Economist @employamerica / @KNiewiadoma stan I am mostly at bluesky these days.
Seattle, WA
Joined April 2013
- Tweets7.2K
- Following934
- Followers2.8K
- Likes12K
Quick write-up of recent healthcare cost trends at @employamerica: premiums are up for both employers and employees, and that's before increased cost-sharing (higher deductibles).
Healthcare services added a bunch to real GDP in the last 6 quarters beyond what known factors (eg demographics) would have predicted. AI might be part of the story 🙃
"Two other recent developments are also driving the current spike in health benefit cost, each also adding as much as a percentage point to trend, according to our actuaries. One is the rapid adoption of AI-enabled software that assists physicians with claims submission and has resulted in more claims, and higher-level claims, being submitted for payment than before the system was in place. "
kff.org/health-costs/2026-em…
Preston Mui retweeted
Per Mercer, total health benefit costs per employee expected to rise by 8.2% in 2027, which would be largest annual increase since 2003
@DataArbor
Preston Mui retweeted
'Warsh, so I hear from inside the Fed, has commissioned a generative AI bot based on the entire corpus of Friedman’s work and named it “Milton.”
A similar initiative incorporates the work of liberal Keynesian economist James Tobin. Yet another covers the recorded thoughts of George Schultz, a conservative eminence in the Nixon and Reagan administrations, who mentored Warsh at Stanford.
As a senior Fed official explained to me, “[Warsh] likes to sit in his office having long talks with ‘Milton’ about the economy and Fed policy.”
spectator.com/article/is-a-r…
Preston Mui retweeted
If the NCAA can't fix this, the government needs to step in. This a recipe for hearing damage, especially for the stadium workers.
NEW: Tennessee set the highest scientifically verified dB record in College Football history against Alabama on this play (130.3), the school announced.
(via ABC) xitter.gq/gmannVOLS/status/21116…
Preston Mui retweeted
NEWS: 19 FORMER ECONOMIC AND NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS ENDORSE THE BIPARTISAN PERMITTING REFORM BILL
Today, a group of former Cabinet members and White House principals across seven Democratic and Republican administrations sent a letter calling on Congress to pass BAAJA. Here are the signatories:
Janet YELLEN, Michael R. POMPEO, Steven T. MNUCHIN, Leon E. PANETTA, Timothy F. GEITHNER, Henry M. PAULSON, Jr., Robert E. RUBIN, Stephen MIRAN, Jared BERNSTEIN, Tyler GOODSPEED, Jason FURMAN, Glenn HUBBARD, Laura D’Andrea TYSON, Michael J. BOSKIN, Jeffrey ZIENTS, Jake SULLIVAN, Brian DEESE, Larry KUDLOW, Allan B. HUBBARD
Key highlights from the letter:
1. “We are not building infrastructure fast enough to remain globally competitive… The median time for a new power plant to move from an interconnection request to commercial operation has more than doubled, from less than two years for projects built between 2000 and 2007 to more than four years for projects built between 2018 and 2024.
2. China has built more high-voltage transmission in the last fifteen years than the U.S. has built in all of its history... In 2024, China accounted for 31.5% of global knowledge- and technology-intensive manufacturing value added, compared with 20.7% for the United States.
3. Federally funded or permitted projects require NEPA review, but private projects often do not, creating a threat of failure precisely where the government is trying to be proactive, strategic, and engaged.
4. A project that spends years awaiting approval must continue carrying development and financing costs while remaining exposed to rising input costs. The IEA reports that prices for utility-scale transformers increased 26% in 2024, while lead times for some transformers have stretched as long as six years.
5. Mining projects also face tremendous uncertainty: a 2026 study by researchers at the Colorado School of Mines found that permitting for modern mining projects takes an average of 5.5 years, rising to 8.9 years for contested projects. The U.S. currently has the second-longest mine development timeline in the world.
6. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act is the most significant bipartisan legislative effort that Congress has undertaken in decades to tackle these challenges.
7. BAAJA addresses key constraints stifling American industry by requiring interregional transmission planning, strengthening the federal backstop for nationally significant transmission lines, and creating a faster, more predictable process for connecting new generation to the grid.
8. BAAJA also makes permits more durable by imposing tighter timelines for litigation and limiting frivolous lawsuits that can halt projects indefinitely, while preserving community input and judicial review of substantive agency decisions.”
The letter was organized by @arnabdatta321 on behalf of @IFP and covered exclusively by the WSJ this morning.
Preston Mui retweeted
New statement from Lisa Cook's lawyers after the White House's announcement that it has launched a committee to investigate allegations that she committed mortgage fraud
nytimes.com/2026/10/09/busin… @nytimes
Preston Mui retweeted
YESSSS KASSSSSSIA! 👏 🇵🇱 Second in the world, with her smile saying it all. 😁
#Montréal2026
Preston Mui retweeted
A little post-race chat with a silver lining. 🩶🇵🇱
#Montréal2026
Preston Mui retweeted
A post that somehow aged better than I anticipated
Preston Mui retweeted
Our team @employamerica tries to be diligent in separating what we think "will happen" vs "should happen"
We've been saying since late July that the Fed was on course for a September hike. We'll get calls wrong too, but on this occasion, we were right for the right reasons.
Those who said a Warsh-chaired Fed wouldn't hike before midterms misunderstood how decisions are made at the Fed. The rest of the committee matters, and they were responding with a lag to inflationary developments
- No one pencilling in > 3 hikes
- Most see rates elevated through 2027
- No dissents and only two penciling in no more hikes this year
Preston Mui retweeted
Had a blast chatting with @nukebarbarian about the SPR and the new @employamerica plan to turn a profitable trade into long-term security.
Available wherever you get your podcast.
nuclearbarbarians.com/p/spr-…
Preston Mui retweeted
FT exclusive: The IMF dropped the lead candidate to become its new chief economist at the eleventh hour after he was found to have made critical remarks about the Trump administration’s economic policies, according to people briefed on the process ft.trib.al/L3JKoT8
Preston Mui retweeted
At a moment of higher oil prices & SPR activity, the moment is ripe to improve its infrastructure so it can be a more effective asset for economic & national security
Check out the latest from @ArnabDatta321
Trade the SPR, Save the SPR
employamerica.org/expanding-…
