Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 14/10/2026We're in totally unprecedented territory when it comes to computer prices; they're up a record 10% over the last year alone in data released this morning (and that's after adjusting for quality improvements, which usually are enough to drive steady *de*-flation) 1435557 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 14/10/2026NEW: CPI inflation rose to 3.7% year-on-year in data released this morning, hitting the second-highest level since 2023 while increasing 0.6% month-on-month Core CPI inflation rose to 2.6% year-on-year, increasing 0.3% month-on-month 1825198 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 13/10/2026Guy is a Saudi national, which obviously isn’t a guarantee he was working for Saudi intelligence, but this is the caliber of work I would expect out of Saudi intelligence services 1027632 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Again he’s really losing it with the AI stuff now 3252480328 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Another major transit story this year has been the steady rebound in LA Metro rail ridership since the opening of the first D-line extension Though still well below record highs, LA Metro moved 6.6M riders last month, up 12% from this time last year 2505 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Ridership on the Bay Area's Caltrain also continues rising in the wake of the route's electrification, with passenger counts up 31% since this time last year! Caltrain is now moving more people than it did in equivalent months pre-COVID, a massive rarity among US rail systems 39011 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The biggest US transit story of this year has been the massive growth of Seattle Link Light Rail ridership in the wake of the 1 & 2 lines connecting The Link moved more than 5M passengers last month, up 39% from last year, and it's now America's biggest light rail network! 3517 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 07/10/2026August US transit data is in today, & all of the largest US rail networks are growing! Cali leads the way, with ridership up 15% on BART, 14% on Muni, & 10% on LA Metro PATH (NY/NJ) & MBTA (Boston) also have strong growth at 8%, while MTS (San Diego, +1.7%) is the slowest🧵 714428 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 03/10/2026getting more Toronto urban planning lore from @forkast.bsky.social 1842 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Canada, I am in another different part of you 82695 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Sort of insane fact about how broken US urban planning is—America now spends more building *just the lights for roads and highways* than on all subways & ground mass transit combined Spending on roadway *pavement* is 18x transit spending 502950804 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 02/10/2026The US tech sector continues bleeding jobs in official data released today—overall, employment decreased by 17k last month and is down 69k over the last year That's nearly as bad as the worst of the 2024 tech-cession, and much worse than the 2022 boom or even pre-2020 norms 415841 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 02/10/2026NEW US JOBS DATA: Non-farm Payrolls: +29k Unemployment Rate: 4.2% (+0.1%) Prime Age (25-54) Employment-Population Ratio: 80.7% (+0.3%) Average Hourly Earnings: +0.1% 35616 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 01/10/2026American factory construction inched down to the lowest level since 2022 in official data released today as CHIPS Act projects finish and tariffs weigh on nearly all industries Total US factory construction is down 33% from its 2024 highs and 20% over the last year alone 213137 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Just last year data center construction was less than office construction, now it's larger than office construction ever has been 15510 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 01/10/2026US data center construction reached another new record high in official data released today, nearing a pace of $85B/yr (and this only includes data center facilities, not the expensive computers within) Spending is up 73% over the last year and 513% since ChatGPT's launch 2778 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 30/09/202639 of the 50 largest metro areas now exceed their pre-COVID job levels Fastest: Austin (24.1%), Raleigh (19.7%), Dallas (13.9%), Nashville (13.2%), SLC (13.1%) Slowest: San Francisco (-3.7%), Portland (-2.5%), Boston (-2.3%), Milwaukee (-2.2%), Cleveland (-1.5%) 0495 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Metro job data is in today, & 38 of the 50 largest metros have gained jobs over the last year Fastest: SLC (2.5%), Raleigh (2.2%), San Jose (1.6%), Charlotte (1.5%), Las Vegas (1.5%) Slowest: DC (-2%), Portland (1.5%), Indianapolis (-1.1%), Richmond (-.8%), Hampton Roads (-.6%) 51047 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026All 50 states and DC exceed their pre-COVID GDP, but some have grown more than others over the last 7 years Fastest: Idaho (31.9%), Texas (30.2%), Florida (29.5%), Utah (28.1%), Arizona (26.2%) Slowest: Wyoming (3.8%), DC (4.5%), Hawaii (5.4%), Alaska (6%), Pennsylvania (6.5%) 0412 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 30/09/2026New GDP by State data is out today, and 44 states have seen their economies grow over the last year Fastest: New York (4.6%), Idaho (4.4%), California (3.6%), Florida (3%), Nebraska (2.7%) Slowest: DC (-2.1%), N. Dakota (-.8%), Maryland (-.6%), New Mexico (-.4%), Alaska (-.3%) 710211 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Solar power also continues to skyrocket in Texas, with generation up 47% compared to last year Over the last twelve months, solar has made up 12.6% of Texas' electricity, a record high! 419923 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Solar power made up 11.3% of US electricity this July, up from 9.5% last year Over the last twelve months, solar has made up 9.5% of US electricity, another record high! 221727 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Official monthly data is in, and US solar power generation hit a new record high, up 21% compared to this time last year! 171159243 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Overall, media has always been a small share of the economy—the effect of AI art will be primarily cultural & social rather than economic Still, current arts displacement is a microcosm of disruption already happening in larger sectors like tech, and maybe coming to more sectors soon 421120 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Still, it's extremely difficult to predict how tech will interact with arts businesses Take US novel sales, which had been declining for decades up to 2020. Would anyone have anticipated that short-form video apps like TikTok would reverse this trend and send book sales soaring? 