Happy Holidays from the Stone Center! Thank you to our community of researchers, staff, and partners for your continued support this past year. We wish you a joyful season and look forward to resuming our programs in 2026.

Meritocracy remains controversial yet increasingly central to policy debates. Evaluating it requires care: we must first define “merit” relative to social objectives, whether prospectively or retrospectively. @durlauf.bsky.social's latest essay offers ways to think about these issues→ bit.ly/3Y283jj

How does women’s status within family structures shape economies and states? Lena Edlund traces gender and marriage norms to unpack these dynamics alongside @durlauf.bsky.social on this week’s episode of the Inequality Podcast. Listen now → bit.ly/4j2QGbD

We’re proud to share that our Associate Director, @nomadj1s.bsky.social, has been named a 2025 Evidence Champion by J-PAL. His leadership advances research quality to better understand systemic forces and intentionally amplifies voices across the field. A well-deserved recognition if you ask us!

🧵1/3 J-PAL North America is thrilled to announce our 2025 #EvidenceChampion awardees! Both @nomadj1s.bsky.social and Dr. Owen Garrick have dedicated their careers to advancing racial equity and evidence-based policymaking. Learn more 👇

Stone Center Director @durlauf.bsky.social joined @lseinequalities.bsky.social for their 10th-anniversary conference. During a panel, Durlauf shared two suggestions for the future of inequality research. Watch to hear his take on trajectories, meritocracy, and their evolving roles → bit.ly/4iRQ8W3

Regular health screenings are a critical component of preventive care. In a multi-wave field experiment, @nomadj1s.bsky.social, David Molitor, and Julian Reif find that financial incentives increase participation in screenings both immediately and long term. Read their research → bit.ly/48OD13A

Children face many challenges after a family separation. Moving homes? That can make it even harder, especially on academic outcomes. This Friday, Lucienne Disch discusses how residential stability may help keep kids test scores on track. Register here → bit.ly/47z4qWg

When kids are ready to learn, Stephen Raudenbush thinks we should be ready to teach. On the latest Inequality Podcast, Raudenbush joins @gtwodtke.bsky.social to discuss how teaching and school structure shape outcomes, and why organizational change might be needed. Listen → bit.ly/4rwytHh

What can 13 minutes teach us about inequality? A lot, it turns out. @durlauf.bsky.social and @jadenreports.bsky.social cover wealth, education, and capitalism in a recent interview. Zoe Cobb, Stone Center staffer and youth voice, captures the key insights in a must-read summary → bit.ly/43ZFVke

Shopping this Black Friday? Wondering how tariffs will affect prices? Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) tells KQ2 that while the impact might not hit consumers immediately, the long-term effects could be significant. www.kq2.com/news/u-s-tar...

Honored to introduce Samuel Bowles Public Lecture The Origin and Future of Inequality, part of 3 days organized by @ucstonecenter.bsky.social. Sam has been an inspiration, both intellectually and morally to me, as well as to so many in the profession. www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-9...

We know family income matters, but new research reveals when it matters most for adult earnings. Using a low-assumption, trajectory-based approach, Chang et al. find the largest impacts in middle childhood & adolescence, and that income & family structure are complementary. Read now → bit.ly/48tPxX2

Stone Center affiliate Gregorio Caetano has a new paper out. In this latest work, the research team examines daily video consumption and its role in human capital development, an important but often underappreciated dimension of wealth accumulation.

Doug Downey wants to convince you that schools actually reduce inequality, not expand it. In his conversation with @gtwodtke.bsky.social, they examine how the education system likely compensates for SES gaps and why school reforms are a band-aid fix to root problems. Listen now → bit.ly/48nPLij

Billionaire wealth keeps climbing, but the gains don't seem to reach everyone else. Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) tells @marketplace.org that tax cuts for the wealthy don’t boost growth the way trickle-down theory promises.

