Bitsy Perlman
@bitsyperlman.bsky.social
670 followers 260 following 1.3K posts
Economic Historian at the Census. 19th & 21st C innovation, sci of sci, urban/spatial, info spread. All views are my own or expressed for rhetorical exposition. Posts before 2025 were imported. (they/them) Brookline, MA
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
The community that Philippe Aghion (with many others) helped build has become my intellectual home. I can't help but feel the influence of Zvi Griliches in this prize as well (I am too young to have met him, but others memories of him have been a blessing)

www.nobelprize.org/prizes/econo...
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2025 was awarded "for having explained innovation-driven economic growth" with one half to Joel Mokyr "for having identified ...
www.nobelprize.org
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
I told my family that since Claudia won I wasn't super invested this year. The committee decided it wanted to prove me wrong. I'm so excited to have Joel Mokyr's deep historical insight (and pattern of thinking different from so many other economist that I admire tremendously) recognized.
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
patentscholar.bsky.social
Is there any legitimate reason that limiting Patent Center access to verified users helps “fraud protection”? This is a problem for those of us who want to teach our students how to read a patent’s prosecution history. What is the fraud risk in reading patent data? www.uspto.gov/about-us/new...
USPTO implementing additional security measures for Patent Center
Effective September 11, 2025, identity verification will be required for all Patent Center users; guest and unregistered users will no longer be able to access Patent Center.
www.uspto.gov
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
USPTO leadership seems to have decided that public outreach is no longer worth engaging in, limiting data access seems very much a part of that.
The effect, if not the objective, is to make everything around patents and trademarks more opaque

Yes, I am upset about pulling the plug on PatentsView
patentscholar.bsky.social
Is there any legitimate reason that limiting Patent Center access to verified users helps “fraud protection”? This is a problem for those of us who want to teach our students how to read a patent’s prosecution history. What is the fraud risk in reading patent data? www.uspto.gov/about-us/new...
USPTO implementing additional security measures for Patent Center
Effective September 11, 2025, identity verification will be required for all Patent Center users; guest and unregistered users will no longer be able to access Patent Center.
www.uspto.gov
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
dangaristo.bsky.social
With the exception of HHS, these are not particularly large RIFs for science agencies, compared to previous attempts to reduce staff.

NOAA (within Commerce) has already lost about 1,500 FTEs since the beginning of the year, per the shutdown contingency plan.
Plot of agency RIFs
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
carlzimmer.com
We will be writing more of these. If you’re a scientist and your science has been disrupted, we want to hear from you: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/c...
Has Your Scientific Work Been Cut? We Want to Hear.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
dianecoyle1859.bsky.social
High-profile departures from the US - congrats to @econ.uzh.ch
econ.uzh.ch
We are thrilled to welcome Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee as the new Lemann Foundation Professors to our department, beginning in the summer of 2026.
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
carlzimmer.com
Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE
nyti.ms
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
I have a lot of things to say about privacy at the census bureau, and one of them is:
nothing in privacy protection changed state counts

This was explicitly designed into the system as it was believed to be a constitutional requirement
electproject.bsky.social
I served on the National Academy of Sciences advisory committee to the Census Bureau on the privacy formula and the biggest concern was it resulted in undercounting communities of color — and it was the Biden administration that implemented it for the 2021 data release
noupside.bsky.social
“Who was president in 2020?” is the question of our time
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
electproject.bsky.social
I served on the National Academy of Sciences advisory committee to the Census Bureau on the privacy formula and the biggest concern was it resulted in undercounting communities of color — and it was the Biden administration that implemented it for the 2021 data release
noupside.bsky.social
“Who was president in 2020?” is the question of our time
Senator Jim Banks V
@SenatorBanks
Follow g..
The 2020 Census was a fraud. The Biden admin used a shady "privacy" formula that scrambled the data and miscounted 14 states.
It included illegal immigrants and handed
Democrats extra seats. Americans deserve a fair count and l'm fighting to fix it.
Zinited Statcs SScnate
MASHNORON DEYNN
October 6, 2025
an. Thow arewutn
Socretary
U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, DXC 20230
Dear Secretary Lutaick:
I urge you to investigate and correct erroes from the 2020 Census that handed disproportionntd political power to Democrats and illogal alicns. The Census Burcau adoptod a now and opaque
voting districts. As preparod by the Biden administration, the 2020 Censas roports miscountod the population of fourteen states, ' wrongly allocating six congressional scats aod Electoral
xx conwuu tmora uy, toc taroro tu mot đoo tnn Cunu lc pung t imber of votine districts. And the reoorts de aniovety inchaded ilecnl nhens widhout track those aliens' citiz enship status, If left uncorrected, these erroes will coetinue diluting the political power of American citizens.
Consus data plays a crucial role in allocating political roprescntation and goverment funding
Under the Constitution, cach state gets Congressional represcotutives and Electoeal College votes- based on "the whole number of persons" within the state." The number of persoes is in
tum clabaabod by a consttubocalty-mandalcd dcccacaal ccavas. Pcual agcco nely on census data to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding, much of which hinges ee opulation. And states use consus data to deaw congrossicnal and voting districts, »hich the
The it eiy of tie soaren alie n tor dur at ce hor inc ae oam toy ee n
nght wilbout statsica ly signilicant ciroo.
Diffcrcntial privacy is opaque and liable to mistakcn count totals. Sure cnough, the 2020 Ccnsus ovarocunted the noculation in cicht states and undercounted it in six." Tihe most extrcmi andercount was Arkansas, at 5.04%, and the larg…
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
economeager.bsky.social
(1) banger
(2) i wish non-economists would realise just how much time each economics paper takes to write (because of our norms about how thorough each paper has to be)
seema.bsky.social
We just spent 6 months to add 1 figure to this paper. Some people said, "Couples aren't prioritizing men's careers. Men just have better earnings opportunities when moving."

