Maria Abreu
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mariaabreu.bsky.social
Maria Abreu
@mariaabreu.bsky.social

Prof. of Economic Geography and Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. My work is on labour markets, migration, planning, and regional policy. I also love photography and baking, and have a crazy cocker spaniel called Fonzie. .. more

Economics 73%
Political science 11%
The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure invites applications for a two-week Summer School on ‘Micro-Census Insights into Historical Households, Mortality and Fertility’, held at University of Cambridge from July 6-17th, 2026. Application deadline February 2 2026.
The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, Cambridge » Events
www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk

Ah, thank you!

Did she announce the tax on international student fees? I can't find it in the OBR file.

I know that this is bad in terms of process, but it does make it much easier to follow, and will (selfishly) save me lots of time in writing tomorrow's lecture. If they could just leak the distributional analysis too...
lol here’s the full OBR book someone pressed publish early here’s the budget obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
obr.uk
lol here’s the full OBR book someone pressed publish early here’s the budget obr.uk/docs/dlm_upl...
obr.uk
Happy to share our latest study published in PNAS.

Using data from 274,316 French students, we find that lower-SES students are less likely to wait for better university offers, even when waiting would lead to more prestigious or better-fit programs.
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Waiting time during admission procedures increases social inequalities in higher education | PNAS
Many domains in life require people to wait to access better outcomes, such as waiting in line to access prized tickets for a show, waiting to obta...
www.pnas.org
Want to hold a major academic conference in the humanities and social sciences? We offer up to £20k (and sometimes £25k) for a conference on any topic to be held between April 27/March 28. Apply by 29 Jan 2026.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...
British Academy Conferences funding for UK-based researchers
An exceptional opportunity for UK-based scholars to run a landmark event featuring leading-edge research as part of the British Academy’s events programme.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Reposted by Maria Abreu

I can hear them from Ely in the bottom left hand corner.

Exactly, it's all about the framing.

Reposted by Maria Abreu

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: M&S' £12 "BIG TIN" of chocolates is exactly how you remember Quality Street was as a child, i.e. it's actually a big fucking tin full to the brim of chocolate and not a half-filled plastic tub of sadness

Maybe that’s the answer!

Some are still in print, but others are hard to find. I’ve spent years tracking down the more obscure ones in second hand bookshops.
It would have been hard to believe, when I moved to the UK over 15 yrs ago to start my PhD at Edinburgh, that successive Conservative and Labour governments would actively undermine one of the UK's most successful and strategic sectors and run it to the ground. Unbelievable, really. And here we are

I love the Nero Wolfe books, they are my absolute favourites. The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett is also very good, set in the same period and with a similar style.
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday

I really don’t understand why they are doing this. The Venezuelan government is close to both Russia and China?

There are reports in Venezuela of GPS and phone signals being jammed. There is a lot of confusion, but it does feel like something is about to happen 😞

The dog has had enough of the rain and is refusing to budge.
I am currently, because I know how to enjoy a Saturday morning, writing some guidance for people on filling this consultation in. As I do several things are highly apparent. Before I go through them though I don't want this to put people off of filling it in. It is important to do so nonetheless. 1/
Government has today published its consultation into "earned settlement", the forward alone contains a hot mess of misrepresentation of the current system by the Home Secretary. I would strongly urge anyone affected by the current system to respond.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

Sadly not any more, too many skilled people has left. It would take years to repair the damage.

This is the first thing I cover in my first-year public policy course. It is hard to explain to students why the government isn't even attempting to answer this question.
The potential benefits of migration are not identical everywhere.

This remarkable new resource from @niskanencenter.bsky.social maps the US counties where the economic benefits of immigration might be highest —>

www.niskanencenter.org/mapping-amer...

This is almost exactly what we do in Cambridge admissions interviews (for undergraduates).

Reposted by Maria Abreu

The Supreme Court meets today to consider the President's wish to suspend part of our Constitution: the 14th Amendment securing citizenship for US natives.

I joined with 95 other social scientists to document the costs of this act for the United States.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Reposted by Maria Abreu

Two more #Oxford events today:
- Climate Breakdown & Political Division: Navigating Polarisation
www.alumni.oriel.ox.ac.uk/events/oriel...
- Screening of The Invisible Doctrine at the Phoenix Picturehouse, Q&A with Eliane Glaser: www.picturehouses.com/movie-detail...
Hope to see you at one or both.
Oriel Environment Group Michaelmas 2025 — In Conversation with George Monbiot - Alumni Oriel
Climate Breakdown and Political Division: Navigating Polarisation with George Monbiot Join Professor Jan Rosenow (Jackson Senior Research Fellow, Oriel College) for a discussion with acclaimed investi...
www.alumni.oriel.ox.ac.uk
Mahmood/government should say explain *objective* of increasing time to settlement for 15 years for care workers who arrived 2022-24

Is it

A) to get them to leave? Why?
B) to save money? Then why not just restrict benefits?
C) to "encourage integration"? How? Will do opposite.
15 years for people in medium skilled jobs and care workers too. I believe this goes down to 10 years if they earn over £50,270. Someone in a high skilled job earning over that qualifies in 5 years.

Reposted by Maria Abreu

In my corner of the bass-playing universe there was life pre- and post-Mani. He brought a liquid, melodic funkiness that EVERYONE copied. And when I finally met him he was exactly how you imagined him: joyful, generous, unstarry (& more of a star because of it) and wickedly funny. A life well lived

I find that my students increasingly take notes on tables, often handwritten notes with a digital pen, which can then be turned into digital text. Maybe the best of both worlds?

Reposted by Maria Abreu

Government has today published its consultation into "earned settlement", the forward alone contains a hot mess of misrepresentation of the current system by the Home Secretary. I would strongly urge anyone affected by the current system to respond.
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/691edd...
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk