Favorite Rejects 2021-08-24

bmaz @bmaz

Lol, Charlie:

(he died today)

eric goldwyn @ericgoldwyn

Finalizing a proposal w/@alon_levy & @elifensari doing exactly this. At average global costs, the $60-$70 billion for Amtrak should build ~1,200 kms (750 miles) of high-speed rail BEFORE taking into account local contributions and HSR programs built with private $$$.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Northeast Corridor trains are pretty successful even though the quality of the service is actually terrible. The plan should be to invest in making it good, and put people in charge who know how to do that. https://t.co/R5uWFirYkV https://t.co/DSOmJLht1Q

Liam Bright @lastpositivist

I'm sorry analytic philosophers but you (we) simply must be stopped. Total and complete shut down of labelling things epistemic until we can figure out what the hell is going on.

Make SF walkable, bikeable, slow streets @GehaniNeil

"because on top of all the moral reasons to bring in refugees, the country’s population is stagnating. We need those foreigners — yes, including refugees, who actually do pretty well economically — to boost growth and pay taxes"

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

The problem with immigration is that most Americans are for it, but don't make it a high priority, while a minority of Americans are rabidly, passionately opposed to it. https://t.co/US8UoXOggG

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

One huge upside to pursuing bipartisan legislation is it generates good vibes, but the House Mod Squad has now managed to totally wreck the vibes. It's extremely dumb.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

I think our habit of not including payroll tax in "income tax" is hugely misleading in public discussions of who pays taxes.

Timothy Taylor @TimothyTTaylor

Most years, about 44% of households owe zero or negative federal income tax. In 2020 and 2021, it will be about 60% who owe zero or negative federal income tax (according to the Tax Policy Center) https://t.co/CjEjuInGTA

Max Fisher @Max_Fisher

seems strange that putin supposedly has a bond villain brain melting ray he can deploy anywhere but only ever points at small numbers of mid-level american diplomats and not, like, russian dissidents or protesters

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Germany is the America of Europe

Philip Oltermann @philipoltermann

Germany's vaccination rate has plateaued much earlier than those of Spain, Italy or supposedly vaccine-sceptic France: stuck just above the 60% mark for over a month now. https://t.co/z3Dm50UpwL https://t.co/JuPyE9v4Wj

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

A thought: If the Taliban ever do turn back to supporting terrorism, now we can go complain to China.

William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill

"Next it will be China" China plans to reopen copper mine in Afghanistan Beijing seeks closer ties with the Taliban https://t.co/0G9c3Ay9jA

Aaron 🥑🚈🚰🏀 @aceckhouse

"The [housing crisis] is worsening nationally, but new research is increasingly clear on a solution that can be implemented locally: just build more housing." great piece, @LopezforCA!

time.comA Bay Area Councilman on How to Fix the Housing Market“The societal costs of a national crisis in housing affordability are high—the risk of locking entire segments of the population out of homeownership.”

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

When did Bernie and everyone in the Berniesphere start counting unrealized asset appreciation as "income" in the numbers they toss around? I mean, you can make an argument for doing this, but it's highly nonstandard, and they don't seem to be telling anyone they're doing it.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Just running through the Lower Haight in a gold g-string and cowboy hat, throwing copies of Krugman, Fujita and Venables' "The Spatial Economy" at any white man who looks like he might be named Dean Preston, screeching "aGGLOMERATION eFFECTS mATTER!!!"

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Some real “please read one book” vibes here. https://t.co/oDqYOTAWj1

Martin Kulldorff @MartinKulldorff

For thousands of years, disease pathogens have spread from person to person. Never before have carriers been blamed for infecting the next sick person. That is a very dangerous ideology.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

I was staring at a map thinking it was weird that Berlin's mass transit has two different convergence points, one to the west of the center of the city and one to the east, and then I remembered the whole second half of the twentieth century.