Susan J. Smith
@sjs1869.bsky.social
1.3K followers 160 following 310 posts

President,The British Academy. Writes about housing and economic inequality. Life Fellow at Girton College, Emerita Honorary Professor in the Dept of Geography, Cambridge University, UK. (Views my own).

Susan Jane Smith is a British geographer and academic. She became President of the British Academy in July 2025. She was mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 2009 to 2022. Smith previously held the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh from 1990 to 2004 and until 2009 was a professor of geography at Durham University, where she played a key role in establishing the Institute of Advanced Study. On 1 October 2011, she was conferred the title of Honorary Professor of Social and Economic Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge for five years, which was renewed until 2021. .. more

Economics 50%
Medicine 9%
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sjs1869.bsky.social
Oh…
timeshighered.bsky.social
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce plans to cut the number of UK university places by about 100,000 annually by reintroducing student number controls, reports Patrick Jack #edusky
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/badenochs-number-caps-plan-would-cut-100000-university-places
timeshighered.bsky.social
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is expected to announce plans to cut the number of UK university places by about 100,000 annually by reintroducing student number controls, reports Patrick Jack #edusky
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/badenochs-number-caps-plan-would-cut-100000-university-places

sjs1869.bsky.social
All good news (though the Scottish system has had some of this inbuilt for a while). However the biggest brake overall on housing market transactions is stamp duty… also worth an overhaul?

sjs1869.bsky.social
Just a reminder that the closing date for this fab 2-year opportunity @britishacademy.bsky.social to develop and lead high-risk, high-reward interdisciplinary research is 5 November (in partnership with CIFAR)

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
British Academy- CIFAR Global Scholars
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Reposted by Susan J. Smith

sjs1869.bsky.social
Oh dear… As well as assuming that Council Tax is fit for purpose, this leaves most under-occupation and the majority of housing wealth untouched. Why not try for something fairer and more effective across the entire #housing stock? www.thenational.scot/news/2550742...
MSPs vote to allow councils to hike tax on second homes – with no limit
MSPS have voted to allow councils to hike council tax on second and empty homes – without any cap.
www.thenational.scot

sjs1869.bsky.social
Excellent intervention. Tbh the erosion of social mobility (and John Goldthorpe’s game-changing exposé of it) is usually the first thing I think of when reflecting on long run trends in economic inequality; the second is the brake imposed on labour mobility by the way #housing systems work…
lseinequalities.bsky.social
Traditional ways of tracking social mobility – how much people move up or down the income ladder – have several limitations.

Sebastian Königs and Javier Terrero Dávila (@oecdsocial.bsky.social) address these in our latest blog post.

#LSEInequalitiesBlog
Who climbs the income ladder? New evidence from tax records
Using surveys to track short-term social mobility – how much people move up or down the income ladder – has limitations. How can using administrative data help?
buff.ly

Reposted by Susan J. Smith

lseinequalities.bsky.social
Traditional ways of tracking social mobility – how much people move up or down the income ladder – have several limitations.

Sebastian Königs and Javier Terrero Dávila (@oecdsocial.bsky.social) address these in our latest blog post.

#LSEInequalitiesBlog
Who climbs the income ladder? New evidence from tax records
Using surveys to track short-term social mobility – how much people move up or down the income ladder – has limitations. How can using administrative data help?
buff.ly

sjs1869.bsky.social
Hmm building societies… are there tax implications or does the developer just reduce the price?

Reposted by Brett Christophers

sjs1869.bsky.social
Exactly! Large corporates have their eyes on the huge value of ‘last time sales’ - part of a wider shift in the housing economy www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Reposted by Susan J. Smith

sjs1869.bsky.social
Important read!
agendapub.bsky.social
“A chilling and eye-opening exposé... gives voice to those living at the sharpest edge of austerity and makes an irrefutable case for change.”

@graceblakeley.substack.com on 'Debt Trap Nation' by
@kbrickell.bsky.social & Mel Nowicki (out next week).

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/debt...

#housing #debt
Photo of a pile of books. The books are 'Debt Trap Nation' by Katherine Brickell and Mel Nowicki. Cover image features a woman and small child in a deep concrete basin or pit with no way of climbing out as the ladder is too short.
agendapub.bsky.social
“A chilling and eye-opening exposé... gives voice to those living at the sharpest edge of austerity and makes an irrefutable case for change.”

@graceblakeley.substack.com on 'Debt Trap Nation' by
@kbrickell.bsky.social & Mel Nowicki (out next week).

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/debt...

#housing #debt
Photo of a pile of books. The books are 'Debt Trap Nation' by Katherine Brickell and Mel Nowicki. Cover image features a woman and small child in a deep concrete basin or pit with no way of climbing out as the ladder is too short.

sjs1869.bsky.social
These are really great awards for anyone who needs a break from teaching/administration to finish off a significant piece of research (closing date 12 November)
britishacademy.bsky.social
We invite applications for British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships 2025. The scheme supports established and senior researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to complete research through a sustained period of leave for one year. Apply now: https://bit.ly/3VMeTZ9

sjs1869.bsky.social
Don’t miss this! A theatre company with a brilliant knack of engaging with the major political and practical issues of the day.
camunigeography.bsky.social
If you’re in Cambridge on Oct the 4th/5th, delve into Menagerie Theatre’s public art project on
Democracy – “If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu” – plays, workshops, art installations, and talks exploring what democracy might mean.
Logo for "The Trials of Democracy: If You're Not at the Table, You're on the Menu." It features a pink and gold shield with two white seahorse-like creatures on either side, all set against a blue background.

Reposted by Susan J. Smith

camunigeography.bsky.social
If you’re in Cambridge on Oct the 4th/5th, delve into Menagerie Theatre’s public art project on
Democracy – “If You’re Not at the Table, You’re on the Menu” – plays, workshops, art installations, and talks exploring what democracy might mean.
Logo for "The Trials of Democracy: If You're Not at the Table, You're on the Menu." It features a pink and gold shield with two white seahorse-like creatures on either side, all set against a blue background.
britishacademy.bsky.social
We invite applications for British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships 2025. The scheme supports established and senior researchers in the humanities and social sciences wishing to complete research through a sustained period of leave for one year. Apply now: https://bit.ly/3VMeTZ9

Reposted by Holger Nehring

sjs1869.bsky.social
The missing link is an urgent review of higher education funding. So much to play for…

sjs1869.bsky.social
Too little demand in the under-invested old industrial North-east where you can still get a flat white for £2.05p?

Reposted by Susan J. Smith

sjs1869.bsky.social
Two hundred years ago today, Locomotion1 set off to Stockton with passengers, and… Yarm band… playing something a bit like this… youtu.be/Kz0P2SgP-lI?...
Stockton to Darlington Railway 200th Celebration
YouTube video by Queen Victoria's Consort
youtu.be