The usefulness of useless knowledge [FREE TO READ] Politicians aren’t the best judges of the merits of scientific research

Of honey bees, long shots, and the usefulness of useless knowledge
as.ft.com/r/80525f53-e...

Weeks after writing about how the best ideas bleed btwn R and python, I find out from @stephenturner.us 's excellent blog that the #rstats world is attempting their own Rust-based analog to `uv` (for deps mgmt not packaging)

Haven't tried but neat to watch

a2-ai.github.io/rv-docs/

The AEA has posted eight "Recent Developments" lectures exploring highly topical issues in economics, presented by the best scholars in the field:

www.aeaweb.org/conference/w...

Well worth a watch!

Economics of Ideas, Science, and Innovation Online PhD Short Course | Institute for Progress

This online, PhD-level course in the economics of innovation is a huge opportunity.

Taught by some of the world's top scholars on this: @heidiwilliams.bsky.social, Chad Jones, Azoulay, van Reenen, many others! Co-sponsor @ifp.bsky.social

If you're admitted, it's free. Applications due January 9th!

New paper with @instrumenthull.bsky.social and Michal Kolesár on leniency/judge IV designs.

This article is targeted for the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and so we wrote it with the goal of being accessible to a wide range of users, including advanced undergrads!🧵

arxiv.org/abs/2511.03572

We strongly suggest using the following labels: praise: Praises highlight something positive. Try to leave at least one of these comments per review. Do not leave false praise (which can actually be damaging). Do look for something to sincerely praise. nitpick: Nitpicks are trivial preference-based requests. These should be non-blocking by nature. suggestion: Suggestions propose improvements to the current subject. It’s important to be explicit and clear on what is being suggested and why it is an improvement. Consider using patches and the blocking or non-blocking decorations to further communicate your intent. issue: Issues highlight specific problems with the subject under review. These problems can be user-facing or behind the scenes. It is strongly recommended to pair this comment with a suggestion. If you are not sure if a problem exists or not, consider leaving a question. todo: TODO’s are small, trivial, but necessary changes. Distinguishing todo comments from issues: or suggestions: helps direct the reader’s attention to comments requiring more involvement. question: Questions are appropriate if you have a potential concern but are not quite sure if it’s relevant or not. Asking the author for clarification or investigation can lead to a quick resolution. thought: Thoughts represent an idea that popped up from reviewing. These comments are non-blocking by nature, but they are extremely valuable and can lead to more focused initiatives and mentoring opportunities. chore: Chores are simple tasks that must be done before the subject can be “officially” accepted. Usually, these comments reference some common process. Try to leave a link to the process description so that the reader knows how to resolve the chore. note: Notes are always non-blocking and simply highlight something the reader should take note of.

I recently discovered Conventional Comments (conventionalcomments.org) for providing a pseudo-standard set of labels for feedback and just tried it for an article review and it was really helpful to specify issues vs. thoughts vs. suggestions, etc. Hopefully it's helpful for the authors too!

Where should Britain build 1.5 million homes?
@amritakulka.bsky.social l and I analysed 20 billion housing searches + availability to map demand at a hyper-local level.
Map 👉 wheretobuild.warwick.ac.uk
Full + 350 LA reports 👉 www.warwick.ac.uk/cage/whereto...
@cagewarwick.bsky.social
1/n

A very interesting new report, coordinated by @centaxuk.bsky.social, is co-authored by nine think tanks from across the political spectrum and sets out 7 packages of tax reform that all agree would make the UK tax system "fairer, more effective and more pro-growth” centax.org.uk/tax-reforms-...

The value of public R&D

Government has published one of those quiet but important documents that might get overlooked as it is not 'newsy'. The headline finding is that £1 of public R&D investment generates £8 in net economic benefits for the UK over the long term
www.gov.uk/government/p...

New Working Paper w/ Aristotelis Epanomeritakis

Applications often use experiments with other evidence to estimate counterfactuals hard to identify with a single experiment. Examples include GE effects or external validity. Which experiments to run (and how) in these contexts?

First Shape Found That Can’t Pass Through Itself | Quanta Magazine After more than three centuries, a geometry problem that originated with a royal bet has been solved.

In important math news: new shape just dropped (the noperthedron) www.quantamagazine.org/first-shape-...

The National Parking Platform is a big, exciting deal and you should know about it How the government nearly squandered an enormous opportunity

Here is why the National Parking Platform is cool:

takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/national-p...

