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My econ picks on Twitter

Are you on Twitter and would like to follow reliable economic commentary? Here are my top picks:

There are lots of good people on Twitter who don't say much about economics. And there are lots of good economists who don't say much on Twitter. But these four are both active on Twitter and consistently sensible and informative. They're all worth following if you have an interest in whatever the discourse happens to be saying about the economy from moment to moment.

41 thoughts on “My econ picks on Twitter

  1. Laertes

    Just to apply a bit of gentle social pressure: You should consider making an exit from Twitter, or at least thinking about what your red lines are.

    I get that you're finding something of value there, but you might give a little thought to who else benefits from your presence there.

    It may be that somewhere out there is a skinhead bar where normies can find a table and be more or less undisturbed there, but that's not a mindful way for those patrons to use the small bit of power they've got.

      1. Crissa

        Lucky you, all our fire and road notifications are still there. x-x

        I did purge the last of the social and commercial follows last week, though, as the remainder migrated to Bsky, which means my time on Twitter is greatly reduced and optimized.

        I too would prefer not to interact on Twitter. Follow on Bsky, Kevin.

  2. rick_jones

    Inertia notwithstanding, a second to Laertes’ suggestion to migrate from Xittter. I suspect you do not have any particular fondness for Musk and his contemporary actions, so why support one of his businesses if you don’t have to?

  3. SnowballsChanceinHell

    Matt Yglesias is full of it.

    As but one example: there was a cartoon that depicted a house on sale for $X in the left panel and a condo building having multiple condos on sale for $X on the right panel. The point of the cartoon was that development does not benefit residents when both the original housing and the higher-density replacement housing are unaffordable.

    Matt took issue with this cartoon. He offered all sorts of Econ 101 reasons why the depicted scenario could not occur. And yet 30-second search on Zillow in my neighborhood found a perfect example of the scenario occurring.

    Matt's writings are a window into what he believes will benefit him, and little else.

    1. Joseph Harbin

      I'm pretty sure Yglesias leads the league in bad takes. Why he's held by some in such high regard is bewildering.

      1. Matt Yglesias
      2. Noah Smith
      3. Ezra Klein

      My top 3 of people who are not dumb but have exceedingly high rates of bad takes and annoying fanboy followers. I find them occasionally of value but consistently insufferable.

      1. SnowballsChanceinHell

        Yglesias makes strong claims about issues that do not touch on identity (because strong claims that touch on identity are risky). His strong claims provoke strong responses. He nutpicks particularly unhinged responses to provide little dopamine hits of self-righteousness to his followers.

      2. ScentOfViolets

        Agree with all three named names. Insufferably, invincibly smug in their ignorant hot takes and (the first two, at least) apt to get more than a little testy should you question any particular(s) in their writing. Also, Noah says 'Dude' way too often for my liking. I am most definitely _not_ a 'dude'.

        1. shapeofsociety

          I find Noah Smith's work incredibly valuable. The takes he publishes on Substack are anything but hot, they're carefully researched and very well thought out. He's not always right, but no one is correct 100% of the time, and I've seen him admit more than once to having gotten something wrong, which is the surest sign that someone is making an honest effort to get it right. Admittedly Substack is not Twitter and he may be less careful when he's writing a tweet and not a full-length essay, but "smug" and "ignorant" are not words I'd ever use to describe him.

      3. jeffreycmcmahon

        Matt Yglesias' defining feature is that he is incredibly far down the autism spectrum and consequently does not feel typical human emotions, this degrades his ability to process and share information into uselessness.

        Noah Smith is only a mild idiot. The other two guys I have no opinion on.

    2. shapeofsociety

      I completely disagree. Matt Yglesias is smart and his work makes sense. He is entirely correct that the law of supply and demand applies to housing as much as any other good, and more supply leads to lower prices. Just because one new condo building contains expensive units doesn't mean it isn't helping keep prices down in the overall local market. If you don't build housing for the rich, that doesn't drive the rich out of town, it just drives them to buy upper-middle class housing, which pushes the upper middle class into the middle class housing, pushes the middle class into the working class housing, pushes the working class into the poor people housing, and pushes the poor onto the street.

      Building housing is good, and it is good for everyone. Even if you can't afford one of the shiny new units, it's benefiting you by keeping the high-dollar homebuyers from pricing you out of your own tier.

      1. Crissa

        Yglesias may be an idiot, and I hate his spelling errors, but he's a voice worth having in the conversation.

        Even if it's to shoot him down.

  4. Joseph Harbin

    A better idea:

    1. Join Bluesky
    2. Do a search on "Economics Starter Pack."

    That will give you quick access to dozens and dozens of experts in the field, in the US and other countries.

    1. beckya57

      Agree with others re get off X already, and that a Bluesky econ starter pack is a much better way to go. I subscribed to MY just long enough to remember why I disliked him and cancelled. I have very mixed feelings about Noah. Dean Baker OTOH is great.

    2. Bluto_Blutarski

      Came here to say this. Baker and Darling are both on BlueSky. So is Yglesias if he's your cup of tea. Also Krugman. And yes, the Starter Packs will help you find 100 more half-decent economists (and zero bots).

  5. jeffreycmcmahon

    You guys are acting like Mr. Drum is active on Twitter, you're forgetting that the only people he actually communicates with are his cats, his wife, and the one-way conversation that is this blog. Almost all of his Twitter posts are just reposts of the blog and he rarely ever replies to anyone.

    1. Gary Goldberg

      To be fair KD *is* retired and still does a pretty good job of posting thoughtful things here. I've switched to Bluesky also and its much nicer there for now, so if you're using Xitter you should consider switching and helping it reach the tipping point where X isn't necessary for some.

  6. Leisureguy

    For those who do not wish to support Elon Musk, you can follow these on Blue Sky (with the possible exception of Noah Smith):

    Matt Darling - @besttrousers.bsky.social
    Noah Smith - @smithnoah.bsky.social (?)
    Matt Yglesias - @mattyglesias.bsky.social
    Dean Baker - @deanbaker13.bsky.social

    Kevin Drum remains loyal to Elon and is not on Blue Sky.

  7. JRF

    I clicked the comments link wondering if anyone was going to suggest to Kevin to check out those four specific Econ microbloggers on Bluesky, and maybe consider migrating over there himself.

    Well ok then!

    Turns out nearly every comment in this thread is making one of those points or some minor variation.

    Kevin, your readers have spoken. Come on over here, the water (or sky?) is fine! Genuinely and truly, it's a better user experience than today's Twitter/X, by miles. The average post or reply that I see is way more interesting and fun than what I used to get on X. Current Bluesky is more like early Twitter than current Twitter/X is.

    C'mon over to Bluesky! : )

    1. shapeofsociety

      Ah, remember when it was anyone's guess whether MySpace or Facebook would emerge dominant?

      The Internet changes fast.

  8. Batchman

    Actually, I thought for a minute that the title of this post meant that Kevin Drum's personal economist likes to make fun of Twitter.

  9. mistermeyer

    I'm joining the dogpile. It's a shame to see Kevin, in essence, promoting Twitter, especially now that Leon is using it to promote anti-government violence abroad, as well as at home. Bluesky pretty much hit critical mass this last month, with almost everyone on my Twitter follow list who wasn't already aboard joining up and actively posting. AOC just hosted an AMA during her ride home on Amtrak. Yeah, they're straining their servers, but the atmosphere is great, the platform has outstanding features (Feeds! Starter packs! Alf!), and... it's not Twitter.

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