Rafe Meager (they/them)
@economeager.bsky.social
Aspiring wastrel, applied econometrician. At http://rachaelmeager.com for bayes, dev econ and meta science. Also at http://rottenandgood.substack.com for writing, art, death and emotions. Gay academic nonbinary weirdo, cursed to be serious in life.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
it's also always worth pointing out that Ariely has actually not faced any consequences.
January 4, 2026 at 2:32 PM
it's also always worth pointing out that Ariely has actually not faced any consequences.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
"When you can get along in the world, you start to have a vested interest in thinking that the status quo is good, since, after all, you are successful, and, of course, you work hard, so what could be more fair."
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:28 PM
"When you can get along in the world, you start to have a vested interest in thinking that the status quo is good, since, after all, you are successful, and, of course, you work hard, so what could be more fair."
i get by with a little help from my friends
The more focused meagersplanation is that he hates harvard for not fully returning his love for harvard
January 4, 2026 at 2:16 PM
i get by with a little help from my friends
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
The global right is the rape party and the center left DEMANDS to be given the cuck stool
Darren Jones is asked if the US bombing Venezuela & abducting its leader was lawful
Jones says he won't give a view on the action & he goes on to say its not up to politicians to make judgements on international law. Phillips points out thats exactly what they've done on Ukraine
Jones says he won't give a view on the action & he goes on to say its not up to politicians to make judgements on international law. Phillips points out thats exactly what they've done on Ukraine
January 4, 2026 at 1:40 PM
The global right is the rape party and the center left DEMANDS to be given the cuck stool
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
Non-Americans supporting the Maduro ouster are such rubes. Suppose in 2029 POTUS Kamala decides Javier Milei has to stand trial in the US for the crypto scam. She fires missiles at Buenos Aires and loads him and his sister on a helicopter. How can you oppose that if you support outsing Maduro?
January 4, 2026 at 1:39 PM
Non-Americans supporting the Maduro ouster are such rubes. Suppose in 2029 POTUS Kamala decides Javier Milei has to stand trial in the US for the crypto scam. She fires missiles at Buenos Aires and loads him and his sister on a helicopter. How can you oppose that if you support outsing Maduro?
incredible view of jupiter in gemini in sydney tonight
January 4, 2026 at 1:39 PM
incredible view of jupiter in gemini in sydney tonight
I just want to point out how this all has the air of sexual conquest; that’s not coincidental but rather core to fascism as a project
A post by the spouse of a key White House adviser (Stephen Miller)
January 4, 2026 at 1:26 AM
I just want to point out how this all has the air of sexual conquest; that’s not coincidental but rather core to fascism as a project
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
"HOW CAN THESE PEOPLE CALL THEMSELVES ACADEMICS"
Indeed... 🤯
Indeed... 🤯
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 2:28 PM
"HOW CAN THESE PEOPLE CALL THEMSELVES ACADEMICS"
Indeed... 🤯
Indeed... 🤯
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
“A lonely-eyed jukebox”, ladies and gentlemen.
to be honest half the reason i wrote this post is that about a year ago i wrote this sick series of disses on drake and i got tired of having them buried on my hard drive but i needed a vehicle worthy of them
January 3, 2026 at 5:51 AM
“A lonely-eyed jukebox”, ladies and gentlemen.
if anyone wants my novel about an abusive, incestuous 16th century family of minor nobility set in an alt-historical semi-pagan version of england hmu. it's kind of hilary mantel meets david lynch. and also gay so there's the heated rivalry angle now.
Someone in Australian publishing should be reaching out to Rafe. This is raw but astonishingly good.
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
January 3, 2026 at 5:46 AM
if anyone wants my novel about an abusive, incestuous 16th century family of minor nobility set in an alt-historical semi-pagan version of england hmu. it's kind of hilary mantel meets david lynch. and also gay so there's the heated rivalry angle now.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
I enjoyed (insofar as one can enjoy something so sobering) Meager’s latest missive, and cackled at the Drake bits. And having only read the Headley Beowulf, I must now seek out the others!
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 3:35 AM
I enjoyed (insofar as one can enjoy something so sobering) Meager’s latest missive, and cackled at the Drake bits. And having only read the Headley Beowulf, I must now seek out the others!
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
Someday when I have tenure I too will tell young people to fix my problems
January 3, 2026 at 2:11 AM
Someday when I have tenure I too will tell young people to fix my problems
to be honest half the reason i wrote this post is that about a year ago i wrote this sick series of disses on drake and i got tired of having them buried on my hard drive but i needed a vehicle worthy of them
January 3, 2026 at 1:12 AM
to be honest half the reason i wrote this post is that about a year ago i wrote this sick series of disses on drake and i got tired of having them buried on my hard drive but i needed a vehicle worthy of them
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
which other Bayesian econometrician is going to tell you about the appearance of “self help” in an earlier Beowulf translation?
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 3, 2026 at 12:12 AM
which other Bayesian econometrician is going to tell you about the appearance of “self help” in an earlier Beowulf translation?
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
This is very good and worth a read, wherever you land.
The inclusion of Drake dissing is particularly to my taste.
The inclusion of Drake dissing is particularly to my taste.
