Christian Weller
profcew.bsky.social
Christian Weller
@profcew.bsky.social

Economist at UMass Boston and Center for American Progress; focus on racial wealth inequality, retirement savings and economic policy. Center on data driven policy development. Skeets are all my own opinions.

Economics 61%
Business 26%
We’re definitely getting a 5% unemployment print in 2026. Will be the first time (excluding COVID’s peak) since Q3 2015.

www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Companies Are Outlining Plans for 2026. Hiring Isn’t One of Them.
Large employers indicate that they either want to maintain the size of their teams next year or let go of workers.
www.wsj.com
The most adorable chess piece ever!
A knight, made of antler.
Dating 11/12th century
Found at the Burgstein, Lichtenstein-Holzelfingen.

📷 me

#archaeology
There's now just one week left to apply to join IFS for a two-year Postdoctoral Fellowship in collaboration with the Administrative Fairness Lab.

📅 Find out more about the role and apply here by Sun 4 Jan 2026: econjobmarket.org/positions/12...

How I am walking out of 2025.

2025 was a dumpster fire but also a year of very insightful and heartfelt conversations and experiences with decades-long friends. I’ll take that.
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:

Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”

Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
"One Word Describes Trump" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I missed this on its first trip around, then saw it on the "most popular with readers" list for 2025. Recommended, despite the cheesy headline.

Especially valuable if you have ever compared him to a mob boss.

[Gift link]
One Word Describes Trump
A century ago, a German sociologist explained precisely how the president thinks about the world.
www.theatlantic.com
👇👇

Loved this story
“We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years”

As far as real Christmas stories go, this one is right up there:

buff.ly/12Romh0
“We invited a man into our home at Christmas and he stayed with us for 45 years”

As far as real Christmas stories go, this one is right up there:

buff.ly/12Romh0
271,000 people have lost their jobs and federal spending has ctually increased. So people get less services, while we added debt paying for private jets for Kristi Noem, bulletproof cars for Kash Patel. This is what the rust belt voters demanded.
Peeps liked my Kauai picture. Here’s another of Black Sand beach in summer 2025. Since we’re all looking for serenity.
How will declining childhood vaccination rates affect previously eliminated infectious diseases in the US?

Findings
--measles may become endemic again; 51.2m measles cases over a 25-yr period, 9.9m rubella cases, 4.3m poliomyelitis cases, 10.3m hospitalizations, and 159,200 deaths.
A Bronze Age horned helmet from Brøns Mose at Viksø, decorated with bosses and adorned with eyes and a beak. The helmet was found with an identical one in a bog. They were probably used at religious ceremonies. Later on, they were deposited in the bog as offerings. 🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology
DOGE was A LOT less likely to cancel contracts from companies that donated money to Republicans than companies that donated to Democrats.
From the @WSJ: “Economic fortunes of low- and high-income Americans are diverging—same pattern happening with companies.”
#economy #inequality #divergence #dispersion
In other words we can either remove the mountaintops or cover some of them with solar modules.

Also, there are plenty of ways to design solar installations to work more in harmony with biodiverse ecosystems.

It’s not either/or.

And then there is really cool stuff (while listening to all my favorite tunes on my brand new headphones). Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and happiness to everyone.
This is NGC 2264, also called the "Christmas Tree Cluster." It's a cluster of young stars about 2,500 light years away.

They were 'born' during the Pliocene Epoch (2-5 MYA), about the same time as early hominids like Ardipithecus or Homo habilis, so they're barely older than humanity.
🎄💫🔭
This is NGC 2264, also called the "Christmas Tree Cluster." It's a cluster of young stars about 2,500 light years away.

They were 'born' during the Pliocene Epoch (2-5 MYA), about the same time as early hominids like Ardipithecus or Homo habilis, so they're barely older than humanity.
🎄💫🔭
Merry Christmas! Please enjoy the opening to this Japanese Christmas concert special that I watch every year.

As far as I can tell, this has otherwise been scrubbed from the internet

I just talked with a German friend about this meal (and I was about to reconsider my Xmas eve choices).
All the cenorship has done has been to INCREASE viewership of this 60 Minutes episode.

If you have not seen it, here it is:
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Bill Clinton just called on Trump to release the full Epstein Files, including all documents mentioning both Trump and Clinton.

“Refusal to do so will confirm the widespread suspicion the DOJ’s actions to date are not about transparency, but about insinuation.”

My takeaway: Salsa, morning coffee and the afternoon chocolate (among many other products) all become more expensive because of climate change related damage to crops and energy prices.
Climate change caused by fossil fuels is destabilizing agriculture and food supply chains around the world—meaning higher grocery prices for Americans. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-fossil-fuels-and-global-extreme-weather-increase-americans-food-prices/
How Fossil Fuels and Global Extreme Weather Increase Americans’ Food Prices
Fossil fuels and the climate change they cause are worsening extreme weather events that disrupt global food supply chains and increase costs for Americans at the grocery store.
www.americanprogress.org
Pure fanaticism, just objectively bad policy especially while building all these new data centers. But also an opportunity for Democrats to say loudly, over and over again, that Trump and Republicans are making everything more expensive. Higher electricity costs impact everything.
Trump Halts Five Wind Farms Off the East Coast
www.nytimes.com
🚨 Job alert

We’re hiring 5 permanent faculty positions at Assistant Professor level:

• 3 x Open field
• Health Economics
• IO

Come work in a large, research-intensive department!

⏰ Applications reviewed on a rolling basis (deadline 18 Jan 2026)

#econjobs

econjobmarket.org/positions/12...
We've been working as quickly as possible to get information out to folks so they can take action re: HHS rules against trans youth health care. Here's my latest guide for those who want to submit a public comment! www.americanprogress.org/article/how-...
How To Submit Public Comments To Oppose Proposed Rules Restricting Transgender Health Care Access
Comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services can help fight the Trump administration’s latest attempt to restrict federal funding for transgender health care for youth. This toolkit deta...
www.americanprogress.org
No contract, no coffee. Starbucks workers are still on strike.
"Lawmakers touted Rural Health Transformation Program as a counterweight to deep cuts to Medicaid and as a boon to struggling rural hospitals"
"experts praised federal investment in..rural health; but warned funds will not make up for revenue rural providers will lose..thanks to federal law."