A conversation with the New Democrats. To all the people who have lost their homes in California, we are sorry fires keep breaking out on federal land. We have not restored the Forest Service budget since 2017. But you must understand, as part of our master strategy, we need to compromise with the Republicans to …
Author Archives: stidmatt
Trump’s keys
Trump will be reinaugurated in 9 days, and there are already telling signs of what the Republican nominee’s keys might look like in 2028. It is unlikely Republicans will have a lot of keys in 2028, no matter who is on the ballot. Year Party mandate No primary contest Incumbent seeking re-election No third …
Biden’s legacy
In 10 days Biden’s legacy will be cemented and Donald Trump will again be President of the United States. Trump will in his second term be the same as he was in his first, mostly ineffective, but bent on the goal of dismantling every piece of progress from his predecessor’s administration. Legislative achievements, Domestic policy …
It doesn’t really matter if its causation
Sure… there may be a clear correlation between people who throw their money solely into annuities and bonds going bankrupt, but are we sure it is causal? Sure… GDP per capita, long life expectancy, democracy, low corruption, and high press freedom are highly correlated, but how do you know it is causal? Sure… vaccinated people …
Continue reading “It doesn’t really matter if its causation”
Trump’s second foreign policy
Let’s compare Marco Rubio’s positions vs those of Joe Biden Issue Biden/Blinken Trump/Rubio Israel Unconditional support Unconditional support Ukraine Restrictions on aid that can be used Restrictions on aid Visa policy Restrictive Restrictive Europe Ambivalent Ambivalent There are large and important differences between Biden and Trump regarding domestic policy, and we have seen this in …
Recipe for success
Since finishing my degree in the field, I’ve spent the last ten years of my life poring over political economic data. I’ve read many books, but most importantly, I’ve pored over large datasets and come to some conclusions. Press freedom, democracy, corruption, income, inequality, life expectancy, education levels, and visa restrictions are closely connected. If …
Three terms in a row
Shower thoughts… how many times has a single party held the presidency for at least three terms in a row? Reagan – Bush: 1981-1993 Roosevelt – Truman: 1933-1953 Harding – Coolidge – Hoover: 1921-1933 McKinley – Roosevelt – Taft: 1897-1913 Lincoln – Johnson – Grant – Hayes – Garfield – Arthur: 1861-1885 Jefferson – Madison …
Determinants of Freedom
There is a clear correlation between the number of nationalities who can travel to a destination country without any form of visa and press freedom today. It’s hard to find a stronger correlation than this. Of countries with a democracy score over 7, only Cape Verde, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia, India, and the United …
Banks want you to only use cash
Banks love cash-only businesses. Cash-only businesses are their profit center. Credit cards have very small profits in comparison. I bet you have been told differently. Let me explain… I’m walking around Brooklyn, and there are two restaurants of comparable quality competing with each other. One of them has an ATM which will charge me up …
Consent
Every relationship, romantic or otherwise, has an assumed base level of consent. There is always going to be some level of interaction which doesn’t require constant asking in order for the relationship to work. i know we are in an era where we are somehow expected to ask verbal permission every time for everything, but …