One of the side projects I've been involved in over the last few years is the Centre for Education Systems - doing big comparative reviews of 14 systems around the world. We've now published our first three reports on curriculum, accountability and SEND. www.ces.partners/copy-of-latest

The number of global deaths of children under-5 is projected to increase this year (from 4.6m to 4.8m) for the first time this century. (FT) The price of aid cuts.

Great to see the brilliant work from the education researchers at @theifs.bsky.social recognised in this way.

Absolutely delighted our research has won the ONS' Research Excellence prize for impact! I always say to people that the ideal @theifs.bsky.social work is rigorous enough to publish in top journals, and relevant enough to be on the front page. I think we've ticked that box here!

School equalization in the shadow of Jim Crow: Causes and consequences of resource disparity in Mississippi circa 1940 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "We estimate large positive marginal effects of local educational spending on Black students’ enrollment, attainment, and lifetime earnings."

Heartening to see this level of intellectual ambition & breadth in the new 'London Consensus' agenda set out by Tim Besley & many colleagues at the LSE (& beyond). www.lse.ac.uk/school-of-pu...

Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.

Recently accepted by #QJE, “Diversifying Society’s Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges,” by Chetty (@Oppinsights), Deming, and Friedman: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...

NEW POST: What difference will the proposed changes to Attainment 8 and Progress 8 make? The proposed new method of calculating Attainment 8 will not affect schools' Progress 8 scores greatly but will shift the incentives to enter particular subjects. vist.ly/4esnb

Behavioral, social and health scientists: if you’d like to combine social and genetic data, this is for you: shorturl.at/8gUcu. This course in London features all aspects from data collection to model estimation in our local cohort data - and the incredible @timtmorris.bsky.social as instructor.

🆕 Report ‘Modifying school choice for more equitable access in England’ Pupils from affluent households are more likely to gain a place at a top 2ry school. ✍️ @profsimonb.bsky.social @estellecantillon.bsky.social @mariagraziacavallo.bsky.social & E. Greaves. ℹ️ www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2025/no...

Over the past 3 decades, high-skill migrants from Asia—especially India and China—have transformed the US economy, fueling innovation, tech, higher ed, and healthcare growth, from Gaurav Khanna www.nber.org/papers/w34449

New @nberpubs: "The Economic Impact of Brexit" www.nber.org/papers/w34459 "by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time." 😲

How to address the problem of poor children being assigned to poor schools, in England marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/11/scho... #econsky

Important research on how to improve school results of poor kids. A Labour government will surely want to do this? Well done @simonburgess.bsky.social and co-authors.

On how priority rules in school admissions can contribute or instead harm educational equity (access to effective schools). Based on data from all secondary schools and local authorities in England. 🏫

Super important work by @profsimonb.bsky.social and the team 👍 How do we make sure kids get access good school? Check this ⬇️ work analysing policy alternatives!

NEW REPORT: Modelling and reforming school choice By Ellen Greaves, @estellecantillon.bsky.social, @mariagraziacavallo.bsky.social and me. Blog economics.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2025/11/06/a... Policy briefing www.bristol.ac.uk/media-librar... #EconSky #EduSky 1/9

I wanted to do this 15 years ago but only got support to create the option for schools to do this voluntarily. Would make a big difference.

A quota of 15% of school places should be given to pupils eligible for free school meals to ensure they have an equitable chance of attending an effective school, @bristoluni.bsky.social research suggests

We usually rely on GDP, trade, or wages to study the past. This amazing paper flips the script. It analyzes 630,000 paintings (1400-2000) to extract emotions and shows how art tracks living standards, wars, inequality, and even climate shocks. (How is this economics? Everything is economics!)

We are looking for a postdoc to work on exciting RCTs circling around scaling up mentoring interventions, starting in July 2026 💪🏻🚀 Amazing team at @ifoeducation.bsky.social & the perfect place to thrive with ifo, @cesifo.org + @econmunich.bsky.social 🫶🏻🌟 Please share widely 🙏🙏 Link below 👇

Our paper made it to TikTok! lnkd.in/e5U3ECp9 #econsky

Proud to have named this new seminar series designed to help education researchers navigate the new landscape we're in. I hope the name conveys the optimism that there is a destination worth reaching on the other side of this. Sign-up here for the first session: aefpweb.org/ev_calendar_...

The Harvard Graduate School of Education started a small online master's program for education leaders during COVID It has been a great success Now we are launching an online program for *international* education leaders Apps due in early July www.gse.harvard.edu/degrees/mast...

