Nathan Lane
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nathanlane.bsky.social
Nathan Lane
@nathanlane.bsky.social
8.7K followers 740 following 390 posts
Economist and professor at LSE. “Posting through it."
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Nathan Lane
financialtimes.com
Ottawa’s shift away from US defence manufacturers aims to create 125,000 jobs ft.trib.al/85RYA9n
Ottawa’s shift away from US defence manufacturers aims to create 125,000 jobs
‘Buy Canadian’ strategy will raise military spending to 5 per cent of GDP and boost economy, new plan says
ft.trib.al
February 15, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
byharryconnolly.bsky.social
I never noticed this either.
A post on threads from user stephens_bens. It reads 'I'll always remember an interview with Steve Buscemi on Bulleye, Jesse Thorn asked him "As an actor with many decades of varied and outstanding roles across your career, does it ever bother you that one of the things you will most be remembered for is a 3-second gif in which you're wearing a backwards baseball cap and carrying a skateboard?" And without missing a beat, Buscemi replied "I'm carrying *two* skateboards." And you know what? He is.' Below that is a screen cap of Buscemi's famous "fellow kids" moment.
February 8, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
adamshap.bsky.social
Wow
February 7, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
404media.co
SCOOP: 404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, a tool Palantir made for ICE which brings up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.

The full user guide here:
Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.
www.404media.co
January 30, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps.

This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people.
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US
Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.
www.bloomberg.com
January 30, 2026 at 4:47 PM
nathanlane.bsky.social
That’s some alignment
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 25d
To repeat: Abolish ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 5:17 PM
nathanlane.bsky.social
We’re simply in the zone where we continually watch people get executed on video
January 24, 2026 at 5:14 PM
nathanlane.bsky.social
Cost of living looks dismal
Cost of living -29
January 22, 2026 at 9:08 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
benzipperer.org
Increased deportations led to more crimes against Hispanics but fewer reports to the police

New research on how immigration enforcement undermines public safety and increases vulnerability, from Gonçalves Jácome Weisburst
Two plots of regression estimates of the Hispanic vs non-Hispanic effects of Secure Communities on the share of crimes reported to police and the share of persons victimized
January 20, 2026 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
New QJE for the minimum wage literature uses IRS data to study effects on small and medium size businesses. The effects seem…very good

academic.oup.com/qje/article/...
Who's Afraid of the Minimum Wage? Measuring the Impacts on Independent Businesses Using Matched U.S. Tax Returns* Nirupama L Rao, Max Risch The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 141, Issue 1, February 2026, Pages 373-427, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjaf053 Published: 10 December 2025 Article history V PDF • Split View 66 Cite P Permissions < Share V Abstract A common concern surrounding minimum wage policies is their impact on independent businesses, which are often feared to be less able to bear or pass on cost increases. We examine how these typically small and medium-size firms accommodate minimum wage increases along product and labor market margins using a matched owner-firm-worker panel data set drawn from the universe of U.S. tax records over a 10-year period, and using state minimum wage changes as identifying variation. We find that on average, firms in highly exposed industries do not substantially reduce employment-they do not lay off workers but moderately reduce part-time hiring. Instead, these firms are able to fully finance the new labor costs with new revenues, leaving average owner profits unchanged. Higher wage floors, however, forestall entry, particularly for less productive firms, reducing the number of independent firms operating in these industries by roughly 2%. Yet these industries do not shrink; instead, incumbent responses and strong positive selection among entrants reshape industries that rely heavily on low-wage workers, yielding fewer but more productive firms after the cost shock. We also take a worker-level perspective to examine how potentially vulnerable individuals are affected by minimum wage increases. Using panels of low-earning and young workers, we find that their average earnings rise substantially with the minimum wage, while they are no less likely to be employed. Worker transitions indicate that minimum wage increases boost retention and that worker reallocation from independent firms toward corporations buffers dis…
January 17, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
paulkelleher.net
Crooked Timber needs assistance. Surely we can get this done for one of the great OG academic blogs.
johnquiggin.bsky.social John Quiggin @johnquiggin.bsky.social · Jan 17
I'm looking for someone who can clean up the group blog of which I'm part, Crooked Timber. All of the old hyperlinks have been borked so that <a href = URL>text</a> becomes "text":URL/. There's also a problem in the comments, where quote marks have been replaced by –
January 17, 2026 at 3:54 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
keribla.bsky.social
im sorry what
January 16, 2026 at 7:14 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
404media.co
SCOOP: Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activities on the ground.

