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Ken Acks

@costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social
2.9K followers 2.7K following 1K posts

Supporting Rational Evaluation over Preconception by Facilitating Comprehensive Quantification of Costs and Benefits www.costbenefitgroup.com envirovaluation.org. Adjunct Prof NYU Schack Institute for Real Estate

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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 4h
A Wealthy Russian Businessman Is Helping Fund Trump’s Stupid Ballroom. Nothing Sketchy About That, Right? www.esquire.com/news-politic...
esquire.com
A Wealthy Russian Businessman Is Helping Fund Trump’s Stupid Ballroom. Nothing Sketchy About That, Right?
Surely, our president will face consequences for this insanity.
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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 7h
Trump has invited Putin to attend the G20 meeting in FL. "Putin directs a war of conquest, filled with atrocities. Democratic governments often have to deal with monsters such as Putin. But they do not have to invite these monsters to international gatherings." open.substack.com/pub/thenextm...
open.substack.com
Putin Our Invitee
On President Trump’s invitation to the Russian dictator to attend the next G20.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 7h
Pacific Fusion Just Broke Ground on a $1 Billion Test Reactor - Heatmap News heatmap.news/climate-tech...
heatmap.news
Pacific Fusion Just Broke Ground on a $1 Billion Test Reactor
The New Mexico facility aims to achieve net energy gain by 2030.
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8h
National Guard members have congregated outside D.C. public schools around student drop-off times twice recently. Community members and educators say Guard members are unsettling families while doing little to move the needle on crime.
washingtonpost.com
The National Guard keeps appearing outside D.C. schools, stoking tensions
The U.S. Marshals Service says the guard members and federal agents are there to deter crime. Families say their presence is ineffective and unsettling for students.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 8h
The world’s inequality paradox - by Tibor Rutar statsandsociety.substack.com/p/the-worlds...
statsandsociety.substack.com
The world’s inequality paradox
The West is more meritocratic but also more skeptical of the rich
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 20h
This is about climate change
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 20h
Does Georgism Work? Five Years Later - by Scott Alexander www.astralcodexten.com/p/does-georg...
astralcodexten.com
Does Georgism Work? Five Years Later
A guest post by Lars Doucet
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 21h
How Trump Directed Tax Dollars to Ads Praising Him www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...
nytimes.com
Video: How Trump Directed Tax Dollars to Ads Praising Him
President Trump personally directed the use of taxpayer money for ads praising his presidency, according to people familiar with the matter. Our White House correspondent, Maggie Haberman, explains.
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The New York Review of Books @nybooks.com · 03/10/2026
“The disaster being created by today’s conservative justices isn’t motivated by a liking for Trump’s personal style of governance. It’s driven by their blind adherence to the foolish dogma of originalism.” —Noah Feldman
nybooks.com
Eradicating the ‘Fourth Branch’ | Noah Feldman
By ending the independence of federal agencies, the Supreme Court has taken another step toward the creation of an elected presidential dictatorship.
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Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 22h
The current court majority isn’t remotely originalist. The only one of their major conservative decisions on the last several years that is even arguably originalist is Dobbs. The immunity case, the Muslim ban case, all the cases striking down the Voting Rights Act? Not a bit.
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Wilbur72 @wilboo72.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
A coach finds a phone on the field and hands it to the Head Referee. Ref: How did you know it was my phone? Coach: It says you missed 15 calls.
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Blue Dot in Red State @bluedotin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
(The Atlantic) Fascinating article outlining the duplicitous nature of Trump who never thinks more than five minutes ahead to consider consequences before he does something amazingly stupid. And it is getting worse, if you can believe that. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
theatlantic.com
What Is Trump Doing?
Poll after poll shows that Trump’s presidency is not going well. And he has only himself to blame.
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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This reminds me, Trump didn't get nearly the credit he deserved for going to the UN, an organization created to bring about the peaceful resolution of conflicts, and boasting about conquering another country and seizing its resources, and threatening to use nuclear weapons to annihilate Iran.
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Scott Warriston Sanderson @scottwsanderson.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Wow. “A multibillion-dollar oil deal that would benefit Middle Eastern business executives with ties to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.” 🤬 U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Tom Bonier @tbonier.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Great poll for Dems from an excellent pollster. Some notes on the crosstabs: - The Hispanic sample at 20% is maybe slightly conservative (in terms of size), in '18 Hispanics were 18%, in '22 they were 20.2%, and 23.2% in '24. Talarico is winning them by 32 pts. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Cross-Tabs: September 2026 Times/Siena Poll of the Likely Electorate in Texas
Results of a New York Times/Siena poll conducted among 615 voters from Sept. 21 to 30, 2026.
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The New York Times has a choice of whether to cover Trumpism as A) an amusing and colorful example of the oddity of American politics, or B) an existential threat to the future of everyone you know and love. Over and over, they choose A. They trivialize themselves.
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Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 03/10/2026
JUST POSTED: Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have pushed a multibillion oil deal with Russia as part of peace talks that will bring profits to their family business partners. A new front for Trump-era conflicts of interest. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The second Trump presidency is a world-historic failure www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-second...
noahpinion.blog
The second Trump presidency is a world-historic failure
How did Trump fumble so badly?
