Financial war in response to trade war and territorial threats? More and more people appear to be calling for it. So I updated my post on U.S. Treasuries holdings—now with the latest data.
benjaminbraun.org/posts/treasu...

America’s Own Goal: Who Pays the Tariffs? - Kiel Institut

US consumers bore 96% of the cost of the 2025 Trump tariffs.

Impeccable timing for this paper by @julianhi.nz and colleagues at @kiel.institute.

www.kielinstitut.de/de/publikati...

Program and papers for the 18th PEIO (@the-peio.bsky.social, IE University, Jan 29-31) are now online at www.peio.me. Thanks to Zoe Ge, Nikitas Konstantinidis and Irene Menéndez González for hosting us! @iepolisci.bsky.social

China's manufacturing output is (almost) equivalent to that of US and euro zone - combined
• China’s share of global manufacturing value added stands at 28% and could keep rising
• China produces more than 30% of global supply of batteries, mobile phones, chip parts and computers

Watch this. Watch it now.

“The New Political Economy of U.S. Trade” David Lake and me on Trump trade policies. We provide historical perspective, summarize the expected impact on the US and the intl trading system, and analyze implications for understanding the IPE. Available here blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/jaf81/files/...

The Best Work on Political Economy in 2025 Presenting the 17th annual Albies!

If it’s December 31st, that means it’s time for the Albies! danieldrezner.substack.com/p/the-best-w...

Map Of The Oldest Companies in Europe

brilliantmaps.com/oldest-co...

I've actually been given credit for neither in recent reports -- my last dept chair is calling it service!

UT Dallas is hiring in international politics, emphasis on conflict. jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/30535

"A handful of hedge funds and specialized investment firms are offering importers around 20 cents for every dollar they paid in Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs and roughly 5 cents per dollar for levies on Canadian, Mexican or Chinese goods stemming from the president’s ire over fentanyl trafficking."

Thanks, Todd! It's actually the whole UT System, so an even bigger opportunity :)

Texas student groups sue to block state law that limits campus protests The law, largely in response to pro-Palestinian protests last year, bans "expressive activity" on campuses from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. The lawsuit says it is overly broad and will affect protected speech.

www.texastribune.org/2025/09/03/t...

US Office of Management and Budget grants budget reprieve to key exchange programmes In a highly unusual intervention in an area of Congressional authority, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced in early August that it was planning to cut fiscal year 2025 funding for

I'm pleased to see that the Fulbright program is not finished after 2025-26!
monitor.icef.com/2025/08/us-o...

Lots of great stuff here. 👇 One of my favourites: "Ever since the administration’s April 2 tariff announcements, the correlation between U.S. interest rates and the dollar has reversed, indicating that something other than day-to-day economic news is driving the dollar down."

2 bits of data from new Economist/YouGov poll.....

13% support for cutting research funding to universities. 24% among Republicans. Polling on this continues to be catastrophic for the Rs, suggests Dems should be learning far harder into standing up for science and our universities. 1/

Thanks for this.

SEND MOAR DOGS PLZ!!

Can I have 1,000 dogs when I wake up from surgery this afternoon? Just 139 more??

Ps pet pics welcome too for recovery!

Who's teaching international orgs at the graduate level? I'm looking for some syllabus updates, particularly books written in the last 5 years....

I’ve been wanting to be a Fulbright Scholar for years. My previous experiences living abroad have been personally and professionally invaluable, and I have helped to host multiple Fulbrights in the U.S. I hope that the program continues these opportunities in the future.

The award is funded by the Austrian University with support from the U.S. Dept. of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 people with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad.

I’m happy to announce my selection as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria for the 2026 spring semester. Thanks to Jonas Bunte and VU for inviting me, and to UTD for granting me a semester of leave.

