When I got tenure, I decided to use it start a new research agenda, studying US science in the 20th century, how it became dominant, what held it back, and what we can do better. Here's the first pub (with Scott Kim).

Econometrica@ecmaeditors.bsky.social · last yr.

Analyzing scientists' biographies during the baby boom, we find that mothers have a unique life cycle pattern of productivity. Children reduce the productivity of mothers but not fathers, with important implications for promotions and participation. buff.ly/39WbYRH

Stephen Miller is Wrong about American Science www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

Immigration Research Shows Stephen Miller Wrong About American Science

Stephen Miller, the chief architect of Trump immigration policy, argues that American scientific achievement owes little to immigrants.

forbes.com

Jacob French and I are hiring a pre-doc in Applied Micro apply.interfolio.com/166572

This, from my colleague Brent Neiman says it all. Trump admin used the results from his paper to justify tariff rates. Except they used the completely wrong number. Staggering 🤯 www.nytimes.com/2025/04/07/o...

Some Germans want Syrians to return home - unless they are doctors. That won't work: "If my family and friends aren't allowed to stay, then I don't want to either." 1/n wapo.st/3DDxUYd

6,000 Syrians work as doctors in Germany. Some weigh whether to stay or go.

Syrian doctors have established themselves in Germany, filling critical health-care gaps. But Assad’s fall and anti-migrant sentiment have some torn.

wapo.st

Dunno what this says about me, but I saw "Moby Dick" at the Met last night and absolutely loved it, down to the "squarely undulating minor-key references to Philip Glass, John Adams and Britten..." Go see it if you can! www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/a...

Review: ‘Moby-Dick,’ the Opera, Cuts the Blubber

Streamlining Melville’s sprawling novel, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s moody, monochromatic 2010 adaptation has come to the Metropolitan Opera.

nytimes.com

Phew. All that takeout I'm buying is increasing productivity. Thank you @goolsbee.bsky.social, Chad Syverson, NYUStern PhD student Rebecca Goldgof & Joe Tatarka www.nber.org/papers/w33555

The Curious Surge of Productivity in U.S. Restaurants

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

When German Alexander rammed his car into a group of people in Mannheim on Monday, killing two, wounding 25, he was stopped by Afzal from Pakistan. It's funny how we only hear names and place of birth when they match our fear and prejudice.

Erik Marquardt@erik-marquardt.eu · last yr.

Gestern hat ein deutscher Alexander ein schreckliches Attentat in Mannheim verübt. Gestoppt wurde er von Afzal aus Pakistan. Dass ihr so wenig davon hört liegt daran, dass Vorname und Herkunft für viele offensichtlich nur interessant sind, wenn man das für rechte Hetze missbrauchen kann.

There is still some sanity in this world, at least when it comes to footwear. Birkenstocks argued that their sandals are "art" to get copyright protection. German courts said "nope" www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/s...

Are Birkenstocks a Work of Art? A German Court Says No.

The famous sandal company lost a battle over copyright law, leaving room for imitations to spawn.

nytimes.com

the grownups are back in charge USDA accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

USDA accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is now trying to rehire them

An Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are "working to swiftly rectify the situation."

nbcnews.com

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/10/o...

Opinion | Robert Rubin, Lawrence Summers, Timothy Geithner, Jacob Lew, Janet Yellen: DOGE Is a Threat to U.S. Democracy. (Gift Article)

Former Secretaries Rubin, Summers, Geithner, Lew and Yellen argue that DOGE is a threat to America.

nytimes.com

A plagiarism check did not find evidence of plagiarism, so is publishing accusations of poor citation practices in footnotes (25 years ago, please check mine). And when that's not working they go after the dissertation of @robert-habeck.de wife. Ok....

Robert Habeck@robert-habeck.de · last yr.

Ich rechne damit, dass heute, Vorwürfe gegen meine Doktorarbeit, die ich vor 25 Jahren geschrieben habe, veröffentlicht werden. Ich habe mich entschieden, das Ganze transparent zu machen. Denn ich kenne die Vorwürfe – und konnte sie vorab prüfen lassen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyA...

ESA now puts the probability of Earth impact at 1.8%, NASA (miraculously not dismantled yet by Musk and Trump) at 1.9%. NASA data suggest a yield of roughly 8MT TNT equiv. Big, but Tsar Bomba was bigger 🤓 tl;dr: it's very unlikely to hit. And there's zero chance we'll be wiped out as a species.

ESA actively monitoring near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4

The European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Defence Office is closely monitoring the recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2032. This page was l...

esa.int

Jonathan O'Callaghan@astrojonny.bsky.social · last yr.

The chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting out planet in 2032 is now 1.5%, or 1 in 67. The OVERWHELMING likelihood is that the asteroid will miss Earth. But for the first time ever, we might have to seriously consider a deflection mission soon. Let me explain. 🧵 (1/x)

Felt this, as we were trying to estimate how seeing Marie Curie affected girls' choice to pursue science. Part of our data was gone. I never thought that in this country censorship would prevent me from doing my research. wapo.st/4hPMU3A

Opinion | A sample of the government webpages Trump doesn’t want you to see

Dozens of government webpages disappeared as part of his plan to reshape the U.S. government to his liking. Not even NASA was spared.

wapo.st

Germany needs about 400,000 immigrants per year to keep its economy going. IAB's Enzo Weber & @yuliyakosyakova.bsky.social explain why (in German) www.youtube.com/watch?app=de...