New research from Stone Center Affiliate Ellora Derenoncourt (@princetonecon.bsky.social) just dropped👇

Decades of research on gender disparities, one fascinating conversation. Nicole Fortin (@stone-centre-ubc.bsky.social) joins @durlauf.bsky.social to discuss decomposition methods, women’s underrepresentation in economics, & shifting views on minimum wage. Listen now → bit.ly/49MQU48

The right time to have a baby isn't just personal – it's economic. This Friday, Professor Yana Gallen explores how the timing of motherhood can influence women's career trajectories and why delay is often a strategic choice. Register here → bit.ly/47z4qWg

Textbooks can meaningfully shape children's worldviews. Using computational methods, @aadukia.bsky.social & Emileigh Harrison find that while Texas and California public school texts are similar, religious versions depict fewer women, lighter skin, and more faith content. Read more → bit.ly/43pvNRC

Tonight at Harris School of Public Policy: Why Economic Inequalities Endure. For decades, Sam Bowles has challenged how we think about economics, democracy, and inequality. Ahead of his talk, hear him compare capitalism and democracy on The Inequality Podcast. Listen → bit.ly/43Qi8mz

Sam Bowles is a dedicated collaborator across the Stone Center network. Between his work with @stoneeconucl.bsky.social, @coreecon.bsky.social, and his own groundbreaking research, he joins us in Chicago to discuss "Why Economic Inequalities Endure," happening tomorrow. RSVP → cvent.me/aWXMPqa

Inequality Reconsidered: A Week with the Stone Center begins today! Missed the registration window for our Nov. 4 lecture with Sam Bowles? Don’t worry, you can still join “Why Economic Inequalities Endure” on Thursday, Nov. 6. Seats are limited, don't wait → cvent.me/aWXMPq

Research trio @durlauf.bsky.social, Andros Kourtellos, and Chih Ming Tan reunited at the Stone Center this past summer to continue their collaborative efforts on refining measures of inequality. Learn more about their joint work and its reach→ stonecenter.uchicago.edu/news-insight...

Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) joins rising voice Jaden Jefferson (@jadenreports.bsky.social) to discuss how wealth inequality influences the U.S. economy through disparities in education, taxation, and opportunity.

Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) speaks to @thehill.com on the Trump Administration’s college compact, emphasizing that debates over diversity should take place within institutions themselves. thehill.com/homenews/edu...

In under two weeks, Inequality Reconsidered: A Week with the Stone Center begins. Join Samuel Bowles & Steven Durlauf at the Harris School of Public Policy on November 4th and 6th to unpack why economic inequalities endure. Reserve your seat → cvent.me/aWXMPq

Join Professor Joe Soss on Friday morning to hear about the legal plunder of the justice system. Soss will discuss the origins, operations, and consequences of revenue shifts from communities to governments and corporations. Join us by registering here → zurl.co/LbUc5

Damon Jones, Associate Director of the Stone Center, joins the Million Bazillion podcast to explain how insurance protects against unexpected financial burdens and why it’s an essential part of the financial system.

It’s not every day we interview one of our own directors on the Podcast, but when we do, it’s worth a listen. @durlauf.bsky.social talks with @nomadj1s.bsky.social about household finance, UBI, editing a special issue of the JEL, and what an individualistic perspective might omit. 🎧→ bit.ly/4qlcFOt

Criminal justice institutions generate billions—but who benefits? This Friday, join Professor Joe Soss to discuss racial capitalism, legal plunder, and political resistance. Register here to join the conversation → forms.gle/bbnp8ZgfBxE7NAJC8

Inequality persists not by accident, but by architecture. Join Samuel Bowles & @durlauf.bsky.social for Inequality Reconsidered: A Week with the Stone Center featuring insightful exchanges on research, policy, and the path forward. Systems won't change themselves. Be a Part of It → cvent.me/aWXMPq

Discussions about student loans are in the news more than ever. This Friday, we’ll hear from an expert who's using administrative credit bureau data to study the effects of loan forgiveness. Register now to be part of the conversation → zurl.co/sZ9VG

Registration for the Autumn 2025 Inequality Workshop is now open → forms.gle/bbnp8ZgfBxE7... We'll see you there!

