David Wessel
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David Wessel
@davidmwessel.bsky.social
10K followers 400 following 2.1K posts
Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal & Monetary Policy, Brookings Institution
https://www.brookings.edu/people/david-wessel/



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Reposted by David Wessel
nytimes.com
In Opinion | The first step toward building a good jobs agenda requires officials thinking about economic development “to get over their manufacturing fetishism,” Dani Rodrik writes.
Opinion | What Even Is a ‘Good’ Job?
It starts with abandoning the fetish over manufacturing.
nyti.ms
November 10, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Reposted by David Wessel
profnoto.bsky.social
This is such a bizarre talking point; I've thankfully never had to use most of the types of insurance that I have for me and my family

This is a good excuse to share my WSJ letter to the editor explaining that "not filing a claim doesn’t mean you didn’t need insurance" www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
November 10, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by David Wessel
jenee.bsky.social
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.

RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by David Wessel
bgrueskin.bsky.social
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
I Want You to Understand Chicago Politics Chicago 2025-11-08 I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time. Every day my phone buzzes. It is a neighborhood group: four people were kidnapped at the corner drugstore. A friend a mile away sends a Slack message: she was at the scene when masked men assaulted and abducted two people on the street. A plumber working on my pipes is distraught, and I find out that two of his employees were kidnapped that morning. A week later it happens again. An email arrives. Agents with guns have chased a teacher into the school where she works. They did not have a warrant. They dragged her away, ignoring her and her colleagues’ pleas to show proof of her documentation. That evening I stand a few feet from the parents of Rayito de Sol and listen to them describe, with anguish, how good Ms. Diana was to their children. What it is like to have strangers with guns traumatize your kids. For a teacher to hide a three-year-old child for fear they might be killed. How their relatives will no longer leave the house. I hear the pain and fury in their voices, and I wonder who will be next. Understand what it is to pray in Chicago. On September 19th, Reverend David Black, lead pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Chicago, was praying outside the ICE detention center in Broadview when a DHS agent shot him in the head with pepper balls. Pepper balls are never supposed to be fired at the head because they can seriously injure, or even kill. “We could hear them laughing as they were shooting us from the roof,” Black recalled. He is not the only member of the clergy ICE has assaulted. Methodist pastor Hannah Kardon was violently arrested on October 17th, and Baptist pastor Michael Woolf was shot with pepper balls on November 1st. Understand what it is to sleep in Chicago. On the night of September 30th, federal agents rappelled from a Black Hawk helicopter to execute a raid on an apartment building on the South Sho…
November 9, 2025 at 8:49 PM
As the contest for Fed chair enters its final months, the @financialtimes.com says jostling for leadership posts is underway at the ECB on.ft.com/3JtLq3L
ECB to kick off race for top roles as Lagarde era enters final stretch
Four of six jobs on central bank’s executive board become vacant before end of 2027, including the presidency
on.ft.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Two @wsj.com pieces about NYC skyscrapers worth reading.
The new (JPMorganChase): www.wsj.com/style/design...

The old (American Radiator)
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
November 10, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Reposted by David Wessel
bbkogan.bsky.social
The RIFs language is actually great. Not only does it rehire the people RIFed during the shutdown, it makes it an unequivocal Antideficiency Act violation to do ANY MORE RIFs through the duration of the CR (Jan 30)

