Pepper Culpepper
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pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper
@pculpepper.bsky.social
1.4K followers 320 following 260 posts

Professor of Government and Public Policy, University of Oxford; Co-author of Billionaire Backlash; prone to Sisyphean cycling follies

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Pepper Dagenhart Culpepper is an American political scientist.

Source: Wikipedia
Political science 43%
Economics 30%
Posts Replies Media Videos

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 1d
On the 12th day of Christmas, 2900 billionaires gave to me:
12 markets cornered,
11 rivals buried,
10 laws rewritten,
9 judges purchased,
8 unions busted,
7 watchdogs sleeping,
6 patents hoarded,
5 regulators captured,
4 offshore trusts,
3 branches of govt,
2 corrupted parties,
And a democracy, LLC
wsj.com The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 2d
The total number of billionaires across the globe reached new heights in 2025.

🔗 Read more: on.wsj.com/4sdw0Ss

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Pepper D. Culpepper, David Darmofal

stephenwest.bsky.social
Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 1d
"About a third of the walls are now covered in gold — appliqués, frames or other decorations, a Times analysis showed."
A 3-D Look Inside Trump’s Revamped Oval Office (Gift Article)
Take a 3-D tour of the president’s office, where he covered more than a third of wall space with gold.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

mijrahman.bsky.social
Mujtaba Rahman @mijrahman.bsky.social · 2d
Well said @ec.europa.eu

“The EU is an open, rules-based single market, with the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments”

www.ft.com/content/c4e7...
US bars former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and others over tech rules
France hits out at visa sanctions as Washington targets what it calls the ‘global censorship-industrial complex’
www.ft.com

Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

wsj.com
The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 2d
The total number of billionaires across the globe reached new heights in 2025.

🔗 Read more: on.wsj.com/4sdw0Ss

Reposted by Daniel Ziblatt, Anna O. Law, Jan W. Mueller , and 9 more

annagbusse.bsky.social
Anna Grzymala-Busse @annagbusse.bsky.social · 2d
Just in time for Christmas: a great interview with an absolute legend.

Theda Skocpol and Edwin Amenta on her career, US politics, the erosion of democracy, and most of all, what to do about it.

sociologica.unibo.it/article/view...
View of Theda Skocpol in Conversation with Edwin Amenta on Sociology, Political Science, Higher Education, and U.S. Politics | Sociologica
sociologica.unibo.it

Reposted by Pepper D. Culpepper

blavatnikschool.bsky.social
Blavatnik School of Government @blavatnikschool.bsky.social · 3d
EVENT: Blavatnik Book Launch: Billionaire Backlash

Join Vice Dean Prof Pepper Culpepper for a conversation on the surprising story of how corporate scandals can change the way the world works for the better.

📆 29 Jan, 5:30pm

Register ⬇️
https://ow.ly/XPfm50XN2Uc

Reposted by Martin Gaynor, Shawn Graham, James Grimmelmann , and 6 more

helenkennedy.bsky.social
Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.bsky.social · 3d
The 60 Minutes piece on the Trump Administration’s torture prison that Bari Weiss doesn’t want you to see has leaked.

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 5d
Legacy media is challenged by the fragmentation of the media landscape. But many people still get their news there. It’s less like a nursing home than a rehab facility post-trauma. Trusted news sources are the lifeblood of democracy. It would be a mistake to let concentration strangle them.

Reposted by Victor Pickard, Jack Stilgoe

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 5d
Political scientists should pay attention to concentration of media ownership as a key challenge for democracy.

Reposted by Greg Linden, Pepper D. Culpepper

victorpickard.bsky.social
Victor Pickard @victorpickard.bsky.social · 5d
Excellent piece by @sulliview.bsky.social in @theguardian.com. Grateful that she references our recent @rooseveltinstitute.org report on the media crises facing US democracy. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The tug-of-war over CNN shows how dysfunctional US media has become | Margaret Sullivan
The network’s fate has become a battle of corporate ownership, not a question of what benefits Americans
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Stephen M. Walt

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 11d
People will shrug their shoulders so long as nothing goes wrong with a big crypto firm. But if there is a crypto crash or a crypto scandal, this will help the public establish clear accountability. As Harry Truman said, “The bitcoin stops here.” Kudos to @seamushughes.bsky.social and colleagues.
kenvogel.bsky.social Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 11d
Under Trump, the SEC has eased up on more than 60% of the crypto cases that were ongoing when he took office in January.