Earnings effects of moves for couples on the left, singles on the right. Negligible gap between single men and women.
Event study coefficients that show that men's earnings rise more than women's among couples following a cross-commuting zone move (left panels). The pattern is muted or reverses among single men and single women (right panels).
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
I interrupted* a presentation on the economic benefits of science to remind the room of economists that science is beautiful and inspires awe. And we should remind people that too is important (implied: and in solidarity with artists)

Primordial Black Holes

*In the normal question asking period
astrokatie.com
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.

There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."

1/🧵
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
dangaristo.bsky.social
Interesting bit of sociology: They are really studiously avoiding any mention of quantum computing. First and only mention came in the last few words of the presentation by Johansson.
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
There totally is in January and February, and generally in December and March too 😀
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
aren't going to extend anyone's life spand, but knowing about them does make the world richer
bitsyperlman.bsky.social
I interrupted* a presentation on the economic benefits of science to remind the room of economists that science is beautiful and inspires awe. And we should remind people that too is important (implied: and in solidarity with artists)

Primordial Black Holes

*In the normal question asking period
astrokatie.com
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.

There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."

1/🧵
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
sadiecollective.bsky.social
🎓 Navigating the economics job market?

Join the Sadie Collective Fall 2025 Job Market Seminar on Oct 21st at 6 PM EST. Hear insights from Morgan Townsend, Hareem Rauf & Monique Davis!

Register here 👉 tinyurl.com/sadiejobpanel
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
gderasse.bsky.social
🔎 Patent citations are everywhere in innovation research. But do they really trace how ideas spill over between inventors—or are we mistaking legal paperwork for knowledge flows? 🧐

New on #ThePatentist: www.thepatentist.com/p/patent-cit...

#patents #innovation #spillovers
Patent citations: Tracing spillovers or chasing shadows?
Measuring how ideas move across firms and regions
www.thepatentist.com
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
stevevladeck.bsky.social
#BREAKING: #SCOTUS punts in the Lisa Cook case, deferring resolution of Trump’s emergency application seeking to remove Cook from the Federal Reserve Board pending argument on the application in January 2026.

Cook stays on the Board for now:
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
jacobbogage.bsky.social
Lightning round of what’s closed and what’s open during this government shutdown.

Got questions?

Drop them in the replies and I’ll work to answer them through the day.
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
maxkozlov.bsky.social
Staff members at the NIH seem to have done the impossible: spend the agency's $48 billion budget.

“Everyone has been rallying together to clean up the mess, but it’s a mess that did not need to be made,” an NIH program officer told me.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
NIH races to spend its 2025 grant money — but fewer projects win funding
Despite political obstacles, officials are on track to disburse all of the research funds allocated to US biomedical behemoth.
www.nature.com
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
dangaristo.bsky.social
Similar/identical language for NSF. Here's my transcription of an email shared with me by staff.

President Trump opposes a government shutdown and strongly supports the enactment of H.R. 5371, which is a clean Continuing Resolution to fund the government through November 21, and already passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Unfortunately, Democrats are blocking the Continuing Resolution in the U.S. Senate due to unrelated policy demands. If Congressional Democrats maintain their current posture and refuse to pass a clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded before midnight on September 30, 2025, federally appropriated funding will lapse. 

A funding lapse will result in certain government activities ceasing due to a lack of appropriated funding. In addition, designated pre-notified employees of this agency would be temporarily furloughed. P.L. 116-1 would apply.

The agency has contingency plans in place for executing an orderly shutdown of activities that would be affected by any lapse in appropriations forced by Congressional Democrats. 

Brian Stone
Performing the Duties of the Director
Reposted by Bitsy Perlman
bencasselman.bsky.social
Update: Commerce has now also posted its shutdown plan. BEA would completely shut down, and Census would shut down apart from some operations related to the 2030 decennial census. So no retail sales, international trade, PCE, GDP...
www.commerce.gov/sites/defaul... #EconSky #NumbersDay