Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

DigitalEcon.org @digitalecon.org · 1d

The next #VIDEseminar talk will be coming up tomorrow! 👇

DigitalEcon.org @digitalecon.org · 6d

🚨 Coming up at #VIDEseminar: Pinar Yildirim (Wharton School) @profyildirim.bsky.social

“Artificial Intelligence in Team Dynamics: Who Gets Replaced and Why?”

🔜 Wed, October 8, 11am New York, 5pm Berlin. Open to anyone!

Further information: www.digitalecon.org/seminar

1 2

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

Nice chart from @ourworldindata.org showing the contrast between what Americans die of (heart disease and cancer) v what the US media reports on (homicide and terrorism). This naturally leads to it being trickier to build a fact based world view
ourworldindata.org/does-the-new...

What Americans die from
and the causes of death the US media reports on
Causes of death in the US in 2023
Heart disease (29%)
Cancer (26%)
Accidents (9.5%)
Stroke (6.9%)
Lower respiratory diseases
(6.2%)
Alzheimer's disease (4.8%)
Diabetes (4.0%)
Kidney failure (2.4%)
Liver disease (2.2%)
Homicide (<1%)
Terrorism (<0.001%)|
COVID-19 (2.1%)
Influenza/Pneu
monia (19%6)

Media coverage of these causes of death in 2023 in...
The New York Times
The Washington Post
Fox News
Heart disease (2.8%)
Heart disease (2.9%)
Cancer (4.1%)
Cancer (4.7%)
Accidents (5.9%)
Cancer (3.8%)
Accidents (6.1%)
Accidents (9.7%)
Suicide (4.1%)
Suicide (3.3%)
COVID-19 (6.0%)
COVID-19 (7.9%)
Suicide (3.8%)
COVID-19 (5.3%)
Drug overdose (7.5%)
Drug overdose (9.8%)
Drug overdose (9.5%)
Cancer (26%)
Accidents (9.5%)
Stroke (6.9%)
Lower respiratory diseases
(6.2%)
Alzheimer's disease (4.8%)
Diabetes (4.0%)
Kidney failure (24%)
Suicide (2.1%0)
COVID-19 (2.1%0
Homicide (42%)
Homicide (52%)
Homicide (46%)
Terrorism (18%)
Terrorism (12%)
Terrorism (11%)
Homicide (<1%)
Terrorism (<0.001%)
Note: Based on the share of causes of death in the US and the share of mentions for each of the causes in the New York Times, the Washington Post and Fox News. All values are normalized to 100%, so the shares are relative to all deaths caused by the 12 most common causes + drug overdoses, homicides and terrorism. These causes account for more than 75% of deaths in the US.
A "media mention" is a published article in one of the outlets which mentions the cause (e,g. "influenza) or related keywords (e.g. "fu") least twice.
Data sources: Media mentions from Media Cloud (2025): deaths data from the US CDC (2025) and Global Terrorism Index.|
CC BY

6 71 140

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Joanna Bryson @j2bryson.bsky.social · 2d

Sense of sentience

I've revised my blogpost for people who have discovered AI "people"; hopefully it's better (more clear) this time joanna-bryson.blogspot.com/2025/09/sens... #AIEthics #AGI #genAI

Sense of sentience

artificial and natural intelligence, including politics, policy, ethics and security

joanna-bryson.blogspot.com

5 5

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Paul Hünermund @p-hunermund.com · 4d

And, therefore, there can also not be hierarchy of methods, because it depends on the specific case whether the assumptions are fulfilled.

Chelsea Parlett @chelseaparlett.bsky.social · 4d

It’s not the method that makes you causal it’s the assumptions

3 3 67

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Sander Tordoir @sandertordoir.bsky.social · 4d

If this goes through, Berlin, the Hague, Scandinavians and other frugals will take a hard line: insist that budget will be capped at 1% of GDP.

And they’ll be right: no need to be constructive if EU budget spending modernisation is dead.

EP will have done itself and the Union a disservice.

Sander Tordoir @sandertordoir.bsky.social · 4d

Mamma Mia.

