PanAmerican

"The Hottest New Side Hustle Is Stripping Copper Wire and Posting About It" www.wired.com/story/the-ho...

New @nberpubs: "The Returns to Temporary Migration: Experimental Evidence from the H-2A Program" www.nber.org/papers/w3594... "Migrants generally report satisfaction with H-2A jobs and contracts, all report that they would migrate again, and 85% do so the following season"

New @nberpubs: "Global Entrepreneurial Talent Flows: Widely Funded, Selectively Successful?" www.nber.org/papers/w3594... "Expats' success premium... concentrates in the US (18%) and UK (26%), especially among those entering the US through graduate school, work, or direct founding"

"Washing away the US: Tariff evasion on the other side of the US–China trade war" 👀 cepr.org/voxeu/column... "about 35% of the estimated tariff-induced reduction in recorded imports reflects reporting distortions"

"The owner of the old Alton Steel mill announced Wednesday it wants to sell the 381-acre property for use as a data center.... The steel mill shut down last winter," www.stltoday.com/news/local/b...

"The rise of Africa’s Chinese factories" www.ft.com/content/8719... "They are now making everything to do with consumer goods, from plastic buckets to leather shoes, sanitary pads, nappies, glass, construction materials"

"Here, there, and everywhere: Remote work and the employment of disabled and older workers in the UK" via @voxeu cepr.org/voxeu/column... "A one percentage point increase in working from home raises full-time employment of people with a physical disability by about 0.9%"

New @nberpubs: "Modeling and Evaluating the Labor Market and Fiscal Effects of Immigration" www.nber.org/papers/w3590...

New @nberpubs: "Foreign Giants' Broad Shoulders: The Causal Effect of Foreign Ideas on U.S. Innovation" www.nber.org/papers/w3590... "foreign ideas are pervasive: 54% of U.S. technologies build on at least one foreign input" 👀

"'Cash is making a comeback’ as India raises fees on digital payments" www.ft.com/content/8860... "Much of India’s cash demand is driven by the shadow economy.... Experts said that merchants and small businesses have also been spooked by increased scrutiny of digital transactions."

"US Steel Prices Climb to Four-Year High as Trump’s Tariffs Bite" www.bloomberg.com/news/article... "American hot-rolled coil is typically the most expensive globally and the premium relative to international markets is widening."

Islamophobia among Republicans is at highest level since we started polling on this issue over a decade ago. Read the full report on prejudice toward Muslims and Jews, compared to other groups: sadat.umd.edu/sites/sadat....

"Lutnick Throws the Future of U.S.-Mexico Trade Talks Into Further Doubt" share.google/YCB36qc3EcCd... "A senior Mexican official said that every time both sides get close to a deal, the Trump administration brings up something else that it wants"

Advisors to Pete Hegseth have told Pentagon personnel they plan to hold off on releasing an internal report into the attack on a school in southern Iran until after the US midterm elections at the earliest, according to people familiar with the matter. 🎁 link www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

"Why U.S. Airstrikes Are Failing to Stop the Global Cocaine Boom," @WSJ has this interesting story on the increased availability—and decreased price—of cocaine. Gift link: www.wsj.com/world/americ...

Dolls are incredibly widespread but not universal cross-culturally. In addition to functioning as toys, dolls are commonly used for supernatural purposes to punish enemies, heal or protect, increase fertility, or embody spirits. New paper in EHB www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New @nberpubs: "Road Pricing under Heterogeneity" www.nber.org/papers/w3588... "a congestion pricing policy using the experiment's price schedule would raise welfare by as much as adding a new lane to every highway"

China has expanded overseas travel restrictions for top AI professionals in private firms to include the families of key personnel, further tightening measures designed to prevent the outflow of critical know-how and information www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Weapons of mass decentralization

This is a pretty savvy move from the DC preservation office. If Trump takes the suggestion (which he won't) it at least follows the original design. If he doesn't at least *study* the congressionally-endorsed columns as an alternative, it opens the door for very strong NEPA/106 lawsuits.

