Zoë Plakias
@zoeconomy.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Economics @ Western Washington University | she/her
Scholarship + teaching on food, agriculture, environment, resources
Also: equity, mentorship, pedagogy, public transit, kindness, legos, cats
Views are my own
www.zoeplakias.com
Scholarship + teaching on food, agriculture, environment, resources
Also: equity, mentorship, pedagogy, public transit, kindness, legos, cats
Views are my own
www.zoeplakias.com
Pinned
Zoë Plakias
@zoeconomy.bsky.social
· Mar 7
Applied Econ Jobs | Zoë Plakias | Substack
Job opportunities for applied economists. Click to read Applied Econ Jobs, by Zoë Plakias, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
appliedeconjobs.substack.com
I share a lot of jobs for agricultural, environmental, development, + regional economists via listservs. I recently moved this to a Substack to decrease listserv traffic for those folks not interested in postings + to make posts more accessible to all. Use the Search tab to filter jobs. #EconSky
I try not to be nasty to the people in EdTech and textbook sales because I know they are decent humans just doing their jobs but boy do the sales emails drive me bananas. I am like.... No, I'm not going to make students pay for more stuff!! No I'm not going to advocate spending money we don't have!
December 15, 2025 at 7:42 PM
I try not to be nasty to the people in EdTech and textbook sales because I know they are decent humans just doing their jobs but boy do the sales emails drive me bananas. I am like.... No, I'm not going to make students pay for more stuff!! No I'm not going to advocate spending money we don't have!
"Three awards of $7,000 each will be given to early-career scholars for papers that address the meaningful decommodification of access to basic needs in America." mailchi.mp/law/freedom-...
"Freedom from Want" Writing Award
mailchi.mp
December 15, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Terrible flooding hit western WA communities last week + more rain is on the way. My household is not impacted but many folks around us are. If you have the capacity to donate time (locally) or money (from anywhere), please check out the ways to help people in two of the impacted counties below!
Here are ways to support those impacted by flooding in Whatcom and Skagit | Cascadia Daily News
Where to donate time, money and in-kind goods
www.cascadiadaily.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Terrible flooding hit western WA communities last week + more rain is on the way. My household is not impacted but many folks around us are. If you have the capacity to donate time (locally) or money (from anywhere), please check out the ways to help people in two of the impacted counties below!
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
Promoting vaccines and demoting guns are both proven, highly effective ways to protect children and adults
In all countries at all times
In all countries at all times
December 14, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Promoting vaccines and demoting guns are both proven, highly effective ways to protect children and adults
In all countries at all times
In all countries at all times
"Rachel Friedberg, a Brown economics professor, said the mass shooting happened in a review session for the final exam of her Principles of Economics course. She said she learned what happened from a teaching assistant who led the session. Friedberg herself was not present."
2 dead, 9 wounded in shooting at Brown University; suspect still at large
Brown professor says shooting happened in a study session for her economics class
www.oceanstatemedia.org
December 14, 2025 at 4:07 AM
"Rachel Friedberg, a Brown economics professor, said the mass shooting happened in a review session for the final exam of her Principles of Economics course. She said she learned what happened from a teaching assistant who led the session. Friedberg herself was not present."
Absolutely love when a student writes something like "fell down an interesting rabbit hole about topic x and it was fun to learn about." This is what it's all about!
December 14, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Absolutely love when a student writes something like "fell down an interesting rabbit hole about topic x and it was fun to learn about." This is what it's all about!
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
Kudos to the Brown University students who are posting continuous live updates, spaced just minutes apart, on the campus shooting. A lot of grace and professionalism under immense pressure.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...
Live updates: Two deceased in active shooter incident at Brown University
Serving the Brown University community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Kudos to the Brown University students who are posting continuous live updates, spaced just minutes apart, on the campus shooting. A lot of grace and professionalism under immense pressure.
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...
www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...
Sending love to everyone at Brown and in the surrounding area tonight.
Mass shootings like this one are a policy failure. We must do better.
Mass shootings like this one are a policy failure. We must do better.
December 14, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Sending love to everyone at Brown and in the surrounding area tonight.
Mass shootings like this one are a policy failure. We must do better.
Mass shootings like this one are a policy failure. We must do better.
👀
WOW. @haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:47 PM
👀
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
🎉 I feel very honored to have received the Best Paper Award at the European Winter Meeting of @econometric.bsky.social in Nicosia, Cyprus, for my paper with @vsondergeld.bsky.social titled "Meet my family: women in leadership and gender stereotypes in the media".
More info on the paper below ⤵️
More info on the paper below ⤵️
December 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
🎉 I feel very honored to have received the Best Paper Award at the European Winter Meeting of @econometric.bsky.social in Nicosia, Cyprus, for my paper with @vsondergeld.bsky.social titled "Meet my family: women in leadership and gender stereotypes in the media".