Many of the firms that benefited from the leniency had financial ties to the Trump family.

The SEC is no longer pursuing any cases against crypto firms with Trump ties.
The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Fabián Muniesa, Alan Richardson, Prokla Redaktion , and 1 more

kenvogel.bsky.social
Ken Vogel @kenvogel.bsky.social · 11d
Under Trump, the SEC has eased up on more than 60% of the crypto cases that were ongoing when he took office in January.

Many of the firms that benefited from the leniency had financial ties to the Trump family.

The SEC is no longer pursuing any cases against crypto firms with Trump ties.
The S.E.C. Was Tough on Crypto. It Pulled Back After Trump Returned to Office.
www.nytimes.com

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 15d
This is the bee’s knees.
kjhealy.co Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 15d
Or there’s also this. I am full of helpful explications. kieranhealy.org/blog/archive...

Reposted by David Papineau, Alistair Munro, Hisham Zerriffi , and 1 more

kjhealy.co
Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 15d
Or there’s also this. I am full of helpful explications. kieranhealy.org/blog/archive...
Network Analyst - Once rare, now forms giant swarms - Has no concept of what endogeneity is - Working on cool new measure of centrality - Constantly trying to migrate to West Coast Political Theorist - Oldest of all bee-like creatures - Can be repeatedly swatted but not killed - Not sure why it is in this picture - Can waggle-dance the Melian Dialog a comprehensive guide to Social Scientists Sociologist - Lives behind paywalls - Has no concept of what endogeneity is - Can only sting enemies once - Will sting self repeatedly Macroeconomist - Ideas should not be able to fly - Makes living from endogeneity - Constant buzzing sound - Comes in Salt and Freshwater varieties Political Scientist - Evolved stripes to look like Microeconomist - Actually quite harmless; even friendly - Gelman knows what endogeneity is - Secretly pines for social-democratic hive Microeconomist - Interrupts constantly, wants to sting you - Endogeneity is only concept it knows - Insists it is smartest bee - Not a real bee Anthropologist - Comes in four distinct varieties - Rejects "Bee" label as imperialist - Only exists because of imperialism - Used to know a surprising amount of math Social Psychologist - Feeds on Undergraduates - Stings journalists - Underpowered in flight - Drags rear pod of retractions

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 19d
Insightful post by @adambonica.bsky.social on money in politics. We disagree on the details — example of Dodd Frank as a lobbying win is a weird read, and corporations vs individuals underplayed (how well did the crypto industry do on its investment in Trump? Very). But great summary of what we know
Money Doesn't Buy Elections. It Does Something Worse.
Campaign ads barely move the needle. The real influence is hiding in plain sight.
data4democracy.substack.com

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 20d
Excellent and important piece on the Supreme Court and public opinion by @peterenns.bsky.social and Patrick Wohlfarth.
verasight.io Verasight @verasight.io · 20d
We are proud to share a new op-ed in the LA Times by our co-founder and chief data scientist, @peterenns.bsky.social, written with Patrick Wohlfarth. Drawing on decades of data, they show how this departure has contributed to declining confidence in the court.

Reposted by Peter K. Enns, Pepper D. Culpepper

verasight.io
Verasight @verasight.io · 20d
We are proud to share a new op-ed in the LA Times by our co-founder and chief data scientist, @peterenns.bsky.social, written with Patrick Wohlfarth. Drawing on decades of data, they show how this departure has contributed to declining confidence in the court.

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 22d
What an unusual route to becoming a savvy stock picker.
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 23d
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts

www.nber.org/papers/w34524

via @florianederer.bsky.social
"Captain Gains" on Capitol Hill Shang-Jin Wei & Yifan Zhou WORKING PAPER 34524 DOI 10.3386/w34524 ISSUE DATE November 2025 Using transaction-level data on US congressional stock trades, we find that lawmakers who later ascend to leadership positions perform similarly to matched peers beforehand but outperform them by 47 percentage points annually after ascension. Leaders' superior performance arises through two mechanisms. The political influence channel is reflected in higher returns when their party controls the chamber, sales of stocks preceding regulatory actions, and purchase of stocks whose firms receiving more government contracts and favorable party support on bills. The corporate access channel is reflected in stock trades that predict subsequent corporate news and greater returns on donor-owned or home-state firms. 令 1 1 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 Year Figure 2: Estimated dynamic quasi-difference-in-differences coefficient, di, of equation(3), with vertical dashed lines representing 90 percent confidence intervals. The point estimate of the year in which the lawmaker became a congressional leader (Year 0) is normalized to zero. BHAR over the 250 days following each trade is the dependent variable and calculated using the Fama-French five-factor plus momentum as the benchmark model.

