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Joshua Goodman

@joshua-goodman.com

10K followers 470 following 1.8K posts

Education economist @ BU Wheelock & Economics Dept | Wheelock Education Policy Center | Co-editor @ JHR | White House CEA 2022-23 | www.joshua-goodman.com

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · May 30

For those interested in education policy and the economics of education, I've put together 4 starter packs:

Faculty and researchers 1: go.bsky.app/GHJzy4L
Faculty and researchers 2: go.bsky.app/TeqwuKM
PhD students & postdocs: go.bsky.app/FUjWT5E
Journalists and writers: go.bsky.app/3XhYmo3

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman, Adam Gamoran

Lucy Sorensen @lucy-sorensen.bsky.social · 5h

New working paper on contemporary child labor in the U.S. and its impacts on school attendance ⬇️

edworkingpapers.com/ai25-1302

With absolute dream team @mimiarnoldlyon.bsky.social @stevebholt.bsky.social & PhD student Ji Hyun Byeon

Contemporary Child Labor and Declining School Attendance in the U.S.

The United States has experienced a 400% increase in reported child labor violations over the past decade, coinciding with declines in K-12 school attendance and enrollment. We examine the causal rela...

edworkingpapers.com

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Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Joshua Goodman , and 3 more Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio, Joshua Goodman, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 9h

Every targeted institution (my own very much included) should cut and paste this letter onto their letterhead.

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 10h

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

Dear Madam Secretary,
I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters.
I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education.
As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges.
We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples:
• MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions.
• MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%.

source:
https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact

• We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree.
These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law.
The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education.
As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 16h

We will continue to work hard on attracting outstanding economists from around the world to Zurich, including from the U.S., and on raising the resources needed to support them—especially during the current, special times in the international higher education landscape.

7/7

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Reposted by Dani Rodrik, Stephen M. Walt, Cas Mudde , and 50 more Dani Rodrik, Stephen M. Walt, Cas Mudde, Ben H. Ansell, Jan W. Mueller, Guntram B. Wolff, Christian Odendahl, Richard S.J. Tol, Colin F. Camerer, Robbert Sanderman, David Brady, Gabriel Felbermayr, Steven Van de Walle, Tomasz Mickiewicz, Alistair Munro, Michael A. Clemens, Cyrus Samii, Lucas Leemann, Francesco Saraceno, Laia Balcells, Andrew Curry, Paul Lehmann, Guy Grossman, John Mullahy, Joshua Goodman, David Dorn, Ingo Rohlfing, Daniel W. Drezner, Iikka Korhonen, Robert C. Richards, Aaron Sojourner, Daniel Huppmann, Julia Lynch, Rita Hamad, Stephen D. Murphy, Nazita Lajevardi, Stacy D. VanDeveer, Miguel Á. Malo, Henry Farrell, Dean Eckles, Maria Abreu, Dana R. Fisher, Jason Lyall, Brian Weatherson, Brooke Harrington, Bård Harstad, Christina Pagel, Jürgen Janger, Nicolai von Ondarza, Karsten Mäuse, Bartosz Bartkowski, Adam Tooze, Anita Gohdes

Florian Scheuer @florianscheuer.bsky.social · 16h

I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

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Reposted by Dan Goldhaber, Sascha O. Becker, Joshua Goodman , and 3 more Dan Goldhaber, Sascha O. Becker, Joshua Goodman, Gema Zamarro, Lindsey Macmillan, Simon Wiederhold

Ludger Woessmann @woessmann.bsky.social · 20h

🚨 Now out in Journal of Human Resources:

⛪️ Can Schools Change Religious Attitudes?
Evidence from German State Reforms of Compulsory Religious Education

w/ @benjaminarold.bsky.social & Larissa Zierow

👉 Religious education in school affects adult lives

🔗 jhr.uwpress.org/content/earl...

A 🧵 1/6

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Morgan Polikoff @mpolikoff.bsky.social · 1d

Excited for California's kids now that Governor Newsom has signed AB 1454, bringing science of reading reforms to the Golden State. edsource.org/2025/governo...

New law changes how California kids learn to read

California Governor Gavin Newsom has approved Assembly Bill 1454, which provides elementary school teachers with training in evidence-based reading instruction, and includes $480 million in the 2025-2...

edsource.org

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Alex Usher @alexusherhesa.bsky.social · 1d

Real change in public expenditures on higher education, 2008 to 2023, selected countries that actually publish the damn data. UK is worst here, but note this does not include RAB (projected future loan forgiveness, basically). If RAB is included...UK would still be last.

