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I think that I spot the flaw of Fallows' argument, where he says that red states will ultimately refuse to gut their educational systems. Fallows is assuming some sort of political equilibrium, where the sane pushback gets stronger as the crazy moves further. But the feedback loop might be positive: ressentiment. The worse off the red states get, the more they will devalue blue state values such as education and social order. "We are poor but proud" is a good way to stay poor forever.

I'm not sure that the business wing of the Republican Party will be a very effective counterweight. We have already seen the Republican Party do many things that their business wing despises: tariffs, Fed-bashing, immigration. Why not add education to the list? More so: the business class has only tepid support for anything not explicitly vocational or STEM.

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Worth considering. Especially if red states are doing other things right, less effectively restrictive NIMBY-ism, more "business friendly." The growing firms there can always import the educated workers they need and maybe getting killed by some crazy concealed carry guy is not THAT big of a risk.

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I'll concede your point on land use, but red states often have a curious idea of what "business friendly" entails--low wages, rather than high infrastructure. Getting killed by a crazy concealed carry guy is not that big a risk, but few educated workers want to inflict red-state antics on their kids' education.

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Regarding the post pandemic economy: I wonder if the reason for low labor participation compared to pre-pandemic. Too much savings from CARES and other acts? Labor drop out from too much inflation and “giving up?” Serious disability from post-COVID syndromes? Maybe some questions will be answered by Q4.

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Williams: Why not just say "current monetary policy instrument settings" instead of "restrictive stance? I'm glad he thinks the decision should be driven by data rather than concerns about the Fed's "credibility.

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Global Warming: What a shame gradualism was abandoned without being tried. especially since there is nothing that hold promise of achieving more at lower cost. Maybe if thigs get bad enough we will try again.

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Although Florida has gotten most of the press because of iits grandstanding governor, the situation of higher education in Georgia is at least as dire. The Chancellor of the system is a former governor with no academic qualifications. The Board of Regents is full of Republican appointees. They have effectively abolished tenure, putting faculty on one year rolling contacts. I can't imagine world class researchers coming here now. Since it is an article of faith ( a term I use advisedly) for Republicans that college education turns students into liberals, a total war is their plan.

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Ito. Not if the Chinese read Bagehot. I'm really skeptical that a centra bank cannot create inflation if it tries hard enough.

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The Lehman Moment was bad, but there's no reason it would have been bad for many people for very long if the Fed had previously credibly established that it would not permit inflation to fall below target. Even September 2008 was not too late to have made that clear and started acting on it.

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Fed conversation on a higher FAIT: But Krugman himself said "if." How sure is Krugman, how can he be sure that 3% FAIT leads to faster, real income maximizing adjustment of relative prices than 2% FAIT? Granted getting proof that 2% is too low (or at least being restored too quickly) in the form of a recession would be pretty painful, but it seems that would be a better way of arguing the point. Certainly, it's better that a hypothetical ZBL that may be no impediment at all to restoring inflation when it is below target.

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