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Jigar Shah @jigarshahdc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Heating oil just hit $5.39/gallon in Maine, 60% above last year. A heat pump installed today pays back in 3–5 years and you keep the oil system for backup. 4.79 million households should be making this call right now. www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
linkedin.com
Heating oil is at its highest level in years across the Northeast at ~$6.00/gallon. Families are budgeting around $2,300 this season — up $600 from last year. Close watchers who once described Middle…...
Heating oil is at its highest level in years across the Northeast at ~$6.00/gallon. Families are budgeting around $2,300 this season — up $600 from last year. Close watchers who once described Middle ...
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Jess Piper Fan Page 💙 📚 @jesspiperfanpage.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
💙 @piperformissouri.bsky.social @fpwellman.bsky.social @jaybird54.bsky.social @lacerantplainer.bsky.social @ltwlauren.bsky.social @lyndapole.bsky.social @itistherealjas.bsky.social @bluestormcomin1.bsky.social @tonyhq1985.bsky.social @andreadevon.sheshed.rocks @docsociology.bsky.social
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Less for More - by Scott Galloway - Prof G Media www.profgmedia.com/p/less-for-m...
profgmedia.com
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Exclusive: Major Republican fundraiser winning contracts from Trump administration, emails reveal | US national security | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Exclusive: Major Republican fundraiser winning contracts from Trump administration, emails reveal
Palmer Luckey has donated $5.9m to Republicans and bundled more, while reaping billions in Pentagon contracts
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Joe Cirincione @joecirin.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Meet the mega-donor Pete Hegseth just named as the leader of his new automated war initiative, along with mega-donor Elon Musk and Newt Gingruch. Donald Trump Jr. invests in his company. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
Exclusive: Major Republican fundraiser winning contracts from Trump administration, emails reveal
Palmer Luckey has donated $5.9m to Republicans and bundled more, while reaping billions in Pentagon contracts
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Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Democrats have formally demanded that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) investigate the Trump administration’s use of taxpayer dollars to produce and air ads promoting Trump before the midterm elections. substack.com/profile/2357...
substack.com
Amee Vanderpool (@shero)
Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee Jaime Raskin has formally demanded that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) formally investigate the T...
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The Keynesian Subtweet - by Ben Recht - arg min www.argmin.net/p/the-keynes...
argmin.net
The Keynesian Subtweet
Utility maximization is unescapable. We should learn when it’s misapplied.
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
For a long time I've wanted a sense of how trump has or hasn't interacted with chatbots (we know he posts a lot of slop sure). And this TIME anecdote about Grok arguably leading Trump into war is just extremely bracing
Since returning to office, Trump has marveled at AI’s capabilities. He is increasingly in thrall to the tech executives courting him. In December 2025, Elon Musk returned to the Oval Office for a clandestine meeting. Trump spent hours asking Grok, Musk’s AI chatbot, questions about his presidency and legacy, according to an official present. At the time, Trump was ordering missile strikes against Venezuelan boats he alleged were smuggling drugs into the U.S. He asked Grok how Venezuelans would react if the U.S. captured Maduro. According to the official present, the chatbot responded that Maduro was a repressive and deeply unpopular dictator and that many Venezuelans would likely celebrate his downfall. After Trump ordered the mission to seize Maduro, the following month, celebrations broke out in the streets. Trump, according to officials, came away thinking Grok was ingenious.
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Brad DeLong @braddelong.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The core hardware cost collapsed to $0.12/W — so why is a California rooftop still costing $3.00/W, and the market shrinking while Pakistan’s is booming? Soft costs, a dead tax credit, and a net-billing rule rewrote the arithmetic: in the U.S., policy and plumbing now matter more than the... 1/
braddelong.substack.com
Rooftop Solar Rules Elsewhere!: CHART OF THE DAY
Watching the coming of the info-bio tech-attention economy Mode-of-Production: how soon? how fast? how complete?...
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Pittsburg launches 'EZ permits,' aims for one-day turnaround for low-risk permits | Planetizen News www.planetizen.com/news/2026/09...
planetizen.com
Pittsburg launches 'EZ permits,' aims for one-day turnaround for low-risk permits
The pilot ‘fast lane’ for permits is part of a bundle of modernization efforts for Pittsburg’s permitting process.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The EPA Cooks the Books in Trying to Cook the Planet www.nrdc.org/bio/meredith...
nrdc.org
The EPA Cooks the Books in Trying to Cook the Planet
The agency’s power plant rollback—right after the hottest summer on record—will raise your power bills and worsen the climate crisis.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
nice
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Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The trade deficit on goods soared in August to the second-highest on record. Guess we're not liberated yet deanbaker22.substack.com/p/trade-defi...
deanbaker22.substack.com
Trade Deficit Soars in August: The Tariffs Don’t Seem to be Working
Yet another war that Trump seems to be losing
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Adam Smith’s greatest insight? - by Scott Sumner scottsumner.substack.com/p/adam-smith...
scottsumner.substack.com
Adam Smith’s greatest insight?