Reposted by Archon Fung, Richard S.J. Tol, Nicholas A. Christakis , and 22 more

jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 23d
After becoming a congressional leader, a politician’s stock portfolio beats out those of peers by 47 (!!!) percentage points a year through trades timed around bills and firms that later get government contracts

www.nber.org/papers/w34524

via @florianederer.bsky.social
"Captain Gains" on Capitol Hill Shang-Jin Wei & Yifan Zhou WORKING PAPER 34524 DOI 10.3386/w34524 ISSUE DATE November 2025 Using transaction-level data on US congressional stock trades, we find that lawmakers who later ascend to leadership positions perform similarly to matched peers beforehand but outperform them by 47 percentage points annually after ascension. Leaders' superior performance arises through two mechanisms. The political influence channel is reflected in higher returns when their party controls the chamber, sales of stocks preceding regulatory actions, and purchase of stocks whose firms receiving more government contracts and favorable party support on bills. The corporate access channel is reflected in stock trades that predict subsequent corporate news and greater returns on donor-owned or home-state firms. 令 1 1 -9 -8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 Year Figure 2: Estimated dynamic quasi-difference-in-differences coefficient, di, of equation(3), with vertical dashed lines representing 90 percent confidence intervals. The point estimate of the year in which the lawmaker became a congressional leader (Year 0) is normalized to zero. BHAR over the 250 days following each trade is the dependent variable and calculated using the Fama-French five-factor plus momentum as the benchmark model.

Reposted by Robb Willer, John McLaren, Alan Richardson , and 5 more

theonion.com
The Onion @theonion.com · 24d
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
BOSTON—Stressing that the move would help keep digital currencies liquid through the coming year, crypto leaders called for an infusion of 20 million dopes Thursday to stabilize the market. “We’re cal...
theonion.com

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 25d
If only. Likely too political for that. Steve Bannon is up in arms, but is Fox News? That will be the test of whether it can break through.

Reposted by Archon Fung

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 25d
Ask yourself how bad it’s got to be for conflict of interest in the current administration to be a page one story. Answer below.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 26d
Five-byline alert: 🚨

David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis

“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 25d
Worth reading for its bons mots alone: ‘Oxbridge levels of fake self-deprecation’ and ‘an American tourist rummaging through a European intellectual antiquities store’ 🤣
lrb.co.uk London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 25d
‘Posner and Vermeule argued that “public opinion” would act as the ultimate constraint on a wayward president. That seemed a tad naïve.’

@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jan-Werner Müller · Caesar wept: Trolling the Libs
All post-liberals have at one point or another declared themselves anti-libertarian. Why is it, then, that once in power...
www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Jan W. Mueller, Pepper D. Culpepper

lrb.co.uk
London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 25d
‘Posner and Vermeule argued that “public opinion” would act as the ultimate constraint on a wayward president. That seemed a tad naïve.’

@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social on post-liberal political theory.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jan-Werner Müller · Caesar wept: Trolling the Libs
All post-liberals have at one point or another declared themselves anti-libertarian. Why is it, then, that once in power...
www.lrb.co.uk

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 25d
💯

Reposted by Georg Weizsäcker

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 25d
When big banks worry that something will look like a bribe, you have to ask, why don’t Amazon and the others think about this?
acyn.bsky.social Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 26d
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Fabián Muniesa, Pepper D. Culpepper , and 1 more

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 26d
Five-byline alert: 🚨

David Sacks “has 708 tech investments .. that could be aided directly or indirectly by his policies, according to a New York Times analysis

“The tech bros are out of control,” said Steve Bannon.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 16 more

acyn.bsky.social
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 26d
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.

Reposted by Robert Wolfe, Pepper D. Culpepper

timbale.bsky.social
Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 28d
If you're lucky enough to be able to read the @financialtimes.com these evidence-based conversations between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and @sarahoconnorft.ft.com are particularly fascinating. Here's the latest.
The AI Shift: Is AI about to break polling?
Online surveys are susceptible to bogus respondents and synthetic samples warrant scepticism
www.ft.com

pculpepper.bsky.social
Pepper Culpepper @pculpepper.bsky.social · 29d
Suggestion for series name, if you specialize a bit more: Political Economy of Public Policy and Economic Regulation. Then you can call them PEPPER talks.