Paul Kelleher
@paulkelleher.net
Moral & political philosophy, climate econ, bioethics
Author of *The Social Cost of Carbon* (OUP 2025) | Posting in personal capacity
Likes: Boston Celtics ☘️, Maine (from whence I come), bouldering, ebikes, funding public ed.
paulkelleher.net
Author of *The Social Cost of Carbon* (OUP 2025) | Posting in personal capacity
Likes: Boston Celtics ☘️, Maine (from whence I come), bouldering, ebikes, funding public ed.
paulkelleher.net
Pinned
Paul Kelleher
@paulkelleher.net
· Oct 14
I don’t spam y’all much anymore about my book but a photographer at a department event snapped this handsome pic so send tweet
If you are an environmental econ or philosophy grad student who would like to read my book but can’t buy or otherwise access it, just email me!
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
This is sickening. For comparison, this is more than the Department of Energy spent for all solar power and wind power R&D for the whole country.
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:04 AM
This is sickening. For comparison, this is more than the Department of Energy spent for all solar power and wind power R&D for the whole country.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
Yessir that's my colleague Jorell Meléndez-Badillo (@jmelendezbadillo.bsky.social) and here's his history of Puerto Rico - available in English and Spanish press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
February 10, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Yessir that's my colleague Jorell Meléndez-Badillo (@jmelendezbadillo.bsky.social) and here's his history of Puerto Rico - available in English and Spanish press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
, for co-authoring an op-ed in the student newspaper.
An immigration court dropped its case against Turkish graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, a little less than a year after federal agents arrested her on a street near Tufts University
Immigration Court Drops Case Against Tufts Student Rumeysa Ozturk
The Turkish national had been arrested by plainclothes federal officers outside her apartment.
on.wsj.com
February 10, 2026 at 1:51 AM
, for co-authoring an op-ed in the student newspaper.
The most problematic passage is the one I attach here (link in next post).
Whether a c. tax is politically risky is just as relevant to "the economics" as a tax's "economic optimality." From an econ POV, there's a continuum of "optimal" outcomes. Distributional preferences among are 💯% fair game.
Whether a c. tax is politically risky is just as relevant to "the economics" as a tax's "economic optimality." From an econ POV, there's a continuum of "optimal" outcomes. Distributional preferences among are 💯% fair game.
February 9, 2026 at 6:25 PM
The most problematic passage is the one I attach here (link in next post).
Whether a c. tax is politically risky is just as relevant to "the economics" as a tax's "economic optimality." From an econ POV, there's a continuum of "optimal" outcomes. Distributional preferences among are 💯% fair game.
Whether a c. tax is politically risky is just as relevant to "the economics" as a tax's "economic optimality." From an econ POV, there's a continuum of "optimal" outcomes. Distributional preferences among are 💯% fair game.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
Great thread for those (like me) who missed 90+% of the symbolism in the halftime show
Disturbingly detailed analysis of my first rewatch incoming
February 9, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Great thread for those (like me) who missed 90+% of the symbolism in the halftime show
Glad you're enjoying yourselves but IMHO the best way to stomp on New England is to hike in Acadia.
February 9, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Glad you're enjoying yourselves but IMHO the best way to stomp on New England is to hike in Acadia.
Do yourselves a favor and listen to the audiobook of this instead
Ryan Gosling is going to save the Sun???
February 9, 2026 at 12:57 AM
Do yourselves a favor and listen to the audiobook of this instead
I would actually watch the Super Bowl if all the commercials were the Progressive insurance ones where middle aged people start to turn into their parents.
Unmemorable ads so far
February 9, 2026 at 12:44 AM
I would actually watch the Super Bowl if all the commercials were the Progressive insurance ones where middle aged people start to turn into their parents.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
Green Day should shut up about politics and just stick to singing songs about politics.
February 8, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Green Day should shut up about politics and just stick to singing songs about politics.
“I thought it was important to teach Shakespeare every year to keep my literary values straight, so I wouldn’t be running around…exalting some 2nd- or 3rd- or 4th-rater. If you like some 2nd- or 3rd- or 4th-rater that’s fine but you outta know it’s a 2nd-, or 3rd-, or 4th-rater.”
— Norman Maclean
— Norman Maclean
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 8, 2026 at 10:54 PM
“I thought it was important to teach Shakespeare every year to keep my literary values straight, so I wouldn’t be running around…exalting some 2nd- or 3rd- or 4th-rater. If you like some 2nd- or 3rd- or 4th-rater that’s fine but you outta know it’s a 2nd-, or 3rd-, or 4th-rater.”
— Norman Maclean
— Norman Maclean
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
At a birthday party, my kid asked me if it would be ok if she didn’t sing at cake time
I said that’s fine as long as she’s not obvious about it, which would be rude, but she’s welcome to just quietly not sing
She said thoughtfully, “I’ll be quiet. I’m just going to think about Scott Walker.”
????
I said that’s fine as long as she’s not obvious about it, which would be rude, but she’s welcome to just quietly not sing
She said thoughtfully, “I’ll be quiet. I’m just going to think about Scott Walker.”
????
February 8, 2026 at 8:32 PM
At a birthday party, my kid asked me if it would be ok if she didn’t sing at cake time
I said that’s fine as long as she’s not obvious about it, which would be rude, but she’s welcome to just quietly not sing
She said thoughtfully, “I’ll be quiet. I’m just going to think about Scott Walker.”
????
