Greg Shill
@gregshill.com
Professor of Law at Arizona State University • Student of firms, cities & transportation (and Seinfeld) • Papers: ssrn.com/author=887547 • Newsletter: gregshill.substack.com • Co-host of Densely Speaking podcast • gregshill.com •
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Greg Shill
@gregshill.com
· Aug 7
🚨 Transportation for the Abundant Society 🚨
New draft paper (w/ Jonathan Levine) now up.
"Abundance" needs to grapple with transportation beyond megaprojects and institutions beyond zoning. We propose anchoring planning metrics in *access*, not speed of travel. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
New draft paper (w/ Jonathan Levine) now up.
"Abundance" needs to grapple with transportation beyond megaprojects and institutions beyond zoning. We propose anchoring planning metrics in *access*, not speed of travel. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
St. Louis Fire of 1849. Don't hear much about that these days.
February 10, 2026 at 4:05 PM
St. Louis Fire of 1849. Don't hear much about that these days.
Many people are saying.
February 10, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Many people are saying.
The exclusion of opportunity costs is one of the most unprincipled aspects of transportation decisionmaking.
The Claiborne Expressway costs $30 million in lost property tax revenue per year. It is not the only harm, but it highlights one way highways hurt urban prosperity. urban3.substack.com/p/i10-lost-v...
Modeling Lost Property Value Adjacent to the I-10 Elevated Urban Freeway in New Orleans
Urban3's analysis reveals that I-10 along Claiborne Ave through the neighborhoods of Treme and Seventh Ward in New Orleans impacts redlined communities and causes myriad negative impacts.
urban3.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:21 PM
The exclusion of opportunity costs is one of the most unprincipled aspects of transportation decisionmaking.
Reposted by Greg Shill
Very excited to say that the stars have aligned and NYU Marron/Transit Costs Project have landed a grant that will fund a second edition of Momentum, which will apply the high-throughput framework to major regional rail networks beyond the NY area.
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
The NYU-Marron report on electrification is out: It pairs electrification and other components to develop a high-throughput infrastructure design framework, which slashes time off of existing commuter and inter-city passenger rail services. We call it Momentum -- transitcosts.com/wp-content/u...
February 9, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Very excited to say that the stars have aligned and NYU Marron/Transit Costs Project have landed a grant that will fund a second edition of Momentum, which will apply the high-throughput framework to major regional rail networks beyond the NY area.
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
Our three big new cases:
- NJT
- SEPTA
- METRA
A good way to find out if street parking is truly indispensable in a dense area is to charge for it.
Something to keep in mind the next time the city tries to repurpose parking and drivers complain that every last car is necessary at all times. The storm was two weeks ago.
February 9, 2026 at 2:56 PM
A good way to find out if street parking is truly indispensable in a dense area is to charge for it.
Reposted by Greg Shill
The bottom of a very good thread =>
My experience: a discussion that starts with "City Y needs technology X" tends to be far less useful than one that starts with "We need better transit between A, B, and C."
February 8, 2026 at 7:08 PM
The bottom of a very good thread =>
Finally met the other guy who buys the @financialtimes.com Weekend at the corner store. Unsurprisingly, he’s me, but ten years older.
February 8, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Finally met the other guy who buys the @financialtimes.com Weekend at the corner store. Unsurprisingly, he’s me, but ten years older.
Legit concerns about AVs risk metamorphosing into a general panic when these incredible inventions should instead be the tip of a legislative spear for prodding automakers about gaps in their own safety systems. One senator even alluded to the US losing jobs for safety drivers, please be serious.
Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”
It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines
During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.
futurism.com
February 7, 2026 at 2:24 AM
Legit concerns about AVs risk metamorphosing into a general panic when these incredible inventions should instead be the tip of a legislative spear for prodding automakers about gaps in their own safety systems. One senator even alluded to the US losing jobs for safety drivers, please be serious.
Celebrating the protection of union jobs first and continuation of a vital, generational infrastructure project second is an unintentional reveal about how US transportation projects work.
February 7, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Celebrating the protection of union jobs first and continuation of a vital, generational infrastructure project second is an unintentional reveal about how US transportation projects work.
Reposted by Greg Shill
the end result of knowing basic things about urban planning is reacting to every news story by just constantly wanting to grab people by the collar while shaking them and shouting "do you have any idea how many Americans die in car crashes every year???"
February 6, 2026 at 5:34 PM
the end result of knowing basic things about urban planning is reacting to every news story by just constantly wanting to grab people by the collar while shaking them and shouting "do you have any idea how many Americans die in car crashes every year???"
Now that's what I call grade separation.
(substructure of Marshall Field and Company's building (1902), courtesy bldg. 51 archive)
(substructure of Marshall Field and Company's building (1902), courtesy bldg. 51 archive)
February 6, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Now that's what I call grade separation.
(substructure of Marshall Field and Company's building (1902), courtesy bldg. 51 archive)
(substructure of Marshall Field and Company's building (1902), courtesy bldg. 51 archive)
Reposted by Greg Shill
Reports of the 'death of distance' in frontier research were premature - say Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Leiboyu Xiang, and Neil Lee
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/01/26/the-brutal-geography-of-global-elite-scientific-research/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/01/26/the-brutal-geography-of-global-elite-scientific-research/
The brutal geography of global elite scientific research - LSE Impact
In theory where you are from is not meant to determine the quality of your research. The geography of elite research shows this to be untrue.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Reports of the 'death of distance' in frontier research were premature - say Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Leiboyu Xiang, and Neil Lee
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/01/26/the-brutal-geography-of-global-elite-scientific-research/
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/01/26/the-brutal-geography-of-global-elite-scientific-research/
👀
(this loss exceeds the market value of the entire company, though probably not the enterprise value)
(this loss exceeds the market value of the entire company, though probably not the enterprise value)
February 6, 2026 at 4:12 PM
👀
(this loss exceeds the market value of the entire company, though probably not the enterprise value)
(this loss exceeds the market value of the entire company, though probably not the enterprise value)
A store of value dot jpg
February 5, 2026 at 8:26 PM
A store of value dot jpg
If the crash continues, the circuit breakers will trigger, and then, when the dust settles, value investors will come in. Right?
February 5, 2026 at 8:24 PM
If the crash continues, the circuit breakers will trigger, and then, when the dust settles, value investors will come in. Right?
This is a far more potent example of gatekeeper influence than the much-criticized cases (eg, Vanguard outsourcing proxy advice). If S&P and Nasdaq allow favored firms to bypass the usual process to enter the most important indexes in the world, markets won't be the same. www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
Exclusive | SpaceX Seeks Early Index Entry as It Prepares Massive IPO
Advisers to Elon Musk have reached out to major index providers seeking ways to secure earlier inclusion in market benchmarks to lift shares.
www.wsj.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:00 PM
This is a far more potent example of gatekeeper influence than the much-criticized cases (eg, Vanguard outsourcing proxy advice). If S&P and Nasdaq allow favored firms to bypass the usual process to enter the most important indexes in the world, markets won't be the same. www.wsj.com/finance/stoc...
Read theory, i.e., Ricardo:
"the substitution of machinery for human labour is often very injurious to the interests of the class of labourers" and may "render the population redundant and deteriorate the condition of the labourer" (1821!)
(notably, Autor & Sarin are skeptical of the headline Q)
"the substitution of machinery for human labour is often very injurious to the interests of the class of labourers" and may "render the population redundant and deteriorate the condition of the labourer" (1821!)
(notably, Autor & Sarin are skeptical of the headline Q)
February 4, 2026 at 8:57 PM
Read theory, i.e., Ricardo:
"the substitution of machinery for human labour is often very injurious to the interests of the class of labourers" and may "render the population redundant and deteriorate the condition of the labourer" (1821!)
(notably, Autor & Sarin are skeptical of the headline Q)
"the substitution of machinery for human labour is often very injurious to the interests of the class of labourers" and may "render the population redundant and deteriorate the condition of the labourer" (1821!)
(notably, Autor & Sarin are skeptical of the headline Q)
Even though the The Onion moved its HQ back to the Midwest over a decade ago (from Brooklyn to Chicago, originally in Madison), it’s still got some of that NYC spirit (here, the mental model of an incumbent renter seeing rent hikes rather than an incumbent homeowner enjoying price appreciation).