Measuring inequality of opportunity must account for the context in which choices are made. Using linear Bayesian model averaging & machine-learning methods, researchers show how estimates of opportunity inequality vary across model specifications and EU countries. Read the paper → zurl.co/WD1ej

Parental income and family structure during childhood shape adult income—especially in middle childhood and adolescence. These effects complement one another across key developmental stages. Research by Yoosoon Chang, Steven Durlauf, Bo Hu & Joon Park. https://ow.ly/kZeL50X7ott

Check out @durlauf.bsky.social's fantastic new interview with @fishkin.bsky.social on the Inequality Podcast, hosted by the @ucstonecenter.bsky.social at the University of Chicago.

What if the goal isn’t equal outcomes, but equal access? This week on the podcast, @durlauf.bsky.social and @fishkin.bsky.social discuss opportunity pluralism, meritocracy, and how political economy has shaped American democracy. If you care about inequality, this is a must-listen → zurl.co/JRALG

@durlauf.bsky.social reviews two complementary books on economic history, How the World Became Rich & Slouching Towards Utopia. Both works cogently integrate contingent explanation and historical patterns in tracing the path of global growth. Read his review → bit.ly/42WIenz

Earlier this month, we hosted an authors' conference for the upcoming volume, "Whither Meritocracy?" published by the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Read the recap and preview what's to come → bit.ly/46VBKro

How do political dynasties impact development? Using election results and nightlight data from Punjab, Pakistan, researchers find that dynasties negatively impact growth, persisting by offering security instead of growth-enhancing goods. Read it now → bit.ly/46GNKMp

Are the new H-1B rules creating the wrong incentives? @durlauf.bsky.social tells @latimes.com how the policy could push growth away from the U.S.

Alexander Monge-Naranjo has been researching the role of credit constraints in shaping educational attainment. He sits down with @durlauf.bsky.social to discuss how credit access matters for recent cohorts, whereas family resources were more determinative for earlier groups. Listen → bit.ly/4nOXPxK

In a new paper, Coleman & Lukina re-examine assortative matching literature using new rank correlation measures. Contrary to previous results, they find that assortative matching actually rose from the 1960s through the 1980s to 2013, rather than flattening out. Read their research→ bit.ly/4mqXDDH

Announcing the 2025-2026 Inequality Workshop schedule! Join us throughout the academic year for dialogue and critical commentary on some of today’s most pressing issues. Want early access? Sign up for our newsletter → bit.ly/4pxC2fC #InequalityResearch #AcademicWorkshops #UChicago

Inter-province income/education inequality in China isn’t new; intra-province inequality might be. @butaevak.bsky.social & Park show that poorer provinces have higher inequality because of higher educational inequality, higher returns to schooling & lower average attainment. Read now→ bit.ly/3Vhf8Lz

"How much of the inequality we observe today can be predicted by inherited circumstances?” This week on the podcast, Steven Durlauf is joined by Francisco Ferreira to explore how inherited inequality unfolds across countries and regions. 🎧 Hear the full conversation bit.ly/45XLHnV

Looking for a part-time job that supports inequality research? The Stone Center is hiring a Student Program Assistant! This is a great fit for students interested in research operations, policy, and communications. Apply now on Handshake or Grad Gargoyle!

Exploring the role of social influences in majority language acquisition and language minorities and demonstrates complex comparative statics exist in such environments, from William A. Brock, Bo Chen, Steven N. Durlauf, and Shlomo Weber https://www.nber.org/papers/w34138

Providing a general framework for understanding how trajectories of family income and family structure affect adult outcomes, from Yoosoon Chang, Steven N. Durlauf, Bo Hu, and Joon Park https://www.nber.org/papers/w34179