More info on the paper below ⤵️
More info on the paper below ⤵️
Scary flooding in our area of NW Washington! We are totally fine but folks to the north and south are preparing for the worst as rivers are projected to be at historic highs. Grateful to have local news to keep people updated. Please keep folks in our area in your thoughts!
Heavy rains overnight have increased the potential for record-breaking levels of the Skagit River, prompting evacuation warnings. Plus, school and road closures, and aid information. Check back for live updates throughout the day.
Live updates: Skagit County asking residents in flood plain to get set for evacuation | Cascadia Daily News
Heavy rains increased potential for record-breaking levels of Skagit River. Check back for updates throughout the day
www.cascadiadaily.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:08 AM
Scary flooding in our area of NW Washington! We are totally fine but folks to the north and south are preparing for the worst as rivers are projected to be at historic highs. Grateful to have local news to keep people updated. Please keep folks in our area in your thoughts!
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
just riffing on this, in 1944 my grandad's friend Paddy, who would go on to become a very distinguished writer, kidnapped a German general in occupied Crete and took him up into the mountains with a resistance team, from where he was sent on to the UK by submarine. Now, up in the mountains ...
there is not any particularly strong evidence that study of the humanities make people good people. the elites of many brutal empires were extremely well-read!
December 9, 2025 at 10:36 PM
just riffing on this, in 1944 my grandad's friend Paddy, who would go on to become a very distinguished writer, kidnapped a German general in occupied Crete and took him up into the mountains with a resistance team, from where he was sent on to the UK by submarine. Now, up in the mountains ...
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
NEW: Our experts, along with @consumerreports.org and @moreperfectunion.bsky.social looked into how Instacart was deciding prices on grocery items across the country.
What we found will shock you.
What we found will shock you.
Same Cart, Different Price: Instacart’s Price Experiments Cost Families at Checkout - Groundwork Collaborative
groundworkcollaborative.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:44 PM
NEW: Our experts, along with @consumerreports.org and @moreperfectunion.bsky.social looked into how Instacart was deciding prices on grocery items across the country.
What we found will shock you.
What we found will shock you.
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
When the history of this period is written, Stanford University and Yale Law School are going to have a lot to answer for as incubators of techno-legal authoritarianism.
December 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
When the history of this period is written, Stanford University and Yale Law School are going to have a lot to answer for as incubators of techno-legal authoritarianism.
Was trying to write "Happy to do the panel if there's a remote option" using voice to text but instead wrote "Happy to do the panel of thirst remote option" and now contemplating what a panel of thirst might entail... 😂
December 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Was trying to write "Happy to do the panel if there's a remote option" using voice to text but instead wrote "Happy to do the panel of thirst remote option" and now contemplating what a panel of thirst might entail... 😂
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
Texas Democrats just did something historic under the leadership of new state party chair @kendallscudder.bsky.social. We have filed a candidate in EVERY 2026 race.
U.S. Senate: 1 of 1
U.S. House: 38 of 38
State Senate: 15 of 15
State House: 150 of 150
State Board of Education: 8 of 8
U.S. Senate: 1 of 1
U.S. House: 38 of 38
State Senate: 15 of 15
State House: 150 of 150
State Board of Education: 8 of 8
We Did It, Texas Dems, We Did It
Candidates in every legislative, statewide, and federal race. Now it’s time to build power where it counts.
www.lonestarleft.com
December 9, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Texas Democrats just did something historic under the leadership of new state party chair @kendallscudder.bsky.social. We have filed a candidate in EVERY 2026 race.
U.S. Senate: 1 of 1
U.S. House: 38 of 38
State Senate: 15 of 15
State House: 150 of 150
State Board of Education: 8 of 8
U.S. Senate: 1 of 1
U.S. House: 38 of 38
State Senate: 15 of 15
State House: 150 of 150
State Board of Education: 8 of 8
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
Applications are OPEN for CSWEP’s 2026 CeMENT Mentoring Workshop! 🎉 Come get feedback on your research, practical advice for navigating the tenure track, and a community that will lift you up.
Details & application here 👉 www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...
@aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky
Details & application here 👉 www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...
@aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky
CeMENT: Mentoring for Junior Faculty
www.aeaweb.org
December 8, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Applications are OPEN for CSWEP’s 2026 CeMENT Mentoring Workshop! 🎉 Come get feedback on your research, practical advice for navigating the tenure track, and a community that will lift you up.
Details & application here 👉 www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...
@aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky
Details & application here 👉 www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...
@aeacswep.bsky.social #EconSky
TFW you realize you are the same age as Usha Vance
December 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
TFW you realize you are the same age as Usha Vance
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
According to Pew Research and a few other stats, the loneliness epidemic isn’t disproportionately affecting men over other genders.
I have a feeling that men have been the squeaky wheel over the last few years.
If anything, we have a loneliness epidemic because more people are (barely) surviving.
