The hottest Economic Policy Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top World Politics Topics

What Is The AOC Doctrine?

JoeWrote • 76 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. The AOC doctrine collapses the wall between domestic and foreign policy. It says imperial practices abroad boomerang home and that a working-class, class-based internationalism is needed to block rising authoritarianism.
  2. It calls for shifting resources from military spending into domestic investments like health and science research, green energy, and stronger safety nets to strengthen national security and compete with rivals without escalating conflict.
  3. The approach has limits: there are gaps on policy specifics (e.g., Taiwan, how to apply Leahy laws), criticism for engaging establishment institutions, and questions about whether it tackles the deeper structural roots of global imperialism.

Public Vs Private Markets

Points And Figures • 746 implied HN points • 18 Nov 25
đź’° Finance Economic Policy
  1. Private market valuations can be misleading since they don't reflect daily changes like public markets do. So, an AI startup might look valuable, but without real sales, that value is uncertain.
  2. AI companies are mostly funded by private investors, not public ones. If these companies fail, the stock market may notice, but it won't cause a huge crash, unlike failures in public companies.
  3. Government regulation of AI could harm its growth and innovation. A light regulatory touch has helped the U.S. tech industry thrive, so heavy regulations could stifle its potential.

Notes on Camp

The Crucial Years • 2321 implied HN points • 08 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Sending kids to camp is a big step for both children and parents. It teaches kids independence and gives parents a chance to feel proud when their kids adapt well.
  2. Well-run camps and societies both balance opportunities with risks. We need to manage these risks wisely to keep everyone safe and thriving.
  3. Current government actions often prioritize wealth for a few over safety for many, particularly in handling climate risks. It's important to hold leaders accountable for their choices.

Biden should run on a message of abundance

Noahpinion • 16764 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Biden should focus on a message of abundance in his campaign, highlighting the positive state of America and his policies that have contributed to it.
  2. Biden's energy policies, including embracing cheap solar and batteries, have brought abundance and climate stability, making them a crucial part of his message.
  3. Biden should run on his economic record, emphasizing the success of Bidenomics and the booming economy during his presidency compared to historical data.

Rahm on Trump and China: “He is the worst negotiator.”

ChinaTalk • 340 implied HN points • 18 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. The current U.S. approach and the president's unpredictability have weakened alliances and encouraged partners like Japan and South Korea to spend more on defense as insurance, which ultimately plays into China’s strategic narrative.
  2. Blending public policy with family business interests and rolling back oversight has eroded institutional norms, damaged U.S. credibility, and reduced America’s bargaining power abroad.
  3. China now behaves like a strategic adversary rather than a normal competitor, so the U.S. needs a whole-of-country response: protect research and universities, invest in energy and industrial capacity, and run a massive workforce and education push while managing AI’s inequality risks.
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Top Links 929 Trillion dollar buy-backs. Europe conservative R&D. Mountain-biking with Bush in Beijing. Night herons.

Chartbook • 529 implied HN points • 22 Nov 25
đź’° Finance Economic Policy
  1. Companies are doing huge stock buybacks, totaling $929 trillion. This suggests they may prefer boosting stock prices instead of investing in growth.
  2. In Europe, there's a focus on conservative research and development policies. This could limit innovation and competition in the region.
  3. The author shares a fun story about mountain biking with the former president in Beijing. It highlights unexpected connections and experiences in such encounters.

AMA

David Friedman’s Substack • 215 implied HN points • 13 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. He broadly favors libertarian/anarcho‑capitalist ideas because private markets and voluntary contracts usually produce better outcomes, but he admits practical limits and accepts that some state functions (like defense or disaster relief) might sometimes be the least bad option.
  2. Competition and market institutions are emphasized as powerful problem‑solvers — for example, competitive banking would drive seignorage to zero and market coordination often beats political hierarchy — while political decision‑making more often creates large failures.
  3. On policy and technology he prefers market liberalization and caution about heavy-handed regulation: he supports full drug legalization, thinks pausing AI is likely counterproductive, urges spending cuts rather than new taxes to fix debt, and is willing to take low‑probability bets like cryonics.

