Will you join us in Vancouver? 🇨🇦

This summer, we’re partnering with UBC's @stone-centre-ubc.bsky.social to host the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality.

Applications are now open – we’re excited to meet you.

Learn more: bit.ly/4lWx0ro
Apply here: bit.ly/4t8Lff6

Residential Segregation and Unequal Access to Local Public Services in India: Evidence from 1.5m Neighborhoods | Becker Friedman Institute Residential segregation of marginalized groups is a well-established driver of persistent inequality in wealthy countries. Segregated communities tend to have worse access to employment networks, public services, and social capital, and face more entrenched stereotypes in the broader population.1 Most existing research, however, focuses on the United States and Europe. This research gap is significant Read more...

Do cities reduce inequality or reinforce it?

New research from Anjali Adukia Sam Asher, Kritarth Jha, Paul Novosad, and Brandon Tan finds India’s cities often replicate caste and religious disparities seen in villages, shaping access to public services.

Read more: https://ow.ly/4LFj50YK2Z2

Early-career researchers — Milan is calling 🇮🇹

Join us for the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality, hosted with the Dondena Centre at Università Bocconi and the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale.

Your spot is waiting. Apply now: bit.ly/4ma5k2H

College degrees still pay, but returns are shrinking for low-income students. Hear Zachary Bleemer break down new research on three factors shaping student outcomes: weaker public universities, diversion into lower-return colleges, and gaps in major choice.

Join us tomorrow → bit.ly/3QdahLY

This August, the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity & Inequality will be held in Cali, Colombia 🇨🇴

Designed to train early-career researchers in state-of-the-art methods, the program is co-sponsored by Universidad Icesi and the Georgetown Americas Institute.

Join us: bit.ly/4cGTb1P

Call for Papers: AI & the Social Sciences

Check out this opportunity from our colleagues at @beckerfriedman.bsky.social. Submissions due May 1st.

March jobs report shows gains, but economist warns of deeper concerns | ChicagoLIVE University of Chicago economist Steven Durlauf says the latest jobs numbers are better than expected, but weak wage growth, lower labor force participation and broader uncertainty still point to longer-term economic concerns.

📊 Economist @durlauf.bsky.social of the @ucstonecenter.bsky.social tells @fox32chicago.bsky.social that the latest jobs report beat expectations, but flags warning signs ahead. https://har.rs/4siCtKK

Last chance to register!

Join us next Tuesday evening at @harrispolicy.bsky.social for a conversation designed to ignite ideas.

Can economic growth last? What can history—and the experts—tell us about what comes next?

Seats are filling fast, save your spot: cvent.me/Nywo1v

Proud of your thesis or dissertation? Or know someone who should be?

The Stone Center Awards are now accepting nominations from both authors and advisors. Winners receive formal recognition and a cash prize.

Deadline to apply: May 8
Nominate today: bit.ly/3Oq1l5u

It’s not just about who you know; it’s the networks you belong to. @marioluissmall.bsky.social is pushing us to expand our focus from individuals to the structures that connect them.

Listen to this week's episode of The Inequality Podcast with host @durlauf.bsky.social: bit.ly/3PWzw5d

Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality at the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale - Stone Center The Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality seeks to provide the next generation of scholars with the multidisciplinary underpinning necessary for effective research on inequality dy...

The call for the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality, organized in Milan by @dondenacentre.bsky.social and @ucstonecenter.bsky.social, also with the support of ISPI, is now open! Early-career researchers, join us for this great experience! (deadline May 15).
bit.ly/4ma5k2H

India's Muslim and Scheduled Caste neighborhoods face systematically worse access to schools, clinics, and basic infrastructure. Asher et al. use new administrative data to document the extent of neighborhood segregation, currently invisible in the aggregate data policymakers use. bit.ly/4saLvJH

Early-career researchers — Milan is calling 🇮🇹

Join us for the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality, hosted with the Dondena Centre at Università Bocconi and the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale.

Your spot is waiting. Apply now: bit.ly/4ma5k2H

Our Summer School mentors are @guidoalfani.bsky.social, Béatrice Cherrier, @durlauf.bsky.social, Ariel Kalil, @paolaprofeta.bsky.social, @zparolin.bsky.social, and Antonio Villafranca.

Don't miss your chance to learn from the best!

Why do households save and work?

On Friday, economist @mdenardi.bsky.social kicks off the Spring Quarter Inequality Workshops by diving into new research on risk, family dynamics, and wealth across the life cycle.

