Ariel Ron
@arielron.bsky.social
ag, energy, econ & political history @ SMU // director Clements Center for Southwest Studies // web: arielron.net // book: Grassroots Leviathan (Johns Hopkins UP 2020) http://bit.ly/2CjHK1G // review: http://bit.ly/3xiKlja
It would be very funny if the Trump administration's plan to win the midterms with tax refunds were humbled by bureaucratic ineptitude they created themselves
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
January 27, 2026 at 5:09 PM
It would be very funny if the Trump administration's plan to win the midterms with tax refunds were humbled by bureaucratic ineptitude they created themselves
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
From William G. Thomas, The Iron Way. For the life of me I still can't figure out what word clouds are good for. Does anyone have a reliable interpretive approach to these things?
January 23, 2026 at 4:39 PM
From William G. Thomas, The Iron Way. For the life of me I still can't figure out what word clouds are good for. Does anyone have a reliable interpretive approach to these things?
Reposted by Ariel Ron
Reposted by Ariel Ron
okay so fun news, I am launching a macro newsletter from Common Wealth about the supply side data and the US economy called Forces of Production
Charts for bsky forthcoming at: @forcesofproduction.com
Launch essay below:
www.forcesofproduction.com/p/atop-the-f...
Charts for bsky forthcoming at: @forcesofproduction.com
Launch essay below:
www.forcesofproduction.com/p/atop-the-f...
Atop the Forces of Production
Announcing the launch of the Forces of Production macro data newsletter
www.forcesofproduction.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:10 PM
okay so fun news, I am launching a macro newsletter from Common Wealth about the supply side data and the US economy called Forces of Production
Charts for bsky forthcoming at: @forcesofproduction.com
Launch essay below:
www.forcesofproduction.com/p/atop-the-f...
Charts for bsky forthcoming at: @forcesofproduction.com
Launch essay below:
www.forcesofproduction.com/p/atop-the-f...
here for critical time-sensitive updates from the National Hay Association
January 13, 2026 at 9:52 PM
here for critical time-sensitive updates from the National Hay Association
Reposted by Ariel Ron
Thanks to @talkingpointsmemo.com for the terrific suite of articles on what Jan. 6 really was. Here's the report Greg Downs and I wrote for the J6 committee, in which we cast that day's events -- and the response to them -- as part of a very long struggle over democracy in the United States
This statement by two experts on Civil War- and Reconstruction-era America was drafted for the Jan. 6 Committee but not included in its public report. A powerful read, it connects the political violence of the 19th century to today.
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jan-6-a...
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/jan-6-a...
Jan. 6 and the Long Shadow of Civil War and Reconstruction Era Political Violence
Two days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, we...
talkingpointsmemo.com
January 6, 2026 at 11:32 PM
Thanks to @talkingpointsmemo.com for the terrific suite of articles on what Jan. 6 really was. Here's the report Greg Downs and I wrote for the J6 committee, in which we cast that day's events -- and the response to them -- as part of a very long struggle over democracy in the United States
January 7, 2026 at 5:46 PM
writing a chapter that’s either a significant contribution to Civil War military history or an exercise in utterly pedantic antiquarianism. Really not sure which. Both? It took ages to put together these numbers showing the logistical burden of equine forage in physical vs cost quantities.
January 7, 2026 at 2:41 PM
writing a chapter that’s either a significant contribution to Civil War military history or an exercise in utterly pedantic antiquarianism. Really not sure which. Both? It took ages to put together these numbers showing the logistical burden of equine forage in physical vs cost quantities.
Foreign policy discourse on both the left and the right seems like such a strange mix of hard bitten realism and anime eyes fantasy
January 5, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Foreign policy discourse on both the left and the right seems like such a strange mix of hard bitten realism and anime eyes fantasy
Clements Center writing fellowship applications are due JAN 11. On to PhD-holders in any humanities or social science filed with book-length projects on Texas, the Southwest, or the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, incl. comparative projects w/at least one foot in the region.
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
How to Apply
www.smu.edu
January 5, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Clements Center writing fellowship applications are due JAN 11. On to PhD-holders in any humanities or social science filed with book-length projects on Texas, the Southwest, or the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, incl. comparative projects w/at least one foot in the region.
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
Perfect stocking stuffer: a retrospective forum on Richard Bensel’s Political Economy of American Industrialization, just in time for the holidays. Give your loved ones the gift of political economy!
muse.jhu.edu/issue/56143
muse.jhu.edu/issue/56143
Project MUSE - Reviews in American History-Volume 53, Number 4, December 2025
muse.jhu.edu
December 23, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Perfect stocking stuffer: a retrospective forum on Richard Bensel’s Political Economy of American Industrialization, just in time for the holidays. Give your loved ones the gift of political economy!
muse.jhu.edu/issue/56143
muse.jhu.edu/issue/56143
Very unfortunate in this day of internet pathologies that the soil layer of the earth is called the pedosphere. The QAnons will throw a fit when they find out there’s a scientific journal with that name.
