition (#52)

Bad election narratives; principles for the Democrats; slowing AI progress; rising life expectancy; phones are bad; solar vs. nuclear | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

The blue cities must be fixed

If you want to govern the nation, you should first be able to govern San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

The educated professional class is out of touch with America

Lesson #3 from Trump's victory. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Americans hate inflation more than they hate unemployment

Lesson #2 from Trump's victory. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Identity politics isn't working

Lesson #1 from Trump's victory. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Four reasons not to vote for Trump, and four reasons to vote for Harris

Summing up my thoughts on the 2024 election. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Why on Earth does Trump want to cancel the CHIPS Act??

A second Trump presidency would truly be a gift to Xi Jinping. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Trumpism is kakistocracy

A cult of personality prizes loyalty above competence, resulting in "rule by the worst". | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Democrats fixed many of the problems of the early 2020s

It's nice to have leaders who hear what people care about and deliver results. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Thinking about "temporary hardship"

America needs austerity. But is Musk's plan the right kind of austerity? | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

If Trump loses the election, our nation can finally rest

Let's not bring back the wacky 2010s. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

On immigration, what Americans want is democratic control

Nations - even democratic ones - are exclusive clubs. And that's OK. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Why America's future could hinge on Elon Musk

Iron Man, or Dr. Doom? | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

Realistically, how much damage could Trump do to the U.S. economy?

The biggest risks are all about debt and inflation. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

How long can we sustain economic growth?

Thinking about the very long term. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 1 month ago

A better way to build a downtown

It's time to learn a Japanese word: "zakkyo". | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

EVs are just going to win

Because they're a superior technology, and superior technologies win. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

The free world teeters on the edge of a knife

If Trump is elected, there will be no liberal great powers left in the world. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

What remains of the progressive project?

Feeling adrift in the 2020s. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

A Nobel for the big big questions

Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson win a prize for their grand unified theory of development. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

At least five interesting things to start your week (#51)

Falling obesity; the red-state boom; U.S. housing supply; men avoiding college; China's economic goals; implicit taxes on the poor; Garcia interviews Krugman and Cowen interviews Scanlon | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

Against steelmanning

It's usually not a good idea to try to make arguments look stronger than they really are. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

Announcing the winners of our semiconductor policy contest!

Some good ideas in here. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

In which I rebut Nate Silver on the economy and Matt Yglesias on nuclear

Bloggers love to argue. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago

The Democrats are a strong party, the Republicans are a weak party

It's Boss Tweed vs. Boss Tweet. | Continue reading


@noahpinion.blog | 2 months ago