Life is filled with tradeoffs.
February 18, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Life is filled with tradeoffs.
̶n̶o̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶
no bedtimes no tradeoffs
no bedtimes no tradeoffs
November 2, 2025 at 7:06 PM
̶n̶o̶ ̶g̶o̶d̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶
no bedtimes no tradeoffs
no bedtimes no tradeoffs
my new rule is that no one gets to advocate for tradeoffs until they have outlined exactly what they think those tradeoffs should be, in fairly specific detail
Isn’t the inevitable corollary of this “civil rights was a mistake”
September 22, 2025 at 7:52 PM
my new rule is that no one gets to advocate for tradeoffs until they have outlined exactly what they think those tradeoffs should be, in fairly specific detail
Of course, tradeoffs are only intolerable if they're the result of something you *did.* The tradeoffs from inaction, according to this way of thinking, are simply not real.
January 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Of course, tradeoffs are only intolerable if they're the result of something you *did.* The tradeoffs from inaction, according to this way of thinking, are simply not real.
how do tradeoffs work? what is proportionality? what is base rate neglect? are magnets powered by space wizards?
COLLINS: Even the Heritage Foundation said they only found 100 instances of non-citizen voter fraud since 2000. That's out of 1.5 billion ballots.
SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: So, what are you afraid of? What are Democrats afraid of?
SEN. ROGER MARSHALL: So, what are you afraid of? What are Democrats afraid of?
March 11, 2026 at 4:38 AM
how do tradeoffs work? what is proportionality? what is base rate neglect? are magnets powered by space wizards?
Something that has become very clear to me from working on housing and urban policy more generally is that a lot of people — including a lot of professional advocates — think that there's a way to do policymaking without any tradeoffs, and the existence of tradeoffs means you did something wrong.
increasingly obvious that a lot of people want left-wing policy but without the social democratic tax based policy for broad based funding
January 6, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Something that has become very clear to me from working on housing and urban policy more generally is that a lot of people — including a lot of professional advocates — think that there's a way to do policymaking without any tradeoffs, and the existence of tradeoffs means you did something wrong.
Consistent with a theme I've noticed in progressive policymaking, where advocates/policymakers assume that the only acceptable policy intervention is one that carries no possible tradeoffs, and that there are surely no tradeoffs associated with leaving a horrendous status quo in place.
The families experienced better economic and education outcomes, but felt isolated because they were far from places like church and familiar stores. Instead of considering how that could be due to how our suburbs are basically designed to isolate, the conclusion was “desegregation is harmful”
June 26, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Consistent with a theme I've noticed in progressive policymaking, where advocates/policymakers assume that the only acceptable policy intervention is one that carries no possible tradeoffs, and that there are surely no tradeoffs associated with leaving a horrendous status quo in place.
I feel like the thing I need to say constantly for every game difficulty discussion is "There are always tradeoffs". "Well what about this game!" *there are always tradeoffs. "Well what about the joys of this completely uncompromising, game?" Cool, but *also with tradeoffs*.
November 29, 2025 at 9:43 AM
I feel like the thing I need to say constantly for every game difficulty discussion is "There are always tradeoffs". "Well what about this game!" *there are always tradeoffs. "Well what about the joys of this completely uncompromising, game?" Cool, but *also with tradeoffs*.
I don't think a policy program that says "we need more transit oriented housing and also more car centric sprawl" works. Funny that the "cultural tradeoffs" guys main thing also is "we don't need any tradeoffs ever!"
September 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I don't think a policy program that says "we need more transit oriented housing and also more car centric sprawl" works. Funny that the "cultural tradeoffs" guys main thing also is "we don't need any tradeoffs ever!"
unfortunately YIMBY housing policy would make it easier for vampires. policy tradeoffs are real.
January 28, 2026 at 7:43 AM
unfortunately YIMBY housing policy would make it easier for vampires. policy tradeoffs are real.
remarkable inability to understand the fundamental concept of "tradeoffs" on display
August 3, 2026 at 3:45 PM
remarkable inability to understand the fundamental concept of "tradeoffs" on display
Tradeoffs are real and the status quo is not neutral.
The thing I would really like people to understand is that policymaking is all about choosing between imperfect options and doing nothing is very often a much worse choice than doing something that has some downsides as well as upsides.
June 26, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Tradeoffs are real and the status quo is not neutral.
Tradeoffs are real and often unavoidable.
