Optimistic capitalist. Understanding what’s important. Explaining it. Fixing it.

Washington, DC
Joined October 2017
Anybody else noticing how more and more everyday vendors—like doctor offices, auto repair shops—charging 3 1/2% to use a credit card?
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It’s funny when people make everything about themselves, and then don’t like it when other people make everything about them, too.
Even pro-AI government officials and lawmakers wish AI founders would do what every other major industry chief does — shut up and just build their products ... safely. axios.com/2026/10/24/ai-ceos…
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Summit Global Strategies retweeted
"The surprising popularity of AI. Unlike rich Westerners, many around the world feel hopeful about the technology." economist.com/international/…
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A tax cut is a terrible thing to waste. Like how real after tax disposable income is up 1.3% over the past year. And nobody knows it. via @politico @berniebecker3 politi.co/4yweRWh via @politico
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“Nobel Prize-winning economist William Nordhaus estimated that innovators capture just 2.2 per cent of the value they provide to society.” Imagine no 2 day delivery, iPhones, or free search. IOW eliminating billionaires means society would be 98% poorer.
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Summit Global Strategies retweeted
These NYC apartments are standing empty, not because the owners don't want to rent them, but because rent stabilization laws prohibit them from charging enough to earn back the costs of necessary repairs. My latest for @WSJFreeEx
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Mathematical identity: debt + economic populism = inflation + higher interest rates
A government-debt crisis is looming

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Summit Global Strategies retweeted
"What puzzles me about French economists like Gabriel [Zucman] ... is the zeal they bring in trying to convince Americans ... to implement a French model ... focused on redistribution rather than growth... [France] looks like it is about to enter a serious fiscal crisis because its redistribution model is no longer sustainable." @HannoLustig
What puzzles me about French economists like Gabriel, as well as Emmanuel and Tomas, is the zeal they bring in trying to convince Americans that they have to implement a French model that is focused on redistribution rather than growth, because every indication we have suggests that the focus on redistribution has cost France, and some other countries in Europe, like my own native Belgium, very dearly so far. In fact, the French economy looks like it is about to enter a serious fiscal crisis because its redistribution model is no longer sustainable. Californians ought to celebrate the fact that wealth is being created in California, and not somewhere else in the U.S. or in the rest of the world. Americans, and Californians, for that matter, should continue to do what they do best, which is focus on growing the pie. It would be a mistake to adopt a model that is fundamentally broken. What the French should do instead is try to copy the model that made California an engine of innovation. In that case, smart, highly educated French kids wouldn't come to the U.S. to start companies. They would do so in France. If they had done that, they would have more than one AI startup company.
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Heard on the street: Think of AI not as a tool, but as a workforce.
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Question du jour: Will a France Moment have better catering than a Greece Moment?
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To paraphrase Forrest Gump: ‘Capitalism is like a cocktail.’ Not the most sympathetic example, but still a good one. via @emmma_camp_
The simple Negroni can tell the story of a century of human progress. My latest for @WSJFreeEx
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When one sentence sums up everything: “Every actor in the American economy is best understood by its position in the country’s wager on artificial intelligence.” economist.com/business/2026/…
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Opinion check: markets focus on today's PCE inflation report coming in "better than the forecast." Reality check: at 3.4%, headline PCE is 70% above the Fed's 2% target; core is 50% above target. Sanity check: maybe it's more important to beat the target than the forecast.
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Summit Global Strategies retweeted
So, real incomes up across the board, post-tax inequality basically flat since 2000, tax rates down for everyone but the top. Other than that, the “stagnation + exploding inequality + the rich don’t pay taxes” narrative is holding up great.
CBO just released its latest "Distribution of Household Income" report (for year 2023), and the findings are - as usual - a narrative violation. Real incomes up across the board. Income inequality basically flat for decades. Taxes falling for everyone except the rich.
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Since banks already have “everyday money”, maybe they can use the stablecoins for “special day” money.
We're bringing stablecoins into the banking system with @Citi. That means instant stablecoin acceptance for institutions - all on bank-grade, regulated infrastructure. The next step for stablecoins becoming everyday money.
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Film editing sounds a lot like consulting: “people can have great ideas, but they need advisers who will speak up, give honest feedback and offer solutions.” via @AlexandraSuich @TheEconomist
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