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:46 PM
This is very good and worth a read, wherever you land.
The inclusion of Drake dissing is particularly to my taste.
The inclusion of Drake dissing is particularly to my taste.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
it was obvious stone was like this the way he spoke about abortion and gay marriage, i dunno why that immediately didn't clue people in as to how far to the right he was
I was wondering why their is so much random racist discourse on Somalis on the TL rn but oh it’s election season for governor rn lol
January 2, 2026 at 1:14 PM
it was obvious stone was like this the way he spoke about abortion and gay marriage, i dunno why that immediately didn't clue people in as to how far to the right he was
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
“When you hear about abuses of power, you should feel disgusted. That is what disgust is for. If you no longer feel disgusted, that is not wisdom or cleverness. Something has gone very wrong.” @economeager.bsky.social on academia and how it’s (not) dealing with Epstein and others abuses.
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
rottenandgood.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:29 PM
“When you hear about abuses of power, you should feel disgusted. That is what disgust is for. If you no longer feel disgusted, that is not wisdom or cleverness. Something has gone very wrong.” @economeager.bsky.social on academia and how it’s (not) dealing with Epstein and others abuses.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
“I cannot describe to you how enraging it is to look to well-established, reputable, publicly altruistic people to seek to understand how to use power, fame, and influence responsibly only to discover that for the most part this question, or this agenda, has never occurred to these people at all.”
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:43 AM
“I cannot describe to you how enraging it is to look to well-established, reputable, publicly altruistic people to seek to understand how to use power, fame, and influence responsibly only to discover that for the most part this question, or this agenda, has never occurred to these people at all.”
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Caveat Vendor
Universities, audience capture, and bullshit; Beowulf, Kendrick Lamar
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 11:00 AM
I wrote about the endless temptation successful people feel to justify and feel justified in a clearly toxic system. Happy new year.
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
open.substack.com/pub/rottenan...
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
It’s a fun story
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
January 2, 2026 at 10:19 AM
It’s a fun story
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v3...
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
There are actually many more things you can point to as examples of recent scientific breakthroughs www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br... than 'curing Alzheimer's in mice', which people have been claiming to have done for decades and has a tenuous connection to what happens in humans.
Wanna see real-life miracles? Fund scientific research.
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
A team of US scientists just cured Alzheimer’s in mice — and there is now hope that the disease can be reversed in humans.
futurism.com/health-medic...
Alzheimer's Fully Reversed in Mice, Scientists Say
A new compound has been shown to reverse late stage Alzheimer's disease in lab mice, which gives millions of sufferers new cause for hope.
futurism.com
January 1, 2026 at 12:37 PM
There are actually many more things you can point to as examples of recent scientific breakthroughs www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br... than 'curing Alzheimer's in mice', which people have been claiming to have done for decades and has a tenuous connection to what happens in humans.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
IMO one of the best research studies of the year.
TLDR: A new study shows that rideshare has improved employment outcomes, social connections, and well being of people with disabilities—with the highest benefits being for those with vision/hearing or mobility disabilities. WOW. #disabilitysky #phd
TLDR: A new study shows that rideshare has improved employment outcomes, social connections, and well being of people with disabilities—with the highest benefits being for those with vision/hearing or mobility disabilities. WOW. #disabilitysky #phd
I am excited to announce I am on the #EconJobMarket this year! 🎉 My research explores economic barriers for people with disabilities at the intersection of labor, public, and health economics.
My #EconJMP examines how reliable transportation transforms outcomes for this population. 🧵1/6
My #EconJMP examines how reliable transportation transforms outcomes for this population. 🧵1/6
December 31, 2025 at 5:54 PM
IMO one of the best research studies of the year.
TLDR: A new study shows that rideshare has improved employment outcomes, social connections, and well being of people with disabilities—with the highest benefits being for those with vision/hearing or mobility disabilities. WOW. #disabilitysky #phd
TLDR: A new study shows that rideshare has improved employment outcomes, social connections, and well being of people with disabilities—with the highest benefits being for those with vision/hearing or mobility disabilities. WOW. #disabilitysky #phd
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
this is why I think publications that focus almost solely on culture war issues are so empty. The genuine economic, health, welfare etc impacts of policy are much more important than Ivy League coursework discourse but become sideshows to these people.
December 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM
this is why I think publications that focus almost solely on culture war issues are so empty. The genuine economic, health, welfare etc impacts of policy are much more important than Ivy League coursework discourse but become sideshows to these people.
Reposted by Rafe Meager (they/them)
Real "oh my god, she admit it" moment here. Trump is treated as an uninteresting figure without agency so we can dump endless criticism on liberals for how they react to his "natural disaster." He "doesn't participate in moral frameworks" lmfao
December 30, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Real "oh my god, she admit it" moment here. Trump is treated as an uninteresting figure without agency so we can dump endless criticism on liberals for how they react to his "natural disaster." He "doesn't participate in moral frameworks" lmfao
why even bother trying to do any worldbuilding when the council of troubles was a real thing, also known as the council of blood en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council...
Council of Troubles - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 1, 2026 at 4:10 AM
why even bother trying to do any worldbuilding when the council of troubles was a real thing, also known as the council of blood en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council...