James Pethokoukis

🚀 🚀 Here's the week that was at ... FASTER, PLEASE!, my pro-abundance/growth/progress newsletter (from a center-right perspective). Please check it out! fasterplease.substack.com

Opinion | Republicans should welcome Democrats’ turn to ‘abundance’ An emerging coalition of pro-growth conservatives and supply-side liberals could tackle major problems together.

The conservative case for embracing “Abundance” via @jamespethokoukis.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Folks on the right should find that red line to be deeply, deeply embarrassing

a man in a military uniform says are we the baddies ALT: a man in a military uniform says are we the baddies

"The Trump administration has terminated a US-funded initiative that documents alleged Russian war crimes, including a sensitive database detailing the mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, according to US officials familiar with the directive and documents" @washingtonpost.com

Is it more in the US strategic interest to prevent Russia from rolling over Ukraine and then beyond OR making sure Ukraine's president meets a continuing high level of public and performative deference to the US president?

American Business Leaders are Turning on Trump — Fast
@semafor

"CEO optimism is fading as Trump pushes ahead with trade restrictions, while business-friendly deregulation has yet to materialize. Consumer confidence in January recorded its biggest decline since November 2023."

What are we doing here?

"Only a handful of people have finished rebuilding, and many others aren’t sure if they can as they navigate a dizzying maze of zoning and construction rules. Housing costs are skyrocketing." @WashPost

Is everyone in Gaza about to get a “Fork in the Road” email?

OUT: US nation building
IN: US casino building

"Trump proposes U.S. control of Gaza, permanent displacement of residents" @WashPost

Trump is sowing the seeds of an anti-American alliance By targeting allies and neighbours with tariffs, the US is playing into the hands of China

"Corporate America also needs to wake up and stop the sycophantic prating about the return of 'animal spirits' to the US economy. What Trump is essentially offering is economic autarky and the destruction of the western alliance ... economic and strategic disaster"
www.ft.com/content/ba1c...

JPMORGAN: "Is this a business friendly administration?"

🌍 My chat (+transcript) with researcher Toby Ord on existential risk Faster, Please! — The Podcast #69

🌍 My chat (+transcript) with researcher Toby Ord on existential risk
fasterplease.substack.com/p/my-chat-tr...

"The U.S. economy’s performance is about as good as it gets." - Mark Zandi, economist at Moody's

GOLDMAN SACHS: "On Inauguration Day 2025, the US economy is in the sweet spot of healthy growth and gradual disinflation."

"The IMF is doubling down on its forecast that that the US economy will outpace other big Western countries this year, [raising] its estimate for full-year growth in 2025 to 2.7%, up from 2.2%. ... Expectations for big European economies were all downgraded, as was Canada’s."
t.co/8B47ygftrM

💥 "Many of the world’s richest economies will need to at least double productivity growth to maintain historical improvements in living standards amid sharp falls in their birth rates."

Falling Birth Rates Raise Prospect of Sharp Decline in Living Standards
www.ft.com/content/19ce...

JPMORGAN: American Exceptionalism: US economy outpaces world post-pandemic, exceeding pre-COVID potential by +4% while other nations lag -1%. China shows biggest slowdown. US-RoW growth gap widened further in 2024. 🗽

🌞☁️ Pro-growthers are having a moment. But so are degrowthers Disruption today in the name of abundance tomorrow isn't for everyone. The future still has plenty of enemies

my latest: fasterplease.substack.com/p/pro-growth...

Recent Migration Patterns Spell Trouble for Democrats Every year, the Census Bureau releases fresh data detailing patterns of migration within the United States. Since 2020, those patterns have pointed to trouble ahead for Democrats. Blue states like Cal...

COOK: “.. California and New York continue to hemorrhage residents .. That could close key Democratic pathways to an Electoral College majority, essentially forcing the party to win in large Sun Belt states in addition to sweeping the industrial Midwest ..”

www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/nat...

And here we go ...

"The fight over robots threatening American jobs"
@FT

Why has Blue Origin lagged SpaceX?

"Can Jeff Bezos match Elon Musk in space?"
www.economist.com/science-and-...

💥 JPMORGAN on Age of AI: "Seminal moment in tech, more so than the Internet or iPhone ... GenAI is doing things today that most viewed as physically impossible a couple years ago ... It will Evolve at Light Speed; model capabilities are different today than 3 weeks ago"

C'mon, man!

"For transmission projects, the average time to get a permit is 6.5 years—and often can take over 10 years."

🌐 My chat (+transcript) with chaos theorist Doyne Farmer on our interconnected economy Faster, Please! — The Podcast #66

You can listen to @doynefarmer.bsky.social discussing the interconnected economy and how to approach economic growth with @jamespethokoukis.bsky.social for the Faster, Please! podcast
#Complexity #ComplexityEconomics
fasterplease.substack.com/p/my-chat-tr...

Surveys of more than 220 economists in the US, UK and Eurozone on the economic impact of Trump’s return to the White House ... @data.ft.com

Sound science fictional to me

Me at work: "Anyway, once the fusion-powered electrical grid in the US Martian colonies is fully operational…

Me at home: "Wait, you can buy pre-peeled hard-boiled eggs? Am I dreaming? Wowzers!"

Econ 101 for communists: unintended consequences

Ronald Reagan in 1979 giving the crux of his argument against the Carter presidency.
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