Matt Steinglass
@mattsteinglass
Europe editor of The Economist. Don’t let them kill me
I have been periodically standing on platforms that promise to take me to Shady Grove for at least 40 years and I still have no idea where or what Shady Grove is
Similarly: the decade-old revamp of the neoclassical NYC Post Office into Amtrak’s Penn Station terminal, now with ugly improvised wooden barriers, random herbal anti-space and no seating. What a wasted opportunity
The Washington Monument: minimalist obelisk, elegant marble bench, symmetrical relations to Capitol and White House. Oh, also: cheap rent-a-fence barriers at all times. When did the US allow fear and disorganization to destroy the possibility of good public space
Totally historically inaccurate, there were no European castles or full metal armor in 1st-century Jerusalem and Roman-era Jews were not Chinese or Mongols wearing fur hats and cloaks. Why did Jan van Eyck hate the West
For various reasons, I don’t think the “drive an automobile fast” attack method would work at an Amsterdam Pride parade
The thing about Paris and Amsterdam is there’s no sense of history or romance, everything is up to date. Only in New York are the subway cars exactly the same yellow-orange monsters you remember from your lovelorn misspent youth
Glad to see some people care about issues in experimental social sciences
Happy July 4 to Americans and our boring 2-party political system. Here in the Netherlands, after left-liberal D66 won, the right-liberal VVD forced it to leave GreenLeft/Labor (now PRO) out of the new coalition. Result is that in opposition PRO has risen to top of the polls. Never dull!
Today’s best photo-caption combination www.ft.com/content/30af... Why Americans are about to pay so much for their July 4 hot dog
For those of us inclined to say "look communism and anarchism are bad, but democratic socialism can be fine," it's bit troubling that only 11% of the NJ chapter of Democratic Socialists of America identify as democratic socialists while most are Marxists or anarchists www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/o...
High-skilled non-EU immigration to the Netherlands fell by half since 2022. 2022 may have been a bump of pent-up post-COVID demand. But the steady drop could mean that Indians and Chinese are staying home bc opportunities there are better. Another sign Europe is losing competitiveness?
Tel Avivers: NYC “most Jewish city in the world after Jerusalem”? WTF dude
73% of Italians think Europe should count only on itself for its defense, and should cease relying on the US! And also... 1/2 legrandcontinent.eu/fr/eurobazoo...
Americans, the richest people in the world, no longer care about anything except their own economy www.economist.com/interactive/...
The salsa studio across the canal has the windows open and I feel like I’m being yelled at by a drill sergeant