My essay on the simple strategy Iranians first used to hold the world economy hostage 1800 years ago — and why larger world powers keep falling for it, over and over
With awesome interactive cartography!
www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...
It's pub day!
📊 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
The Los Angeles, San Diego and Miami areas—three of the 20 largest metros in the U.S.—all saw population declines in the year through June 2025, according to the Census Bureau.
Horizontal bar chart of the share of workers in informal employment by country (2023) where Madagascar, Angola, India, Bolivia, Peru, and Egypt have very high informal shares of about 96% to 71%, while Norway, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Poland are at the low end around 1.2% to 7.7%.
Outside rich countries, widespread informal work means unemployment rates are low—
(This Data Insight was written by @eortizospina.bsky.social.)
Last year, three-quarters of the world’s countries had unemployment rates below 10%, according to data from the International Labour Organization.
If you want to learn more about monopsony power, ranging from the intellectual history to how measure it today to some crazy stories involving collusion at the highest levels of the tech world, check out The Wage Standard. www.thewagestandard.com
So proud of the National Film Board of Canada!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CThY...
Pat and Jamie discuss the outrage over dynamic pricing as New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill looks to ban the practice of offering different prices to customers.
Joseph Stiglitz has a gift for turning classic market arguments on their head. In conversation with @durlauf.bsky.social, he frames the economy as a balancing act, with forces pulling and pushing it towards equilibrium. This tension, shaped by politics, drives inequality. Listen now → bit.ly/4bbnKe0
Norwegian new passenger cars sales by type: Monthly
US new light-duty vehicle sales by type: Monthly
Tale of two petrostates.
Data from @robbieandrew.bsky.social: robbieandrew.github.io/carsales/
Two people seated holding microphones
Man seated, gesturing to a seated woman
Man with microphone smiling
Woman with microphone smiling
Last night we welcomed Lina M. Khan, former FTC Chair, for an enlightening conversation with our own Paul Krugman, research professor in economics. Video of “Affordability, Antitrust, and Inequality” coming soon! Presented with @stone-lis.bsky.social (Photos: Matt Harvey)
Hereditary peers out of the Lords at long long last - delivering the rather simple principle that you don’t deserve a vote in Parliament by virtue of which family your were born into www.gov.uk/government/n...
This series of lectures on different aspects of New York City history @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social looks really interesting.
www.gothamcenter.org/gothamed/adu...
Starting at 6:30pm this eve (NYC time). In-person is sold out, but the livestream ... unlimited capacity.
Jointly hosted by @stone-lis.bsky.social and @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social. We know that a lively conversation is in store.
👇👇👇
A more apt analogy for the taxation of America’s rich would be “the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France, who were exempt from paying almost all taxes”, argues Ray Madoff in a guest essay
An excellent review of my "Great Global Transformation" by Philippe Cunliffe.
Neoliberalism in One Country? | Compact
www.compactmag.com/article/neol...
Tonight's class in Economics for Everyone @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social is about a core principle of economics.
The case for free trade was made 200 years ago, and is based on David Ricardo's idea of comparative advantage.
#TeachEcon
milescorak.com/my-teaching/...
Neither theory, history or the latest data suggests a recession driven by AI job dislocation is likely, WSJ’s Greg Ip writes.
Basic economics at work!
the distinction between the legal and the economic incidence of a tax, and between marginal and fixed costs.
“Tariffs as levied added to marginal cost; tariff refunds have no effect on marginal cost. So you don’t expect them to be reflected in any give back to consumers”
Chrystia Freeland writes in this wide ranging essay that
“appeasing a predatory hegemon doesn’t work.
What does work … is using the bargaining chips you have, including retaliating when you are attacked.”
But she doesn’t really know what comes next!
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/o...
We’re pleased to announce a $10 million gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation, which supports the work of @stone-lis.bsky.social www.gc.cuny.edu/news/10-mill... @cuny.edu
"I think the millennial dream went bust a long time ago." — @amil.bsky.social, author of “Life After Ambition: A Good Enough Memoir,” talks with @jeyantvo.bsky.social about the promise for millennials vs. the reality of trying to become successful, tonight at 8pm | Producer: @carrletta.bsky.social
"JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that he was anxious over the U.S. economy, citing elevated asset prices and a competitive environment in banking that reminded him of the pre-2008 crisis years."
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/23/j...
But that should be recognized as the start of the conversation that has to be sensitive to non linearities.
The log-log specification has that theoretical motivation but calls for better theory and practice to appreciate non linearities. I use it as an overall summary measure of mobility line the Gini is used for inequality
Yes, I agree with that later paragraph. Also for economist it lacks, or better yet, calls for a theoretical motivation.
I have long wondered about this. The Chetty et al paper in the QJE that kicked started all of this found a linear relationship. I often felt that this approach and result were motivated by limits in the data, the rather young age of the adult children and the large fraction of zeros at the lower end
