My three favourite papers on the political economy of zero-sum politics (aside from the well-known Chinoy et al. paper).
1. @snageebali.bsky.social, Maximilian Mihm, and Lucas Siga. 2025. ‘The Political Economy of Zero-Sum Thinking’. Econometrica 93(1): 41–70. t.co/LoCepP3L1L
Come join us at Penn State Econ for the Midwest Trade & Theory Conference in mid-November. Submission deadline is September 6.
Details here:
sites.google.com/view/midwest...
New paper!
Strategic Complexity Promotes Egalitarianism in Legislative Bargaining, with Marina Agranov, Doug Bernheim, and Tom Palfrey
The paper shows theoretically and experimentally that egalitarianism can be a strategic response to complex bargaining situations.
sites.psu.edu/nageebali/fi...
Cookie banner design matters for privacy choices, but browser-level settings improve welfare far more than better banners or defaults, from Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin, and Tesary Lin https://www.nber.org/papers/w34025
You can trust a theorist to write a self-referential ChatGPT acknowledgement.
Forthcoming in the AER: "Robustness Measures for Welfare Analysis" by Zi Yang Kang and Shoshana Vasserman. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
We are sad to announce that former faculty member and Minnesota Econ Ph.D. alum Patrick Bajari passed away on Monday.
cla.umn.edu/economics/ne...
I feel obligated to say something about separating hyperplanes.
It was a fantastic conference and an excellent way to remember an economist who left us too early
Having worked with Sunil Kumar while he was provost here at Johns Hopkins, I am not surprised that he’s showing this kind of leadership as Tufts president. An example to be followed.
Time to work on the follow-up paper, “The Political Economy of Zero Thinking”
I’m at UNC for the Triangle Microeconomics Conference and look whose picture is right next to my hotel room!
I am profoundly saddened and alarmed by Columbia University and Paul Weiss law firm’s capitulation to the increasingly dictatorial Trump administration.
@austinkocher.com: In one of his most dangerous orders so far, Trump instructed the DHS and the DOJ to use "professional ethics" as a mechanism for silencing lawyers who challenge him in court or represent immigrants.
austinkocher.substack.com/p/trump-decl...
Ordered. Let’s get the Streisand effect going.
A nuance is that the design (and response) frames these questions as "training" subjects rather than testing their comprehension. Subjects did questions repeatedly and saw answers. 75% then doesn't seem so egregious to me. I would care more about responses to a final comprehension question.
For those interested, here is an initial response from Ryan:
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/005uy...
My UCSB econ colleague Ryan Oprea posts a response to critiques of his "Decisions under Risk Are Decisions under Complexity" AER paper. #econsky
🧪The entire staff of the Department of Education’s NCES-a vital independent statistical agency - has just been RIFed. The continued erasure of data and evidence allows for the Trump administration to hide the impact of their corruption.
#EduSky #Scisky @aeraedresearch.bsky.social @cossa.bsky.social
I found this to be an inspirational read and an impressive call-to-action during these dark times.
www.pbs.org/newshour/pol...
This is exactly what the paper should be reporting! This aid was determined by a law last year. It is not discretionary, and withholding such funds was the reason for Trump’s first impeachment. He is very much breaking the law, and it’s being reported as if it’s up to his judgment.
It's (beyond) immoral. What though makes it illegal? Is it beyond the scope of executive power? (Genuine question.)
If one person gives a euro to Ukraine, the result is €1.
If two people give 2 each, it is €4.
If 3,000 give 3,000 each, it is 9 million.
Let’s coordinate, here 👇
and please re-post to spread the word.
yourcontributionsquared.eu/en/
Ha, I’m not an empiricist but I can tell you that this is way wrong (alternatively, I’m really bringing down the average).
We have just advertised a one-year postdoc in Oxford for anyone interested in economic theory and especially market design: econjobmarket.org/positions/11.... Feel free to reach out for more info! Applications from folks on the current job market and those planning to go next year are welcome!
Maryam's speech is NOT to be missed. Her story (and courage) is completely inspiring!!! (As my sister said at the ceremony, "Well, aren't you glad you didn't have to follow her!")
Good to see "Robust Monopoly Regulation" by Yingni Guo and Eran Shmaya published. It has sentimental value to us because this was the first VSET presentation with a dedicated poster! Back in 2020, scroll through: sites.google.com/view/vset/pa...