The Wealth of Nations at 250
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 30/09/2026
After an investigation into the renovation of the Federal Reserve building found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, the president wrote on his Truth Social platform: 'This is Jerome Powell’s fault.' ft.trib.al/qoImwZI
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Pete Hegseth removing tenure protections shows precisely why they are needed. He wants to silence dissent by being able to fire anyone who questions his vision of the military. www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...
militarytimes.com
Hegseth halts tenure appointments for civilian faculty at military academies
Military academies will no longer appoint civilian faculty to tenured positions as Hegseth says it can contribute to “academic stagnation.”
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Zander Furnas @alexanderfurnas.com · 30/09/2026
that's like $15k a MC. Seems fine to me tbqh
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Nancy Levine Stearns @nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“In an effort spearheaded by Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget and a key architect of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, the White House has unilaterally canceled billions of dollars of spending approved by Congress.” VOTE www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Trump Wants to Get His Hands on the Power of the Purse (Gift Article)
The search for fraud in the federal government must always end in the same place.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Up to 2.3 Million Young Adults Ages 19 to 24 Could Lose Medicaid Under OBBBA’s Work Requirements and More-Frequent Redeterminations | Urban Institute www.urban.org/research/pub...
urban.org
Up to 2.3 Million Young Adults Ages 19 to 24 Could Lose Medicaid Under OBBBA’s Work Requirements and More-Frequent Redeterminations
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) includes several provisions that will make it harder for adults to enroll in and maintain coverage through the Afforda…
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Watch Trump's new chatbot debunk his lies - by Judd Legum popular.info/p/watch-trum...
popular.info
Watch Trump's new chatbot debunk his lies
Hours after its launch, America.gov's chatbot was censored.
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Tim Murphy @timothypmurphy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
he's the face of chud-and-soil nationalism www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Is this the most dangerous man in the US Senate?
Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri is pushing a tribalistic ideology suggesting only descendants of white Christian pioneers are true Americans.
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Gregory Norminton @gregorynorminton.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
People support clean energy but think others don't. People support clean air but think others don't. People support low traffic neighbourhoods but think others don't. And they think others don't because vested interests and right-wing media work hard to create that impression.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Pete Hegseth Wants to Make Violence Holy | The Tim & April Show open.substack.com/pub/lincolns...
open.substack.com
Pete Hegseth Wants to Make Violence Holy | The Tim & April Show
The self-proclaimed Secretary of “War” is trying to use his post to spread Christian Nationalism far and wide.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
These people make Marie Antoinette look connected to the people and empathetic by comparison. They laugh at what their own voters are going through as they continue to mock them as they enrich themselves and have a great time.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Generative AI in urban science and practice | Nature Cities www.nature.com/articles/s44...
nature.com
Generative AI in urban science and practice - Nature Cities
Understanding cities has never been more important. This Review considers the capabilities of generative AI, synthesizing insights into the importance of honestly evaluating AI, validating it in conte...
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
EU to launch climate insurance scheme after summer of extreme weather | Reuters www.reuters.com/world/eu-lau...
reuters.com
EU to launch climate insurance scheme after summer of extreme weather
The European Union will ‌create a "climate insurance alliance" to increase cover for extreme weather events, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, as the bloc emerges f...
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Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I think something to consider here is that Collins voted to confirm Russ Vought as OMB Director despite the fact that he said a billion times that he thought Trump had a constitutional right to illegally impound funds, and now she’s doing shocked Pikachu reactions.
Sen. Susan Collins • fAl
劉
@SenatorCollins
X.com
Without warning or consultation, Congress just received an $810 million package of pocket rescissions from the Administration. This is the most recent attempt by this Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to undermine Congress's Constitutional power of the purse.
This move shows that OMB intentionally withheld these funds for months to execute this unlawful cancellation of appropriations that were approved on a bipartisan basis and signed into law.Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress's appropriations powers.
OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding.
The independent Government Accountability Office has concluded that pocket rescissions are unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act. Any effort to rescind appropriated funds without congressional approval is a clear violation of the law.
I will work with my colleagues to address these illegal actions.
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Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Susan Collins is belatedly troubled by the obvious results of her own actions.
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Simon Sebag Montefiore on the Origins of the Modern Middle East writing.yaschamounk.com/p/simon-seba...
writing.yaschamounk.com
Simon Sebag Montefiore on the Origins of the Modern Middle East
Yascha Mounk and Simon Sebag Montefiore discuss how the fall of the Ottoman Empire shaped the region we know today.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A new trailer for Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk was just released. gizmodo.com/elon-musk-do...
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David Veit 🇺🇦🌻 @daves-not-here-man.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"His summits are a national hazard precisely because Trump apparently does not understand that he is representing the United States; instead, he seems to think he’s just having a visit with some of the guys in a very cool club of which he’d very much like to be a member."
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Ken Acks @costbenefitkmaacks.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The Anti-Social Media - by Sam Kahn - Persuasion www.persuasion.community/p/the-anti-s...
persuasion.community
The Anti-Social Media
Some survey results on the uses of AI.
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