I have a feeling that men have been the squeaky wheel over the last few years.
If anything, we have a loneliness epidemic because more people are (barely) surviving.
December 7, 2025 at 6:52 PM
According to Pew Research and a few other stats, the loneliness epidemic isn’t disproportionately affecting men over other genders.
I have a feeling that men have been the squeaky wheel over the last few years.
If anything, we have a loneliness epidemic because more people are (barely) surviving.
I have a feeling that men have been the squeaky wheel over the last few years.
If anything, we have a loneliness epidemic because more people are (barely) surviving.
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
Let me tell you a story. Perhaps you can guess where this is going... though it does have a bit of a twist.
I was poking around Google Scholar for publications about the relationship between chatbots and wellness. Oh how useful: a systematic literature review! Let's dig into the findings. 🧵
I was poking around Google Scholar for publications about the relationship between chatbots and wellness. Oh how useful: a systematic literature review! Let's dig into the findings. 🧵
December 5, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Let me tell you a story. Perhaps you can guess where this is going... though it does have a bit of a twist.
I was poking around Google Scholar for publications about the relationship between chatbots and wellness. Oh how useful: a systematic literature review! Let's dig into the findings. 🧵
I was poking around Google Scholar for publications about the relationship between chatbots and wellness. Oh how useful: a systematic literature review! Let's dig into the findings. 🧵
Reposted by Zoë Plakias
The 14th Amendment says that all people born in America, regardless of race are citizens and have a right to equal protection under the law. For SCOTUS to be remotely confused on that text speaks to their racism, not the Constitution (1/3) www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...
Supreme Court agrees to decide if Trump may end birthright citizenship | CNN Politics
The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide if President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship with an executive order is constitutional, offering the justices an opportunity to revisit w...
www.cnn.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
The 14th Amendment says that all people born in America, regardless of race are citizens and have a right to equal protection under the law. For SCOTUS to be remotely confused on that text speaks to their racism, not the Constitution (1/3) www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/p...
This @currentaffairs.bsky.social article by Ronald Purser is excellent + devastating.
Worth reading for lots of reasons, but particularly because it closes with something I see in my work and travels speaking on writing and AI. Many, maybe most students do not want AI-mediated schooling or lives. We can offer them something better. www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
This @currentaffairs.bsky.social article by Ronald Purser is excellent + devastating.
New damning @amnesty.org report details human rights violations at "Alligator Alcatraz" + Krome ICE detention facilities in FL. As of September 15, there where 2,188 detainees being held in FL's five ICE facilities. Six of the reporter 25 people in the US who died in ICE custody in 2025 were in FL.
USA: Torture and enforced disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at "Alligator Alcatraz" and Krome in Florida - Amnesty International
This report presents Amnesty International’s findings from a research trip to southern Florida in September 2025, to document the human rights impacts of federal and state migration and asylum policie...
www.amnesty.org
December 7, 2025 at 5:25 PM
New damning @amnesty.org report details human rights violations at "Alligator Alcatraz" + Krome ICE detention facilities in FL. As of September 15, there where 2,188 detainees being held in FL's five ICE facilities. Six of the reporter 25 people in the US who died in ICE custody in 2025 were in FL.
Important reporting on lead acid car battery recycling + its harmful effects on people working in + living near battery recycling facilities in Nigeria. From @willfitzgibbon.bsky.social + @petersgoodman.bsky.social. Grateful to learn about this on @mollyjongfast.bsky.social's podcast Fast Politics.
Lead recycling can be done safely – but automakers like Ford and GM buy from battery companies that source some of their lead from overseas factories that cut costs and spew toxic smoke into the air. Here’s how that’s poisoning a town in Nigeria.
www.theexamination.org/articles/bat...
www.theexamination.org/articles/bat...
Recycling lead for U.S. car batteries is poisoning people
We documented the toxic fallout of a green technology.
www.theexamination.org
December 6, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Important reporting on lead acid car battery recycling + its harmful effects on people working in + living near battery recycling facilities in Nigeria. From @willfitzgibbon.bsky.social + @petersgoodman.bsky.social. Grateful to learn about this on @mollyjongfast.bsky.social's podcast Fast Politics.
Yesterday was a rough day for Nebraska higher education. Departments of Statistics; Earth + Atmospheric Sciences; Educational Administration; and Textiles, Merchandising, + Fashion Design were all shuttered. 51.5 positions (many faculty) cut and 541 students affected at multiple levels.
‘This hurts’: NU regents back shuttering four academic programs at UNL • Nebraska Examiner
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted to eliminate four academic programs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
nebraskaexaminer.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Yesterday was a rough day for Nebraska higher education. Departments of Statistics; Earth + Atmospheric Sciences; Educational Administration; and Textiles, Merchandising, + Fashion Design were all shuttered. 51.5 positions (many faculty) cut and 541 students affected at multiple levels.