To placate the farm lobby, the EPP is considering an amendment that would scupper the entire EU budget reform.

If agri gets an exemption from the EU budget overhaul, social and other spending categories follow and modernisation goes out the window.

A EPP disaster in the making.

8 28

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Olivier Simard-Casanova @o.simardcasanova.net · 4d

What is really happening with Bluesky and its moderation? A thread.

First, let’s use the accurate word to describe what Jay Graber (the CEO) and others at Bluesky have been receiving: it’s not criticism, it’s *harassment*

I’ve seen some of them being harassed for months by deranged people

1/

1 34 94

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Maximilian Kasy @maxkasy.bsky.social · 5d

🪅📕 The first paper copy has arrived! 📕🪅

#themeansofprediction

6 3 49

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

DigitalEcon.org @digitalecon.org · 6d

🚨 Coming up at #VIDEseminar: Pinar Yildirim (Wharton School) @profyildirim.bsky.social

“Artificial Intelligence in Team Dynamics: Who Gets Replaced and Why?”

🔜 Wed, October 8, 11am New York, 5pm Berlin. Open to anyone!

Further information: www.digitalecon.org/seminar

1 2

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Conrad Hackett @conradhackett.bsky.social · 9d

Attention Bluesky - @noupside.bsky.social & @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social say,

"To avoid irrelevance when they are needed most, experts & nonpartisan analysts must rethink not just their channels of communication but also their theory of influence."

Do you agree? What change is most important? 🧵🧪

Rachel Kleinfeld @rachelkleinfeld.bsky.social · 14d

People like me, who have spent a lifetime building credibility, face a real problem when most Americans no longer trust institutions. We need to face the new terms of trust for our expertise to matter. Renée DiResta@noUpside & I wrote this to explain why & how: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

For Expertise to Matter, Nonpartisan Institutions Need New Communications Strategies

To avoid irrelevance when they are needed most, experts and nonpartisan analysts must rethink not just their channels of communication but also their theory of influence.

carnegieendowment.org

4 10 29

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Olivier Simard-Casanova @o.simardcasanova.net · 19d

This is an excellent development – and the fact that the organization will be hosted in Switzerland and not in the US is even better

bryan newbold @bnewbold.net · 19d

excited to share that we are following through on our earlier commitments and putting together an independent+neutral organization to house the DID PLC system, includes the directory service

Creating an Independent Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Directory Organization | Bluesky

The Bluesky Social app is built on an open network protocol that refers to each user by a unique Decentralized Identifier, or DID (a W3C standard). The most popular supported DID method was developed ...

docs.bsky.app

12 28

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Jamie Cummins @jamiecummins.bsky.social · 20d

Can large language models stand in for human participants?
Many social scientists seem to think so, and are already using "silicon samples" in research.

One problem: depending on the analytic decisions made, you can basically get these samples to show any effect you want.

THREAD 🧵

The threat of analytic flexibility in using large language models to simulate human data: A call to attention

Social scientists are now using large language models to create "silicon samples" - synthetic datasets intended to stand in for human respondents, aimed at revolutionising human subjects research. How...

arxiv.org

12 150 330

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Johnny Ryan @johnnyryan.bsky.social · 20d

Competition enforcement protects democracy.

Europe's enforcers forgot this.

They thought it was "just a side dish" (@cristinacaffarra.bsky.social will remember which top EU enforcer made that daft remark)

The same goes for data protection enforcement.

We need our enforcers to enforce.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · Aug 31

Make no mistake, everything that’s happening in the United States is being significantly enabled by the right wing oligarch capture of media.

Every other country needs to do everything possible to keep that from happening where they are.

Including protecting the CBC from Poilievre here in Canada.

4 8 20

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Joel Wood 🇨🇦 @joelwwood.bsky.social · 23d

Whoa! Elsevier fired @richardtol.bsky.social, longstanding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Energy Economics. Richard's side of the story should be ringing alarm bells. #EconSky

Fraud and cover-up
richardtol.substack.com/p/fraud-and-...

