Comments by "Sam Aronow" (@SamAronow) on "The Plain Bagel" channel.

  1. Failure to raise the debt limit is very similar to returning to the Gold Standard– it's simple and can be stated in a single sentence, but in the context of an entire economy is just a complete self-own that does nothing but make the country and most people poorer. Greece defaulted because it couldn't pay; the US defaulting would be nothing but a choice, effectively punishing society for the crime of functioning (such as it does). And all to make life harder for old people and poor people.
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  2. I'm part of a handful of Slack groups that records experiences with sponsors, and as a result I was able to avoid offers that were (1) for sketchy products or services, (2) from sketchy companies with oddly frequent connections to Moscow, (3) handled by sketchy middlemen with an established history of underpaying/avoiding payment, or most commonly all three. I haven't gotten any offers like that in the past year, but I've always been curious to reach out to craft businesses where I or my collaborators have an existing relationship and are actual consumers of that product. Alternately, I'd really love to get a sponsorship for a letter of the alphabet. That's when you know you've made it.
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  3. You wouldn't want the US to be entirely debt-free though, as that would also dry up the government's credit. Budget surpluses (which are problematic in their own way, but that's a different conversation) would have created an incentive to offer more Treasury bonds.
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  4. But how do small landlords do that? I'm not denying the possibility that they have a role, but I also can't picture a mechanism by which they could limit the housing supply themselves.
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  5. TikTokers and conspiracy theories.
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  6. I would call The Big Short Adam McKay's least-bad movie about politics and/or real events. Vice and Don't Look Up were extremely revelatory about how little he understands the issues he cares about and the strange degree to which he holds the general public responsible for the problem. But the seeds of that attitude are definitely here.
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  7. Ah, local government, of course. I was picturing something on a state/provincial scale.
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  8. That's a good Fry squint in the thumbnail.
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