Peter

Former military. Tech entrepreneur. Observing and commenting. Tech, politics, international affairs.

[Peter @astarf]

@mattyglesias @eddieenhanced1 @JTLonsdale @ZacharyGraves 2025:
SF: 28 on a population of 830k
Ft Worth: 81 on a population of 1M.

Would be curious to look at clearance rates, but that requires more digging.

My data-free hypothesis would be more guns = more homicides; unclear how predictive this is of other crimes.

[Peter @astarf]

@TweetBenMax It’s great to see some awareness of Austin’s success in driving down rent.

For a long time the conversation was “newcomers are ruining Austin, and look at all the greedy developers tasking advantage.” Now that rent is actually down, no one wants to talk about it anymore.

[Peter @astarf]

@AzizSunderji How do you justify ignoring the red state (less restrictive zoning) vs blue state (more restrictive zoning) difference?

[Luzia 🔸 @_revoluzia_]

„you should be holding more babies“ is now an econ paper!

[Peter @astarf]

@Latest_Finance @parkersity_9 Good discussion. Wish there was more of this here.

[Peter @astarf]

@Latest_Finance @parkersity_9 Got it, thanks. That appears to be drawn from second-hand Boeing pension fund data (e.g. the author of the paper reports that someone else gave him the data).

An analysis of social security payments finds the opposite result: https://t.co/8l7tLYprgd

[Peter @astarf]

@marcorandazza @JasonNied Your driver lied to you or you're peddling a story you made up.

Either way: you've been called on it. Your choices are: retract the story, come back with proof, or deliberately keep peddling the lie.

[Peter @astarf]

Unpopular opinion: no one owes you free money.

Retire at 50 if you want to and can, but do not ask your fellow citizens to pay for it.

[parks @parkersity_9]

Unpopular Opinion: Retirement should be encouraged to start at 50. People deserve more time to enjoy life.

[Peter @astarf]

@Latest_Finance @parkersity_9 This source-less graphic has been floating around on social for a while, but as far as I can tell does not originate from any reliable source or academic paper.

[skepticalifornia @skepticaliblog]

It's very on brand for California that one of the factors pushing Oakland towards a possible bankruptcy is environmental activists pushing the city to illegally renege on a port contract

Taxpayers are now on the hook for up to $654 million, before interest

[Peter @astarf]

@xwanyex @AnechoicMedia_ Yeah a credentialed, practicing orthodontist would not be able to discharge his loans in bankruptcy.

It’s not some sort of form you fill out that magically gets you out of prior promises, it’s an actual process with safeguards.

[Peter @astarf]

@TheOmniZaddy Just going to leave this here.

[Peter @astarf]

@TheOmniZaddy The biggest cost in healthcare is labor, and it’s a neat trick
doctors earning 2x their developed country peers have pulled, convincing us that they are the solution and not the problem.

[Peter @astarf]

@drsmithy @StewMama71 @AvidCommentator Yeah that was my question. How much of that is substituting housework for childcare.

[Peter @astarf]

@AlecMacGillis @smervosh Lots of public services get better in the absence of unions.

[M. Nolan Gray 🥑 @mnolangray]

A heck of a chart: in every single one of the 10 major US cities that built the most housing between 2017 and 2023, rents for older, existing units fell—often by quite a bit.

[Peter @astarf]

@fishontherun2 People who aren’t poor also appreciate plane tickets that cost half as much.

[Peter @astarf]

@VanyaWright @GaryWinslett No. Local service business are not economic drivers.

New York is not wealthier than Lincoln Nebraska because more wealthy people live there, it’s because higher productivity jobs (finance, technology) that require specialization and large populations are clustered there.

[Peter @astarf]

@humantransit Show me someone who committed a crime on the subway, and I’ll show you someone who (earlier) jumped the fare gates.

[Peter @astarf]

@Tesho13 The same could be said about living in something more complex than a tent.