April 12, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Tradeoffs are real and often unavoidable.
the NYT has been doing extremely well slamming their fist down on the 'bias' button when making bias-variance tradeoffs, but someday variance is going to eat your lunch. it comes for everyone
September 24, 2026 at 4:30 PM
the NYT has been doing extremely well slamming their fist down on the 'bias' button when making bias-variance tradeoffs, but someday variance is going to eat your lunch. it comes for everyone
"It's tradeoffs all the way down."
March 13, 2026 at 8:47 PM
"It's tradeoffs all the way down."
my politics are well to the left of basically everyone irl i know. but acknowledging tradeoffs weirdly comes off as centrist coded
April 29, 2026 at 1:07 AM
my politics are well to the left of basically everyone irl i know. but acknowledging tradeoffs weirdly comes off as centrist coded
I do not care for the smol bean-ing of policy. A policy can be well intentioned but a bad idea because of the tradeoffs involved which is why assessing those tradeoffs is important. It's not bad to point that out.
July 29, 2026 at 4:40 PM
I do not care for the smol bean-ing of policy. A policy can be well intentioned but a bad idea because of the tradeoffs involved which is why assessing those tradeoffs is important. It's not bad to point that out.
Surely even supporters of this rent freeze must acknowledge this policy creates some tradeoffs, right? Or else you’d just freeze rents forever, everywhere.
I’d be really curious to hear people’s views on what those tradeoffs are!
I’d be really curious to hear people’s views on what those tradeoffs are!
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has delivered on his signature campaign promise after New York City's Rent Guidelines Board voted 7-1 to approve the first-ever two-year rent freeze in the board's history for roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments across the city.
June 26, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Surely even supporters of this rent freeze must acknowledge this policy creates some tradeoffs, right? Or else you’d just freeze rents forever, everywhere.
I’d be really curious to hear people’s views on what those tradeoffs are!
I’d be really curious to hear people’s views on what those tradeoffs are!
In a world where many democrats have embraced pie-in-the-sky middle class tax cuts, leave it to a democratic socialist like Mamdani to seriously engage with budgeting tradeoffs and embrace an efficient broad based property tax increase
March 24, 2026 at 7:20 PM
In a world where many democrats have embraced pie-in-the-sky middle class tax cuts, leave it to a democratic socialist like Mamdani to seriously engage with budgeting tradeoffs and embrace an efficient broad based property tax increase
again, ignition interlocks are one of those things where there basically *really is* a technological solution to the problem that greatly mitigates that tradeoffs, and it's a policy failure that they aren't mandatory for five years after your first DUI.
“Drunk and drugged driving is now so common in car-centric California that drivers routinely rack up four, five, six DUIs. One woman in Fresno just got her 16th.”
California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the nation. Here, DUI-related deaths have been rising more than twice as fast as the rest of the country.
But this fall, a state bill to strengthen DUI penalties was gutted at the last minute. calmatters.org/investigatio...
8/9
But this fall, a state bill to strengthen DUI penalties was gutted at the last minute. calmatters.org/investigatio...
8/9
December 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
again, ignition interlocks are one of those things where there basically *really is* a technological solution to the problem that greatly mitigates that tradeoffs, and it's a policy failure that they aren't mandatory for five years after your first DUI.
well this isn't encouraging
*FED MINUTES: MAJORITY SAID INFLATION COULD BE MORE PERSISTENT
*FED: MAY FACE DIFFICULT TRADEOFFS IF INFLATION MORE PERSISTENT
*FED MINUTES: MAJORITY SAID INFLATION COULD BE MORE PERSISTENT
*FED: MAY FACE DIFFICULT TRADEOFFS IF INFLATION MORE PERSISTENT
April 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
well this isn't encouraging
*FED MINUTES: MAJORITY SAID INFLATION COULD BE MORE PERSISTENT
*FED: MAY FACE DIFFICULT TRADEOFFS IF INFLATION MORE PERSISTENT
*FED MINUTES: MAJORITY SAID INFLATION COULD BE MORE PERSISTENT
*FED: MAY FACE DIFFICULT TRADEOFFS IF INFLATION MORE PERSISTENT
I'd simply invent an economic system that didn't involve any tradeoffs.
April 4, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I'd simply invent an economic system that didn't involve any tradeoffs.
I think I need to write a blog post called “Everything Comes With Tradeoffs You Petulant Children”
April 14, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I think I need to write a blog post called “Everything Comes With Tradeoffs You Petulant Children”
Today’s Office Hours: Private school tradeoffs, father/son dynamics, and should you raise a kid in today’s America.
Private School Tradeoffs, Father-Son Dynamics, and Should You Raise a Kid in Today’s America?
The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 4, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Today’s Office Hours: Private school tradeoffs, father/son dynamics, and should you raise a kid in today’s America.