Michael McKee

Michael McKee

@mckonomy.bsky.social

International economics and policy for Bloomberg. And some snark Usually 35,000 feet above somewhere ✈️

6.7K followers1.7K following11.1K posts

Michael McKee reposted

Leaked audio: Michigan Republican Mike Rogers asking for officers at polling stations to intimidate voters "We called the RNC early and said hey... Let's put police officers, retired or off-duty police officers as our poll watchers in Detroit because go ahead, try to intimidate them. Please."

*ZACHARIA IS “TRANSITIONING OUT” OF POSITION: FOX NEWS Isn't there a policy that the WH doesn't support people "transitioning?" It does appear that a Zacharia is shorter than a Scaramucci.

How To Fire A Press Secretary (without saying you're fired): “I told her, I think you’re better off being happy and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this job." This would be even less than 1 Scaramucci

The Fed's Beige Book is...interesting, especially following today's CPI data: "Three Districts characterized overall price growth as robust, while eight noted that growth was moderate—and three of the eight noted that input price pressures were intensifying, if not already growing robustly."

"Contacts in multiple Districts also noted continued price pressure from other commodities, tariffs, and insurance. Consumer-facing firms noted tighter profit margins as price-sensitive customers continue to resist price hikes."

"Firms in several Districts cited persistent uncertainty around energy and tariffs and expect that prices will increase further in the coming months, as existing contracts expire, and firms must renegotiate hedge contracts for their own inputs and/or delivery contracts to their customers."

"A hearing with demonstrably biased members, unspecified additional allegations, and an unclear schedule for the disclosure of any additional evidence — with no explanation for why it was not previously produced — is not a process that respects the appearance or history of independence."

New leader in the "shortest news conference" contest: White House press secretary Katie Zacharia. Her first briefing clocks in at 14 minutes. By contrast, the long-winded Fed Chairman, Kevin Warsh, held forth for 29 minutes at his September 16 news conference.

CORRECTION: my diligent editors have noted that I should have said LSU, Texas, and Alabama losing is an SEC trifecta for Georgia. We apologize profusely to John Mateer.

A complaint for @bsky.app Whenever I fly I cannot use the app. No matter where I am in the air, it thinks I am in Texas and demands I verify my age. I'm not interested in sending you or Texas my personal information. How does one tell your algo flying from NY to Charlotte is not Texas?

Trump executive order 🙄 would ask states to make more red-dyed diesel available. Easy to do! Just add red dye to more diesel. It's the same diesel. The red dye is to show inspectors if truckers are using tax-exempt diesel (dyed red) or diesel taxed about 60c/g by feds and states.

The savings to truckers would all be in taxes. But the overall supply of diesel would not increase. So making more red available to them would just create shortages for farmers, construction, which use red and don't pay the tax States that go along would hurt their roadway tax funds.

Best rationale for running for president since Ted Kennedy. Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy on MTP: "On my side of the aisle, if a bunch of goobers run, and I think they're goobers and one of the goobers might win, and I think I could do a better job, I would consider running."

Michael McKee reposted

Scott "The House" Bessent, bond vigilantes for you on line 1

Barchart@barchart.com

JUST IN 🚨: U.S. 30-Year Treasury Yield hits highest level since 2002 📈 📈

“There’s this assumption that there are adults in the room on this issue, but there are no adults in this room,” said Sean Ó Heigeartaigh, director of the AI: Futures and Responsibility Program at Cambridge "That is what makes all of this so completely terrifying.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/t...

nytimes.comAs A.I. Accelerates, Governments Are Increasingly Being Left BehindThe gap between technology and policymaking has gotten wider than ever with artificial intelligence, leaving a global policy vacuum as A.I. models rapidly advance.

And now Trump backs Warsh, throws rest of Fed under the bus. Tells reporters he spoke with the chairman before today's meeting: I "didn’t try to convince him,” he said "You might as well vote with the board because it’s not going to matter.” "He doesn’t have the votes, he’s got a hostile board.”

We've pushed past 5% on the 10Y. Equities take another leg down. Yen falls. What I want to know is whether any of this matters if AI is going to kill us all by the end of the decade?