I said that’s fine as long as she’s not obvious about it, which would be rude, but she’s welcome to just quietly not sing
She said thoughtfully, “I’ll be quiet. I’m just going to think about Scott Walker.”
????
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
/2 Bad Bunny stands for “immigration” because he’s not white. His existence within the United States — and particularly his broad popularity and great success — are an affront to Trumpian white nationalist values. That’s the WaPo message, brought to you with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon smile.
February 8, 2026 at 2:31 AM
/2 Bad Bunny stands for “immigration” because he’s not white. His existence within the United States — and particularly his broad popularity and great success — are an affront to Trumpian white nationalist values. That’s the WaPo message, brought to you with Jeff Bezos’ Amazon smile.
15 years ago I gave a big talk the day after the Super Bowl.
February 8, 2026 at 1:52 AM
15 years ago I gave a big talk the day after the Super Bowl.
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"That’s right y’all, yet another author who uses ‘eschews’ multiple times in the same article."
"That’s right y’all, yet another author who uses ‘eschews’ multiple times in the same article."
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"(1/3, 1/6, 1/6, 1/3)"
"(1/3, 1/6, 1/6, 1/3)"
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"It's not designed to work that way"
"It's not designed to work that way"
February 7, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.
"That’s right y’all, yet another author who uses ‘eschews’ multiple times in the same article."
"That’s right y’all, yet another author who uses ‘eschews’ multiple times in the same article."
I liked this thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
The Left Case for Great Books | The Point Magazine
A great-books model at the undergraduate level is, in fact, so consonant with Freire’s radical critique that it represents a far better path forward for a left-wing vision of education than virtually ...
thepointmag.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:43 PM
I liked this thepointmag.com/examined-lif...
@richardtol.bsky.social What in the world is McKitrick talking about with the part I’ve highlighted? This comes about 56 minutes in. @andrewdessler.com
February 7, 2026 at 4:32 AM
@richardtol.bsky.social What in the world is McKitrick talking about with the part I’ve highlighted? This comes about 56 minutes in. @andrewdessler.com
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
It really pays to remind ourselves frequently that this whole immigration "crisis" is made up out of whole cloth. There was no emergency,danger or problem, only a demagogue stirring up racist grievances for political advantage.
February 7, 2026 at 3:38 AM
It really pays to remind ourselves frequently that this whole immigration "crisis" is made up out of whole cloth. There was no emergency,danger or problem, only a demagogue stirring up racist grievances for political advantage.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
One of the most important scientific achievements of the last 50 years was making the causal links between prior viral infections (e.g. EBV) and subsequent serious diseases.
My Op Ed in Today's Washington Post: "The long-lasting effects of viruses — and the anti-vaccine movement. For some people, a viral infection can have devastating long-term effects."
wapo.st/4qjFtWk
wapo.st/4qjFtWk
February 6, 2026 at 3:52 PM
One of the most important scientific achievements of the last 50 years was making the causal links between prior viral infections (e.g. EBV) and subsequent serious diseases.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
hahaha
So about TrumpRx: We crunched the numbers today and about half of the drugs on there have cheaper generics available already. www.statnews.com/2026/02/06/t...
February 7, 2026 at 1:37 AM
hahaha
I’ve been reading about this remarkable piece. Apparently it’s from 3 pages that Shakespeare wrote to be dropped into a play by other authors. Those 3 pages are the only surviving example of Shakespeare’s handwriting (beyond 6 signatures). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Tho...
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 6, 2026 at 5:04 AM
I’ve been reading about this remarkable piece. Apparently it’s from 3 pages that Shakespeare wrote to be dropped into a play by other authors. Those 3 pages are the only surviving example of Shakespeare’s handwriting (beyond 6 signatures). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Tho...
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
Flagging this study by right libertarian @cato.org. One important point they make, which others have also made, is that studies purporting to find that immigrants consume more in services than they pay in taxes usually ignore immigrants’ positive impact on taxable profits.
Without immigrants, US government public debt at all levels would be at least 205% of GDP—nearly twice its 2023 level, David Bier reports.
Compared to the US-born population, immigrants of every education level reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio from 1994 to 2023.
https://ow.ly/glnB50Y8lqS
Compared to the US-born population, immigrants of every education level reduced the debt-to-GDP ratio from 1994 to 2023.
https://ow.ly/glnB50Y8lqS
February 5, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Flagging this study by right libertarian @cato.org. One important point they make, which others have also made, is that studies purporting to find that immigrants consume more in services than they pay in taxes usually ignore immigrants’ positive impact on taxable profits.
Reposted by Paul Kelleher
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Tremendous conversation!
I'm now a co-host at "New Books in Philosophy" (part of the New Books Network).
My first interview has been posted. It's with Gina Schouten (Harvard U) regarding her recent book, _The Anatomy of Justice_ (OUP, 2024).
#philsky
#philosophy
#poltheory
#polphil
#moralphil
@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
My first interview has been posted. It's with Gina Schouten (Harvard U) regarding her recent book, _The Anatomy of Justice_ (OUP, 2024).
#philsky
#philosophy
#poltheory
#polphil
#moralphil
@newbooksnetwork.bsky.social
Gina Schouten, "The Anatomy of Justice" (Oxford UP, 2024) - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Tremendous conversation!
Having watched this I’m starting to doubt whether the liberal arts should be replaced by Prompt Engineering courses.
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.
February 5, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Having watched this I’m starting to doubt whether the liberal arts should be replaced by Prompt Engineering courses.