Energy Policy | Lunch Money with Paul Krugman and Heather Cox Richardson

Letters from an American • 8 implied HN points • 11 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Economics and politics used to be closely connected and were openly debated by politicians, editors, and everyday people.
  2. Since World War II, politicians have often disguised or misdescribed the real economic effects of policies, which has made it harder for the public to see how politics affects the economy.
  3. Clear, expert conversations can help untangle big-picture policy changes and make economic debates easier for ordinary people to follow.

Chartbook 401: The dollar system in an age of market-based finance - financial globalization beyond banks (The World Economy Now, July 2025)

Chartbook • 1659 implied HN points • 30 Jul 25
đź’° Finance Economic Policy
  1. Since the 2008 financial crisis, more money is flowing into government bonds instead of loans to private companies, changing how our financial system works.
  2. Non-bank financial institutions like hedge funds and investment funds have grown significantly, taking on more risk and affecting stability in financial markets.
  3. The US financial system is now more influenced by global developments, making it vulnerable to shocks from other countries, not just from within the US.

Empty Chambers

Doomberg • 5101 implied HN points • 11 Dec 24
🌍 World Politics Economic Policy
  1. Tajikistan's economy relies heavily on remittances from migrant workers in Russia, making the relationship between the two countries very important.
  2. China has invested a lot in Tajikistan and benefits from its natural resources, showing how connected these countries are through trade.
  3. Recent export restrictions by China on critical minerals like antimony can affect the US, especially in military and technology sectors, increasing concerns in the Pentagon.

A few takeaways from my friend’s new paper on loneliness

Sex and the State • 35 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Intensive parenting, later marriage, and fear of downward mobility are contributing to lower birthrates as people choose to have fewer or no children.
  2. Lonely people are more vulnerable to advertisers, cults, and political manipulation, and screens and social media worsen isolation by replacing real-life social time.
  3. Economic and social sorting — wealthy people clustering in homogeneous enclaves while poorer areas lose social capital — creates a vicious cycle that traps people in poverty and isolation, and it can be eased by mixed-income housing, more public social spaces, and policies that rebuild local civic life.

How to learn about politics from two Democratic-leaning women in New York

Global Inequality and More 3.0 • 1268 implied HN points • 14 Aug 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. People often don't see themselves as wealthy, even when they clearly are. This can lead to a disconnect between how they view their own status and reality.
  2. Business owners can struggle with changing economic conditions, like tariffs, that impact their ability to succeed. Decisions made by politicians can have a real effect on small businesses.
  3. Not everyone is satisfied with the mainstream political options. Some feel disillusioned with both major parties and are searching for better alternatives.

Beijing's Bubble Bursts Part 3

Diane Francis • 1338 implied HN points • 04 Mar 24
🌍 World Politics Economic Policy
  1. China's Belt and Road Initiative, which aimed to help poorer countries, has led many into deep debt instead of prosperity. This has turned some of these nations into vassal states rather than providing mutual benefits.
  2. Many countries that participated in BRI are facing serious economic issues and corruption scandals tied to Chinese investments. Projects often fail or are poorly managed, leaving these nations in worse situations.
  3. China's own economy is struggling, with declining exports and a high number of non-performing loans. The situation suggests that both China and its debt-laden partners are in precarious positions.

National Defense

David Friedman’s Substack • 188 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Using tariffs to protect industries for national defense is a plausible idea, but broad protection harms export sectors and mostly shifts production rather than increasing overall wartime capacity.
  2. Cutting the budget deficit is a more effective way to boost domestic production because it would reduce foreign capital inflows, narrow the trade deficit, and increase both export and import-competing industries so more factories exist if war breaks out.
  3. If tariffs are used for defense they should be very narrow—targeting militarily important goods from China and its allies—but that still risks protecting the wrong products and being distorted by political lobbying.

February 18, 2026

Letters from an American • 40 implied HN points • 19 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Federal actions have directly hurt Illinois residents and the state budget. Money was withheld, tariffs and cuts raised costs for families and farmers, and unaccountable federal agents created chaos in Chicago.
  2. The state has countered with steady, progressive policies to help people and grow the economy. Illinois balanced its budget, erased $1 billion in medical debt, and plans to lower housing, electricity, and healthcare costs.
  3. Community love and everyday acts of courage are framed as the best defense against authoritarianism. Neighbors protecting immigrants, supporting small vendors, and standing up for one another show that empathy and civic action matter more than slogans.