Completely stops Trump/Vought Phase 2 for now

Would love to see this standardized
12 SEC. 120. (a) PROHIBITION.—Notwithstanding sec- 13 tion 106(1), during the period between the date of enact- 14 ment of this Aet and the date specified in section 106(3) 15 of this Act, no federal funds may be used to initiate, carry 16 out, implement, or otherwise notice a reduction in force 17 to reduce the number of employees within any department, 18 ageney, or office of the Federal Government.
November 10, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Reposted by David Wessel
crampell.bsky.social
Trump threw another lavish party as his DOJ asked the Supreme Court to stop it from being forced to pay food stamps for 40 million Americans.
Yes, this is *different* from last week’s Gatsby party. www.thedailybeast.com/trump-hosts-...
Trump Throws Decadent Opera and Truffles Rager at Mar-a-Lago
The president’s ragers show no sign of slowing down even amid the government shutdown.
www.thedailybeast.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:02 PM
We've added some detail to the Hutchins Center Fiscal Impact Measure to break out our estimates of the impact of OBBBA, tariffs, and uncertainty on
GDP growth www.brookings.edu/articles/hut... @brookings.edu
Hutchins Center Fiscal Impact Measure | Brookings
The Hutchins Center Fiscal Impact Measure shows how much fiscal policy adds to or subtracts from overall economic growth.
www.brookings.edu
November 8, 2025 at 6:03 PM
10-year-old beekeeper takes on Santa Rosa city govenrment -- and wins. www.latimes.com/california/s...
California city tried to stamp out 10-year-old’s beehive project. Saving the bees was a lesson in love
Before he goes out for lacrosse games, it's tradition that he has a spoonful of honey. Also, perhaps not coincidentally given what happened later, he gets a kick out of seeing tiny insects work togeth...
www.latimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:14 PM
What is Wall Street most worried about these days? From a NYFed survey summarized in Fed's new Financial Stability Report www.federalreserve.gov/publications...
November 8, 2025 at 2:04 PM
As you round the corner on Shanghai’s Shimen Second Road, a giant ship, "The Louis," appears like an apparition. Suspended from its hull, the anchor is in the shape of two six-foot-tall letters: LV. The ship-shaped exhibition space and store, is the brainchild of Louis Vuitton. on.ft.com/3JPvdWE
November 8, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by David Wessel
corybooker.com
Thank you Congressman Neguse for laying it plain.
October 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Axios challenges NYTimes story www.axios.com/2025/11/07/d...
Source: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser not under federal investigation
"The mayor's name was mentioned in something, but she is not the target nor being investigated," a senior admin official told Axios.
www.axios.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Will bond markets force fiscal repair? A @financialtimes.com podcast I did yesterday with Carmen Reinhart, Ugo Montrucchio, and Andrew Hill. (Free registration required to watch)
event-registration.ft.com/register/8a3...
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 PM
What happens to TIPs if CPI is delayed? "If the CPI for a particular month is not reported by the last day of the following
month, we will announce an index number based on the last available 12-month change in the CPI." www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
So that's why there have been so many long field goals at NFL games lately. A rule change allows teams to soften the footballs used for kicking. By @wsj.com's Andrew Beaton.
www.wsj.com/sports/footb...
The Dark Arts Behind the NFL’s Record-Shattering Kicking Season
This offseason, the NFL made a small tweak to the rules governing so-called “K-Balls.” It’s led to a year of supercharged kicking.
www.wsj.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Reposted by David Wessel
bgrueskin.bsky.social
Not only was Sandwich Guy acquitted.

He was acquitted on a misdemeanor after Jeanine Pirro failed to get an indictment for a felony assault charge out of a grand jury. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Jury finds D.C. ‘sandwich guy’ not guilty of assaulting officer
Sean C. Dunn admitted he flung the hoagie at a federal agent. His attorneys called it a “harmless gesture” of protest as Trump commandeered D.C. police.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Ben Bernanke, revisiting earlier work, shows how much financial distress of borrowers, not just lenders, significantly depressed credit flows, spending and economic activity in the Great Depression -- and politicians saw normalization of credit flows as top priority. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Credit, Debt-Deflation, and the Great Depression Revisited
(Fall 2025) - This article revisits the thesis of Bernanke (1983) that the disruption of private credit markets induced by deflation and falling nominal incomes helps to explain the depth and persiste...
www.aeaweb.org
November 6, 2025 at 6:26 PM
A novel take on why fertility rates are falling from the recent Brookings Papers on Economic Activity conference. My podcast interview with the authors. @brookings.edu www.brookings.edu/articles/are...
Are fertility rates falling because of social comparisons? | Brookings
Fertility rates are falling in many countries around the world, with births failing to keep pace with deaths in nearly half of countries. Researchers believe it’s possible that the world’s population ...
www.brookings.edu
November 6, 2025 at 2:54 PM
YIMBy win? NYC voters ok'd:
- measure that would make it much harder for a single city-council member to block new housing projects.
- two proposals to speed approvals process for affordable housing and modest projects.
www.wsj.com/real-estate/...
How New York Developers Scored a Victory on Election Night
The passage of three ballot measures should ease city approval for new housing developments.
www.wsj.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by David Wessel
johncawley.bsky.social
New data on the #EconJobMarket as of Nov 2. Based on total # of job listings on JOE, this year continues to be even weaker (by 11%) than during COVID (2020). 1/many #EconSky
November 5, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Rep. Jared Golden: Why I'm not seeking reelection
www.bangordailynews.com/2025/11/05/o...
Jared Golden: I won’t seek reelection. Here’s why.
"What I could accomplish in this increasingly unproductive Congress pales in comparison to what I could do in that time as a husband, a father and a son."
www.bangordailynews.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I asked Fed Gov. Lisa Cook after all she's been through -- confirmation, Trump trying to fire her -- what she'd tell young people about the pros and cons of a career in public service. Her answer:
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Australia has launched a plan to force energy companies to offer free electricity to households three hours during the day, aiming to use excess solar capacity and rebalance the grid away from coal and gas. on.ft.com/4hE8VUe
Australia to force energy groups to offer free daytime electricity
‘Solar Sharer’ plan aims to ease demand on grid and redeploy excess power from rooftop solar network
on.ft.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:07 PM