What if this tale of graduate-specific woe is off-beam, based on a misguided analysis of the data? What if the accompanying narratives that seek to explain why the most educated are faring especially badly are focused on a mirage? on.ft.com/47igZ9B

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7

When a parrot wanted to connect with a distant friend, a touchscreen showed a selection of other birds available online. The parrots learned to activate the screen, designed specially for them, by touching it gently with their tongues rather than pecking aggressively with their beaks. "We had 26 birds involved," said Hirskyj-Douglas. "They would use the system up to three hours a day, with each call lasting up to five minutes." The interactions ranged from preening and playing with toys to loud vocal exchanges. "When we went through the data, we found that most of these parrots had favourite friends," said Hirskyj-Douglas.

Pet parrots which typically live alone (whilst those in the wild live in large flocks) were given the technology to call each other. They would use it for up to three hours a day, and developed favourite friends 💔
on.ft.com/3K05vhS

Experimentation and thinking at the level of a program of experiments
statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2025/09/05/e...

1./

At last! 🎉 After years in the making, my paper with Manuel Fernandez & @marcogn.bsky.social is out as an IZA Discussion Paper.

We ask: Can better streets boost property tax compliance? 🚧💰 If so, why?

We answer this with an RCT in Mexico + a model of tax compliance.

docs.iza.org/dp18082.pdf

(Z’X)^{-1}Z’Y

Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading Bookshop chain says people are keen to escape their screens and says rise in sales is partly down to BookTok Times may be tough on the high street but the bookseller Waterstones is enjoying strong sales as younger adults embrace reading as an escape from their screens and as online competition eases. “People have come back to reading and buying books in bookshops as we have made a place which is an enjoyable and effective way to buy books,” says James Daunt, the CEO of the British retailer, which has 320 UK bookshops and owns the Foyles, Hatchards and Blackwell’s names, and whose parent group also owns Barnes & Noble, the US’s largest bookstore chain. Continue reading...

Waterstones opens 10 new stores a year as younger adults embrace reading

Tech pioneer Stephanie Shirley: ‘I need to make the life that was saved worth saving’ The ‘venture philanthropist’ on her journey from child refugee to billion-dollar businesswoman — and why Britain must do more for those fleeing war today

Stephanie 'Steve' Shirley has died aged 91. She is the subject of I think, one of the best ever FT lunches, which you can read here (registration or subscription required, will post a first 300 clicks free link in the replies):

"PhD-level experts in your back pocket" is a completely nonsensical description of AI but a pretty good description of social media if you follow the right people

Important things to consider before we outsource the research and writing process to machine proxies

This is the only prototype of the MingKwai typewriter YouTube video by NPR

I've been hearing about & seen still photos of the recently rediscovered Chinese typewriter created by Lin Yutang, so cool to see this video report by @emilyzfeng.bsky.social featuring @tsmullaney.bsky.social (who, literally, wrote the book on the Chinese Typewriter) www.youtube.com/shorts/oaIlb...

The tragic landslide in Blatten gives me the excuse to tell you the story of how we found out Ice Ages existed. It's a cool story and the most important bit is rather similar to what's happening now.

1. Goals that good descriptive *questions* pursue:

🟣 must seeks to describe theoretically relevant objects

🟣 may seek to reveal facts in need of explanation

🟣 may seek to evaluate a theory's face validity or completeness

Good description is invariably deeply cognizant of theory.

"I'm going to govern in econometrics" is a winning campaign slogan for the ages.

Five books by Romain Gary, Rabindrath Tagore, Dylan Thomas, Gertrude Stein and Arthur Schnitzler, in stylish red-on-white text-based designs. Format is small (A-format) paperbacks.

Five by Cesar Aira, Chester Himes, Gerard de Nerval, Audrey Lorde and Mary Shelley

Five by Maryse Condé, Nikolai Leskov, June Jordan, Willa Cather and Emilia Pardo

Say hello to the Penguin Archive. 90 short books being published next month for Penguin’s 90th anniversary—fifteen of which are shown here. £5.99 each, with designs reminiscent of the old Great Ideas series. (Though sadly these aren’t debossed.)

How restaurant hype happens: a tale told through booking data [FREE TO READ] What mattered most for these five buzzy restaurants — critics, influencers or awards?

For this weekend’s mag @claradoodle.bsky.social did something I have always dreamt of: she got restaurants to show us their booking data and how it’s effected by various forms of publicity. What matters more, TopJaw or an FT review? 😬 … with lovely interactive charts on.ft.com/4iE7PYj

Interesting new paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2503.09907

improves on both rdrobust and rdhonest!

Quite compelling... 1/n

Bat safety barrier will cost £100m, says HS2 chairman - BBC News Sir Jon Thompson tells a conference there is "no evidence high-speed trains interfere with bats".

Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but it might be interesting:

“Sir Jon Thompson told a rail industry conference the [£100m] bat protection structure in Buckinghamshire was needed to appease Natural England, as bats are legally protected in the UK.”

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...