John Cochrane on Rent Control

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 484 implied HN points • 17 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Rent control can lead to reduced availability of rentals, especially hurting young and mobile people who need affordable housing options. When demand is high and supply is fixed, only the ownership of houses changes, not the overall availability.
  2. The housing market has deeper issues beyond just rent control, like regulatory barriers and access to mortgages, which affect supply and demand. Many factors are intertwined, making it hard for families to move to where they really want to live.
  3. It's crucial to understand that supply shortages in desirable areas can lead to higher rent inflation, and not recognizing these trends can hinder effective solutions. Economic understanding needs to adapt to these changing realities for better outcomes.

The Supreme Court Strikes Trump’s Tariffs

The Reactionary • 38 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. The Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not authorize the President to impose tariffs, effectively ending the presidential tariff program.
  2. The decision was 6–3, with Chief Justice Roberts writing the opinion joined by Justices Gorsuch, Barrett, Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson, while Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh dissented.
  3. The Court emphasized that Congress under Article I has the power to set tariffs and declined to read the IEEPA’s broad 'regulate importation' language as giving the President sweeping economic authority.

The 'No Hire' Economy

Apricitas Economics • 161 implied HN points • 11 Jan 26
đź’Ľ Business Economic Policy
  1. U.S. hiring essentially stopped in late 2025, with monthly job gains near zero and rising unemployment and underemployment despite GDP growth, creating a 'no-hire' or jobless-recovery environment.
  2. Job losses are broad but concentrated in blue-collar industries, manufacturing, logistics, the public sector, and tech, while healthcare is one of the few sectors still adding workers.
  3. Young workers and low-income earners are being hit hardest — teen and early-20s unemployment rose sharply and wage growth at the bottom has stalled — and a mix of tighter policy, lower immigration, tariffs, and uncertainty risks pushing this stagnation into outright job declines.

Japan isn't quite "back", but it has a fighting chance

Noahpinion • 11000 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🌍 World Politics Economic Policy
  1. Japan's stock market is rallying due to foreign investment, but the real economy is struggling with recession and weak manufacturing and exports.
  2. Japan is increasing defense spending and bringing in foreign workers to address labor shortages, however, concerns remain about assimilation and potential backlash.
  3. Japan needs to focus on reclaiming its position in key industries like electronics, developing a software industry and EVs, and reforming its corporate culture to boost economic growth.

Housing affordability is a tremendous crisis for young men

Jeff Giesea • 519 implied HN points • 13 Jun 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Housing affordability is a big problem for young men, especially in their 20s and 30s. It's harder for them to buy homes than it was before, with fewer places being affordable.
  2. This issue affects not just men, but it seems to hit young men the hardest. Many feel left out of the chance for a stable future with family and home ownership.
  3. Young men can make their voices heard by pushing for changes in housing policies. Working together to demand more affordable housing can help improve their chances of owning a home.

Why we need to Make Britain Rich Again (Odds and Ends #82)

Odds and Ends of History • 469 implied HN points • 12 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Economic growth is really important for a country's success and prosperity. When a country grows, it can create more jobs and improve living standards.
  2. Even if there's a bubble in the AI industry, it might not be all bad. Sometimes bubbles can lead to innovations and new opportunities.
  3. NIMBY activists are using AI in interesting ways to push their agenda, which shows how technology can influence social issues.

How the mainstream abandoned universal economic principles

Global Inequality and More 3.0 • 3654 implied HN points • 08 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Mainstream economists have stopped following the old rules of globalization, like free trade and open borders. This change is happening because many people are unhappy with how these rules have worked in their lives.
  2. Current economic actions, such as raising tariffs and trade blocks, go against the principles of globalization that were once strongly supported. Now, even respected institutions are shifting their views on these issues.
  3. There is no clear global economic framework anymore. Different countries are acting based on their own interests, leading to confusion and a lack of universal rules for trade and economy.

