Sociologist @UMich. New book out 4/5: Thinking Like an Economist: How Efficiency Replaced Equality in U.S. Public Policy @PrincetonUPress https://t.co/LwS8OFq86M.
Jul 6, 2022 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
This stuck with me since I saw it a couple of days ago. I wondered if it could be overstated, so I looked up the source. But if anything, the original is even more strongly worded.
The quote is from an essay by @AshleyDawsonNYC and Penny Lewis, "New York: Academic Labor Town?," in The University Against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace, eds. Krause, Nolan, Palm & Ross. tupress.temple.edu/book/0394
May 19, 2022 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Some thoughts in response to this review.
First, I’m delighted that my book is getting attention beyond academia. 3000 words in the New Yorker is beyond my wildest dreams. Even if they're critical words. 1/ newyorker.com/magazine/2022/…
Second, Kahloon and I simply have different views on some things, which is fine. But I do want to respond to parts of the review that seem to miss major points of the book, or that are strawmanning the argument. 2/
Apr 5, 2022 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
After 10 years, 4 drafts, 3 houses, 2 jobs, a pandemic and a life-threatening illness, it’s publication day! A book thread. press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…
Thinking like an Economist is a book mostly about how economic reasoning took over Washington between the 1960s and the 80s, but also about why that continues to matter – especially for progressives.
Politics and social science disciplines do not evolve independently of one another. Since econ became hegemonic in non-macro policy fields (70s), we see a recurrent dynamic.
Apr 19, 2021 • 39 tweets • 7 min read
Reading Mark Solovey's Social Science for What?, on the history of social science funding at NSF, and might take a few notes here. It's open access at @mitpress: mitpress.mit.edu/books/social-s…
I know a decent amount about the history of the social sciences in the second half of the 20th c., and a decent amount about the history of NSF, but not much about the intersection of the two.
Jul 6, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
On the Trump administration’s decision to kick international students out of the country if their universities go online: a short and angry thread. ice.gov/news/releases/…
This abysmal policy is really a three-fer for the administration.
Feb 17, 2020 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
These kinds of papers make me crazy, a point to which I will return (or not!) when I am less rushed.
Okay, a more coherent response to this paper. I say this with respect for the intent of the research as well as admiration for the analytical effort behind this massive project.
Nov 13, 2019 • 21 tweets • 3 min read
So I finished another paper draft today and wanted to commemorate the moment but am not quite ready to post this one to SocArXiv.
This paper is a rethink of an older draft on the rise of economics in antitrust policy that I’ve never quite figured out the angle on.
May 13, 2019 • 25 tweets • 3 min read
Okay, here’s a Sunday night thread on economic analysis of regulation for the three of you not watching GoT.
My book ms. is partly organized around following the impacts of two communities that help introduce economic reasoning into policymaking.
Apr 29, 2019 • 19 tweets • 5 min read
I’m geeking out a little about the fact that Open Markets has put the 1968 DOJ Merger Guidelines in the news. Here’s some historical context for an ironic move.
The 1960s was a high-water mark for antitrust enforcement in the U.S. The Supreme Court kept invalidating mergers that would have produced what now looks like a negligible amount of concentration.
Apr 4, 2019 • 26 tweets • 5 min read
This is still all over my TL this morning so here are some reasons this is the wrong way to think about college. Long thread.
First, let’s unpack it. What Buttigieg is saying here is that college brings $$ to those who complete it. But the people who finish college are, on average, better off to start with. And even if they weren’t, they now have more earning power, b/c college.