Warum braucht Deutschland 400.000 Migrantinnen und Migranten pro Jahr?

YouTube video by IAB - Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit

youtube.com

DIE ZEIT@zeit.de · last yr.

Es ist eine Wahrheit, die in diesem Wahlkampf vollkommen ausgeblendet wird. Die deutsche Wirtschaft braucht nicht weniger Migration, um zu bestehen – sondern viel mehr.

Kim is great, really smart and thoughtful. And like @tkehoe.bsky.social I admire Kim for his service and very much hope he succeeds in influencing US economic policy.

Tim Kehoe 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇲🇽🇺🇦@tkehoe.bsky.social · last yr.

Prof. Kim Ruhl (UMN PhD 2004) of University of Wisconsin-Madison has been named as one of 3 members of President Trump's Council of Economic Advisors. I admire Kim for his service to our country, and I hope he is able to have a favorable influence on US economic policy. news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-e...

"The feeling of not being wanted in that country" is an issue not only in Germany but also in the US, historically and today. In "Immigration and Innovation. Lessons from the Quota Act" we find that students, who were exempted, did not come to the US after the quotas if their countries were targeted

Frau Nora@fraunora.bsky.social · last yr.

Und jetzt mal zu guter und wichtiger journalistischer Arbeit: Das Feature: "Migrationsdebatte – Das Gefühl, in Deutschland nicht gewollt zu sein" zeigt eine Perspektive auf, die aktuell zu kurz kommt. Finde auch gut, das explizit konstruktive Ansätze genannt werden.

Inspiring: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/o...

Overlooked No More: Annie Easley, Who Helped Take Spaceflight to New Heights (Gift Article)

She broke barriers at NASA and contributed to its earliest space missions as a rocket scientist, mathematician and computer programmer.

nytimes.com

I'm shocked by the implied decline in inequality between 1913 and 1958. Did WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII disproportionately destroy top wealth? Using the same measures for 1913 and the rest of the graph, 1913 may look as bad as today. So what happened in the first half of the 20th century?

Gabriel Zucman@gabrielzucman.bsky.social · last yr.

Longer-term perspective on the rise of US oligarchy

Access to pre-k increases parental earnings by over $5,400 per year, show bsky.app/profile/john..., Chris Neilson, Xiaoyang Ye, Seth Zimmerman). Could you do this for publications? For women vs men? nber.org/papers/w33038

Parents' Earnings and the Returns to Universal Pre-Kindergarten

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org

Not what I had expected to see: www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/u...

Santos started his 5-year appointment in 2022, and was preparing the 2030 census, which is "set to be used to redistribute political representation and trillions in federal funding across the country over the next decade."

Catherine Rampell@crampell.bsky.social · 2y ago

This is not a good sign www.npr.org/2025/01/30/n...

If you want to pretend the world is in harmony for a couple of hours, we are singing, and I think it'll be beautiful bkcm.org/event/joyofs...

Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale Presents "The Joy of Singing: A World in Harmony"

This winter, the Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale takes you on a musical travelogue exploring choral traditions from all parts of the globe.

bkcm.org

Here's what we import from Colombia that will get socked with 25%/50% tariffs if imposed . . .

Simon Lester@simonlester.com · 2y ago

The first Trump tariffs maybe?

Strongly recommend this episode of #TheEconomicsShow with @alanbeattie.bsky.social and @douglasirwin.bsky.social - a true trade feast! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Trump and the history of tariffs. With Doug Irwin

Podcast Episode · The Economics Show · 01/20/2025 · 43m

podcasts.apple.com

A great point. Hammering Colombia’s legal exports will pour acid on the work of so many Colombians to overcome the narcoeconomy

Stephen Nuñez@socio-steve.bsky.social · 2y ago

So here is an interesting factoid associated with this. Colombia is the second largest exporter of flowers in the world in part because the flowers were meant to be a legal substitute for farmers growing coca (which is made into cocaine). This started in the 1990s and had US support...

First time ever surfing. Loved every second of it. Back to the real world tomorrow.

Great paper by Marta Prato on effects of inventor migration on innovation in the US and EU @qjeharvard.bsky.social academic.oup.com/qje/article-...

The Global Race for Talent: Brain Drain, Knowledge Transfer, and Growth*

Abstract. How does inventors’ migration affect international talent allocation, knowledge diffusion, and productivity growth? To answer this question, I bu

academic.oup.com

My step-Dad came home from the hospital today, after three surgeries and four harrowing weeks. Not to die, as we had thought on Christmas but to live. And I'll do my darnedest to have it be a good time.

Daughters living at home were the safety net when Dads making booze lost jobs during Prohibition www.nber.org/papers/w3334...

Daughters as Safety Net? Family Responses to Parental Employment Shocks: Evidence from Alcohol Prohibition

Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

nber.org