Matt Polacko
@mattpolacko.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Researcher @ University of Calgary | Politics of Inequality | mattpolacko.com
Pinned
Matt Polacko
@mattpolacko.bsky.social
· Aug 25
🚨New Publication🚨
Using the entire #Canadian Election Study (1965–2021), I examine voter turnout by class, education, & income over time & test whether the offerings of political parties impact these relationships.
Available #OpenAccess in @cjps-rcsp.bsky.social
#polisky
doi.org/10.1017/S000...
Using the entire #Canadian Election Study (1965–2021), I examine voter turnout by class, education, & income over time & test whether the offerings of political parties impact these relationships.
Available #OpenAccess in @cjps-rcsp.bsky.social
#polisky
doi.org/10.1017/S000...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
BREAKING: This is huge news, the EU's equivalent of the 🇺🇸Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling.
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
🇪🇺Court of Justice just ruled all 🇪🇺countries must recognise same-sex marriages granted in other member states.
This effectively legalises gay marriage across 🇪🇺
Reposted by Matt Polacko
At least one insurrectionist goes to jail
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
Bolsonaro to Start Serving 27-Year Sentence Over Coup Plot
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:45 PM
At least one insurrectionist goes to jail
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
NEW PAPER w/ @cselmendorf.bsky.social & @jkalla.bsky.social:
An under-appreciated reason why voters oppose dense new housing, especially in less-dense neighborhoods: they think it looks ugly and want to prevent that, even in other neighborhoods.
Some of what we think is NIMBYism might not be!
An under-appreciated reason why voters oppose dense new housing, especially in less-dense neighborhoods: they think it looks ugly and want to prevent that, even in other neighborhoods.
Some of what we think is NIMBYism might not be!
November 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM
NEW PAPER w/ @cselmendorf.bsky.social & @jkalla.bsky.social:
An under-appreciated reason why voters oppose dense new housing, especially in less-dense neighborhoods: they think it looks ugly and want to prevent that, even in other neighborhoods.
Some of what we think is NIMBYism might not be!
An under-appreciated reason why voters oppose dense new housing, especially in less-dense neighborhoods: they think it looks ugly and want to prevent that, even in other neighborhoods.
Some of what we think is NIMBYism might not be!
Reposted by Matt Polacko
University students who were provided with a free gym card (in a randomized experiment) exercised more and had a significant improvement in academic performance. The treated students were also less likely to drop out of classes
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 24, 2025 at 9:23 PM
University students who were provided with a free gym card (in a randomized experiment) exercised more and had a significant improvement in academic performance. The treated students were also less likely to drop out of classes
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Matt Polacko
This new AER paper finds large negative economic effects of wars: "A war of average intensity is associated with an output drop of close to 10% in the war-site economy, while consumer prices rise by approximately 20%." Negative spillovers through trade and common borders.
November 25, 2025 at 6:29 AM
This new AER paper finds large negative economic effects of wars: "A war of average intensity is associated with an output drop of close to 10% in the war-site economy, while consumer prices rise by approximately 20%." Negative spillovers through trade and common borders.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
The UK is losing up to £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, House of Commons Library analysis for the Lib Dems suggests.
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
November 25, 2025 at 10:33 AM
The UK is losing up to £250m a day in lost tax revenue due to the economic impact of Brexit, House of Commons Library analysis for the Lib Dems suggests.
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
Brexit has blown a "black hole of [up to] £90 billion a year in the public finances" the party says. Even under lower estimates the hit is ~£65bn
Reposted by Matt Polacko
The stock market's gains are being overwhelmingly driven by seven Big Tech companies who have invested heavily in AI, which has made tech oligarchs even wealthier.
But when that AI bubble bursts, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag.
Be warned.
But when that AI bubble bursts, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag.
Be warned.
November 25, 2025 at 11:01 PM
The stock market's gains are being overwhelmingly driven by seven Big Tech companies who have invested heavily in AI, which has made tech oligarchs even wealthier.
But when that AI bubble bursts, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag.
Be warned.
But when that AI bubble bursts, the rest of us will be stuck holding the bag.