Inside the app called ELITE—what ICE uses to find neighborhoods to raid.
‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid
Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activit...
www.404media.co
January 15, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
404media.co
This week, 404 Media obtained material that explains how Tangles and Webloc, two surveillance systems ICE recently purchased, work. Webloc can track phones without a warrant and follow their owners home or to their employer.

Watch now:
Podcast: The ICE Tool That Tracks Entire Neighborhoods
We talk all about Webloc, ICE's tool for monitoring phone locations; the continuing Grok abuse wave; and how police unwittingly revealed millions of Flock surveillance targets.
www.404media.co
January 14, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
andrew.heiss.phd
Perennial reminder of this excellent paper about how secret police forces are swamped with underachievers

“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”

(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina Adam Scharpf Christian Gläßel Abstract: Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.
January 14, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
hetanshah.bsky.social
Great piece exploring how HS2 ended up being the most expensive railway track per kilometre in the world
www.ft.com/content/3f73...
Chart showing HS2 costs per km of track vs other rail projects
January 14, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
mchinn.bsky.social
The gold market did not get the memo - gold prices post DoJ, post-Tillis #EconSky

econbrowser.com/archives/202...
January 13, 2026 at 9:10 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
kevinhorourke.bsky.social
By kow-towing to Trump on trade the EU convinced him, and others no doubt, that it was weak, which just encourages more bullying. If as a result the US takes Greenland by force, the EU will have to do much more forceful things than imposing a 35% tariff or whatever. Weakness makes us all less safe.
January 13, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
kyledcheney.bsky.social
HAPPENING NOW: In federal court in MN, DOJ is struggling to articulate why a person following an ICE vehicle — so long as they are obeying traffic laws — can be stopped for "reasonable suspicion" of a crime.

Judge Menendez sharply questioning that contention.
January 13, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
hetanshah.bsky.social
“I characterize science as a bunch of 5-year-olds playing soccer… They all go where the ball is, running around the field in a herd.”

Great quote in this piece (via @histoftech.bsky.social) which is perhaps more about fashions in research funding (see: AI)
www.wired.com/story/scient...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
www.wired.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
gwagner.com
Every once in a while, someone discovers that nuclear is low-carbon and tries to stick it to renewables as a result.

Yes, the German nuclear phaseout was a mistake. Of course.

Meanwhile, Électricité de France has been fully nationalized to keep its reactors running. A model for the US?
Person on the internets discovers that nuclear is low-carbon.
January 10, 2026 at 12:53 PM
nathanlane.bsky.social
January 11, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
socio-steve.bsky.social
Dug this one up as it seems relevant again
January 11, 2026 at 4:45 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
scientificdiscovery.dev
The cost of sequencing a human genome has fallen over 100,000 fold in nominal terms since 2001.

In a new visualization, I've added some of the key advances in sequencing during that timeline:
Line chart showing the dramatic decline in the cost of sequencing a human genome from 2001 to 2022, plotted on a logarithmic dollar scale. The vertical axis shows cost per genome in U.S. dollars, ranging from over $100 million down to about $500, and the horizontal axis shows year. Costs start near $100 million in 2001 during the Human Genome Project, fall gradually to around $10 million by 2005, then drop sharply after 2007 with the introduction of next-generation sequencing technologies. By 2011 costs fall below $10,000, reach around $1,000 by 2017, and continue decreasing to a few hundred dollars by the early 2020s. Annotations mark major technological milestones such as Illumina short-read sequencing, Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing, PacBio real-time sequencing, Oxford Nanopore’s MinION, and completion of an end-to-end human genome map.
January 8, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Nathan Lane
sumitra.bsky.social
new vox dev piece on our recent RCT to counter misinformation in classrooms in india:
January 7, 2026 at 1:58 PM