Ben McConkey
@benmcconkey.bsky.social
Working on trade in Somaliland | ODI Fellow @odi.global
writing here: https://benmcconkey.substack.com/
writing here: https://benmcconkey.substack.com/
Pinned
Ben McConkey
@benmcconkey.bsky.social
· Aug 10
Pharma tariffs are leading headlines in Ireland
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
real ones know there is only one correct way to travel from NYC to DC (Amtrak northeast regional cafe car)
Q: Why did you fly here? Aren't trains greener?
MAMDANI: I will use every form of transit and I want to make sure they are all affordable in NYC
TRUMP: That's a lot quicker too, in all fairness. I'll stick up for you.
MAMDANI: I will use every form of transit and I want to make sure they are all affordable in NYC
TRUMP: That's a lot quicker too, in all fairness. I'll stick up for you.
November 22, 2025 at 2:55 AM
real ones know there is only one correct way to travel from NYC to DC (Amtrak northeast regional cafe car)
Reposted by Ben McConkey
I truly think this is an underappreciated point that much of the "rising far right" polisci literature has missed.
We have n->inf findings that bad stuff leads to far right voting. But why _doesn't_ bad stuff lead to far left (or center left) voting? One big answer: A failure of political supply.
We have n->inf findings that bad stuff leads to far right voting. But why _doesn't_ bad stuff lead to far left (or center left) voting? One big answer: A failure of political supply.
🗳️ New study (w @jessicakuhlm.bsky.social) on AfD success in integration council elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: AfD achieved significant results in councils elected exclusively by voters with migration backgrounds. It's not about economics—it's about political competition. (1/3)
November 4, 2025 at 11:06 AM
I truly think this is an underappreciated point that much of the "rising far right" polisci literature has missed.
We have n->inf findings that bad stuff leads to far right voting. But why _doesn't_ bad stuff lead to far left (or center left) voting? One big answer: A failure of political supply.
We have n->inf findings that bad stuff leads to far right voting. But why _doesn't_ bad stuff lead to far left (or center left) voting? One big answer: A failure of political supply.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.
No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
October 12, 2025 at 9:02 AM
This is an exact encapsulation of why I moved to Bluesky.
No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
No amount of handwringing in the Atlantic about how I owe some eternal Promethean suffering to the discourse is going to make me stay on a site I hate, that stopped doing anything for me professionally years ago.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
On the Lisa Cook allegations www.ft.com/content/e32d...
September 13, 2025 at 6:31 AM
On the Lisa Cook allegations www.ft.com/content/e32d...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
The mortgage fraud claim against Lisa Cook is false, per documents obtained by Reuters.
Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence.
These docs show she did not.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence.
These docs show she did not.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
Exclusive: Fed Governor Cook declared her Atlanta property as “vacation home,” documents show
A loan estimate for an Atlanta home purchased by Lisa Cook, the Federal Reserve governor accused of mortgage fraud by the Trump administration, shows that Cook had declared the property as a “vacation home,” according to a document reviewed by Reuters.
www.reuters.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:51 PM
The mortgage fraud claim against Lisa Cook is false, per documents obtained by Reuters.
Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence.
These docs show she did not.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
Bill Pulte's accusation, the sole pretext Trump used to fire her from the Fed, was that she claimed two homes as primary residence.
These docs show she did not.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fed...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Slideshow of today in Washington DC, and how it looks when a terrorizing government scares people away.
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
August 23, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Slideshow of today in Washington DC, and how it looks when a terrorizing government scares people away.
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
By me, no paywall: fallows.substack.com/p/a-summer-a...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Eyeopening walkthrough of DC by this creator. If you aren’t in DC, worth a watch all the way to the end—
August 15, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Eyeopening walkthrough of DC by this creator. If you aren’t in DC, worth a watch all the way to the end—
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Darn, @alanbeattie.bsky.social has nixed the planned papers of several trade economists by nailing the optimistic response to Trump's tariffs in one paragraphs. Though read the whole piece for more of a masterclass in concise writing. www.ft.com/content/5de3...
August 14, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Darn, @alanbeattie.bsky.social has nixed the planned papers of several trade economists by nailing the optimistic response to Trump's tariffs in one paragraphs. Though read the whole piece for more of a masterclass in concise writing. www.ft.com/content/5de3...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
It begins
Trump Administration Live Updates: National Guard Begins Deploying in D.C.
www.nytimes.com
August 13, 2025 at 12:09 AM
It begins
Reposted by Ben McConkey
nono cool, yup, absolutely.
sure.
sure.
BREAKING: New BLS Leader EJ Antoni Proposes To Pause Monthly Jobs Data Reports 📝🇺🇸
August 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
nono cool, yup, absolutely.
sure.
sure.
Pharma tariffs are leading headlines in Ireland
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
August 10, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Pharma tariffs are leading headlines in Ireland
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
Ireland's pharma exports to the US are even more of an outlier than one might expect when placed in an EU context
And are very concentrated in a few US states
I discuss the numbers and their consequences here...
open.substack.com/pub/benmccon...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
A former “Alligator Alcatraz” worker says detainees are subject to “inhumane” conditions — packed by the hundreds into cages without sunlight, with overflowing toilets and limited access to showers.