Fraud and cover-up

richardtol.substack.com

4 44 91

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Kit Yates @kityates.bsky.social · 25d

Expect more silence from the Royal Society in the face of their most notorious fellow advocating for the overthrow of the democratically elected government of a country he is neither a citizen nor a resident of (yet he is a fellow of their most prestigious learned society).

13 220 570

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 25d

Can anyone explain why the Government is still doing most of its communications through a website whose owner is now openly rallying the far right to trigger a violent insurrection on our streets?

140 900 2.4K

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27d

🧵 The summer of 2025 has been AI's "cruel summer"—wrongful deaths, dangerous therapy chatbots, medical misinformation, facial recognition failures. These aren't isolated glitches but predictable harms from systems deployed without adequate oversight. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

An ELSI for AI: Learning from genetics to govern algorithms

In the United States, the summer of 2025 will be remembered as artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) cruel summer—a season when the unheeded risks and dangers of AI became undeniably clear. Recent months h...

www.science.org

5 120 290

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Maximilian Kasy @maxkasy.bsky.social · 25d

🎪 Official book launch party on Nov 3! 🎪
Presentation, discussion, music, and drinks at Reference.point in London.

Get your free tickets here, to reserve a slot:
www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launc...

cc @UChicagoPress.bsky.social @OxfordEconDept.bsky.social @INETOxford.bsky.social

Book Launch for The Means of Prediction by Maximilian Kasy

Maximilian Kasy in conversation with Noam Yuchtman to launch "The Means of Prediction: How AI Really Works (and Who Benefits)"

www.eventbrite.com

2 4 21

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Zach Liscow @zliscow.bsky.social · 26d

🚨NEW RESULTS (w/ Slattery & Nober)
- When gov't engineers retire, highway projects cost more: the engineers pay for themselves 6 times over
- Improving gov’t engineer quality from the 25th to 75th percentile reduces costs by 14%, equal to 3x avg. engineer pay

Paper: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

2 110 300

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Corporal Frisk @corporalfrisk.com · Jun 5

If this goes to SAMP/T and not Patriot, I think it’s safe to say we’ve seen the first major arms deal where Trump has been seen as a greater liability than the benefit of aligning with US equipment would have provided.

Hans Tino Hansen @hanstino.bsky.social · Jun 5

The 🇩🇰 minister of defence today declared that a decision about the first GBAD system will be made next week to be in operation already in 2026. This probably means that a country will offer one or two batteries on loan as a kick start. 🇳🇴 or 🇫🇷?

Hans Tino Hansen @hanstino.bsky.social · Mar 4

By the sound of things SAMP/T NG and NASAMS are now 🇩🇰favorites for long range and short range GBAD, respectively. This is a European pairing that could fulfil all criteria and possibly in the case of NASAMS a battery could be on loan from 🇳🇴 in the interim.

4 32 150

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

DigitalEcon.org @digitalecon.org · 26d

The Fall 2025 VIDE seminar schedule is up!

Further information and mailing list sign-up at: www.digitalecon.org

Schedule - Fall 2025

- Wednesday, September 3 - Jin-Hyuk Kim (Colorado Boulder)
Platform Screening, Investor Learning, and Default Risk in Marketplace Lending (with Peter Newberry and Nick Vikander)

- Wednesday, October 8 - Pinar Yildirim (U Penn Wharton)
TBD

- Wednesday, November 5 - Julie Holland Mortimer (Wash U)
The Effect of Ad-Supported Plans on Content Offerings of Streaming Platforms (with Sylvia Hristakeva, Ashwin Nair, and Yihao Yuan)

- Wednesday, December 3 - Jeff Prince (Indiana Business School)
TBD

1 3

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Christian Traxler @chtraxler.bsky.social · 27d

We're looking forward to hosting the opening of @bsoeberlin.bsky.social' acadmic year @hertieschool.bsky.social on October 8. To join us at this event, which includes (among others) a keynote by Michèle Tertilt on 'The Economics of Women’s Rights', register via👇
www.hertie-school.org/en/events/ev...

