EconChrisClarke
banner
econchrisclarke.bsky.social
EconChrisClarke
@econchrisclarke.bsky.social
I Make Videos About Economics
Ceteris Paribus
Assistant Professor (Career-Track) at Washington State University
https://econchrisclarke.wordpress.com/tiktok-sources-and-notes/

There are impersonators of me out there. Please report.
New BLS nominee is a good sign. A career of careful research in data measurement. Unlike the partisan EJ Antoni, the Senate prevented from taking power, we will have competents at our economic data agency. The sector will never produce the same scope, quality, nor transparency as the government.
February 2, 2026 at 3:32 AM
Ice Budget is bigger than FBI, DOJ, DEA, and all other federal law enforcement combined. To prosecute one crime, it has nearly a third the budget of every state and local police departments & jails. This isn't about budget deficits.
January 26, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Capping credit cards to 10% will cause more harm than help. Consumer credit is competitive. Price controls create shortages. So instead, Consumers will use Payday Lenders w 300% interest. While evidence is mixed on banning payday lenders, a credit card ban will simply be bad.
January 24, 2026 at 11:22 PM
MLK noted social & political equality are much easier than economic equality. He was right. While we've seen improvements in the unemployment and income gaps, progress is slow. Wealth gap may take another century.
January 19, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Can we blame first-class cabins for unruly passengers? A 2016 paper made headlines w claim. I'm skeptical. 1. Huge effect size 2. Doesn't control for alcohol service 3. No replications. 4. Airlines haven't used the results; even in the face of the post-covid "Unruly-pocaplyse."
January 19, 2026 at 9:20 PM
Were egg Price records explained by greed, monopolies, gouging, or corporate lies? Or was just simple supply and demand? Today, with prices now at all time record lows, basic economic models win out again.
January 17, 2026 at 11:27 PM
The U.S. has more forests today than we did a century ago. That's despite tripling our population and increasing GDP by 20 fold!
New YouTube Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqls...
How? Watch the video. This is simply the most gorgeous visit I've done. Northern California is just stunning!
January 16, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Can coups work? Maybe, but the added uncertainty even when an old regimenis replaced by a good one makes it difficult. Avg treatment effects are significantly negative for GDP per cap. It's driven by a decline in Domestic Investment, not a fall in foreign aid nor FDI. Robust to geography.
January 10, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Maduro Gone! Usually CIA regime changes don't work out. Maybe it's different this time. Machado/Gonzalez are popularly democratically elected. Is all this really just about oil?
January 3, 2026 at 10:22 PM
New paper looks at Indiana Covid vaccine effects. Six month gap between 11 & 12-yr-old eligibility gives us out natural experiment. Result: Large spillover among households, but not for schools.
December 30, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Have housing prices returned to pre-covid levels? No. But Trump's graph is real. It only looks at the mean price for one developer, Lennar. National data still shows a stubbornly high plateau. Build more houses.
December 27, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Most items here are fairly similar. The plastic wrap might be a little better. Liquid clothing detergent might be better. It's also possible the TV dinners may taste better. Little Caesars maybe lower quality. They changed their process in order to be more affordable.
December 26, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Everybody always gets this question wrong: How much does Kevin McAllister's Grocery Basket Cost Today? We need to adjust for quantity changes. It comes at $42.54. Median wages grew even more. It's the most affordable Home Alone yet.

youtu.be/kOMKsIlXy_E?...
How Much Do Home Alone Groceries Cost Today?
YouTube video by Christopher Clarke
youtu.be
December 25, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Many claim the latest inflation data have been faked, that there is selective missing data, private data doesn't confirm it, etc. While there are some measurement issues due to the shutdown, I think there's more signal than noise in this report.

youtu.be/gCs80FMbk58?...
Is the BLS lying to you?
YouTube video by Christopher Clarke
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Is the data so bad the government cancelled it in October? No. Previous shutdowns were only "partial." Now we have November data. Trend is bad, but we're still floating. Policy changes can fix a lot of this.
@geohussar.bsky.social
December 17, 2025 at 4:20 AM
The world's largest container ships can't come to the America. We sees at most 16k container ships, the biggest are 24k! Thats 60%! Why? It was quite a puzzle. I went to the Port of LA, boated along side one, talked to experts, and found out it has something to do with Idaho!

youtu.be/qFyYqUwXWLw
December 13, 2025 at 5:05 PM
No Planet Money! Not the Fake Graph! You can't compare mean productivity to median wages. When we do compare mean to mean, the gap disappears. Real median wages are not stagnating either. We need accurate data to solve today's very real problems.
@planetmoney.bsky.social
December 10, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Tax funded anti-poverty programs predate both socialism & capitalism. Accompanied with modern markets, they've done wonders to alleviate suffering. But today, demographics and continued subsidies for the elderly threaten safety nets for the young and poor.
youtu.be/P7Iq4c8V06A?...
Does Welfare Reduce Poverty?
YouTube video by Christopher Clarke
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Should the new poverty line be $140k? No. It's inaccurate math. It's inaccurate English. Michael Green seems to use a "comfortable living wage" source, and relabel it as "poverty."

youtu.be/O84sYFh20Sw?...
Is $140k the New Poverty Line? Economist Answers
YouTube video by Christopher Clarke
youtu.be
December 1, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Thanksgiving Dinner has never been more affordable. TDay dinner now takes the smallest share of our weekly median wages in the 40 yrs of Farm Bureau data. Produce is significantly more expensive though. Immigration crackdown is impededint even better news.
November 26, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Did you read the article I took the time for find for you?
November 26, 2025 at 12:51 AM
Ok, now you're being rude, there is no need for that. Did you even bother to read the article I found for you? Nobody in the "economic profession" is ignoring consumer depreciation. You're just too lazy to read yourself. The BLS and the BEA publicizes their "vaults" for free. It's no secret.
November 26, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Look, I hope I've been generous with my time and pointed you towards resources that can help you get started on your learning journey. There are answers to your questions, if you're willing to put in the curiosity and time to read some manuals.
November 25, 2025 at 11:24 PM
They do. As I said, you need to spend some time reading before claiming we don't.

A consumption measure for automobiles : Monthly Labor Review : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics share.google/Bw7Ft4yr3Vp0...
A consumption measure for automobiles : Monthly Labor Review : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
share.google
November 25, 2025 at 11:10 PM
And how expensive are the 18-wheeler engines? If you do the math, it works to be about the same price per mile, more or less.

Again, economists measure "depression" is measured. And has been measured by economists for generations.
November 25, 2025 at 10:22 PM