Picture of the century. 😍 📷 credit: Science Tube

The NSF 2027 budget has noted that they will close out the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Science Program (SBE). This is not a good thing. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/FY-202...

Fascinating paper just out in @jlaborecon.bsky.social by Ben Ost, Weixiang Pan, and @dougwebberecon.bsky.social. Part of the economic value of college comes not from human capital or signaling but from a third thing: professional networks. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

Hey, that’s me (and friends)! Some say if you’re not first you’re last… but I’m pretty happy with the company that puts me in today. And of course, congrats to the actual first place, Jordy!

When I first saw the only public document justifying the US Administration's $100,000 tax on H-1B visas, I couldn't believe it. The analysis was full of mistakes. Big ones. Basic ones. So I got the same data and reanalyzed it correctly. This is the result.

Happy March 15. Here is my favorite Ides of March meme:

Care about Americans, employment, earnings, consumer prices, your local or our national economy? @usbls.bsky.social empowers us to better recognize these & make decisions. Consider signing onto Friends of BLS's new letter to Congress re its budget. And spread the word.

📢 Call for papers: 🚀 4th CESifo Junior Workshop on the Economics of Education 🤩 30-31 March 2026, Munich Keynote: Michela Carlana (Harvard) PhD students & early postdocs, please apply! www.ifo.de/en/cesifo/ev... Deadline: 11 Jan 2026 @caterinapavese.bsky.social @mtotarelli.bsky.social

Jane Austen used 'however' at the beginning of a sentence, and so can you.

I'm John Fallon, a labor economist on the job market. My JMP uncovers something wild: when chiropractors got licensed in the early 1900s, medical boards responded by making it HARDER to become a doctor. Why would competition lead to stricter regulations? 🧵 john-fallon-econ.com (1/9)

This project was fueled by RAGE RAGE whenever I read or heard about (another) abuse of power by faculty RAGE whenever I was asked to discuss a paper about gender wage differentials that attributed gaps to "preferences" with no consideration of how "preferences" are formed

🚀 I'm on the #EconSky Job Market! My JMP asks a classic question: Do large, dominant firms foster or hinder innovation? To study this, I turn to the Great Merger Wave (1895–1904), when >2,600 U.S. firms combined into corporate giants like U.S. Steel and DuPont. A JMP 🧵👇 (1/13)

Econ of Ed (and other) friends: what are the best studies linking in-college interventions to labor market outcomes? Especially interested in those that improve outcomes via different mechanism than completion. E.g. if a college wants to improve earnings of grads, what should they do?

We do a “thankful turkey” each November where we add a new feather each day. My son’s entry today has me feeling some mixed emotions… as an educator (+) but as a proud Michigander (🤨)

Workplace romances between managers and subordinates boost earnings (+6 percent) but raise turnover and breakups cut pay (–18 percent), from David C. Macdonald, Jerry Montonen, and Emily E. Nix www.nber.org/papers/w34346

More people should be talking about this.

Measuring a college's value? It's more complicated than you think. A new study co-authored by Upjohn Institute's @bradhershbein.bsky.social reveals how graduates mobility - and where they end up - can skew traditional college accountability metrics. www.upjohn.org/research-hig...

I had this exact same experience this morning. Same reporter as Heidi. This is *not* normal. I have spoken to the press on these issues for two decades. No government official has ever demanded to know my identity in order to give a comment on a story.

If your Friday brain is fried like mine, whatever you're looking for is probably in the AEFP live Handbook. Hopefully, this saves others from annoyingly texting their co-authors @caitlinkearney.bsky.social livehandbook.org

The AEFP 2026 submission portal is now open! We welcome proposals that consider new perspectives, theories & methodologies about how education policies are implemented across diverse educational contexts. Submissions will be accepted until September 29th 11:59 pm PT auth.oxfordabstracts...

Developing a syllabus for the upcoming academic year? Consider including the AEFP Live Handbook. It provides a dynamic, evolving collection of insights from education finance and policy experts. A digital hub for evidence-based education policy research: livehandbook.org/

It was so nice to spend the day at Miami Econ yesterday! They have such a great crew there. Thanks again for having me, @riacton.bsky.social +1 for summer seminars - casual atmosphere, but serious conversations about improving our work

Principal Economist at Lightcast & former BLS economist: "... BLS is the most respected labor data producer in the world and it isn't even close. Don't forget that." 🔥🔥🔥🔥 www.linkedin.com/posts/ronlhe...

