Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Mark G. Sheppard

@markgsheppard.com

640 followers 220 following 410 posts

Inequality/Mobility. Researcher @NBER.org. 3rd Year Econ PhD, The Graduate Center. 2nd Lt., U.S. National Guard. Former Congressional Staff.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · Feb 13

🚨 NEW INTERACTIVE RECESSION TOOL 🚨
The #SahmRule is the best tools we have to indicate a recession. I extend the logic laid out by
@claudia-sahm.bsky.social, building off work by
@pmichaillat.bsky.social and Saez, to create an interactive tool. #EconSky

markgsheppard.github.io/SahmRule/int...

2 14

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 19h

I mean... sure. But you probably shouldn't compare anything to covid.

That would be like "If we include the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, the plague isn't so bad"

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 23h

Even without jobs data, Google Search Results for "Unemployment Benefits" being at a post-Covid high is probably —and I hate to use such labor econ/technical jargon here, but it's probably— "not good."

#EconSky

3 29 95

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 1d

"The Green Book Project is a place to share the rich historical journey of Black Americans finding dignity during the Jim Crow era."

Absolutely beautiful collection of words!

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 1d

Understanding how Black Americans got to where they are today, requires understanding Black history. The Green Book Project is a place to share the rich historical journey of Black Americans finding dignity during the Jim Crow era:

greenbookproject.osu.edu #GreenBookProject
#CommunityMap #EconSky

Reposted by Mark G. Sheppard

Alex Barron @alexrbarron.bsky.social · 2d

Regardless of your views on green hydrogen, I think we can all agree Bloomberg needs to learn to pick the same axis scale in both side of this figure. #badcharts #econsky 🔌💡

Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 2d

Another one bites the dust.

🎁⛓️ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

1 3 22

Reposted by Mark G. Sheppard

Ben Casselman @bencasselman.bsky.social · 1d

Full story now online: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/b... #EconSky #NumbersDay

3 11 26

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 1d

But still no labor market data?

Reposted by Mark G. Sheppard

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis @stlouisfed.bsky.social · 3d

Where can #FRED take you? With a new look and improved accessibility features, FRED's new design offers enhanced elements for a first-class user experience.

Want to learn more? Check out our "How to Use FRED" YouTube playlist for tutorial videos and more: bit.ly/48mCpUa

#EconSky #Economy

How to Use FRED - YouTube

Meet FRED, a free economic database maintained by the St. Louis Fed's Research Division. What is FRED? Short for Federal Reserve Economic Data, FRED is an on...

bit.ly

3 8

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 3d

It's probably fine. I think there's probably a bit of an over-supply of performative activism, and a deficit in worthwhile dialogue.

1 2

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 4d

This is one of my favorite marketing pieces for the Green Book Project. I like the portraiture, the movement, the balance.

#EconSky

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 5d

Traveling while Black during Jim Crow was about survival as well as mobility. The Green Book Project website documents that story. Share your family’s Green Book memories and help us preserve this rich history:
greenbookproject.org.ohio-state.edu #GreenBookProject #CommunityMap #EconSky

1 2

Reposted by Mark G. Sheppard

Minneapolis Fed @minneapolisfed.bsky.social · 4d

Most #MinimumWage research focuses on short-run empirical findings or a theoretical long-run steady state. Our economist Patrick Kehoe & co-authors model the essential transition effects to understand the optimal balance of minimum wage and tax policies. https://bit.ly/4jki97P #EconSky

The Macroeconomic Dynamics of Labor Market Policies | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

bit.ly

1 2 5

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 4d

The real problem is that the press has lost so much credibility and readership in the social media era, that more and more of society is taking Rogan more seriously, and the press less seriously.

But that is a squarely a problem that only the press can solve.

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 4d

The press is critical of comedian-podcasters in a really odd way. The Rogan-sphere explores dumb topics like: whether you could fight a bear while high or MMA in outer space; it's not really partisan, or even male, it's just dumb.

It doesn't warrant the full weight of the long-form-writing elite.

1 1

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 4d

I love making lecture slides. This is my cover slide this week. #EconSky

1 12

Reposted by Mark G. Sheppard

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · 5d

At Stake in the Shutdown Fight: Obamacare Prices That Could Rise by Thousands of Dollars

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

5 7

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 5d

Saint Curry

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 5d

The data shows that on average a #GovernmentShutdown lasts ~9 days, but the shutdown in the first Trump administration lasted 35 days. So trying to set a baseline expectation feels sketchy.

#EconSky

2 2

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 5d

Pyscho-analyzing an entire occupation seems dumb.

The reality is that it's not doctrine to de-escalate in these mass protest scenarios. It's all crow-control and deterrence.

So open provocation will be met with arrest —which just are more violent than the modal left-wing BlueSky user realizes.

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 5d

Almost 20 years ago, I watched #OscarGrant get shot IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD while in handcuffs for hopping a turnstile, skipping out on a $1.25 BART ticket, in 480p from at least 20 camera angles.

This trend is wrong. It has been wrong. But it's not new. Some things are new. It's not this.

2/2

Mark G. Sheppard @markgsheppard.com · 5d

Excessive use of force by police has been the norm in poor communities, a trend that predates my entire life, so the newfound outrage reserved for middle-class liberal protestors getting arrested for being openly antagonistic —as if this is "new"— is actually really frustrating to me.

1/2