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"Luke Ford reports all of the 'juicy' quotes, and has been doing it for years." (Marc B. Shapiro)
"This guy knows all the gossip, the ins and outs, the lashon hara of the Orthodox world. He’s an [expert] in... all the inner workings of the Orthodox world." (Rabbi Aaron Rakeffet-Rothkoff) LATEST POSTS:
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- Robert Oscar Lopez: The Inconvenient Witness
- Two Ledgers: Decoding the Gurus and the Price of Talk
- The Pervert’s Progress: Costin Vlad Alamariu and the Making of Bronze Age Pervert
- Curtis Yarvin: A Life Against Democracy
- Mark Helprin: Against the Current
- Mark Brandt: The Man Who Asked Who Else Is Prejudiced
- John T. Jost: The Psychologist of Acquiescence
- Strange Bedfellows in the Academy: Alliance Theory and the Straussian Schism
- Tournier on Desmond Ford
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- Tournier on Luke Ford
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- An Alliance Theory of Antisemitism
- Tournier on Cinema Paradiso and Desmond Ford
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- * The Enlightenment Wasn’t Enlightened (6-23-26)
* Mr. Burge Draws The Line (6-23-26)
* 'Improving on Democracy' (6-17-26)
* People Leak To People Who Are Fun (6-11-26)
* Why Does Australia Produce So Many Great Journalists? (6-11-26)
* Steve Wynn and the Press: Power, Litigation, and the Contest Over Las Vegas (6-3-26)
* Sheldon Adelson and the Journalists (6-3-26)
* The Vigilant Animal: Thinkers Who Reject the Myth of Human Gullibility (6-2-26)
* The Cost of Refusing the Misunderstanding Myth (6-2-26)
* Show Me How It Travels (6-2-26)
* The Norm Explainers (6-2-26)
* Centering Marginalized Voices (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Washington Post put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What would it look like if the Financial Times put its reader first? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for the Los Angeles Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* What It Would Mean for The New York Times to Put the Reader First? (6-1-26)
* Why Wembanyama Lives on the Perimeter (5-31-26)
* The Emotional Palettes Of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Sacramento (5-27-26)
* The Administrative Capital: Sacramento Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* San Diego - The Quiet Republic (5-27-26)
* The Quiet Bar: San Diego Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* SF v LA Legal Culture (5-27-26)
* Why Talent Travels Poorly Between San Francisco and Los Angeles (5-27-26)
* San Francisco and Los Angeles as Rival Models of Urban Access (5-27-26)
* Social Cliques in New York, 2026 (5-25-26)
* Social Cliques in San Francisco, 2026 (5-25-26)
* The Rival Courts of Washington (5-25-26)
* The City of Private Rooms (5-25-26)
Category Archives: Economics
Decoding UCLA’s Economics Department
I took two Micro-Economics classes at UCLA in 1988-89 from Russell Roberts and one class in European economic history from Earlene Craver, the wife of Axel Leijonhufvud (he substituted for her once, and wow!). To understand this department, you have … Continue reading
Decoding Journal of Political Economy (JPE)
Gemini says: Alliance Theory suggests that humans do not possess a stable moral compass but rather a strategic one. We use moral arguments to recruit allies and marginalize rivals. The Journal of Political Economy functions as a high status coordination … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, University of Chicago
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Decoding American Economic Review (AER)
Gemini says: Alliance Theory suggests that human conflict and status are not just about individual merit or material resources. Instead, they center on the coordination of multi-person coalitions. In this framework, the American Economic Review serves as the primary coordination … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
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Decoding The Quarterly Journal of Economics (QJE)
Gemini says: The Quarterly Journal of Economics functions as a signaling mechanism for institutional loyalty. David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory suggests that human intellect evolved not to find objective truth, but to navigate social coalitions. Under this lens, the QJE serves … Continue reading
The Prestige Economy vs The Pragmatic Economy
Gemini says: David Pinsof’s Alliance Theory suggests that systems maintain stability through “focal points” for coordination. The 20th-century focal point was the Credentialed Alliance—a network where status was gated by elite degrees, institutional pedigree, and moral conformity. Today, that system … Continue reading
Posted in California, Economics, Los Angeles
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Charisma Requires Managing Social Paradox
David Pinsof writes Feb. 2, 2026: Being charismatic means being good at social paradoxes. Think about a charismatic person—Elizabeth Holmes, Robert Downey Jr., Bob Dylan, whoever does it for you. What powers do they have? What can they do that … Continue reading
Posted in Alliance Theory, Charisma, Economics, Status
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Decoding The Free Trade Debate
ChatGPT says: Alliance Theory treats the free trade debate as a fight over elite coalition power, not GDP spreadsheets. Why elites are not just opposed but contemptuous. Trump tariffs are not merely a policy disagreement. They are a direct attack … Continue reading
The Anxious American Worker
Most American workers fear losing their job and not being able to find another one as good. Employers have the power right now and employees are clinging on to their jobs for dear life. In late 2025, 54% of U.S. … Continue reading
The Problem of Social Cost
Unlike many economists who publish hundreds of papers, Ronald Coase’s immense reputation rests almost entirely on just two articles published decades apart: “The Nature of the Firm” (1937) “The Problem of Social Cost” (1960) Coase is considered the father of … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
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The Paradox Of Power
As responsibility rises, personal discretion shrinks. The person at the top cannot simply improvise. They are pulled by legal risk, optics, continuity, budgets, morale, politics, and the need to keep the whole machine from wobbling. Their freedom becomes the freedom … Continue reading
Posted in Economics
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