Hey, #econsky! We are currently accepting submissions for the 8th Annual Pacific Northwest Labor Day Workshop Friday, September 19, 2025 in Seattle, WA Please email your submission to [email protected] by Sunday, August 17. Graduate students encouraged to apply! #EconConf

Excited to announce the call for papers for the inaugural MidSouth Education Policy Workshop, October 16-17, in Lexington, KY! Send us your abstracts on all things econ of ed & ed policy by 8/27. Grad students & early career folks especially welcome! Info & link to submit here: bit.ly/44TdiGf

UPDATE: The Indiana legislature announced that, across the state's public universities, it will immediately eliminate 75 programs, suspend/teach-out 101, and force 232 to consolidate or be eliminated. Not surprisingly, these closures disproportionately affect arts, humanities, and social science.

My department @miamiecon.bsky.social is hiring an instructor/VAP to teach introductory macroeconomics this upcoming year. Could be a good opportunity for new PhDs or advanced grad students who are interested in teaching-focused positions. Apply ASAP if interested! #econsky

The music was pretty good But aid for low-income students was a lot worse news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

All NSF GRFPs to students choosing to attend Harvard in the Fall were just terminated

Can confirm that my NSF grant "How False Beliefs Form & How to Correct Them" was cancelled today because it is "not in alignment with current NSF priorities" Shocking that understanding how people are misled by false information is now a forbidden topic. Our work will continue but at a smaller scale

Steve Kerr wore a Harvard basketball shirt after the Warriors’ win tonight: “Yes, this is me supporting Harvard. Way to go. Way to stand up to the bully.”

Looking to form/join a panel at #2025APPAM with my JMP! I estimate teacher value added on ACT scores, then look at impacts on college enrollment & college performance. Message me if you have a related paper on teacher/school VA or predictors of college enrollment/ performance! #EconSky #EconConf

In a new letter, AERA and other education research leaders call on Congress to protect the nation’s education data, research infrastructure, and knowledge base, by safeguarding the IES and broader Education Department staff, leadership, and mission. www.aera.net/Portals/38/E...

Thread of my own work that has used data from Department of Education and columns that have focused on research funded by them 1/N Inequality in college graduation rates Uses data from Education Longitudinal Study, conducted by Department of Education www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/u...

Hi #EconSky, I am putting together a lecture on the opioid epidemic for my undergrad health econ class. What are the most interesting papers (need not be in econ journals) you've read on the causes and consequences of the opioid crisis? Shameless self-promotion is highly encouraged. Many thanks!

Just published in JPubEc: "The effect of feedback on student performance" By Esteban M. Aucejo & Kelvin Wong www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Who is up for a short thread on the intriguing parallels between OpenAI and Enron, as told by one of Enron's investment bankers -- that is to say, me? Here goes...

NAS Report on AI and the Future of Work Released today: www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/aut...

Education scholars heading to #APPAM2024 - @christocleve.bsky.social and I are organizing an informal happy hour meet up Thursday night 11/21 at The Brass Tap, 7pm! Would love to reconnect with folks while we're all together next week. Please amplify and feel free to invite others!

My letter to the NYT editor. I sent it yesterday; we will see if they run it. I'll put links in this thread.

Lions!

Another cool study to dig into. JPAM "Grads on the go: Measuring college-specific labor markets for graduates" - used LinkedIn to identify where college graduates live/work post graduation! Super interesting question I've always been curious about. Publicly available data too. @johnconz.bsky.social

My ERC team has created an account where they will share updates of the Stata and R packages they are working on, follow them! bsky.app/profile/erct...

Today our Office of the Chief Economist released some of the most comprehensive data to date measuring colleges’ success helping transfer students. Great work by Kevin Stange and Nathan Sotherland! blog.ed.gov/2023/11/new-...

New work out by Sarah Fuller & I on the Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard today! "Student GPA and test score gaps are growing--and could be slowing pandemic recovery" www.brookings.edu/articles/stu...

🚨Volume 7 is out! Handbook of the Economics of Education Edited w/ Rick Hanushek & Steve Machin Great overview chapters on cutting-edge topics in the economics of education by top scholars Have a look! 👉https://www.sciencedirect.com/handbook/handbook-of-the-economics-of-education/vol/7 1/7