This is the August 2026 edition. The quietest month here in DC, as you will notice.
Writing
How Does the District Use Federal Funding? — Capital Commonsense, August 20. About $6 billion in federal money ran through the District’s budget in fiscal 2025, or 31.3 percent of total revenues. This is the first post in a series on DC’s federal funding.
Media
De Telegraaf — quoted by Paul Jansen on the strengths and weaknesses of the US economy (August 15). In Dutch.
The Wall Street Journal — quoted by Justin Lahart on why a slowing pace of hiring is not the same thing as a weakening labor market. I argued that the rest of the year will, if anything, see slower jobs growth than what we have seen so far (August 7).
Al Jazeera English, “This is America” — Bruce Fein and I discussed the economics and politics of antitrust policy in the media industry with host Alex Marquardt (August 6).
Events
On Friday, October 9, I will moderate an AEI book event for Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick on The Everywhere Millionaire: Who Is Really Rich in America and How They Got There, joined by Greg Ip of the Wall Street Journal. Noon to 1:00 p.m. ET, with lunch served. Livestreamed as well. Registration is open at the link.
That’s August. Replies and feedback are welcome, as always.
— Stan