Be warned.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
#OpenAccess from @epsrjournal.bsky.social -
Closer to the people: the impact of politicians’ working-class affiliation on their ability to evoke feelings of symbolic representation among the general population and the working class - https://cup.org/4igKRXI
- Caroline Hahn
#FirstView
Closer to the people: the impact of politicians’ working-class affiliation on their ability to evoke feelings of symbolic representation among the general population and the working class - https://cup.org/4igKRXI
- Caroline Hahn
#FirstView
November 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
#OpenAccess from @epsrjournal.bsky.social -
Closer to the people: the impact of politicians’ working-class affiliation on their ability to evoke feelings of symbolic representation among the general population and the working class - https://cup.org/4igKRXI
- Caroline Hahn
#FirstView
Closer to the people: the impact of politicians’ working-class affiliation on their ability to evoke feelings of symbolic representation among the general population and the working class - https://cup.org/4igKRXI
- Caroline Hahn
#FirstView
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Elon Musk donated $277 million to Trump so he could steal the federal government’s data, dismantle the nation’s infrastructure, and stop foreign aid from going to nonwhite people. It’s a quid pro quo breathtaking in scope, corruption, and damage, & completely unprecedented in American history.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Elon Musk donated $277 million to Trump so he could steal the federal government’s data, dismantle the nation’s infrastructure, and stop foreign aid from going to nonwhite people. It’s a quid pro quo breathtaking in scope, corruption, and damage, & completely unprecedented in American history.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
12th grade girls are now less likely to say they want to get married someday
1993: 83%
2023: 61%
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
1993: 83%
2023: 61%
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
November 23, 2025 at 11:30 PM
12th grade girls are now less likely to say they want to get married someday
1993: 83%
2023: 61%
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
1993: 83%
2023: 61%
www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges
Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Strongly suspect that this is what will happen here in 28/9. Tories will replace Badenoch with a leader prepared to try it and Farage (as per 2019 but this time as the senior partner) will continue to deny he'll do a stand-down deal - right up until the point he does one.
French conservatives are inching towards a pact with Le Pen that could enable a far-right takeover of the country | Paul Taylor
In trying to woo Le Pen’s voters, Les Républicains risk destroying France’s Gaullist legacy and putting Paris on a collision course with the EU, says Paul Taylor of the European Policy Centre
www.theguardian.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Strongly suspect that this is what will happen here in 28/9. Tories will replace Badenoch with a leader prepared to try it and Farage (as per 2019 but this time as the senior partner) will continue to deny he'll do a stand-down deal - right up until the point he does one.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Worse still, the increase in time spent alone has been especially steep among this economically and socially dislocated group.
*Seven hours* of daily free time spent completely solitary in the most recent US data.
My column from last week in full: www.ft.com/content/bd61...
*Seven hours* of daily free time spent completely solitary in the most recent US data.
My column from last week in full: www.ft.com/content/bd61...
Young adults are growing increasingly economically dislocated
A disconnected class is taking shape, but is absent from the headline statistics
www.ft.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Worse still, the increase in time spent alone has been especially steep among this economically and socially dislocated group.
*Seven hours* of daily free time spent completely solitary in the most recent US data.
My column from last week in full: www.ft.com/content/bd61...
*Seven hours* of daily free time spent completely solitary in the most recent US data.
My column from last week in full: www.ft.com/content/bd61...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Noah Berlatsky on what he calls "reactionary centrism" www.everythingishorrible.net/p/centrism-c...
in US and UK, and I call Blue Labour ideology mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/blue...
and why its not working.
in US and UK, and I call Blue Labour ideology mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/blue...
and why its not working.
Centrism Cannot Fail, It Can Only Be…
Oh, wait, it’s totally failed.
www.everythingishorrible.net
November 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Noah Berlatsky on what he calls "reactionary centrism" www.everythingishorrible.net/p/centrism-c...
in US and UK, and I call Blue Labour ideology mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/blue...
and why its not working.
in US and UK, and I call Blue Labour ideology mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/blue...
and why its not working.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
New polling suggests potential NDP members are split on where they want the party to go
Meanwhile, McPherson and Ashton lead Lewis in generating excitement among the party's base
Free read here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/the-ndp-ha...
Meanwhile, McPherson and Ashton lead Lewis in generating excitement among the party's base
Free read here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/the-ndp-ha...
The NDP Has Potential Yet
Many Canadians remain open to voting for the party, if the right leader is chosen
canadianpolling.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:04 PM
New polling suggests potential NDP members are split on where they want the party to go
Meanwhile, McPherson and Ashton lead Lewis in generating excitement among the party's base
Free read here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/the-ndp-ha...
Meanwhile, McPherson and Ashton lead Lewis in generating excitement among the party's base
Free read here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/the-ndp-ha...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
3) Politically, Labour's 2024 voters are abandoning them for both the Greens and Reform. At the same time, Reform are holding on to most of their voters and attracting lots of 2024 Conservative voters. Full data here www.ipsos.com/en-uk/labour...
