Justin Fox
@byjustinfox.bsky.social
Columnist @opinion.bloomberg.com. Opinions mine, charts property of Bloomberg LP (although you are of course welcome to share them).
I dunno, I would read this chart as showing that restaurant price increases slowed substantially in 2024 and stopped slowing in April. (This is from the DoorDash State of Local Commerce Report that the White House is bragging about about.doordash.com/en-us/news/s...)
November 12, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I dunno, I would read this chart as showing that restaurant price increases slowed substantially in 2024 and stopped slowing in April. (This is from the DoorDash State of Local Commerce Report that the White House is bragging about about.doordash.com/en-us/news/s...)
Reposted by Justin Fox
Abolishing property taxes is a terrible idea. They're more conducive to economic growth than other taxes, plus local governments need the money
In Defense of Property Taxes (I Know, I Know)
In the 1970s, big increases in house prices in many parts of the US brought big increases in property tax bills, followed by a tax revolt — represented most famously by California’s Proposition 13 in 1978 — with consequences that have reverberated ever since. Even-steeper house-price increases during the Covid-19 pandemic brought a less dramatic rise in property tax revenue nationwide, thanks in part to measures adopted during and after that 1970s tax revolt. But the tax increases were big enoug
bloom.bg
November 11, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Abolishing property taxes is a terrible idea. They're more conducive to economic growth than other taxes, plus local governments need the money
This sounds like it was a fun mayoral race en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_P...
November 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
This sounds like it was a fun mayoral race en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_P...
Reposted by Justin Fox
Major Cities Chiefs is out with data through Q3 2025. They find a 14% drop in violent crime with across the board drops in individual crime types. Their sample includes 68 agencies. This matches (though slightly overstates) the drops being measured in the RTCI.
majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/u...
majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/u...
November 4, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Major Cities Chiefs is out with data through Q3 2025. They find a 14% drop in violent crime with across the board drops in individual crime types. Their sample includes 68 agencies. This matches (though slightly overstates) the drops being measured in the RTCI.
majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/u...
majorcitieschiefs.com/wp-content/u...
They're deporting the Fonz www.al.com/news/2025/10...
Fonzie lost in immigration court. Now Alabama father will move to a country he knows nothing about
“There’s nothing about this kid that’s not American,” said a former Blountsville Town Council member.
www.al.com
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 PM
They're deporting the Fonz www.al.com/news/2025/10...
Law school is back (it's not shown in the chart because it's so early and the numbers so volatile, but as of yesterday the number of applicants for next year was up another 28%).
From new column, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
From new column, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
October 31, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Law school is back (it's not shown in the chart because it's so early and the numbers so volatile, but as of yesterday the number of applicants for next year was up another 28%).
From new column, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
From new column, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Justin Fox
🚨🎃 for my fellow NYC halloween voters and sticker obsessives: there are a total of FOUR items available to you today — ask your poll worker!
1. halloween voting sticker
2. halloween **temporary tattoo**
3. borough-specific early voting sticker
4. regular early voting sticker
gotta catch ‘em all 🗳️
1. halloween voting sticker
2. halloween **temporary tattoo**
3. borough-specific early voting sticker
4. regular early voting sticker
gotta catch ‘em all 🗳️
October 31, 2025 at 1:36 PM
🚨🎃 for my fellow NYC halloween voters and sticker obsessives: there are a total of FOUR items available to you today — ask your poll worker!
1. halloween voting sticker
2. halloween **temporary tattoo**
3. borough-specific early voting sticker
4. regular early voting sticker
gotta catch ‘em all 🗳️
1. halloween voting sticker
2. halloween **temporary tattoo**
3. borough-specific early voting sticker
4. regular early voting sticker
gotta catch ‘em all 🗳️
Frank Bisignano's move to the Social Security Administration has enhanced at least one person's retirement security www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Frank Bisignano Ducks $300 Million Fiserv Loss With Move to Trump Role
Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano’s move into government couldn’t have been better timed, helping the former Fiserv Inc. chief avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in losses...
www.bloomberg.com
October 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Frank Bisignano's move to the Social Security Administration has enhanced at least one person's retirement security www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Interesting headline encountered while looking for something else entirely
www.nytimes.com/1968/03/02/a...
www.nytimes.com/1968/03/02/a...