February 4, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Even though the The Onion moved its HQ back to the Midwest over a decade ago (from Brooklyn to Chicago, originally in Madison), it’s still got some of that NYC spirit (here, the mental model of an incumbent renter seeing rent hikes rather than an incumbent homeowner enjoying price appreciation).
Now to take a big sip of water and look up total roadway fatalities since the Time for Decision (apparently 1957)...
February 3, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Now to take a big sip of water and look up total roadway fatalities since the Time for Decision (apparently 1957)...
Reposted by Greg Shill
The short version of what I hope will be a longer tirade later is while Hidalgo's (transit-and-) active transportation transformation of Paris is held up as a global ideal for urbanists, politics intervenes as always; her approval ratings in 2024 ranged from 19%-30% depending on who asked, and how.
February 3, 2026 at 1:14 PM
The short version of what I hope will be a longer tirade later is while Hidalgo's (transit-and-) active transportation transformation of Paris is held up as a global ideal for urbanists, politics intervenes as always; her approval ratings in 2024 ranged from 19%-30% depending on who asked, and how.
I spoke with @andyjayhawk.bsky.social for this story (come for the reporting, stay for the quotes from the inestimable @annmlipton.bsky.social).
Will Elon Musk’s emails with Jeffrey Epstein derail his very important year?
Will Elon Musk’s emails with Jeffrey Epstein derail his very important year?
The revelations that Musk sought an invite to Epstein’s island add risk to his plans to merge SpaceX with xAI, and then take the combined company public, experts say.
buff.ly
February 2, 2026 at 10:56 PM
I spoke with @andyjayhawk.bsky.social for this story (come for the reporting, stay for the quotes from the inestimable @annmlipton.bsky.social).
This article explores poor allocation decisions by one pension fund, but it's probably generalizable to cases where those managing giant pools of money are only slightly accountable for investment decisions. Unfortunately that characterizes a lot of public pensions. www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
A Michigan Pension Fund’s Failed Coffee Farm Bet Highlights Private-Market Risks
The fund’s ill-fated ventures are examples of an increasingly popular strategy: trying to keep costs down by investing in individual projects.
www.wsj.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:46 PM
This article explores poor allocation decisions by one pension fund, but it's probably generalizable to cases where those managing giant pools of money are only slightly accountable for investment decisions. Unfortunately that characterizes a lot of public pensions. www.wsj.com/finance/inve...
Reposted by Greg Shill
I'm teaching a new course at Stern on AI in Finance and opening it up!
Syllabus/slides on Github: github.com/arpitrage/ai...
Weekly summaries on Substack
arpitrage.substack.com/p/1-three-ru...
First post is on Amdahl's Law, Jevons' Paradox, and why finance was slow to learn the bitter lesson
Syllabus/slides on Github: github.com/arpitrage/ai...
Weekly summaries on Substack
arpitrage.substack.com/p/1-three-ru...
First post is on Amdahl's Law, Jevons' Paradox, and why finance was slow to learn the bitter lesson
February 2, 2026 at 6:32 PM
I'm teaching a new course at Stern on AI in Finance and opening it up!
Syllabus/slides on Github: github.com/arpitrage/ai...
Weekly summaries on Substack
arpitrage.substack.com/p/1-three-ru...
First post is on Amdahl's Law, Jevons' Paradox, and why finance was slow to learn the bitter lesson
Syllabus/slides on Github: github.com/arpitrage/ai...
Weekly summaries on Substack
arpitrage.substack.com/p/1-three-ru...
First post is on Amdahl's Law, Jevons' Paradox, and why finance was slow to learn the bitter lesson
Reposted by Greg Shill
“There’s something uniquely American about stablecoins”
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
The stablecoin war: Wall Street vs crypto over the future of money
[FREE TO READ] Banks say rules governing the digital currency are a risk to financial stability. Are they just trying to stamp out competition?
as.ft.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:45 AM
“There’s something uniquely American about stablecoins”
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Make of that what you will
as.ft.com/r/a6803534-2...
Reposted by Greg Shill
GOOB LUCK TO ALL TEH HOOMAN PAW PAWFESSORS SUBMITTING TO PAW REVIEW
February 2, 2026 at 12:45 PM
GOOB LUCK TO ALL TEH HOOMAN PAW PAWFESSORS SUBMITTING TO PAW REVIEW