Steven Ruggles
@stevenruggles.bsky.social
Historical demographer and data impresario Wired profile: https://www.wired.com/1995/03/ruggles/ Publications: https://users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/ Data: https://www.ipums.org/
My paper on the "Pig in the Python" is now available with no paywall from NIH. I argue that the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
My paper on the "Pig in the Python" is now available with no paywall from NIH. I argue that the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
I suspect your experience is unusual for most of Minneapolis. I walk two miles to work through the Glendale housing project and the dense commercial district of Washington Avenue, and I've never seen a syringe.
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field@wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 4d agoThe entire 10 months we were in NYC, I saw only one syringe on the street. A carefree existence! As a result, my kid forgot what they are, and now we’re back in Minneapolis and restarting the urgent lessons about “never, ever touch or get close, and tell an adult so they can clean it up safely.”
@stevenruggles.bsky.social captivates #DIRC2026 participants with his keynote address, The Book of Life: Building National Longitudinal Research Infrastructure. @umnlifecourse.bsky.social @ipums.bsky.social
New working paper from Ritikaa Khanna, @rourkeobrien.bsky.social, @astokespop.bsky.social, @atheendar.bsky.social, & me We apply a new lens to the great (non-Covid) debate of US mortality studies: What's up w the 2010s? It emphasizes that US longevity worsened against a background of increasing $$
The U.S. Mortality Crisis as a Preston Curve Reversal
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
I don't get the relevance of Minnesota's white population, but they put my picture in the paper today. www.startribune.com/ramstad-why-...
This graph is OK, but the longer run view broken down by sex is more compelling /1 www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
Why AI Might Actually Help Solve the Next Labor Crisis
New economic research might be pointing toward a shift in thinking about what AI means for the job market.
wsj.com
WSJ on my Pig in the Python paper in PNAS!
Justin Lahart@jdlahart.bsky.social · 3w agoThe advent of AI has led to worries that the U.S. faces a future of too few jobs for workers to fill. But the challenge could be just the opposite: A sharp slowing in the number of people entering the workforce that leads to an unprecedented era of labor scarcity. www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...
conversableeconomist.com/2026/06/15/h...
How Will Boomer Retirement Affect Jobs for Young Adults? - Conversable Economist
The "baby boom" generation, made up of Americans born from after World War II up into the early 1960s, is sometimes called the "pig in the python" of US demographics. The pig started moving into retir...
conversableeconomist.com
The Fortune article misses the point.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences@pnas.org · 2mo agoBaby boomers reshaped labor market opportunities for decades. A new study suggests that as this generation retires, economic opportunities for new workers could change significantly. In Fortune : https://ow.ly/VzUW50Z9319 In PNAS: https://ow.ly/bV2e50Z930E
Gift link: users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/Ar...
users.pop.umn.edu
Scott Lincicome@scottlincicome.bsky.social · 2mo ago"The pig in the python: US decennial labor flows and economic opportunity, 1910–2040" www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... "Projections to 2040 show that we are on the verge of a radical reshaping of labor markets in which new workers will be in extremely short supply."
"The pig in the python: US decennial labor flows and economic opportunity, 1910–2040" www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... "Projections to 2040 show that we are on the verge of a radical reshaping of labor markets in which new workers will be in extremely short supply."
And I'm not the only one who's personally affected by this bonkers new prohibition on using modern privacy methods. The number of researchers whose work is now suspended until further notice is... 👀
Aaron Sojourner@aaronsojourner.org · 2mo agoBeen waiting for Census to OK our disclosure of new results on a project with the Longitudinal Business Database. RDC administrator just informed us, no disclosure because of new rule. This is gonna mess up a lot of ongoing research & especially job-market candidates. #EconSky
If the Census Bureau eliminates whole-household imputation, it will hurt Republicans, because census non-response rates are higher in Republican areas and imputation helps fix that. www.yahoo.com/news/politic...