November 17, 2025 at 10:49 AM
3) Politically, Labour's 2024 voters are abandoning them for both the Greens and Reform. At the same time, Reform are holding on to most of their voters and attracting lots of 2024 Conservative voters. Full data here www.ipsos.com/en-uk/labour...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
1) Extreme discontent. 80% say Britain is getting worse as a place to live. Almost no one thinks it's getting better. A third struggling to cope financially, higher than we were seeing in 2022 when the cost of living was starting to bite.
November 17, 2025 at 10:49 AM
1) Extreme discontent. 80% say Britain is getting worse as a place to live. Almost no one thinks it's getting better. A third struggling to cope financially, higher than we were seeing in 2022 when the cost of living was starting to bite.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Toronto’s last murder was a month ago and the number this year is now less than half that in any of the past five years
Murder and other major crime is dramatically and suddenly down in Toronto, police data shows
What accounts for the sudden drop?
open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Murder and other major crime is dramatically and suddenly down in Toronto, police data shows
What accounts for the sudden drop?
open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Toronto crime levels tumble as city marks a month since its last murder
Crime in Toronto is down in 2025. The positive trend is big and across most major crime categories.
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Toronto’s last murder was a month ago and the number this year is now less than half that in any of the past five years
Murder and other major crime is dramatically and suddenly down in Toronto, police data shows
What accounts for the sudden drop?
open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Murder and other major crime is dramatically and suddenly down in Toronto, police data shows
What accounts for the sudden drop?
open.substack.com/pub/tparkin/...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 AM
"academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it... The dominant four collectively generated... $12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024."
Reposted by Matt Polacko
🚨 Austerity never went away. It's just Labour austerity instead - quieter and harder to notice, but it's there... www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
English councils plan to sell off social clubs and sports centres to balance books
Survey finds 60% of key cities councils are planning to sell assets to meet costs of adult and children’s social care
www.theguardian.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:26 PM
🚨 Austerity never went away. It's just Labour austerity instead - quieter and harder to notice, but it's there... www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Remember: The richest 1% evade over $160 billion in taxes every year.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
November 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Remember: The richest 1% evade over $160 billion in taxes every year.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
That amount would fund SNAP for a year with money to spare.
Ask yourself who the real freeloaders are.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Wild graphic on front page of WSJ.
November 14, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Wild graphic on front page of WSJ.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
🎉New publication
▶️ Russian speakers are less willing to fight for Latvia than ethnic Latvians.
▶️This is driven by greater Soviet nostalgia. Russian speakers in Latvia are less likely to see Russia as responsible for the war against Ukraine, which reduces their willingness to fight.
▶️ Russian speakers are less willing to fight for Latvia than ethnic Latvians.
▶️This is driven by greater Soviet nostalgia. Russian speakers in Latvia are less likely to see Russia as responsible for the war against Ukraine, which reduces their willingness to fight.
#OpenAccess from @ejisbisa.bsky.social -
Cultural memory and the minority effect in (un-)willingness to fight for the country: Evidence from Russian speakers in Latvia - https://cup.org/49QQxpf
- @felixschulte.bsky.social, Juris Pupcenoks & Māris Andžāns
#FirstView
Cultural memory and the minority effect in (un-)willingness to fight for the country: Evidence from Russian speakers in Latvia - https://cup.org/49QQxpf
- @felixschulte.bsky.social, Juris Pupcenoks & Māris Andžāns
#FirstView
November 14, 2025 at 7:46 AM
🎉New publication
▶️ Russian speakers are less willing to fight for Latvia than ethnic Latvians.
▶️This is driven by greater Soviet nostalgia. Russian speakers in Latvia are less likely to see Russia as responsible for the war against Ukraine, which reduces their willingness to fight.
▶️ Russian speakers are less willing to fight for Latvia than ethnic Latvians.
▶️This is driven by greater Soviet nostalgia. Russian speakers in Latvia are less likely to see Russia as responsible for the war against Ukraine, which reduces their willingness to fight.
Reposted by Matt Polacko
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
November 14, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Is AI making job recruitment less meritocratic? We're getting some v interesting research studies on this question now, and the news is... not good. @jburnmurdoch.ft.com & I dive in, in the latest edition of our newsletter The AI Shift www.ft.com/content/e5b7...
Reposted by Matt Polacko
It's a useful reminder that sometimes tech can make a task more efficient for one side (applying for jobs), and more efficient for the other side (writing job adverts), and yet make the system as a whole completely inefficient.
November 14, 2025 at 10:14 AM
It's a useful reminder that sometimes tech can make a task more efficient for one side (applying for jobs), and more efficient for the other side (writing job adverts), and yet make the system as a whole completely inefficient.