Register here to join: forms.gle/YpEjGMnLCPyW...

Has Class Mobility in America Really Changed? New Research Finds a Complicated Answer March 26, 2026 Back to News Steven Durlauf, Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor For decades, Americans have worried that rising inequality is making it harder for children to move beyond the economic circumstances they were born into. A new B...

📊 Has class mobility in the U.S. really changed? Are the rich getting richer? New @ucstonecenter.bsky.social research finds a nuanced answer: overall mobility looks stable, but beneath the surface there’s growing stickiness at the top and bottom. https://har.rs/3O3PDx9

Will you join us in Vancouver? 🇨🇦

This summer, we’re partnering with UBC's @stone-centre-ubc.bsky.social to host the Summer School on Socioeconomic Opportunity and Inequality.

Applications are now open – we’re excited to meet you.

Learn more: bit.ly/4lWx0ro
Apply here: bit.ly/4t8Lff6

ICYMI: Registration is now open for "History's Lessons for Economic Growth." Save your seat → cvent.me/Nywo1v

All eyes are on gas prices as they continue to climb. @stateline.org speaks to Stone Center Director @durlauf.bsky.social about the rising costs and what's next.

Registration is now open for the Inequality Workshop’s spring quarter! We’re hosting four scholars whose research tackles big questions related to families, education, population trends, and immigration. Save your seat today → bit.ly/47pGAx8

Historian Kim Bowes wants us to stop calling ancient Romans "peasants." Talking with @durlauf.bsky.social, she details their use of credit, discretionary consumption, and economic shock planning, revealing a truly sophisticated society. Listen to The Inequality Podcast→ bit.ly/3PWoz3q

(2/2) Our attendees included:
Alexander (Sasha) Shapoval, @laywilliams.bsky.social, @gtwodtke.bsky.social, & Agnès Van Zanten.

(1/2) Our attendees included:
Zach Bleemer, Debopam Bhattacharya, Harry Brighouse, Kristina Butaeva, Christina Felfe, @durlauf.bsky.social, Andrei Markevich, Daniel Markovits, @fabianpfeffer.bsky.social, Jahel Queralt, & @aaronreeves.bsky.social.

Our latest conference, Assessing Meritocracy, brought together scholars from eight countries to examine how meritocratic systems are implemented across contexts. Hosted in partnership with the International Institute of Research in Paris, it sharpened ideas and revealed new research directions.

Samuel Bowles' Revolutionary Contributions to Economic Education - Stone Center Samuel Bowles’ six-decade career has fundamentally reshaped how economists think about institutions, behavior, and inequality. In Fall 2025. Bowles joined the Stone Center for the inaugural Stone Lect...

Sam Bowles has spent decades reshaping how economics is taught. In a new feature, Stone Center Director @durlauf.bsky.social highlights five resources that reflect Bowles’s lasting contributions to pedagogy. Among them is the widely acclaimed @coreecon.bsky.social. Read it now→ bit.ly/4st33ly

Panelists:
🏛️ Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) – Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor, @harrispolicy.bsky.social
🏅Joel Moykr – Robert H. Strotz Professor, Northwestern University, 2025 Nobel Laureate
🏅James Robinson – Professor, University of Chicago, 2024 Nobel Laureate

Can economic prosperity last? On April 14, join three leading economists at History's Lessons for Economic Growth to explore what sparked the extraordinary boom of the 18th century, and what could halt growth today. Don’t miss your chance to learn from history, register now → cvent.me/Nywo1v

How much of your life is shaped by the groups you belong to? @durlauf.bsky.social argues that this question is central to understanding inequality. He thinks the biggest policy wins may come from targeting the "bottlenecks" where group selection occurs. Listen to Durlauf on The Pie → bit.ly/4sTrLva

MACRM Mentors Set Students Up for Success in Research and Academic Careers The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy's MA in Public Policy with Certificate in Research Methods (MACRM) sends graduates in many directions. Some cross into Ph.D. programs. Others head into industry. Some return to policy leadership.

The MA in Public Policy with Certificate in Research Methods (MACRM) at UChicago Harris prepares students for jobs in research and academia, as well as PhD programs. We interviewed three MACRM alumni about how their mentors helped to set them up for success. Read more: har.rs/3P1Smre

Excited to share that my new book (w/ Xiang Zhou), Causal Mediation Analysis, is now out from CUP.

Order at tinyurl.com/3hspt6em with discount code CMA2025.

Includes software for Stata and R, available here: causalmedanalysis.github.io.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.