Azim Essaji (he/him)
@aessaji.bsky.social
Associate Professor, Economics
Wilfrid Laurier University
Views expressed are not of my employer; sometimes, they're not even my own
Wilfrid Laurier University
Views expressed are not of my employer; sometimes, they're not even my own
This is an excellent thread. #econsky
1/ Egalitarianism should begin at home. I link to this article by @bencasselman.bsky.social in light of the communications between Larry Summers and Jeffrey Epstein that have just been released. The released emails and the fact of friendship are vile.
www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/b...
www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/b...
For Women in Economics, the Hostility Is Out in the Open (Published 2021)
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
This is an excellent thread. #econsky
The always amazing Jose Feliciano.... youtu.be/NkKjoxHvB0A?...
Jose Feliciano Band - Por Que Te Tengo Que Olvidar (Live In Paris 2008)
YouTube video by Daniel .D.N.A
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
The always amazing Jose Feliciano.... youtu.be/NkKjoxHvB0A?...
You can't make this shit up....
New WSJ: After flying an FBI jet to see his girlfriend sing at a wrestling match, FBI director Kash Patel took the jet to a private Texas hunting resort called the Boondoggle Ranch. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Kash Patel’s ‘Effin Wild’ Ride as FBI Director
In just one week in October, he ticked off his bosses with premature comments about a terror investigation squeezed in a trip to the ‘Boondoggle Ranch’ on the bureau jet.
www.wsj.com
November 12, 2025 at 2:41 PM
You can't make this shit up....
Because, why not? youtu.be/WRfsibwR5x4?...
"I'm a Barbie girl" again, but in the style of 6 classical composers 🎹 🎤 - Josep Castanyer Alonso
YouTube video by Josep Castanyer Alonso
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Because, why not? youtu.be/WRfsibwR5x4?...
I'm not saying that AI is not going to unlock great productivity gains for Canada, but I can say that in its current use, it's reducing my productivity, and making my students stupider. 1/
November 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I'm not saying that AI is not going to unlock great productivity gains for Canada, but I can say that in its current use, it's reducing my productivity, and making my students stupider. 1/
Matt Jeneroux is a one of the better Conservative MPs. This would be a huge gain for the Liberals. #cdnpoli
Dimitri Soudas, former Harper comms guy, told RadCan this morning that he's hearing Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux will cross the floor to the Liberals today.
If this happens, the Liberals are one seat short of a majority. You know what that means.
That's right.
Elizabeth May is Kingmaker.
If this happens, the Liberals are one seat short of a majority. You know what that means.
That's right.
Elizabeth May is Kingmaker.
November 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Matt Jeneroux is a one of the better Conservative MPs. This would be a huge gain for the Liberals. #cdnpoli
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
All you anti Muslim bigots who spread nothing but the most vile hate against Mamdani, I'm here for your meltdowns and tantrums.
I'm all the way petty.
Your tears are sugar for my chai.
I'm all the way petty.
Your tears are sugar for my chai.
November 5, 2025 at 2:42 AM
All you anti Muslim bigots who spread nothing but the most vile hate against Mamdani, I'm here for your meltdowns and tantrums.
I'm all the way petty.
Your tears are sugar for my chai.
I'm all the way petty.
Your tears are sugar for my chai.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Not gonna link it, because I don't want to promote it, but yeah that "Like maple syrup and hockey, AI must become a part of our national identity" opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Joël Blit, a professor of economics at the U of Waterloo, is nothing more than grandiose horseshit puffery.
November 2, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Not gonna link it, because I don't want to promote it, but yeah that "Like maple syrup and hockey, AI must become a part of our national identity" opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Joël Blit, a professor of economics at the U of Waterloo, is nothing more than grandiose horseshit puffery.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Question needing an answer: What are the costs of trying to use AI when it isn't needed? How much friction does that create? How much productivity is lost trying to make it work?
The worst thing anyone can do when testing a new idea. Assume success and make plans based on that assumption.
The worst thing anyone can do when testing a new idea. Assume success and make plans based on that assumption.
November 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Question needing an answer: What are the costs of trying to use AI when it isn't needed? How much friction does that create? How much productivity is lost trying to make it work?
The worst thing anyone can do when testing a new idea. Assume success and make plans based on that assumption.
The worst thing anyone can do when testing a new idea. Assume success and make plans based on that assumption.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Embarrassing country
November 2, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Embarrassing country
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
Another thing about the utility of AI...
You have to remember what is good at. It's good at finding patterns and relationships in existing data that you were unaware of.
So for AI to be useful requires two things.
1) That you need to find new patterns and relationships in your data.
You have to remember what is good at. It's good at finding patterns and relationships in existing data that you were unaware of.
So for AI to be useful requires two things.
1) That you need to find new patterns and relationships in your data.
November 2, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Another thing about the utility of AI...
You have to remember what is good at. It's good at finding patterns and relationships in existing data that you were unaware of.
So for AI to be useful requires two things.
1) That you need to find new patterns and relationships in your data.
You have to remember what is good at. It's good at finding patterns and relationships in existing data that you were unaware of.
So for AI to be useful requires two things.
