Aaron Smyth

Very gay. Very bad @ Twitter. YIMBY-pilled Castro resident. Work in higher ed but opine on all sorts of stupid things. The geriatric-est of millennials.

[Braelyn ⛓️ @braelyn_ai]

the weather app really should tell you if SF is going to be 67° (very hot) or 67° (very cold)

[Cairo Smith @cairoasmith]

GRAND RIVER, MN - Residents Rally Against New Dada Center

"No one knows what the hell it is. It's not Modernist. It's not Brutalist. It's always making weird noises."

"We don't want our children growing up in an environment full of semiotic deconstruction. Who asked for this?"

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

*progressive nationalists too

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

SF toooo! Don’t forget about our progressive NIMBYs —we basically invented the category!

[Jordan Weissmann @JHWeissmann]

@jonlovett I feel like all the conversations about who’s a ‘real Angelino’ or ‘real New Yorker’ are basically the way progressives allow themselves to indulge in the same gross nationalistic impulses as MAGA Republicans.

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

@ledwards @cameron_parker Justice for Seven of Nine 😢

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

I'm glad that the author of "Rent Control Is Fine, Actually" calls themself Unlearning Economics, bc it's good to just state things clearly, such as the open animosity that many left economic populists have for the field of economics and economists themselves.

Economists aren't gods, and economics isn't a divine truth, but economists are good--better than most--at something critical for making public policy: They're good at identifying tradeoffs. "Rents are too high, so freeze them" is compelling politics. But in the absence of other pro-supply policies, if you make it illegal to increase rents, landlords will stop upgrading units and convert them to condos, which reduces the supply of units for rent, reduces mobility, and drives up rents for everybody else.

The left econ populists have some clear, and clearly stated, policy ideas:

- Rents are too high, so freeze them.
- Electricity is expensive, so stop rate increases.
- Homes are too expensive, so ban institutional investors.
- Power prices are rising, so ban data center construction.

... All these policies feel like solutions because they're brisk, they name enemies, and they take on the most visible source of frustration. But they are much better as villain-naming exercises than they are as a complete public policy. On their own, each creates other problems: less housing built, less clean electricity built, abdicating energy policy by encouraging AI firms to build data centers abroad in unsavory countries with more emissions, etc.

I can't think of a single economic populist idea that wouldn't be helped with a little dose of economics, which is why it's troubling when I see the left participating in, and even celebrating, the great unlearning of economics.

[Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome]

A terrible decision bad for almost everyone. Six quick reasons why:
1. Bad for Intel's long-term viability, as politics, not commercial considerations, increasingly drive its decisions. (SOEs are notoriously slow, bloated, & unproductive.) Foreign govts might also target it.

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

@mcmill2008 @plathiandc In San Francisco, we would probably refer to them as “people experiencing transitlessness” so as not to stigmatize them for their lack of transit.

[Max Dubler 🏳️‍🌈 @maxdubler]

NIMBYs in shambles.

[Mike the Hot Dog Mayor @MikeHotDogMayor]

Excuse me?

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

New newsletter: HOW THE HOUSING MARKET FOR YOUNG PEOPLE BECAME A 'TOTAL DISASTER'

In 1991, the median age of first-time homebuyers was 28. Now it’s 38. This is the hardest time for young people (defined, generously, up to 40) to buy their first home in modern history.

The vanishing dream of 20- and 30-something homeownership isn't just an economic phenomenon. It's becoming a political centerpiece. Housing affordability is for voters under 40 what protecting Social Security is for voters over 65.

The cities, states, and national parties that figure out how to talk about and ultimately solve this mess to restore housing affordability to Americans under 40 will have a major advantage in the next few years.

[Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma]

He’s running for re-election in the fall

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

@cameron_parker @ModeledBehavior My pneumonic was “Dessert has two ‘S’s because you want a Second Serving.”

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

As an American, I am absolutely never again allowed to get this invested in ESC before the finals, because I have NO ONE to wail / complain / cry / rage to about some of these semifinals results.

[Nikolaj🇺🇦🇵🇸 @nikicaga]

HAPPY EUROVISION TO EVERYONE!!

[Peter Twinklage @PeterTwinklage]

it took the cardinals .18 Scaramuccis to pick a pope, for anyone curious

[Harvard University @Harvard]

“No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” - President Alan Garber https://t.co/6cQQpcJVTd

[Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz]

“America would be better off if more people worked in manufacturing.”

• 80% of Americans agree
• 20% disagree

“I would be better off if I worked in a factory.”

• 25% of Americans agree
• 73% disagree
• 2% currently work in a factory

👉🏻 https://t.co/fq1rItVKC2

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

San Franciscans should read this �� and start agitating to repeal the Health Care Security Ordinance!

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

@ChalexTheGreat @washingtonpost @guardian 10,000 being forced out + 10,000 took the voluntary buy-out, if I recall.

[Aaron Smyth @ExclamationA]

@cameron_parker Stahhhhhp!!