830643 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026But arts businesses in the AI era might end up looking like the unrecoverable devastation of writing businesses in the internet era Social media caused a total collapse of publishers' business models, leading to an 85% drop in news & book employment that shows no sign of abating 326245 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Can the arts business model survive AI? Perhaps the best guide is to look at how the arts survived past tech revolutions Take music—internet piracy and then streaming killed the lucrative CD market, but musicians mostly saved their jobs by focusing much more on live concerts 927236 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Hollywood has suffered the most in the AI era—with the movie & TV industry losing more than 100k jobs, nearly one-third of the sector’s total employment, over the last four years. Total employment in video production is approaching the fthe lowest levels in 30 years 1123043 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Perhaps the best evidence for AI-driven arts job loss is that all digital arts industries are losing jobs while most live arts still chug along Sectors like graphic design, streaming, & movie recording have experienced historically unusual job loss since ChatGPT's launch 524138 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 19/09/2026he’s really losing it with the AI stuff 2761633159 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 15/09/2026“If you don’t rename the Kennedy Center after me I will close it forever” Again living in DC is experiencing the constant humiliation of “what if Robert Moses had the most gaudy taste possible and randomly got obsessed with musical theatre” 1341352 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 11/09/2026The Census Bureau's official quarterly financial data came out this week, and companies in the information technology sector broke another investment record amidst the AI boom Net holdings of property, plant, & equipment are up more than $350B over the last year alone 6829 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Unspeakably excited to finally have this book in my hands 3683 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 09/09/2026every day it gets dumber and worse 1039949 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Lucked into the best day possible to visit Glenstone. Highly recommended! 1583 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 06/09/2026if you go to Glenstone it's actually illegal to take photos of any art except the flower horse/dinosaur. they won't let you do it. 11074 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Ridership on the Bay Area's Caltrain also continues rising in the wake of the route's electrification, with passenger counts up 23% compared to this time last year! Caltrain has taken more than 14.5M passengers over the last twelve months, the highest since 2019 1947 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Kansas City's streetcar is also seeing a major ridership boom in the wake of the new extensions to UMKC and the riverfront Ridership has more than tripled over the last year, and the system now has more passengers than the Sacramento or Charlotte light rail systems! 5863 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Another major transit story this year has been the steady rebound in LA Metro rail ridership since the opening of the first D-line extension Though still well below record highs, LA Metro moved 6.6M riders last month, up 16% from this time last year 3391 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026The biggest US transit story of this year has been the massive growth of Seattle Link Light Rail ridership in the wake of the 1 & 2 lines connecting The Link moved a record 5M passengers last month, up 35% from last year, and it's now America's biggest light rail network! 3676 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026July US transit data is in today, & all of the largest US rail networks are growing! Cali leads the way, with ridership up 15% on Muni, 14% on BART, & 10% on LA Metro SEPTA (Philly) & MBTA (Boston) also have strong growth at 8%, while MTS (San Diego, +1.4%) is the slowest🧵 616021 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026we’re like half a step away from him mailing a ransom note made of cut up magazines to Kevin Warsh at this point 84775181 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026What I watched in August: letterboxd.com/josephpolita... 8260 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026The core economic pitch for Trump's deportations was "fewer immigrants means more jobs for Americans" Unsurprisingly, that's just not happening Prime-age employment rates for native-born Americans held near the lowest levels in more than four years in data released today 721159 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026The US tech sector continues bleeding jobs—official data released this morning shows employment dropped by 4k last month and is down 42k over the last year That's not as bad as the worst of the 2024 tech-cession, but extremely bad compared to the 2022 boom or even pre-2020 norms 916836 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 04/09/2026NEW US JOBS DATA: Non-farm Payrolls: +162k Unemployment Rate: 4.1% (+0%) Prime Age (25-54) Employment-Population Ratio: 80.4% (+0%) Average Hourly Earnings: +0.3% 86112 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Of course, none of the AI buildout would be possible except for the fact that Trump has completely exempted the industry from tariffs The exemption for computers & parts is now so large that it represents nearly 1/5 of imports on its own, dwarfing every other tariff exemption 812636 0
Joey Politano🏳️🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Hard to overstate the degree to which AI-related imports have completely reshaped US trade flows at this point Another record high for computer & parts imports in official data released this morning, tracking at nearly $700B annualized, up 126% over the last year alone 310821 0