December 21, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Very unfortunate in this day of internet pathologies that the soil layer of the earth is called the pedosphere. The QAnons will throw a fit when they find out there’s a scientific journal with that name.
You often see these kinds of comments in old academic book reviews. It seems either unnecessary or kind of a backhanded compliment, but it also seems to indicate a time when people cared about books as things and bookmaking as a distinct craft.
December 19, 2025 at 8:02 PM
You often see these kinds of comments in old academic book reviews. It seems either unnecessary or kind of a backhanded compliment, but it also seems to indicate a time when people cared about books as things and bookmaking as a distinct craft.
What’s this bs about
December 19, 2025 at 12:57 AM
What’s this bs about
the first comprehensive analysis of John Sherman's economic policy logic, coming soon...
December 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
the first comprehensive analysis of John Sherman's economic policy logic, coming soon...
Reposted by Ariel Ron
The Indiana Senate rejected redistricting and today is also the anniversary of Indiana statehood in 1816. So, here is a beautiful note with vignettes of hay gathering and a cattle river crossing from a fraudulent outfit that issued widely in the 1850s. Pioneer Association, Lafayette, IN, $5, 18--.🗃️
December 11, 2025 at 11:37 PM
The Indiana Senate rejected redistricting and today is also the anniversary of Indiana statehood in 1816. So, here is a beautiful note with vignettes of hay gathering and a cattle river crossing from a fraudulent outfit that issued widely in the 1850s. Pioneer Association, Lafayette, IN, $5, 18--.🗃️
Energy folks, even if improved large batteries provide enough buffering for wind + solar to provide firm power, what are the options for an electrostate to strategically stockpile energy?
December 11, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Energy folks, even if improved large batteries provide enough buffering for wind + solar to provide firm power, what are the options for an electrostate to strategically stockpile energy?
Question for Russian historians: how did Napoleon’s army interact with Russian peasants during its invasion? How did Russian nobles and czarist officials react?
December 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Question for Russian historians: how did Napoleon’s army interact with Russian peasants during its invasion? How did Russian nobles and czarist officials react?
Reposted by Ariel Ron
👇🎯 Reporting large nominal numbers without relevant denominators is journalistic malpractice.
I really would like to hear a non-nefarious reason why reporters at places like the NYT, WaPo, or NPR can't take 10 second to tell us that the $100 billion we spend on SNAP is 1.3% of the budget or the $6 billion that went to the AIDS program in Africa was 0.9% of the budget. Love to hear a reason.
seriously, can anyone give me a reason why reporters refuse to express huge budget numbers, that they know are meaningless to their audience, in a context that makes them understandable -- such as a percentage of the budget? I NEVER get an answer to this question.
December 9, 2025 at 3:21 AM
👇🎯 Reporting large nominal numbers without relevant denominators is journalistic malpractice.
Found some change I’m not sure where from. Taiwan?
December 7, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Found some change I’m not sure where from. Taiwan?
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
December 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
***please circulate***
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
December 4, 2025 at 6:45 PM
***please circulate***
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
The Clements Center for Southwest Studies invites fellowship applications for the 2026-2027 academic year.
For more info and to apply:
www.smu.edu/dedman/resea...
If you're interested of have questions, feel free to contact me directly.
December 4, 2025 at 5:46 PM
US prices for horses plummeted after World War I. The bottom falls out in 1921.
Warren and Pearson, The Agricultural Situation (1924)
Warren and Pearson, The Agricultural Situation (1924)
December 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM
US prices for horses plummeted after World War I. The bottom falls out in 1921.
Warren and Pearson, The Agricultural Situation (1924)
Warren and Pearson, The Agricultural Situation (1924)
Reposted by Ariel Ron
On ResearchGate. An article by me on, hay being the most important harvest of the year, a neglected subject: 19th-century productivity of haylands in the Netherlands.
@arielron.bsky.social
Braudelian: thorough quantification plus extensive use of ego-docs.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
@arielron.bsky.social
Braudelian: thorough quantification plus extensive use of ego-docs.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
(PDF) A history of hay in Wirdum, Grouw, Friesland and the Netherlands 1806 1908
PDF | Hay was the most important harvest of the year in the Netherlands (as in many other countries). Hay was crucial for feed and food security as well... | Find, read and cite all the research you n...
www.researchgate.net
November 27, 2025 at 11:52 AM
On ResearchGate. An article by me on, hay being the most important harvest of the year, a neglected subject: 19th-century productivity of haylands in the Netherlands.
@arielron.bsky.social
Braudelian: thorough quantification plus extensive use of ego-docs.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
@arielron.bsky.social
Braudelian: thorough quantification plus extensive use of ego-docs.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...