1) That you need to find new patterns and relationships in your data.
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
1980s: Learn to use computers or be LEFT BEHIND!
1990s: Learn networking or be LEFT BEHIND!
2000s: Learn HTML or be LEFT BEHIND!
2010s: Learn to code apps or be LEFT BEHIND!
<raises hand>
Umm...I did all of that but I’ve been left behind
<long pause>
LEARN A.I. OR BE LEFT BEHIND!!!
1990s: Learn networking or be LEFT BEHIND!
2000s: Learn HTML or be LEFT BEHIND!
2010s: Learn to code apps or be LEFT BEHIND!
<raises hand>
Umm...I did all of that but I’ve been left behind
<long pause>
LEARN A.I. OR BE LEFT BEHIND!!!
November 2, 2025 at 9:17 PM
1980s: Learn to use computers or be LEFT BEHIND!
1990s: Learn networking or be LEFT BEHIND!
2000s: Learn HTML or be LEFT BEHIND!
2010s: Learn to code apps or be LEFT BEHIND!
<raises hand>
Umm...I did all of that but I’ve been left behind
<long pause>
LEARN A.I. OR BE LEFT BEHIND!!!
1990s: Learn networking or be LEFT BEHIND!
2000s: Learn HTML or be LEFT BEHIND!
2010s: Learn to code apps or be LEFT BEHIND!
<raises hand>
Umm...I did all of that but I’ve been left behind
<long pause>
LEARN A.I. OR BE LEFT BEHIND!!!
When they said that the East Wing had been demolished, I thought they were exaggerating. Holy shit.
October 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
When they said that the East Wing had been demolished, I thought they were exaggerating. Holy shit.
I am hardly the biggest Doug Ford fan, whom I view as the worst premier this province has had in my lifetime (and that's saying a lot, given that I despised Mike Harris), but there was nothing wrong with the ad Ontario ran on US TV. 1/ #onpolitics #canadapolitics #canadasky
October 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I am hardly the biggest Doug Ford fan, whom I view as the worst premier this province has had in my lifetime (and that's saying a lot, given that I despised Mike Harris), but there was nothing wrong with the ad Ontario ran on US TV. 1/ #onpolitics #canadapolitics #canadasky
Reposted by Azim Essaji (he/him)
one of the university students should have asked the PM if his kids went into the skilled trades
October 24, 2025 at 1:33 AM
one of the university students should have asked the PM if his kids went into the skilled trades
A provocative take, which I don't think is correct. But if things continue as they are, it will be the new reality. www.thestar.com/business/opi... #canadasky
David Olive: Donald Trump needs to know most Canadians do not love the U.S. They never have and never will
America is taking bread out of Canadians’ mouths, writes David Olive, yet its chief executive imagines that Canada will someday love the U.S., that all will be forgiven.
www.thestar.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A provocative take, which I don't think is correct. But if things continue as they are, it will be the new reality. www.thestar.com/business/opi... #canadasky
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.... www.thestar.com/politics/pol... #canadasky
Althia Raj: When a Harper Conservative goes after Pierre Poilievre, you know there’s blood in the water
The Conservative establishment, it appears, won’t remain silent as Poilievre tries to remake the party into a grievance movement, Althia Raj writes.
www.thestar.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.... www.thestar.com/politics/pol... #canadasky
I have no idea how far the Blue Jays are going to make it, but Max Scherzer has to be one of the best characters to have played for the Jays. What an animal. #bluejays
October 17, 2025 at 2:04 PM
I have no idea how far the Blue Jays are going to make it, but Max Scherzer has to be one of the best characters to have played for the Jays. What an animal. #bluejays
Cool. bbc.com/future/artic...
'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach
In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast and are now thriving as the world's only maritime lions.
bbc.com
October 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Cool. bbc.com/future/artic...
Today marks 37 years since I moved to Canada. It's sometimes hard to believe that I lived anywhere else. That is all.
October 1, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Today marks 37 years since I moved to Canada. It's sometimes hard to believe that I lived anywhere else. That is all.
With the US turning it's back on biotech, clean energy and a whole host of leading industries, while simultaneously slamming the door shut on immigrants that power innovation, Canada has a historic opportunity to pivot economically. 1/
September 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
With the US turning it's back on biotech, clean energy and a whole host of leading industries, while simultaneously slamming the door shut on immigrants that power innovation, Canada has a historic opportunity to pivot economically. 1/
I'm not always a fan of David Suzuki, but he's absolutely right here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Mark Carney could be a champion of the future if only he broke away from our most regressive, destructive industry
David Suzuki and Sabaa Khan: Canada continues to subsidize the most profitable industry in history with billions of dollars a year in tax breaks, then pleads funds are insufficient to
www.thestar.com
September 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm not always a fan of David Suzuki, but he's absolutely right here: www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now (rare live performance 1969)
YouTube video by slydogmania
youtu.be
September 1, 2025 at 3:02 AM
This impressive lady has set up house on my front porch: a yellow garden spider, or a yellow orb weaver spider. I love the web pattern.
August 15, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This impressive lady has set up house on my front porch: a yellow garden spider, or a yellow orb weaver spider. I love the web pattern.