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Tim O'Brien
3.8K posts
Tim O'Brien
@_TimOBrien
Technology law and policy | Lecturer @INSEAD | @PurdueEngineers, @KelloggSchool, @UWSchoolofLaw
Bull Valley, IL Katılım Ekim 2011
889 Takip Edilen1.2K Takipçiler
In 1929, @andrewrsorkin's telling of the runup to Black Tuesday feels a lot like crypto: speculation run amok, gateway to gambling addiction, 'number go up' mindset, and ostentatious displays of newfound (& often temporary) wealth, to name a few. Lessons for today abound.
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Hey Google & Disney streaming execs - how's that anti-Comcast 'cut the cable' campaign going?
In the end, all these firms are terrible. For consumers, all they've achieved is replacing coax with wi-fi ... same shit, different day.
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As a sr. exec once said to me, "I'd rather be Machiavellian than stupid."
Ahmed Baba@AhmedBaba_
Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the only Republicans who sees where this is headed. Trump is weak. He’s tanking the economy and raising prices. He’s underwater on all key issues. The GOP is likely headed toward a midterm loss. MTG is positioning herself for a post-Trump GOP.
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Very interesting that Johnson's response to "the president is unhinged" isn't "how dare you, ma'am, the president is our greatest, most powerful patriot" but rather "a lot of folks on your side are too"
Breaking911@Breaking911
WATCH: Rep. Madeleine Dean confronts House Speaker Johnson over Trump's speech to generals "The President is unhinged. He is unwell." "Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a President who is unwell."
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@superwuster I made the mistake of thinking he'd test 1A through the courts, but no ... public threats and intimidation is evidently the path forward. timobrien.substack.com/p/big-tech-vs-…
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In 2022, Techdirt's Mike Masnick created a 'Legal Misunderstanding March Madness' bracket for law twitter, and of course the First Amendment "won" as the most misunderstood legal doctrine in the U.S. Was funny at the time, but also not funny.
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Super ... Fox & Friends trying to bring back Aktion T4
Spencer Hakimian@SpencerHakimian
“Or involuntary lethal injection or something. Just kill them.” - Fox News Host during a segment about the homeless population
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'Comparative advantage' is among the most basic concepts in economics, yet this administration continues to pretend it doesn't exist.
Foreign Policy@ForeignPolicy
For all of its efforts to drive a domestic manufacturing boom in key industries, the United States remains heavily reliant on Asian expertise to build batteries, FP’s @christinafei writes. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/12/hyu…
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Ford was, of course, sued into oblivion, and juries lowered the boom with punitive damages when it came out that the company knew about the risk all along. So yes ... there is a cautionary tale here for AI shops.
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Ford did exactly this in the 70's, when it discovered the Pinto could burst into flames if the fuel tank ruptured in a rear collision. Fatalities were deemed acceptable, as the cost of settling suits was less than a recall & retrofit.
Miles Brundage@Miles_Brundage
The safety and security policies that AI companies have (voluntarily/non-bindingly) committed themselves to have very high risk thresholds. It’s like if Ford and Honda said “if the engine explodes, no more than a thousand people will die. Also, babies can’t break into it.”
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This is what happens when you use quotas to drive performance.
ICE doesn't think or care about trade relations, trade policy, or impact on the US economy. The agency is simply tasked with making "number go up".
USTR is the new worst job in the admin because of this eff-up.
Reuters@Reuters
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered all-out efforts to swiftly respond to the arrests of hundreds of the nation's citizens in a US immigration raid on a Hyundai Motor car battery factory reut.rs/4gclZj2
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@mwashamtx I live on a farm in rural IL and take a "drive through small town America" every time I get in the truck ... but I will take this under advisement 🙂
In the meantime, the "short-term pain" message isn't landing well around here ... x.com/_TimOBrien/sta…
Tim O'Brien@_TimOBrien
@atrupar Upgrading some farm gear as part of a relo back to the midwest, and according to the local Deere dealer, farmers in the region "are all shaking their heads", reliving the 1st term China tariff debacle that killed the soybean biz. Mexico is our biggest export market for corn.
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I think you have answered your own question. They see that Trump is looking out for their best interests and they are willing to self sacrifice - likely they always have - for a better country long term.
Drive through most of small town America. It’s not hard to find the remnants of once beautiful towns destroyed because of people like the ones that run John Deere.
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A few years ago I saw Garry Kasparov (Russian chess grandmaster) talking about the problem w/U.S. politics: base voters supporting their party the way rabid sports fans support their favorite team, even if the team is a terrible, ongoing source of heartbreak & pain.
FarmPolicy@FarmPolicy
John Deere, a U.S. Icon, Is Undermined by #Tariffs and Struggling #Farmers — The tractor maker said that sales were down and that higher metal tariffs would cost it $600 million, while American farmers face dwindling overseas demand for some crops. nytimes.com/2025/09/04/bus…
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@mwashamtx Look, IDK what to tell you ... my only point is that trump's trade policy is harmful to farmers and farm equip makers, yet rural voters keep coming back for more. I don't see the benefit for someone about to lose their farm because the Chinese now buy soybeans from Brazil.
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Tariffs are just like any other tax. They are designed to drive behavior.
If the tariffs were in place earlier there is a substantial chance that the jobs wouldn't go to Mexico in the first place. Now they are an incentive to bring jobs back.
Short term pain = long term gain.
It really depends on your worldview on what the government is supposed to do here.
Maximize profit for companies (very short sited - economic zone view) or lookout for the people of the country you are leading by ensuing the companies profiting from the country are also investing in the people of the country.
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@mwashamtx ok, but I still don't get logic path. US jobs went to MX, so punish the company with tariffs, producing margin pressure & more US job loss, while implementing a trade policy that harms farmers, leading to reduced demand for equipment? agri-pulse.com/ext/resources/…
what is the endgame?
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@_TimOBrien They laid off 2000+ people in 2024 before Trump was even elected and shifted a significant amount of production to Mexico at the same time. They are your typical big company - expect the benefits of access to the US market but does not want to pay US employees for it.
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@mwashamtx fwiw, my Deere 5075e was manufactured in Augusta, GA. And yes ... import taxes (aka, tariffs) put pressure on margins, resulting in cost cutting measures like layoffs.
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@_TimOBrien Considering John Deere laid off hundreds of employees and moved a lot of their manufacturing to Mexico recently I can’t feel too bad for them.
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Curious to see if Taylor Sheridan included this diabolically stupid tariff nonsense into a storyline for Landman season 2
Spencer Hakimian@SpencerHakimian
Does Texas regret their vote yet?
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Lol
The arg in the complaint is downright Brandeisian ... a passing nod to consumer welfare but mostly about how bigness is bad
Gizmodo@Gizmodo
Newsmax Sues Fox News for Having a 'Monopoly' on Right-Wing News gizmodo.com/newsmax-sues-f… gizmodo.com/newsmax-sues-f…
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The farm sector is in a long-term abusive relationship with this president - he hurts them over & over again, and when the election comes around, they say, "Well, he promised he won't do it again"
Mike Pence@Mike_Pence
John Deere is laying off 238 workers at three factories in Iowa. The company said Tariffs and lower commodity prices are to blame. “Tariff costs in the quarter were approximately $200 million, which brings us to roughly $300 million in tariff expense year to date,” said director of investor relations Josh Beal.” American Companies and American Consumers Pay the Cost of American Tariffs. Time to Get Back to Free Trade with Free Nations!🇺🇸 wsj.com/opinion/deere-…
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Need to double check ... did our guy take the oath of office on the Holy Bible or Das Kapital?
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