Given the strong parallels between leadership styles of Trump and Erdogan, and the rapid deterioration of democratic institutions in the US, the same headline equally applies to Americam democracy 🙁

Before his arrest on bogus charges, opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu said: “No salvation alone; either all of us together, or none of us.” His words echo far beyond Turkey — a powerful call to unite against authoritarianism.

Last year @shengwuli.bsky.social pointed out that the core tenet of my minimalist market design framework—"Don't fix what's not broken"—echoes Chesterton’s Fence (now discussed in Section 2.2.2). In an age of Trumpian & DOGE policies, this tenet feels especially relevant. arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307

In these difficult times, we find solace in the achievements of our partners in Malatya, Turkey, who performed their fifth 6-way liver exchange today 👏 Having performed 29 LE transplants in 2025 through the Banu Bedestenci Sönmez LPE system, they are on track to surpass their record of 122 in 2024 🥇

Among all the policy and research milestones we’ve accomplished through minimalist market design, this one is closest to my heart, as it is dedicated to my beloved late wife, Banu. Her story can be found at the following link: caprazkaracigernakli.inonu.edu.tr/en/who-is-ba... 3/3

Within 2.5 years of launch, the system hosted all global 4-way to 7-way exchanges and 22 of 25 global 3-way exchanges. It surpassed 100 transplants in March 2024 and became the first to exceed 100 in a single year by September 2024. 2/3

Another milestone for the Banu Bedestenci Sönmez Liver Paired Exchange System: With today’s emergency 3-way exchange, it became the first system to surpass 200 transplants. In 2024, the system performed 124 transplants, 45% of all transplants. No other system performed more than 10 in a year. 1/3

Thank you to many who provided valuable input on my monograph on minimalist market design. Here is a much revised and expanded version. It introduces a design framework that is useful for generating cutting-edge research with strong potential for policy impact. #EconSky arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307 1/