8 12

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

DIW Berlin @diw.de · 27d

Wir freuen uns auf den Start der @vfsecon.bsky.social-Jahrestagung und laden herzlich zu unserem Mittagsempfang mit einer Keynote von @bundesagentur.bsky.social-Vorständin Andrea Nahles ein! Los geht's am Montag, 15.9. ab 12:30 im Hörsaal B.
#VfS_Conf2025

Jahrestagung
des Vereins für Socialpolitik
September 2025
Sonntag
14
12:30
Raum S 11
(SG)
Mentoring Workshop for Women
Anna Bindler | DIW Berlin und Universität
Potsdam
12:30
Raum S 21
(SG)
Workshop: Practical Guidance for Open Science in Your Research
Levent Neyse | DIW Berlin und WZB
Montag
15
9:00
Raum S 65
(Phil)
Open Meeting A16: Health Systems & Aging
The Impact of Immigration on the Availability and Price of Long-term Care
Izabela Wnuk-Soares | DIW Berlin
12:30
Hörsaal B
(Hörsaalgebäude)
DIW Brown Bag Panel
Implikationen der industriellen Transformation für den Arbeitsmarkt
Keynote:
Andrea Nahles | Bundesagentur für Arbeit
Moderation:
Alexander Kritikos | DIW Berlin
Dienstag
16
9:00
Raum S 65
(Phil)
Open Meeting C16: Pensions, Aging and Retirement Planning
Policy Uncertainty, Misinformation, and Statutory Retirement Age Reform
Maximilian Blesch | DIW Berlin (Mit-Autor)
9:30
Raum S 55
(Phil)
Open Meeting C13: Macroeconomics I
The Macroeconomic Effects of Foreign Exchange Intervention
Malte Rieth | DIW Berlin und
Martin-Luther-University Halle Wittenberg
12:00
Raum S 23
(SG)
Open Meeting D08: Refugees and Integration Policies
Migration Aspirations and Knowledge about Legal Migration Opportunities
Yogam Tchokni | DIW Berlin (Mit-Autor)
15:30
Raum S 61
(Phil)
Open Meeting E13: Microeconomics of the Energy Transition I
Hedging as a Match-Maker: Unlocking Industrial Demand Flexibility for Renewable Energy Integration
Paula Niemöller | DIW Berlin
Leon Stolle | DIW Berlin (Mit-Autor)
Mittwoch
17
11:00
Raum S 16
(SG)
Open Meetingn G05: Monetary Policy II
Insulation through Credibility: Navigating US Monetary Spillovers
Gökhan Ider | DIW Berlin und FU Berlin
Mittagsempfang des DIW Berlin
mit einer Keynote von Andrea Nahles, Vorständin der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
Montag, 15. September um 12.30 Uhr im Hörsaalgebäude (Hörsaal B)

2 5

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 27d

Amazing how those democratic lawmakers who were hunted down in their homes in the middle of the night in Minnesota weren’t a watershed moment of political violence, huh?

Reuters @reuters.com · 27d

The assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk marks a watershed moment in a surge of US political violence, one that some experts fear will inflame an already-fractured country and inspire more unrest reut.rs/41PWH4l

Nation on edge: Experts warn of “vicious spiral" in political violence after Kirk killing

The assassination of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk marks a watershed moment in a surge of U.S. political violence, one that some experts fear will inflame an already-fractured country and inspire more unrest.

reut.rs

270 5.2K 19K

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 27d

There is, if you search for it, a group of morally bankrupt and historically illiterate people on here celebrating. What’s weird about Webb’s claim is that this is also true of X, where you can also see rightwing extremists doing the same, and crucially *you don’t have to search for either*.

Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 27d

Justin Webb just referred on Today to "platforms like Bluesky, where you can see the celebration of the killing" of Charlie Kirk.

What I'm seeing on here is overwhelming condemnation; despair at the violence of US politics; alarm at where this might go; & calls for equal horror at other shootings.

17 56 360

Reposted by Hannes Ullrich

Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 27d

As we speak, ppl whose humanity I cherish & often consider friends—from leftists to Islamists, LGBTQ activists to devout conservatives—lay murdered underground or in authoritarians’ prisons across the MENA region bc they dared to disagree.

Charlie mattered. Free debate matters. A 🧵 on an awful day:

8 11 35