Census Bureau plans 2030 count as 2020 lawsuit continues
(The Center Square) – The Census Bureau is planning for 2030, making decisions that will shape the distribution of federal funding that topped $2. 8 trillion in fiscal year 2021, even as lawsuits over...
yahoo.com
conversableeconomist.com/2026/06/15/h...
How Will Boomer Retirement Affect Jobs for Young Adults? - Conversable Economist
The "baby boom" generation, made up of Americans born from after World War II up into the early 1960s, is sometimes called the "pig in the python" of US demographics. The pig started moving into retir...
conversableeconomist.com
NEW: The Census Bureau has two new deputy directors — Michael Lachanski as deputy director for data, policy and science, and John Studds as deputy director for administration and operations www.census.gov/newsroom/pre...
Census Bureau Announces Appointment of Two New Deputy Directors
Dr. Michael Lachanski and John Studds Named as Deputy Directors for the Census Bureau.
census.gov
The Fortune article cites my PNAS paper but ignores my argument.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences@pnas.org · 2mo agoBaby boomers reshaped labor market opportunities for decades. A new study suggests that as this generation retires, economic opportunities for new workers could change significantly. In Fortune : https://ow.ly/VzUW50Z9319 In PNAS: https://ow.ly/bV2e50Z930E
The concern is that this affects EVERYTHING. RDC projects. Special tabs. Small area estimates. Public microdata. Block level 2030 census counts may not be possible. 2020 dp was annoying. This is scorched earth on *everything.*
The Pig is departing the Python. Gift link: users.pop.umn.edu/~ruggl001/Ar... www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Dean Baker@deanbaker13.bsky.social · 2mo agoVery bizarre JOLTS data this morning. Huge jump in job openings in professional and business services, otherwise nothing much changed anywhere www.bls.gov/news.release...
The Star Tribune employs around 495 people and the cuts will be made across every department. The newsroom has just under 200 journalists and will decline to about 175 while remaining one of the largest between the coasts.
Minnesota Star Tribune cuts jobs and pursues nonprofit ownership structure
The decision to cut 65 jobs underscores the news industry’s ongoing challenges.
startribune.com
My paper on the Pig in the Python is now free of copyediting errors! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Gift link: www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Art...
The pig in the python: US decennial labor flows and economic opportunity, 1910–2040 | PNAS
This analysis revisits the relative cohort size hypothesis proposed by demographer Richard Easterlin in the 1960s. Easterlin argued that the econom...
pnas.org
My paper on the Pig in the Python is now free of copyediting errors! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Gift link: www.hist.umn.edu/~ruggles/Art...
The pig in the python: US decennial labor flows and economic opportunity, 1910–2040 | PNAS
This analysis revisits the relative cohort size hypothesis proposed by demographer Richard Easterlin in the 1960s. Easterlin argued that the econom...
pnas.org
Here's another mangling of my "Pig in the Python" paper. I argued that boomers departures will likely lead to higher wages and reduced inequality for the young. This person says "The generation that made it hard to find a good job for four decades is now making it hard to find workers at all."
Steven Ruggles@stevenruggles.bsky.social · 2mo agoThis article completely misinterprets my new paper on "The Pig in the Python." I argue that the the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. /1 www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
A new article in Fortune Magazine manages to twist my optimistic interpretation of the "Pig in the Python" into a dystopian catastrophe. Labor shortages are generally a good thing, at least from the perspective of the laborers. /1 fortune.com/2026/05/25/b...
Blame it on AI? reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/viral-p...
A viral profile made him a lightning rod for journalism’s AI anxieties. He sees himself as a trailblazer
“It should be a journalist’s dream to have machines gather raw material quickly for you to check,” says Fortune’s Nick Lichtenberg in this wide-ranging interview.
reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk
This article completely misinterprets my new paper on "The Pig in the Python." I argue that the the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. /1 www.msn.com/en-us/money/...
My new @ipums analysis of the “Pig in the Python” argues that the demand for young workers will grow dramatically over the coming decades, likely leading to rising wages, stronger unions, and lower inequality. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
