Väldigt glad för denna fina recension av min bok Paleoeconomics i @ekonomiskdebatt.bsky.social ! www.nationalekonomi.se/artikel/pale...

Will we be able to trust key economic data from the US again? The America We Knew Is Rapidly Slipping Away www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/o...

Just presented my paper on weather shocks and monument construction during the Classic Maya period at the WEHC in Lund. Happy for the great lineup of very interesting papers and presenters and for the turnout. Also thrilled to find my book in the book exhibition!

Jag kommenterar handelsavtalet mellan EU-USA i dagens Di. Jag tycker att EU vek ned sig alldeles för lätt. Inget hindrar Trump från att kräva ännu mer senare. Att ensidigt acceptera 15% tullar är orimligt. dise.page.link?link=https:/...

I was interviewed a short time ago in Javier’s excellent EPH Podcast about my book Paleoeconomics. I hope you enjoy listening to it. www.linkedin.com/posts/javier...

EU should of course respond with tariffs in line with the measures agreed on in April. Time to take a break from the flattery that EU leaders have tried in different fora and show resolve.

Kommenterar senatens behandling av Trumps budget Dagens ETC.

Congratulations to @rhelensdotter.bsky.social !

Several members of faculty in the development group @gothenburg-econ.bsky.social have taken part in this nice collaboration as supervisors. We thank our Ethiopian friends for their visit and hope for fruitful research interaction in the future.

There are of course numerous lessons from recent history about what Trump’s handling of the unrest in LA might lead to. The most worrying is probably ”Crackdowns can be steppingstones to wider power grabs.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/10/w...

Our frequent guest and affiliated colleague Martin Berg Karlsson @drdemant.bsky.social has co-authored a paper on German health insurance that is forthcoming in @jpolecon.bsky.social. Congratulations! doi.org/10.1086/734781

An illustration of how the Trump administration’s counterproductive tariffs hurt even the manufacturing of Swedish cars in the US.

My paper with Laura Mayoral on the political impact of floods and droughts in Ancient Egypt, is now assigned to an issue of JEconGrowth. We provide evidence of a "dynamic circumscription model" where Egypt was sometimes like a "social cage" where rulers could easily dominate. rdcu.be/eoDL5

We were very happy to host Nobel laureate Claudia Goldin today during seminars and an important keynote lecture. Thanks to all 700 participants irl and online for attending! www.gu.se/en/event/cla...

Such an incredibly well deserved PL title!!!

So true. But it also comes with a responsibility to be better at defending our freedom. economist.com/europe/2025/...

Good to see that Harvard takes the lead in this important fight for academic freedom. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/u...

Yet another interview with me on the political economy of Trump’s tariff circus (in Swedish). www.dn.se/ekonomi/expe...

Interview about the crisis in Affärsvärlden (in Swedish). www.affarsvarlden.se/artikel/ekon...

In particular, why did so many seemingly well-informed finance guys delude themselves to this extent? www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

This is remarkably close to what we had six days ago. The average tariff rate of most European nations was about 1%.

This is absolutely horrifying. Turkish graduate at Tufts student is picked up and removed to undisclosed destination by ICE, apparently because she wrote a pro-Palestinian oped.

1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world. 
I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.

European universities will probably very soon need to deal with many US-based researchers who want to relocate to Europe. If handled efficiently, a great opportunity for EU research. www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Can’t say that I am very sad about this development. A well-deserved own goal and surely not the last one. www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/b...

"Washington has become the court of Nero, an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers, and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service. This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States."

In this OA book chapter, Pelle and I critically discuss the SDG target 8.1 that the poorest countries should reach at least a 7% growth rate in GDP per capita. After two decades of rapid convergence 2000-2019, there are major challenges ahead. www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-...

A brilliant Banksy.

Oh yes. And what a shameful day for the country that used to be the leader of the free world.

If, as I hope, the US democracy survives and (somehow) recovers, then history books will judge those working with Trump and Republican lawmakers in the Senate and Congress enabling him harshly (and so should we). If US democracy does not survive, I don’t know what history books will be like.

Det är dags för val i Tyskland och drömsituationen för Sverige är ett valresultat som ger en stark regering som kan föra EU:s talan på ett effektivt sätt gentemot USA. Samtidigt behöver Tyskland stärka landets eget försvar. Det säger @oolsson.bsky.social till EFN. efn.se/play/starkt-...

It was really fun to feature in this episode of the very nice pod ”Our long walk” run by @johanfourieza.bsky.social. Among other research topics, we talk about my recent book Paleoeconomics. Thanks for the opportunity!

EU and UK must stay focused on defending Ukraine and liberal democracy and not be distracted by the representatives of this idiot regime in the US. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

In a 1st, ancient proteins reveal sex of human relative from 3.5 million years ago www.livescience.com/archaeology/...

Det andra avsnittet i Vetenskapsradion om den fascinerande stenålderskulturen i sydöstra Turkiet för 12000 år sedan. Jag intervjuas i slutet om övergången till jordbrukssamhällen. sverigesradio.se/play/avsnitt...

It is really efficient to combine a great workshop on historical economics with paleoeconomic field research on Ötzi in his Bolzano museum.

Thanks for a wonderful workshop at a fantastic location!

It is essential that EU has the guts to regulate and limit their inappropriate market power now that the they have become allies of Trump.

I ett nytt avsnitt av Vetenskapsradion diskuterar @oolsson.bsky.social hur stenåldersplatsen Göbekli Tepe kan ha uppstått efter en köldknäpp som tvingade människor att samlas på bördiga platser, vilket skapade konkurrens och hierarkier. www.sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/gobe...

Trade and FDI between major blocs after Russian’s invasion of Ukraine are decreasing towards levels during the Cold War, claims IMF economists #ASSA2025. Probably particularly bad for small, trade-oriented countries like Sweden.

In a new wp "The Political Economy of Bread and Circuses", we examine the tradeoff in early states between productivity-enhancing infrastructure (like irrigation systems) and non-productive architecture (stelae, altars, etc) by studying the Classic Maya (250-950 CE). 1/5 dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...

Americans and others owe Ukrainians a debt of gratitude for their resistance to Russian aggression. That resistance, which Russian political and media elites cannot understand, is grounded in the simple notion that Ukrainians citizens should choose their leaders. snyder.substack.com/p/gratitude-...

Demographic discourse is wild! The more I read, the more I am bewildered by the dearth of empiricism. Standard response: fertility is down due to [things I dislike*] being bad *house prices/ cost of living/ women

Rebels had seized most of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, as of Saturday, according to a war monitoring group and to fighters who were combing the streets in search of any remaining government forces. nyti.ms/4eTqDQM

Our revised paper on how historical disease experiences affected government COVID-19 policy mainly during first pre-vaccine year (2020) of fundamental uncertainty.

Hello #EconSky I’m a PhD Candidate from Gothenburg University on the academic market this year. My research covers environmental and labor economics, and my #EconJMP studies the effect of a carbon tax reform on firms and labor market inequality in Sweden. More info on my website: jimmykarlsson.com

Like ‘old Twitter’: The scientific community finds a new home on Bluesky | Science www.science.org/content/arti...

So many interesting papers and great workshop arrangements. Welcome to Gothenburg next year!