Bust Sanctions Busters

Diane Francis • 619 implied HN points • 02 May 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Russia is using loopholes to avoid sanctions, making it harder to punish their economy. The West needs to tighten these sanctions and go after those helping Russia evade them.
  2. The U.S. is starting to take action against foreign banks that help Russia, focusing on countries like China and Turkey. This is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done.
  3. There is a push to confiscate $300 billion in Russian assets frozen after the invasion. Europe needs to come together to support these efforts to apply more pressure on Putin.

Supermarket Tycoon Warns He’ll Close Down Shops if Mamdani Wins

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1641 implied HN points • 18 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Business leaders are concerned about the impact on the economy if Zohran Mamdani becomes mayor. They worry that losing wealthy individuals could harm the city's tax revenue.
  2. John Catsimatidis, a prominent businessman, indicated he might move his business out of New York if Mamdani wins. He feels that a change in leadership could make New York less favorable for business.
  3. Some business owners are seriously considering relocating to avoid the policies of a socialist mayor, suggesting that political decisions can greatly affect business operations and residents' livelihoods.

February 20, 2026

Letters from an American • 30 implied HN points • 21 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. The Supreme Court found that the president did not have authority under the IEEPA to impose broad tariffs, so those tariff measures were unconstitutional.
  2. Those tariffs functioned like taxes on American businesses and households, raising prices and contributing to slower economic growth and job losses.
  3. The administration used emergency powers to bypass Congress, sparking concerns about executive overreach and prompting calls for refunds and political pushback while the president seeks other ways to impose tariffs.

Americans giving up on homeownership

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 358 implied HN points • 24 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Many Americans are giving up on buying homes due to high costs and difficult access to mortgage loans. This trend could lead to a future with millions fewer homeowners.
  2. As people lose hope of owning a home, they change their spending and work habits, leading to greater wealth gaps. It’s important to address the roots of this problem, not just the symptoms.
  3. The academic focus has often been too narrow, only looking at home affordability. A broader view, including the impact of mortgage access, is crucial for understanding and solving the homeownership crisis.

Wu Xinbo Says We Are Witnessing Yet Another Turning Point in China–U.S. Relations

Pekingnology • 113 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🌍 World Politics Economic Policy
  1. The United States is undergoing a deep strategic recalibration: it is retrenching in some areas (notably Europe) while selectively expanding influence in the Western Hemisphere and the Indo‑Pacific, with a stronger focus on economic returns and reallocating resources.
  2. The 2025 tariff fight and China’s use of export controls exposed limits in Washington’s toolkit and showed China’s resilience and strategic leverage, nudging both sides toward a more pragmatic balance of competition and controlled cooperation.
  3. The long-term momentum toward cross‑Strait reunification is increasing, so the United States needs to rethink its Taiwan policy to avoid military confrontation and find ways to protect its interests as the situation evolves.

Governments Do the Bad Things That Sound Good

Bet On It • 266 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Economic Policy
  1. Immigration bans throw away enormous economic gains; when migrants do cause real harms, it makes more sense to measure those harms and use taxes or transfers to fix or compensate, not to close the door.
  2. People often say culture matters more than money, but their choices (not moving away) suggest cultural attachment is weaker than claimed, so cultural costs rarely outweigh big material benefits from migration.
  3. Housing rules that block building ignore that denser living has large net benefits people are willing to pay for; policymakers should allow more construction and deal with specific nuisances using targeted charges instead of blanket bans.

Tariff Refund Delays Could Cost Taxpayers $700 Million A Month

QTR’s Fringe Finance • 13 implied HN points • 05 Mar 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Delaying refunds on the Supreme Court-invalidated tariffs adds about $700 million in interest every month — roughly $23 million per day — and could total around $25 billion if litigation is dragged out to the end of the president’s term.
  2. About $175 billion in tariff payments is tied up in bonds, so slow refunds hurt importers by freezing capital they could use to run their businesses.
  3. The Justice Department asked for a 90-plus day pause in the remand process (which the appeals court rejected), and continuing to fight refunds would waste government resources and force taxpayers to pay needless interest.

