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Paul Krugman
@paulkrugman
, 3 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Via @delong, the Roman Empire was remarkably rich at its peak – and also remarkably unhealthy. Basically, Roman life was kinda nice, civilized – and short. Probably bc cities were unhealthy, and infectious disease rampant 1/ delong.typepad.com/rome.pdf
But didn't something like this happen in the 19th century too? Brits and Americans also seem to have gotten shorter and less healthy for several decades even as real incomes rose. It was only with modern public sanitation etc that this turned around 2/ eh.net/book_reviews/h…
Of course, American are now getting both shorter and heavier, which is new in history, I think 3/ usatoday.com/story/news/hea…
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Paul Krugman
@paulkrugman
OK, obviously I need to weigh in on Elizabeth Warren's trade proposal. I've been a huge fan of her plans so far. This one, not so much, although some of the critiques are overdone 1/ medium.com/@teamwarren/tr…
The truth is that this would have been a bad and destructive plan if implemented in, say, 1980. At this point it's still problematic, but not disastrous (this is going to be a long tweet storm) 2/
Background: the way we currently do trade negotiations is that professionals negotiate out of public view, but with input from key business players. Then Congress gets an up or down vote on the result 3/
Read 14 tweets
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Paul Krugman
@paulkrugman
This is interesting about worker shortages in France, but also problematic, and not just for the usual reason: if workers are scarce, why aren't wages going up? 1/ nytimes.com/2019/07/27/bus…
The article also refers to France's high unemployment rate. But we've been learning in the US that the unemployment rate is a poor guide to labor market tightness, with many preferring to focus on prime-age employment 2/
And by that measure, France is closer to full employment than we are! 3/
Read 4 tweets
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Paul Krugman
@paulkrugman
Shocking they were even thinking about this. The strong dollar actually is a problem, but this would be predatory beggar-thy-neighbor policy 1/ cnbc.com/2019/07/26/tru…
The reason the dollar is strong is the weakness of the European and Japanese economies, which has caused them to have negative interest rates. Intervention (if it worked, which is doubtful) would be nothing but a way to help us at their expense 2/
We would be doing exactly what we accused China of doing circa 2010. Total abdication of any role for the US as a responsible actor 3/
Read 3 tweets

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Eliot Higgins
@EliotHiggins
Kinda nice to make it through 2018 without being murdered by the GRU.
Still, there's always next year!
FYI future Twitter users and police, I definitely didn't jump off that balcony.
Read 11 tweets
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Aerin
@aerincreer
Y’all this nigga yesterday tried to tell me that he doesn’t use the clit during sex. He didn’t know women could orgasm with the clit alone. I asked him what he does when his partner isn’t wet enough he said “spit”. I also asked if his partners are repeat customers and he said no.
I was like “man you’ve been having bad sex your whole life”
and he was like “no, I had great sex, I’ve never heard any complaints”
and I said “so all the women you’ve had sex with come back for more?”
And he was like “...well no”

When I tell you I was dying 😂😂😂
The other niggas in the room was laughing too. We asked him why he didn’t know the clit was a thing and he said “i use It but I always end up missing and rubbing the wrong part” nigga...why don’t you move your hands? Lmfaooo
Read 21 tweets
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GiorgiaV
@ParvaVox
“My name is here presented more to be understood than to be read” said once a #Roman senator.
For my #EarlyMedievalPills, let’s explore what monograms can tell us about changes in political culture & social communication between late antiquity & #Carolingian times.
1/
Monogrammatic culture has its roots in the #classical world. Producers used monograms to mark mass-produced objects such as pottery. We also see them on Hellenistic coins. However, they didn’t encode the name of the issuing authority, but functioned as control marks.
2/
Influenced by Hellenistic models, #Roman emperors adopted monograms on their coins. They were used to encode the emperor’s name thus becoming personal graphic devices that could also mark certain objects the trade of which was an imperial monopoly.
3/
Read 30 tweets
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Dr. Kristina Killgrove
@DrKillgrove
Gather round, kids, for an ancient #Roman #zombie story. It's legit good - from the 1st century AD and involves eyeballs, hag-hair, and Julius Caesar in addition to a reanimated corpse. 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🏛️💀

forbes.com/sites/kristina…

1/
Remember the soothsayer in Shakespeare? You know you do -- think back to high school and the "beware the Ides of March" warning. Well, she was hella tame compared to Erichtho the apparently world-famous Thessalian witch.

But first things first...

2/
The night before the Battle of Pharsalus (9 Aug 48 BC), Pompey the Great was freaking out. Julius Caesar, once his BFF (brother in the first triumvirate - wait, that doesn't have an F), was mounting a Civil War against Rome. Trying to become dictator for life.

3/
Read 50 tweets
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Dr. Kristina Killgrove
@DrKillgrove
Short thread on the importance of that new Pompeii graffiti and eruption date, to follow up on this very general story I posted earlier:

forbes.com/sites/kristina…

1/
The date of Vesuvius's exact eruption has been debated for quite some time. I learned about the possible October date as an undergrad, for example. The later date makes sense b/c of the clothes worn and, more importantly, the fruit in season.

2/
Fruit may seem odd as an important item, considering how much wonderful wall painting, architecture, pottery, and more survives from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, and more. But it gives us a specific time in the year that the destruction occurred.

3/
Read 19 tweets
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Alexander J.A Cortes
@AJA_Cortes
Nice People Always Lose (Thread)

Life does not reward Nice. Life rewards audacity.

Nice is boring, and nice is useless
Nice Is what you call someone who is so uninteresting and so dull that a not a single memorable thing can be said about them
Sometimes we are led to believe that being by being nice, safe, and unobstructive, that we should be rewarded for being so nice.

But nice gets no reward. Nice is forgettable, never memorable, and nice inspires nothing
Read 9 tweets

Trending hashtags

#BeepBeep #MadHatter #PascoScandal #TheJigIsUp #demons #JESUSTAKETHEWHEEL #HealthInsurance #Vatican #Nice #JeffreyEpstein #Present #Kiev #EnoughIsEnough #DEFLECTION #PeterTownsend #tactics #12B #Palestinian #proveit #tomorrow #important #JefferyEpstein #DianeAugat #Icelandic #FutureProvePast
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