NEW: Sure Start generated widespread, long-lasting benefits for children in education, health, absences, and SEND. Every £1 of up-front spending on Sure Start could generate around £2 in total benefits over the long run. THREAD on our new ‪@nuffieldfoundation.org‬-funded report: [1/11]

Day 3 of the 2025 Bristol Applied Economics Meetings (BÆM)! After two fantastic days on development economics, we continue with the meeting on “Gender, Diversity, and Human Capital”. Stay tuned for some excellent papers!

@saralowes.bsky.social delivers a keynote lecture on "Culture and Development Policy" discussing how culture shapes incentives, persists and evolves, and documenting cultural mismatches between policymakers and target populations

Welcome to the 2025 Bristol Applied Economics Meetings (BÆM)! We’re kicking off with Development Economics. We have an exciting lineup of speakers, incl. @saralowes.bsky.social as keynote and Devesh Rustagi & @deanyang.bsky.social as invited speakers. Stay tuned for one key takeaway per talk!

"ChatGPT as Economics Tutor: Capabilities and Limitations" econpapers.repec.org/paper/briuob...

New funding & immigration schemes to attract top scientific talent from abroad to EU universities would have a measurable impact on European innovation over a 5-year horizon - 87% of top European economists agree @kentclarkcenter.bsky.social #ChooseEurope www.kentclarkcenter.org/filterable-c...

This lunchtime

Out tomorrow: our @nuffieldfoundation.org report "Inequalities in Access to Professional Occupations" @clairetyler.bsky.social & Catherine Dilnot Why are working class & ethnic minority young people underrepresented in professional jobs? Do they not apply? OR do they apply, but just not get hired?

Our first Family Finances event held at the House of Lords: What difference can cash transfers make to low income families @financialfairness.bsky.social @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social @kittyjstewart.bsky.social @katejandersen.bsky.social @aaronreeves.bsky.social www.york.ac.uk/policy-engin...

Two weeks left to submit your papers to the BÆM development workshop in Bristol! 👉https://www.baem.info/

Keep your papers coming and join us for the Bristol Applied Economics Meeting (BÆM) on Development Economics, May 6-7! 📢 Invited talks by the brilliant @saralowes.bsky.social, Devesh Rustagi & @deanyang.bsky.social 📅 Submission deadline: Feb 28. Details here👉http://baem.info

Air pollution has dropped significantly in #Paris in the last 15 years. Mayor @annehidalgo.bsky.social’s leadership has traded car space for green space, safe bike space, kid space.. and traded pollution for people. Good trade.

Very pleased to be cited in the just-published Economic Report of the President 2025: www.whitehouse.gov/cea/written-..., in the section on maximising educators’ potential.

The latest #NuffieldFunded annual report on education spending in England from @theifs.bsky.social delivers independent analysis of the winners & losers. Key insights include: 📉 A continued spending squeeze for schools & colleges 📈 Some gains for the under-5s Read it here: ow.ly/9qVA50UBKB4

Also true of Banglasheshi students who now outperform White British students at GCSE despite having significantly lower average incomes.

Students of Pakistani origin are now more likely to go university than white British. Just one of many datapoints showing why Jenrick's comments were so profoundly ignorant.

This morning, around sunrise, a short walk from home in North Somerset. About -6deg C. This field is patrolled by Barn Owls, which we saw about an hour later.

Not a new paper, but a new presentation & discussion of a previous paper. An interview and discussion of our paper on school admissions and inequality (some nice work by our uni Bristol marketing team!) www.bristol.ac.uk/research/imp...

🚨 We are hiring! The #OECD is looking to hire one or several Economists / Policy Analysts to work on labour market and social policy, including on #inequalities. The vacancy is open until 3 January 2025. Please spread the word, retweet and apply! #EconSky smrtr.io/pfCMb

Really interesting study: exogenous variation in timing of digital TV rollout in England ^raised^ student test scores, particularly for disadvantaged kids. Author argues this arises from displaced risky behaviours that had reduced academic performance.

Reminder: 6-year postdoc in economics of education Deadline for application on Sunday 👇

If New Balance are good enough for mega-super-star Daron Acemoglu, @dacemoglumit.bsky.social , they’re good enough for me. (Personally I’m an NB373 guy but happy to embrace all choices)

Please apply!

As I wrote here - we can choose the migration "doom loop" of more irregular migration, political backlash, and economic damage - or managed, legal migration. Spanish are trying for the latter; we should too . www.theguardian.com/books/articl...