UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social
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The Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility advances interdisciplinary research on the origins and nature of contemporary inequalities.
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ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Announcing the 2025-2026 Inequality Workshop schedule!
Join us throughout the academic year for dialogue and critical commentary on some of today’s most pressing issues.

Want early access? Sign up for our newsletter → bit.ly/4pxC2fC

#InequalityResearch #AcademicWorkshops #UChicago
Reposted by UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
What if the goal isn’t equal outcomes, but equal access? This week on the podcast, @durlauf.bsky.social and @fishkin.bsky.social discuss opportunity pluralism, meritocracy, and how political economy has shaped American democracy.
If you care about inequality, this is a must-listen → zurl.co/JRALG
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
@durlauf.bsky.social reviews two complementary books on economic history, How the World Became Rich & Slouching Towards Utopia. Both works cogently integrate contingent explanation and historical patterns in tracing the path of global growth.
Read his review → bit.ly/42WIenz
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Earlier this month, we hosted an authors' conference for the upcoming volume, "Whither Meritocracy?" published by the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.
Read the recap and preview what's to come → bit.ly/46VBKro
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
How do political dynasties impact development? Using election results and nightlight data from Punjab, Pakistan, researchers find that dynasties negatively impact growth, persisting by offering security instead of growth-enhancing goods.
Read it now → bit.ly/46GNKMp
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Alexander Monge-Naranjo has been researching the role of credit constraints in shaping educational attainment. He sits down with @durlauf.bsky.social to discuss how credit access matters for recent cohorts, whereas family resources were more determinative for earlier groups.
Listen → bit.ly/4nOXPxK
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
In a new paper, Coleman & Lukina re-examine assortative matching literature using new rank correlation measures. Contrary to previous results, they find that assortative matching actually rose from the 1960s through the 1980s to 2013, rather than flattening out.
Read their research→ bit.ly/4mqXDDH
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Announcing the 2025-2026 Inequality Workshop schedule!
Join us throughout the academic year for dialogue and critical commentary on some of today’s most pressing issues.

Want early access? Sign up for our newsletter → bit.ly/4pxC2fC

#InequalityResearch #AcademicWorkshops #UChicago
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Inter-province income/education inequality in China isn’t new; intra-province inequality might be. @butaevak.bsky.social & Park show that poorer provinces have higher inequality because of higher educational inequality, higher returns to schooling & lower average attainment. Read now→ bit.ly/3Vhf8Lz
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
"How much of the inequality we observe today can be predicted by inherited circumstances?”
This week on the podcast, Steven Durlauf is joined by Francisco Ferreira to explore how inherited inequality unfolds across countries and regions.
🎧 Hear the full conversation bit.ly/45XLHnV
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Looking for a part-time job that supports inequality research?

The Stone Center is hiring a Student Program Assistant! This is a great fit for students interested in research operations, policy, and communications. Apply now on Handshake or Grad Gargoyle!
Reposted by UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Aug 22
Exploring the role of social influences in majority language acquisition and language minorities and demonstrates complex comparative statics exist in such environments, from William A. Brock, Bo Chen, Steven N. Durlauf, and Shlomo Weber https://www.nber.org/papers/w34138
Reposted by UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Sep 2
Providing a general framework for understanding how trajectories of family income and family structure affect adult outcomes, from Yoosoon Chang, Steven N. Durlauf, Bo Hu, and Joon Park https://www.nber.org/papers/w34179
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Econ 101 usually sticks to perfect models. The CORE project (@coreecon.bsky.social) is trying to change that by tackling climate, inequality, innovation, and the future of work. This week’s podcast guest is reinventing how economics is taught—with free resources. Listen wherever you get podcasts!
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Differences in school quality are often blamed for academic achievement gaps between poor and affluent neighborhoods. A new paper uses ML to find that equalizing quality would reduce this gap by <10%, suggesting disparities stem mainly from structural factors.
Explore the findings → bit.ly/3VdIbQ1
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
New from the Stone Center!
How do we compare intergenerational mobility in countries undergoing structural economic shifts to those that aren’t?

Our affiliates take on this complex question in their latest paper.
nber.org
NBER @nber.org · Aug 19
Measuring intergenerational educational and occupational mobility in China and Russia during the transition to market economies, using new Markov chain methods, from Kristina Butaeva, Lian Chen, Steven N. Durlauf, and Albert Park https://www.nber.org/papers/w34124
Reposted by UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
laywilliams.bsky.social
Terrific @ucstonecenter.bsky.social Inequality Podcast with the brilliant Smith scholar, @nescio13.bsky.social, on Adam Smith's economic, moral, and political philosophy. Hosted by @durlauf.bsky.social. So glad that Steven, an esteemed economist, is reaching out this way to humanities scholars.
Eric Schliesser on Adam Smith’s Warnings About Inequality
Podcast Episode · The Inequality Podcast · 08/11/2025 · 39m
podcasts.apple.com
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Why do neighborhoods exhibit different intergenerational mobility patterns? Without proper decomposition, answers can diverge. Cholli et al. propose a generalized model that disentangles family selection from place effects—while accounting for sampling error.
Explore their findings → bit.ly/3V0v3O3
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Marx is best known for his critique of capitalism, but what does his work still offer today in understanding inequality, technology, and ideology?

At a recent panel hosted by the Stone Center, we brought together scholars to revisit his legacy.

📖 Dig into the full discussion → bit.ly/3UsbgXG
What Marx Still Offers to the Debate on Inequality - Stone Center
“We’re in the midst of crises and emerging crises. And so, recovering the actual Marx has a lot to speak to these issues.” Jaime Edwards Today, foundational thinkers like Karl […]
bit.ly
Reposted by UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility
Now the full episode at The Inequality Podcast @ucstonecenter.bsky.social with @durlauf.bsky.social, who is a very gracious host, and @nescio13.bsky.social mostly on Adam Smith, but also a bit on evidential practices in social science at the end.
open.spotify.com/episode/5L2X...
Eric Schliesser on Adam Smith’s Warnings About Inequality
The Inequality Podcast · Episode
open.spotify.com
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
Adam Smith is an economics legend, but what gets left out of modern conversations about this iconic thinker? Philosopher Eric Schliesser (@nescio13.bsky.social) unpacks Smith’s overlooked views on inequality and concentrated political power. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. bit.ly/3YdiCkj
ucstonecenter.bsky.social
How might rental advertisements reinforce residential segregation? This paper finds that Craigslist ads in mixed-income neighborhoods are significantly more likely to mention security measures, using rhetoric that emphasizes privacy and exclusion.
Read the research: bit.ly/40Zko9X