“Profit margins expand after the crisis has passed when prices start to slowly drift back down.” @nikdatta.bsky.social discusses his research on oil price spikes for a Times investigation on the increasing cost of fuel and ‘price gouging’ buff.ly/gBhLQCq

New article from myself & Johannes Brinkmann out in The Conversation on petrol price gouging (or lack thereof) theconversation.com/do-petrol-re...

There has been a lot of discussion around petrol "price gouging" over the last few days. New @cagewarwick.bsky.social policy note from myself and Johannes Brinkmann on this claim with some analysis from around the Russian Invasion of Ukrain. The main points:

@amritakulka.bsky.social and my housing work was featured on ITV Tonight yesterday. You can play with a fun map and read more about it here: wheretobuild.warwick.ac.uk

#TeamHair strikes again

@amritakulka.bsky.social and I are looking to hire a full time predoc to work with us on a project on land use regulation and market power in the housing market. If you're interested in (very) big data and applied econ please do apply! #econra #econ_ra econjobmarket.org/positions/12...

New piece from #TeamHair

ICYMI given today's focus on the budget: the UK government has today also published a working paper on options for reform of non-compete agreements. Responses to the specific options set out therein (statutory limits, size cutoffs and an outright ban), can be submitted until 18 February. 1/2

Yesterday was my last day at the CMA. It has been a real honour helping to build its research function over the last three years. This therefore seems like a good opportunity to highlight a few things we have published in recent years. 1/

🚨 undergrads and masters students interested in careers in applied econ research: My department is recruiting 4-5 full-time RAs to start summer 2026. See the announcement here for more details: jessiehandbury.com/misc/RAflyer... A few reasons you should apply...

New piece from me and Jan Bakker in The Conversation theconversation.com/could-new-te...

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

Are you an economist looking for a pre-doc? Are you interested in youth crime and policy? Then come work with us! We're hiring at @cep-lse.bsky.social to come and work with Rui Costa, Matteo Sandi and myself on a joint project. Applications now open: jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/... #EconRA #EconSky

As someone who has lived in three different towns in Hertfordshire, I have no idea what he's talking about. Now if you need me I'll be eating second breakfast.

Warwick econ are hiring! With a preference for Macro & Development. econjobmarket.org/positions/12...

Glad to see my new piece in The Conversation is stimulating informed debate

theconversation.com/how-new-rent... New piece from Jan David Bakker & myself on some of the possible consequences of the renter's rights bill

Attention IO job market candidates: Sometimes speakers in the CMA's external economics seminar series have to cancel at relatively short notice. We would love for these slots to go to JMCs to present their job market paper. Drop me a message if you are interested or share with those who might be.

I did not expect to wake up to a policy which included “subsidise pubs”. “That is what our £5bn neighbourhood fund is about, to be spent for local people and by local people on their community’s needs. Whether that’s restoring a local pub…” www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/f9444c6...

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/a... Good to see coverage of mine and Johannes Brinkmann's @cagewarwick.bsky.social on the RTFO. Here's a nice graph showing the benefits...

19 years sober

One of the tunes I've written (I occasionally write music) just got added to a playlist with this title... open.spotify.com/playlist/7yL...

The Prime Minister imitating Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech is sickening. That speech fuelled decades of racism and division. Echoing it today is a disgrace. It adds to anti-migrant rhetoric that puts lives at risk. Shame on you, Keir Starmer.

PhD Timeline xkcd.com/3081

New policy piece from myself and Johannes Brinkmann on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation - one of UK's key policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions from road transport - how it impacts prices at the pump for consumers, and what the benefits are. A few graphs / points to follow.

cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/about/w... Rui Costa and I are looking for a part time RA to help us out on a LPC commissioned project on labour market power & the min wage, based at the CEP, LSE. Check out more at the link!

New VoxEU piece with S.Machin on the impacts of @livingwageuk.bsky.social's Living Wage. Using variation from councils signing up and inducing their contractors to pay it, we find higher wages, *increases* in employment, reduced within-establishment wage inequality, and labour-labour substitution.

This is an interesting article from the @newstatesman.com & @willdunn.bsky.social, which claims that a downturn in new planning apps implies planning reform may not fix the UK's housing supply. A few thoughts below from @amritakulka.bsky.social and me on the problems with this line of thinking. 1/n

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... ZHCs are back in the news again. Some thoughts: 1. I wish people would stop calling this a ban. The policy is going to give a right to a regular hour contract, most likely determined by hours worked over a 12 week reference period. A lot of details are.. 1/n

Are you interested in (really) big data and housing? Come work with @amritakulka.bsky.social and myself at @warwickecon.bsky.social. We're looking for a full time pre-doc. Topics include affordability, planning policy, market power, & search. #econra #econ_ra econjobmarket.org/positions/11...

5 years ago today Britain left the EU. Between 2020-2023, Brexit drove up food prices by 4% a year on average. Research from Jan David Bakker, @joshdelyon.bsky.social , @richarddavies.bsky.social and myself. You can read the paper here: tinyurl.com/27vjakwa

The view from my office this morning weren't half bad

New research. How has Brexit affected UK trade? We find TCA reduced goods exports by 6.4%, imports by 3.1% Smaller firms hardest hit. Around 16,400 firms stopped exporting to the EU entirely But larger firms' exports unaffected, contributing to relatively small fall in overall trade 1/

Jan Bakker and my work shows capping rental broker fees to tenants in the UK was broadly successful, and the main reason is fee salience + imperfect comp. Here’s an article in The Conversation about it. theconversation.com/successful-c...

CEP are looking for an RA to work on the 'Diversion and Structural Change in the Youth Criminal Justice System' project - for more details, visit: ow.ly/MRRS50UkSKp

Are you interested in Youth Crime? Do you have a quant undergrad and have a yearning to apply your skills to highly policy relevant economics and social science questions? Come work for us! Rui Costa, Matteo Sandi and myself are hiring a pre-doc, based at LSE. jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Great to see my work on ZHCs covered in the times

🚨New @cep-lse.bsky.social working paper: Why do flexible work arrangements exist? Read on if you're interested in work schedule-flexibility and zero-hours contracts! 1/n

New article in @theconversationuk.bsky.social by AmritaKulka and myself. "Why building new towns isn’t the answer to the UK’s housing crisis" theconversation.com/why-building...

www.theguardian.com/society/2024... This is an interesting piece on housing unit approvals, but approval numbers don't tell the full story. A few thoughts. 1/n

🚨The first CAGE policy piece on the UK Planning System. We analysed 18 million planning applications from the past 25 years. If you're interested in housing supply, planning and Labour policy take a read. Press release: tinyurl.com/42b2ajp5 Policy note: tinyurl.com/3bdd6bfc

A PhD candidate at U Maryland is studying sexual misconduct in academia and is looking to interview people who experienced academic sexual misconduct as a graduate student in the greater DC area. See flyer below for contact details if this applies to you.