M.T.A. TAKES OVER TRANSIT NETWORK; Moses Will Be Kept On as Consultant to Agency (Published 1968)
www.nytimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Interesting headline encountered while looking for something else entirely
www.nytimes.com/1968/03/02/a...
www.nytimes.com/1968/03/02/a...
Hey, remember when Elon Musk was going save hundreds of billions of dollars by revoking Social Security benefits for dead people? Didn't happen, because hardly any dead people were getting Social Security. Instead, there's been a big *increase* in Social Security recipients since Musk's DC stint.
October 23, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Hey, remember when Elon Musk was going save hundreds of billions of dollars by revoking Social Security benefits for dead people? Didn't happen, because hardly any dead people were getting Social Security. Instead, there's been a big *increase* in Social Security recipients since Musk's DC stint.
Reupping this morning because Blueskyers seem to be weirdly (and gratifyingly) interested in Clement Clarke Moore
Since @jamellebouie.net has got people talking tonight about Clement Clarke Moore's 1804 critique of Thomas Jefferson's racism, here's my epic 2021 examination of Moore's complicated ties to and attitudes about slavery, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
A Gift for America's Christmas Poet: Rehabilitation.
Did the scholar and father of Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood own slaves? Probably not. Did he really write “The Night Before Christmas”? Well ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reupping this morning because Blueskyers seem to be weirdly (and gratifyingly) interested in Clement Clarke Moore
Since @jamellebouie.net has got people talking tonight about Clement Clarke Moore's 1804 critique of Thomas Jefferson's racism, here's my epic 2021 examination of Moore's complicated ties to and attitudes about slavery, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
A Gift for America's Christmas Poet: Rehabilitation.
Did the scholar and father of Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood own slaves? Probably not. Did he really write “The Night Before Christmas”? Well ...
www.bloomberg.com
October 21, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Since @jamellebouie.net has got people talking tonight about Clement Clarke Moore's 1804 critique of Thomas Jefferson's racism, here's my epic 2021 examination of Moore's complicated ties to and attitudes about slavery, with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Justin Fox
I'm in @opinion.bloomberg.com today talking about three "partial truths" in the US economic narrative. "Partial truths" are not myths--they have more than a kernel of fact behind them--but they demand caution, asterisks, and grains of salt.
www.bloomberg.com/op...
1/9
www.bloomberg.com/op...
1/9
AI’s Effect on the US Economy Is Exaggerated
Sometimes there are economic narratives that don’t quite deserve a debunking — they have more than a kernel of truth to them — but rather demand an appropriate level of skepticism. Three such stories are widespread today.
www.bloomberg.com
October 15, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I'm in @opinion.bloomberg.com today talking about three "partial truths" in the US economic narrative. "Partial truths" are not myths--they have more than a kernel of fact behind them--but they demand caution, asterisks, and grains of salt.
www.bloomberg.com/op...
1/9
www.bloomberg.com/op...
1/9
Reposted by Justin Fox
BTW let's appreciate the sheer bathetic comedy of Trump's threats sliding from WE'RE GOING TO BAN ALL CRITICAL SOFTWARE WE WILL BRING YOUR ECONOMY TO A HALT down to WE'LL MAKE OUR OWN COOKING OIL SEE IF WE DON'T.
Don't look now but Trump just freaked out the market again by continuing to escalate the trade war.
October 14, 2025 at 9:11 PM
BTW let's appreciate the sheer bathetic comedy of Trump's threats sliding from WE'RE GOING TO BAN ALL CRITICAL SOFTWARE WE WILL BRING YOUR ECONOMY TO A HALT down to WE'LL MAKE OUR OWN COOKING OIL SEE IF WE DON'T.
Reposted by Justin Fox
If your language already has a nickname for CBP secondary inspection, the risk of traveling to the US is not much higher than before. If one develops in French or German, that will coincide with a serious drop in numbers.
Spanish: cuartito, small room
Chinese: 小黑屋 xiǎohēiwū, little black room
Spanish: cuartito, small room
Chinese: 小黑屋 xiǎohēiwū, little black room
October 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
If your language already has a nickname for CBP secondary inspection, the risk of traveling to the US is not much higher than before. If one develops in French or German, that will coincide with a serious drop in numbers.