Treasury Sanctions Alexandre de Moraes WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF) justice Alexandre de Moraes (de Moraes), who has used his position to authorize arbitrary pre-trial detentions and suppress freedom of expression.  “Alexandre de Moraes has taken it upon himself to be judge and jury in an unlawful witch hunt against U.S. and Brazilian citizens and companies,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.  “De Moraes is responsible for an oppressive campaign of censorship, arbitrary detentions that violate human rights, and politicized prosecutions—including against former President Jair Bolsonaro.  Today’s action makes clear that Treasury will continue to hold accountable those who threaten U.S. interests and the freedoms of our citizens.”  Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and targets perpetrators of serious human rights abuse around the world.  Today’s action follows the U.S. Department of State’s revocation of de Moraes’s visa and those of his immediate family members on July 18, 2025, for their complicity in aiding and abetting de Moraes’ unlawful censorship campaign against U.S. persons on U.S. soil.DE MORAES’ ABUSIVE JUDICIAL OVERREACHDe Moraes was appointed to the STF in 2017.  Since that time, de Moraes has become one of Brazil’s most powerful individuals, wielding immense authority through his oversight of expansive STF investigations.  De Moraes has investigated, prosecuted, and suppressed those who have engaged in speech that is protected under the U.S. Constitution, repeatedly subjecting victims to long preventive detentions without bringing charges.  Through his actions as an STF justice, de Moraes has undermined Brazilians’ and Americans’ rights to freedom of expression.  In one notable instance, de Moraes arbitrarily detained a journalist for over a year in retaliation for exercising freedom of expression.De Moraes has targeted opposition politicians, including former President Jair Bolsonaro; journalists; newspapers; U.S. social media platforms; and other U.S. and international companies.  U.S.-based journalists and U.S. citizens have not been spared from de Moraes’ extraterritorial overreach.  De Moraes has imposed preventive detention on and issued a series of preventive arrest warrants against journalists and social media users, some of whom are based in the United States.  He has also directly issued orders to U.S. social media companies to block or remove hundreds of accounts, often those of his critics and other critics of the Brazilian government, including U.S. persons.  De Moraes has frozen assets and revoked passports of his critics; banned accounts from social media; and directed Brazil’s federal police to raid his critics’ homes, seize their belongings, and ensure their preventive detention. De Moraes is being sanctioned pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, serious human rights abuse.GLOBAL MAGNITSKYBuilding upon the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, E.O. 13818 was issued on December 20, 2017, in recognition that the prevalence of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, had reached such scope and gravity as to threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets.  The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those who commit serious human rights abuses or engage in corruption, as well as to protect the financial system of the United States from abuse by these same persons.SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONSAs a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked person described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.  In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.  OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis.  OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons.  The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law.  The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.  For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.Click here for more information on the person designated today.###

US Treasury sanctions Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes under the Global Magnitsky Act- he is overseeing investigation into Trump ally and former President Jair Bolsonaro

The act was created to punish Russian officials responsible for death of Sergei Magnitsky

home.treasury.gov/news/press-r...

Trump's trade war timeline 2.0: An up-to-date guide President Donald Trump has started his second term in office with momentous plans to change US trade policy to achieve various economic and nontrade related aims. Below is a timeline that tracks the d...

Another trade war timeline update!

Bookmark this page so you always have it handy:

"Samsung delays $44 billion Texas chip fab — sources say completion halted because 'there are no customers'" www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
"a $6.6-billion CHIPS Act subsidy...was finalized in December last year, despite multiple delays and setbacks."

cepr.org/voxeu/column...

U.S. and China Agree to Temporarily Slash Tariffs in Bid to Defuse Trade War

1/Latest in tariff omnishambles. This is not a deal. The US just blinked. The lesson for China: US escalation cannot be maintained. For the US: we will still see inflation and the chance of recession. For the world: the end of US credibility.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/b...

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is the most connected airport in the US with direct flights to 264 destinations.

But this only ranks it 5th globally. Any guesses which airports fly to more places?

The list: brilliantmaps.com/airports-...