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 1d

I got to give someone good professional news today, so that was nice.

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Joshua Goodman

National Foundation for American Policy @nfapresearch.bsky.social · 1d

A remarkable story: Omar Yaghi, born a refugee in Jordan, came to America as a teen to attend community college and later earned a Ph.D. and the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Immigrants have won 40% of the U.S. Nobel Prizes in science since 2000. @mclem.org
www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

Half Of The 2025 U.S. Nobel Prize Winners In Science Are Immigrants

Three of the six U.S. winners in the 2025 Nobel Prize science categories immigrated to the United States, one of them as a teenager.

www.forbes.com

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

John Cawley @johncawley.bsky.social · 1d

Three big announcements concerning new data from the AEA on the #EconJobMarket

First, there are now live dashboards on AEA JOE that show the # of jobs listed on JOE each week, with comparisons to recent years. These will be updated weekly.
www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

#EconSky
1/many

JOE Openings by Week - Pre-ASSA

www.aeaweb.org

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman, Todd Pugatch

Kirsten Slungaard Mumma @kslungaardmumma.bsky.social · 1d

Prospective PhD Students:

I am planning to accept a PhD student for AY 2026-27 in the economics and education program at Teachers College. Apply if you want to use the economics of education to study immigration or politics/political engagement and public schools. :-)

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 1d

Now I feel better!

Reposted by Joshua Goodman, Keith Head

Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham @paulgp.com · 2d

Posted a short blog post with updated data (and public repo with data) of current state of Econ job market:

paulgp.com/2025/10/08/j...

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

Can't believe I missed the obvious "hivemind" joke just sitting there.

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

Meanwhile, BU's economics department has been overrun by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

Meanwhile, BU's economics department has been overrun by White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

We knew my college classmate was a genius, but nice to see it made official.

The Boston Globe @bostonglobe.com · 2d

A Harvard math professor is among the 2025 recipients of the MacArthur "genius" grants, which come with $800,000 and no strings attached.

Harvard mathematician among New Englanders awarded MacArthur ‘genius’ grants - The Boston Globe

The $800,000 no-strings-attached grants are awarded to “extraordinarily” creative people to fund their work over five years.

trib.al

Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

16 days from R&R to resubmission. I love the econ short paper format.

a cartoon of the flash running with the words `` that 's how fast i move '' written below him .

ALT: a cartoon of the flash running with the words `` that 's how fast i move '' written below him .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

The Boston Globe @bostonglobe.com · 2d

A Harvard math professor is among the 2025 recipients of the MacArthur "genius" grants, which come with $800,000 and no strings attached.

Harvard mathematician among New Englanders awarded MacArthur ‘genius’ grants - The Boston Globe

The $800,000 no-strings-attached grants are awarded to “extraordinarily” creative people to fund their work over five years.

trib.al

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Joshua Goodman @joshua-goodman.com · 2d

1) 3-page limit (though 2 is better), forcing writer to prioritize feedback (ie. via sections distinguishing major from minor concerns)

2) Starting with the positives, not just leaping into criticism

3) Relatively high ratio of constructive criticism to criticism without actionable advice

Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Jesse Rothstein @jrothst.bsky.social · 2d

Reminder!

Sandy Black @econsandy.bsky.social · Aug 19

Society of Labor Economists (SoLE) Annual Conference will be May 1-2, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. Submission portal is now open! Deadline for submissions is October 31--don't forget to submit! It will be a great conference! (organized by me and @jrothst.bsky.social)

mailchi.mp/sole-jole/so...

SOLE 2026 Submissions Open

mailchi.mp

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman

Maria Bach @mariabach.bsky.social · 2d

I am eventually going to take up @undercoverhist.bsky.social s idea of doing a podcast episode on how to write good reviewer reports. SO I need your help, send me 3 things every reviewer report needs AND/OR the worst reviewer report who have ever received (provide example and reasoning) 🙏

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Reposted by Joshua Goodman, C. Kirabo Jackson

Douglas N. Harris @douglasharris9.bsky.social · 2d

I'm truly honored by this. APPAM is a terrific organization and I'm indebted to many of its outstanding members who are having their own impact on policy analysis and management. Thanks so much to everyone.

APPAM @appam.bsky.social · 3d

We congratulate the 2025 Policy Field Distinguished Contribution Award winner, Douglas N. Harris from Tulane University. This award honors a person who has made significant & long-term contributions to public policy analysis & management as a field. Learn more: https://ow.ly/oAg950X77Cy