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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · 5d

is quoting macbeth in an econ paper a good idea or a bad idea? i mean, it's october...

Reposted by Chris Severen

Urban Economics Association @urbaneconomics.bsky.social · 29d

The program for our upcoming annual North American meeting is up: urbaneconomics.org/meetings/uea....

#UEA2025, hosted by Université du Québec à Montréal, features keynotes by Cecile Gaubert & Keith Head and 60+ paper sessions.

To register, visit editorialexpress.com/conference/nauea2025/

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Reposted by Chris Severen

Prof Dynarski @dynarski.bsky.social · Aug 2

Statement from the largest economics association about the BLS firing

As context: AEA approximately never makes such public statements

This is a big deal

August 1, 2025
AMERICAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
Committee on Economic Statistics and Committee on Government Relations

Statement from the American Economic Association on the
Dismissal of the BLS Commissioner

Leaders of the American Economic Association express their grave concern over the dismissal of the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) earlier today.
The independence of the federal statistical agencies is essential to the proper functioning of a modern economy. Accurate, timely, and impartial statistics are the foundation upon which households, businesses, and policymakers make critical decisions. Undermining the independence or credibility of these agencies threatens the integrity of the information that markets, institutions, and the public rely on every day.
Measuring the vast and dynamic U.S. economy in real time is inherently challenging. It is standard practice for statistical estimates to be revised as more complete and higher-quality data become available. These revisions reflect the commitment of statistical agencies to accuracy, transparency, and methodological rigor-not failure or bias.
The BLS has long had a well-deserved reputation for professional excellence and nonpartisan integrity.
Safeguarding this tradition is vital for the continued health of the U.S. economy and public trust in our institutions.
We call upon elected officials to respect and preserve the independence of the nation's statistical infrastructure.

Lawrence Katz
President, American Economic Association
Katharine Abraham
President-Elect, American Economic Association
Karen Dynan
Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Economic Statistics
Kenneth Troske
Chair, American Economic Association Committee on Government Relations

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Reposted by Chris Severen

Michael R Strain @michaelrstrain.bsky.social · Aug 1

Dr. Erika McEntarfer has devoted her career to public service. She has conducted herself as BLS Commissioner with great integrity. There is no evidence whatsoever that BLS data are politically biased.

#econsky

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Aug 1

welp there goes the credibility of US labor statistics... as soon as you fire the head of a stats agency for not producing stats that you like, you inject bias into how all future numbers are interpreted (and reported).

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jul 14

the best way to respond imo lol

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jul 14

i love doing research, but... currently on a 13 strike rejection streak. it's sometimes not a very rewarding or validating profession.

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Reposted by Chris Severen

Allison Shertzer @econhist-allday.bsky.social · Jul 7

I am looking for a research assistant to work with me on the development of U.S. housing markets. Experience with ArcGIS, Stata useful. We build datasets that allow us to understand housing affordability, the impacts of transit and zoning, and more:
rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/FRS/jo...

Research Assistant/Sr. Research Assistant

Company Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Job Description Summary Research assistants (RAs) at the Philadelphia Fed play a key role in the Economic Research Department. Whether they are helping eco...

rb.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 23

spent some time calling ☎️ PA state house / senate members over proposed ✂️ to SEPTA transit 🚅 funding, and I have to say, it was cool to speak to actual ppl in the those offices

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 16

The Philadelphia Fed's Grad Student mentoring program deadline is coming up: 6/20 ⏰

We prioritize nearby universities but have accepted applicants from all over the country. Apply!

www.philadelphiafed.org/the-economy/...

Philadelphia Fed Mentoring & Advancing PhDs (PFMAP) Program

Now Accepting Applications: PFMAP is a program intended to introduce Ph.D. candidates to the vibrant research life at the Philadelphia Fed and provide additional mentorship opportunities for participa...

www.philadelphiafed.org

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 12

yeah... in general, i skeptical of claims that the (or even an) issue with transit (in the US) is that fares are unaffordable

Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 12

not exactly on the motus of conversation, but here are a couple of nice experimental papers on effects:
- www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
- www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Eliminating Fares to Expand Opportunities: Experimental Evidence on the Impacts of Free Public Transportation on Economic and Social Disparities

(Forthcoming Article) - We conduct a randomized controlled trial to study the employment effects of providing free public transportation to individuals with low income. A temporary subsidy that reduce...

www.aeaweb.org

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 12

kelloggryan.com/workingpapers/ "the end of oil"

Ryan Kellogg

Personal website for Professor Ryan Kellogg

kelloggryan.com

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 2

This project is joint with the excellent Verónica Bäcker-Peral and Vitaly Meursault.

Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · Jun 2

Curious how accurate multimodal LLMs are at digitizing diversely formatted historical tables?

➡️ pretty accurate!
➡️ helps a lot with harmonization
➡️ far cheaper than manual digitization
➡️ but iterative, disciplined prompt training is important!

Check out our new WP - arxiv.org/abs/2505.11599

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 27

Out in print -- "Lockdowns and Innovation: Evidence from the 1918 Flu Pandemic". My first experiment with a short paper!

w/ the wonderful @jeffrlin.bsky.social @ruben-gaetani.bsky.social Enrico Berkes, & Olivier Deschênes

direct.mit.edu/rest/article...

Lockdowns and Innovation: Evidence from the 1918 Flu Pandemic

Abstract. Does social distancing harm innovation? We estimate the effect of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)—policies that restrict interactions in an attempt to slow the spread of disease—on lo...

direct.mit.edu

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 20

... but will prob still do it anyway <sigh>

Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 20

Well, NBER, in fact **I WILL BE** discouraged from submitting other papers for consideration at future meetings.

😎

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 18

yeah, it's really tricky bc no is *explicit* about what the bar is at, say, journal X, so we're all just guessing based on ... vibes ...

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 18

(of course i'll continue to be a thoughtful and objective referee.

but i don't see people express this sentiment often and i think it's common. it's important to call out a feeling rather than to pretend it away only to see it leak out in worse ways)

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 18

refereeing can be hard: a journal rejects you 1, 5, times... and then asks for your objective opinion about another paper, especially when your own research has not always received objective review or careful editorship

it's important to not perpetuate the jackassery, but it's not always easy

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 16

lol yeah that order, but different editors 🤷

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 16

new achievement unlocked: rejection and referee request from the same journal w/in a 10 minute window ☑️

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Chris Severen @chrisseveren.bsky.social · May 5

HAPPY SQUARE DAY 🟦

Reposted by Chris Severen

Jay Jinsing Falk @jjinsing.bsky.social · Apr 26

My NSF PRFB on the genetics of female polymorphism in hummingbirds was terminated yesterday.

I don't have much to say, I'm just sad. We've discovered so much, and could have gone so much further.

If anyone else is in the same boat, esp postdocs, please reach out, it would be good to connect.

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