Spanish: cuartito, small room
Chinese: 小黑屋 xiǎohēiwū, little black room
Spanish: cuartito, small room
Chinese: 小黑屋 xiǎohēiwū, little black room
Reposted by Justin Fox
US-bound visitors from most of the world are used to the kind of treatment that white people are now also subjected to, so it doesn’t faze them (more than it did in the past).
The tourism decline is being driven mainly by Canadians. International visits from the rest of the world are still up modestly. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
October 14, 2025 at 12:05 PM
US-bound visitors from most of the world are used to the kind of treatment that white people are now also subjected to, so it doesn’t faze them (more than it did in the past).
Despite fears that tourism to the US would collapse during Donald Trump's first term, it held up fine. That's not the case so far in his second term. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
October 14, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Despite fears that tourism to the US would collapse during Donald Trump's first term, it held up fine. That's not the case so far in his second term. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Big surprise: New York is the only US city where most households don't have cars. But there are some big zero-car minorities across the river in New Jersey and in Washington, Boston and San Francisco. From new column with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
September 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Big surprise: New York is the only US city where most households don't have cars. But there are some big zero-car minorities across the river in New Jersey and in Washington, Boston and San Francisco. From new column with gift link: www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Justin Fox
one way to understand the LLM boom is that we have finally, actually, invented Ask Jeeves.
September 23, 2025 at 6:20 PM
one way to understand the LLM boom is that we have finally, actually, invented Ask Jeeves.
Reposted by Justin Fox
Lots of transit news from BART director Victor Flores - including that the BART board has voted to use standard gauge for the 2nd set of transbay tubes.
This will open up the option for Caltrain, High Speed Rail, and Amtrak to cross between downtown San Francisco and the East Bay in the future.
This will open up the option for Caltrain, High Speed Rail, and Amtrak to cross between downtown San Francisco and the East Bay in the future.
It's been a while since my last BART newsletter. Between my last job, BART, and studying for the LSAT, time has been limited, but that's no excuse!
Grab your cup of coffee or tea and catch up with me!
victorfloresforbart.com/p/all-aboard...
Grab your cup of coffee or tea and catch up with me!
victorfloresforbart.com/p/all-aboard...
All Aboard - Closing Out Transit Month 2025
What happened to the budget and our service disruptions
victorfloresforbart.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Lots of transit news from BART director Victor Flores - including that the BART board has voted to use standard gauge for the 2nd set of transbay tubes.
This will open up the option for Caltrain, High Speed Rail, and Amtrak to cross between downtown San Francisco and the East Bay in the future.
This will open up the option for Caltrain, High Speed Rail, and Amtrak to cross between downtown San Francisco and the East Bay in the future.
I noticed! www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
September 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I noticed! www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Reposted by Justin Fox
New York's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative (GIVE) has data updated through August. Shooting victims were down 34% relative to August 2024 and fell to a new 12 month rolling record low since 2007. See their excellent dashboard: www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa...
September 17, 2025 at 2:05 PM
New York's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative (GIVE) has data updated through August. Shooting victims were down 34% relative to August 2024 and fell to a new 12 month rolling record low since 2007. See their excellent dashboard: www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/crimnet/ojsa...
Reposted by Justin Fox
A month into the DC deployment we see no real change in the violent crime trend, a possible drop in shootings that seems real but is a bit tough to tease out from the pre-existing trend, and a drop in property crime that's possibly tied to dropping mobility. Still too early to say much for sure IMO.
September 12, 2025 at 1:12 PM
A month into the DC deployment we see no real change in the violent crime trend, a possible drop in shootings that seems real but is a bit tough to tease out from the pre-existing trend, and a drop in property crime that's possibly tied to dropping mobility. Still too early to say much for sure IMO.
New Census data on working from home is out this week, and Santa Monica is No. 1! This is ranked by Public Use Microdata Data — I explain why in my new column (gift link) — but it also tops the list if you rank by cities. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
September 12, 2025 at 1:57 PM
New Census data on working from home is out this week, and Santa Monica is No. 1! This is ranked by Public Use Microdata Data — I explain why in my new column (gift link) — but it also tops the list if you rank by cities. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...
Got that wrong
I think the preliminary benchmark payroll revisions coming out in a few minutes are going to be on the low end of all the estimates. Looking at the Q4 2024 QCEW data (the revision will be based on Q1 2025 data) I just don't see the kinds of huge discrepancies there were in Q4 2023.
September 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Got that wrong