Former 'Alligator Alcatraz' worker describes 'inhumane' conditions inside
In an exclusive report, NBC6 spoke with a former corrections officer who says she saw hundreds held in cages with no sunlight, backed up toilets and little access to showers.
nbcnews.to
August 6, 2025 at 3:08 PM
A former “Alligator Alcatraz” worker says detainees are subject to “inhumane” conditions — packed by the hundreds into cages without sunlight, with overflowing toilets and limited access to showers.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Economic data is necessary to reality check policy. Firing the BLS Commissioner is unquestionably wrong. It enables the Trump Administration to pursue radical self-harming policies (where self means the American people).
www.piie.com/newsroom/pre...
www.piie.com/newsroom/pre...
PIIE president Adam S. Posen's statement on government data integrity
Washington, DC—Better knowledge leads to better policies which leads to better well-being for people. That is the valid premise on which, and the purpose for which, the Peterson Institute was founded....
www.piie.com
August 6, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Economic data is necessary to reality check policy. Firing the BLS Commissioner is unquestionably wrong. It enables the Trump Administration to pursue radical self-harming policies (where self means the American people).
www.piie.com/newsroom/pre...
www.piie.com/newsroom/pre...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Perhaps unpopular opinion — if you’ve been covering business and the economy for 25 years, you don’t have to cite “economists say” to state the truth — that firing the commissioner of the BLS is a bad thing.
August 4, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Perhaps unpopular opinion — if you’ve been covering business and the economy for 25 years, you don’t have to cite “economists say” to state the truth — that firing the commissioner of the BLS is a bad thing.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
I don't really know what the right media response is to this, at this point, but it can't just keep being "We cover this & ask questions as if this is a regular president & it's normal politics as we've covered since WWII." Whatever norms of journalism folks thought they were upholding are gone.
Trump calls today's bad jobs report "rigged" and says, "I'll think you'll see some very interesting information come out. You have to have honest reports."
August 1, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I don't really know what the right media response is to this, at this point, but it can't just keep being "We cover this & ask questions as if this is a regular president & it's normal politics as we've covered since WWII." Whatever norms of journalism folks thought they were upholding are gone.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
No other way to slice it: this is incredibly fucked up.
August 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
No other way to slice it: this is incredibly fucked up.
not seeing the heard and mcdonald islands among new EO tariffed countries... what did those guys say to him
New tariff executive order just released, and the official start date for tariffs was pushed to next week from instead of tomorrow, but we're raising tariffs for roughly 68 countries plus the EU, with some tariffs now as high as 41%. Literally Liberation Day 2 Electric Boogaloo.
August 1, 2025 at 6:06 PM
not seeing the heard and mcdonald islands among new EO tariffed countries... what did those guys say to him
Reposted by Ben McConkey
you guys are still trying to redo Liberation Day. I'm telling you we can't do it. Now what we might be able to do is re-create it. We re-create it in the aggregate.
July 31, 2025 at 11:44 PM
you guys are still trying to redo Liberation Day. I'm telling you we can't do it. Now what we might be able to do is re-create it. We re-create it in the aggregate.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Worth pointing out that a deal that locks in 15% tariffs has codified the trade war, not averted it.
US and EU avert trade war with 15% tariff deal
The deal will bring welcome clarity for EU companies though many in Europe will see it as a poor outcome.
www.reuters.com
July 28, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Worth pointing out that a deal that locks in 15% tariffs has codified the trade war, not averted it.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
An AI slop factory apparently tried to rewrite our article about AI not replacing workers en masse, but hit the paywall... so just summarised the paywall. If this is the robot that takes my job I'll be v embarrassed
July 24, 2025 at 5:46 PM
An AI slop factory apparently tried to rewrite our article about AI not replacing workers en masse, but hit the paywall... so just summarised the paywall. If this is the robot that takes my job I'll be v embarrassed
Reposted by Ben McConkey
I can't believe we're *literally* doing Liberation Day Part 2 Electric Boogaloo. I thought they would at least come up with a different, equally-dumb formula.
The President has just tweeted another 7 trade "letters."
We have details on 14 countries, and it's weirder than I imagined. The new tariffs are the old "Liberation Day" numbers +/- a few percentage points.
If these were a bad idea 90 days ago, why are they a good idea now?
We have details on 14 countries, and it's weirder than I imagined. The new tariffs are the old "Liberation Day" numbers +/- a few percentage points.
If these were a bad idea 90 days ago, why are they a good idea now?
July 7, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I can't believe we're *literally* doing Liberation Day Part 2 Electric Boogaloo. I thought they would at least come up with a different, equally-dumb formula.
Reposted by Ben McConkey
Musk should be asked about this in every interview he does now and forever. To ignore it is a dereliction of duty.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
May 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Musk should be asked about this in every interview he does now and forever. To ignore it is a dereliction of duty.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/o...
Reposted by Ben McConkey
the problem with Trump is that he loves imposing tariffs more than just having tariffs, so a couple weeks after any tariff pauses he’ll always get bored want to raise them more
May 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
the problem with Trump is that he loves imposing tariffs more than just having tariffs, so a couple weeks after any tariff pauses he’ll always get bored want to raise them more
Reposted by Ben McConkey
very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students
after announcing that foreign students are being banned from Havard, Noem warns "this should be a warning to every other university to get your act together."
May 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students