Republican senators have been left raging by a “contemptuous” briefing from Pete Hegseth’s policy chief.

"Who was right on job creation — Adam Smith or Schumpeter?" www.ft.com/content/9edd...

Trump credited Delcy Rodríguez’s government with progress against drug trafficking as the U.S. eased a key designation on Venezuela.

‘Global crude markets are tightening at what analysts at described this week as an “eye-watering pace“ as China has returned to buying oil on the open market and the Saudi pipeline has shut down.’ www.ft.com/content/3a88...

Chinese oil prices hit record highs after attacks on Saudi pipeline ft.trib.al/hpbfFhK

EXCLUSIVE: China presses Iran to help rein in Houthis after Saudi appeal, sources say reut.rs/4AnBVbW

Microsoft AI chief calls out Anthropic's approach to AI consciousness reut.rs/4h7Q2sP

SB 1050 makes it a misdemeanor for companies to use AI actors without disclosing it in ads.

“Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada has formally applied to join the Joint Expeditionary Force and welcomed the UK’s support for Canada’s participation in this important initiative.”

New photos reveal widespread damage at multiple U.S. positions across the Middle East caused by Iranian attacks. www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pho...

A deep dive into the memo that marks the end of how NSF has done business for 76 years www.science.org/content/arti...

The day after the U.S. and Israel launched their opening strikes on Iran, the Islamic Republic shot back with swarms of drones aimed at the Gulf’s newest high-value targets: American data centers.

Federal Employees Were Paid $9.5 Billion Not to Work in 2025 Under DOGE Effort As part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s program to shrink the federal work force, paid administrative leave costs rose by 435 percent. By Eileen Sullivan www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/u...

CBO estimates that Iran War cost DoD $38B through August 1. That figure covers incremental DoD costs only; excludes routine costs already budgeted, costs borne by other agencies, and costs CBO was unable to estimate, such as damage to US bases and certain longer-term expenses

University leaders, college students and Republican officials have condemned Bo French’s racist posts. https://www.washingtonsun.com/texas/university-of-texas-bo-french-racist-post

❗New Article❗ The Great American Property Tax Freakout! Since 2024, many states have radically reshaped their property tax systems.The changes are an example of a national trend of carving out influential groups from taxation, in this case a majority group: homeowners papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Facing an ethics probe, the chief justice of New Hampshire resigns. (He was GOP-appointed, and the governor is GOP now.) www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2026...

Venezuela’s interim president Rodriguez plans UN visit, Bloomberg News reports reut.rs/4xs5mXD

New post reviewing Zidar and Zwick's new book, which I loved. paulgp.substack.com/p/who-is-ric...

Israel’s campaign to make southern Lebanon ‘unliveable’ ft.trib.al/O7a4C0Q

The Pentagon’s inspector general has released its first report on the war with Iran, saying the conflict has resulted in a shortfall of U.S. munitions and “bottlenecks” in supply chains as the Trump administration works to replenish weaponry.

The second-most powerful man at the State Department put the brakes on a U.S. international exhibit featuring a bull statue because he worried it might look like Baal, a pagan god some associate with Satanic child sacrifice & Jeffrey Epstein www.axios.com/2026/09/15/l...

House Democrats' new climate policy document has plenty of policies to address climate change. It just doesn't use the word "climate change." Less use of the words "climate crisis" or "Environmental justice" and in are "affordability" and "energy security" heatmap.news/politics/dem...

Wealthy Chinese, tech talent confront tighter borders as Beijing widens exit controls

New @nberpubs: "Strategic Sovereignty: U.S.–Israeli Strikes and the Reversal of Anti-Regime Protest in Iran" www.nber.org/papers/w3573... "we document a sharp reversal in political mobilization."

Despite the low rate of convicted terrorist recidivism, @pwbeck.bsky.social, @seamushughes.bsky.social, and Camden Carmichael explore why this trend may be on the path to quietly inching higher in the coming years as a growing number of convicted terrorists are being released.