Announcing the Center for Land Economics

Progress and Poverty • 2655 implied HN points • 24 Feb 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. The Center for Land Economics is a new nonprofit formed to tackle the housing crisis using specific economic principles. They aim to provide data-driven solutions and policy analysis for better land management.
  2. There will now be a weekly blog post schedule to share updates on land value tax and housing policies. This blog will serve as a central place for discussions on these important topics.
  3. An open-source software library for land assessments will be released soon. This tool will help improve the accuracy of property valuations, making it easier for communities to work on land-related issues.

A Fed Chair the Markets Will Love

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 268 implied HN points • 01 Dec 25
đź’° Finance Economic Policy
  1. Kevin Hassett looks likely to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair, and markets would welcome his nomination.
  2. He is less worried about market bubbles and investor exuberance, so AI and other hot stocks would probably keep rising under his leadership.
  3. That short-term market lift could create long-term risks, since continued loose policy might inflame bubbles and cause trouble down the road.

Always Bet Against the Davos Man

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 2684 implied HN points • 23 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood has shifted from disdain for Trump to a more interested attitude in 2025. Elite business leaders from Europe now want to engage with his ideas.
  2. While the forum continues to push topics like Environmental and Social Governance and Diversity, the actual conversations among executives reveal a different focus. They seem more optimistic about the changing American sentiments.
  3. Despite the fancy corporate language about sustainability, the reality for many leaders might be more about capitalizing on current trends than sticking strictly to these ideals.

An article at the Hill

Erdmann Housing Tracker • 84 implied HN points • 22 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Housing costs are eating up renters' budgets and families need clear, practical economic solutions instead of political knee-jerk reactions.
  2. The administration can change lending rules at federal housing agencies and could restore older, more reasonable standards.
  3. Bringing back those lending standards would help regular families compete with Wall Street and make homeownership more affordable and financially responsible.

More Lies About Trade Tariffs From the Chaos Monkeys

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 253 implied HN points • 22 Nov 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Supporters of chaotic tariff policies are making internally contradictory claims—saying tariffs don’t raise prices while also arguing that removing them will lower prices—and they push for immediate Fed rate cuts despite inflation risks.
  2. Tariffs act like taxes that raise prices and reduce output and jobs, and models that assume steady tariffs understate the real damage because unpredictable, rolling tariffs and the resulting uncertainty amplify economic harm.
  3. The political tactic is not coherent argument but domination: rapid misinformation, media capture, and enforced doublethink are used to flummox opponents and shape public opinion rather than engage on facts.

Political Realism

In My Tribe • 880 implied HN points • 12 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Political Realism suggests that government officials often act in their own interests instead of just fixing market problems. This means sometimes they may take advantage of their power for personal gain.
  2. Rent-seeking is when interest groups spend a lot of resources to influence government decisions that benefit them. This can lead to a lot of money being wasted on lobbying instead of being used for productive activities.
  3. The combination of subsidizing demand and restricting supply by the government doesn't always make sense. In practice, it often serves the interests of producers rather than addressing the real issues in the market.

Davos, The Dollar, and Donald

JoeWrote • 79 implied HN points • 21 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Economic Policy
  1. Trump’s confrontational foreign moves are eroding the rules-based international order and straining alliances, shifting geopolitics toward power politics instead of agreed rules.
  2. Global investors are losing faith in the U.S. as a safe haven, driving down the dollar and U.S. assets while pushing money into gold and non‑US investments.
  3. Attempts to politicize the Federal Reserve and pressure its leadership risk destroying central bank independence, prompting financial leaders to diversify away from U.S. assets and weakening America’s financial dominance.

The Ownership Class and Working Class

Satisologie: Systems//Creativity • 29 implied HN points • 08 Feb 26
đź’° Finance Economic Policy
  1. About 70% of people depend on wages while a small ownership class lives off assets and passive income, and mathematically only a tiny share of workers can move into ownership each year while a similar share fall out.
  2. Both capitalist and communist systems end up with large working classes: capitalism leaves a narrow path to ownership for a few, while communist-style systems often close that path entirely.
  3. Seeding every person with dividend-bearing stock or indexed accounts at birth could, through compound returns, make broad ownership possible within a generation, though programs like this risk mainly helping families who can afford additional contributions without strong financial education.