Steven Durlauf
durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf
@durlauf.bsky.social

Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, Director, Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility, University of Chicago

Steven Neil Durlauf is an American economist and social scientist. He is currently Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor and the inaugural Director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Durlauf was previously the William F. Vilas Research Professor and Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of 2021, is also a Part Time Professor at the New Economic School. .. more

Economics 66%
Sociology 10%

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

Meritocracy remains controversial yet increasingly central to policy debates. Evaluating it requires care: we must first define “merit” relative to social objectives, whether prospectively or retrospectively. @durlauf.bsky.social's latest essay offers ways to think about these issues→ bit.ly/3Y283jj
Meritocracy and Its Discontents
<p>In this essay, I outline some ways to think about meritocracy. I interpret <span>meritocracy as a constellation of claims about who deserves certain thi
bit.ly
Bravo! As deserved as it gets. Wendy Carlin is a treasure.
Following her fireside chat on the Future of Higher Education CEPR is proud to announce Wendy Carlin was awarded the Lifetime Service to the Profession for her contributions to The CORE Project, increasing access and changing the way economics is taught. Our heartfelt congratulations to Wendy!
Following her fireside chat on the Future of Higher Education CEPR is proud to announce Wendy Carlin was awarded the Lifetime Service to the Profession for her contributions to The CORE Project, increasing access and changing the way economics is taught. Our heartfelt congratulations to Wendy!

Thank you! The amazing work is in fact the extraordinary data sets you have constructed- a gamechanger for quantitative historical social science.

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

What can 13 minutes teach us about inequality? A lot, it turns out. @durlauf.bsky.social and @jadenreports.bsky.social cover wealth, education, and capitalism in a recent interview. Zoe Cobb, Stone Center staffer and youth voice, captures the key insights in a must-read summary → bit.ly/43ZFVke
Wealth Inequality and the U.S. Economy: Steven Durlauf with Youth Journalist, Jaden Jefferson - Stone Center
Stone Center Director Steven Durlauf sits down with award-winning youth journalist Jaden Jefferson to dive into a conversation about wealth inequality, educational attainment, and American capitalism....
bit.ly

9. Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, Volker Ullrich

8. What is Ancient History?, Walter Scheidel

7. The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life, Sophia Rosenfeld

6. The First Russian Revolution: The Decembrist Revolt of 1825, Susanna Rabow-Edling

5. The Revolutionary Self: Social Change and the Emergence of the Modern Individual, 1770-1800, Lynn Hunt

4. Crucibles of Power: Smolensk under Stalinist and Nazi Rule, Michael David-Fox

3. The German Empire, 1971-1918, Roger Chickering

2. Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent, Kim Bowes

9 favorite history books 2025.

1. Capitalism: A Global History, Sven Beckert

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

Shopping this Black Friday? Wondering how tariffs will affect prices? Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) tells KQ2 that while the impact might not hit consumers immediately, the long-term effects could be significant.
www.kq2.com/news/u-s-tar...
U.S. tariffs could cast shadow over holiday shopping season
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The busiest time of year for U.S. shoppers and retail consumers is right around the corner.
www.kq2.com

Fantastic opportunity!
Come and do a PhD at the #EUI! We are five professors in sociology, within the department of Political and Social Sciences. Social stratification, education, family demography, analytical sociology, experimental sociology, it’s all here!
🚨 Applications Now Open for the EUI PhD Programmes 2026-2027!

📊 Economics |⚖️ Law |📘 History | 🏛 Political and Social Sciences

Join the EUI's 50th PhD cohort!

Apply by 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) for the academic journey of a lifetime! 👉: eui.eu/phd

#EUIPhD #PhDOpportunity
Come and do a PhD at the #EUI! We are five professors in sociology, within the department of Political and Social Sciences. Social stratification, education, family demography, analytical sociology, experimental sociology, it’s all here!
🚨 Applications Now Open for the EUI PhD Programmes 2026-2027!

📊 Economics |⚖️ Law |📘 History | 🏛 Political and Social Sciences

Join the EUI's 50th PhD cohort!

Apply by 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) for the academic journey of a lifetime! 👉: eui.eu/phd

#EUIPhD #PhDOpportunity

Thank you!

In contrast, I emphasized what I believe are unique types of distributional instabilities that can arise in growing societies, specifically as technical change occurs. And I questioned whether the selection mechanisms Sam described well capture history.

Sam's remarks were optimistic. He emphasized capacities of societies to act to reduce inequality and goes so far as to suggest that, in the spirit of Talcott Parson's evolutionary universals, more egalitarian societies are selected for over time.

Reposted by David Brady

Delighted to post this recording of my public conversation with Sam Bowles, moderated by @ethanbdm.bsky.social,
on Why Economic Inequalities Endure.

Our discussion ranges from the distant past to speculation on how AI will affect future inequality.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG0C...
UChicago Stone Center | Why Economic Inequalities Endure
YouTube video by Harris Public Policy
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

It's not a perfect analogy but I've been thinking about this 1792 cartoon ever since I saw yesterday's photo

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

Sam's thinking has also evolved in deep ways over time. His incredible interest in all domains of social science and his complete comfort in adapting his thinking are another type of courage.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

Sam's dedication to understanding inequality and his particular modes of analysis were deeply controversial in the early parts of his career. This courage in challenging conventional paradigms regardless of professional cost are well known.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

In my opinion, there is no economist who has contributed more to understanding inequality in the last 60 years than Sam Bowles.
Honored to introduce Samuel Bowles Public Lecture The Origin and Future of Inequality, part of 3 days organized by
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social.

Sam has been an inspiration, both intellectually and morally to me, as well as to so many in the profession.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-9...
UChicago Stone Center | The Origin and Future of Economic Inequality by Samuel Bowles
YouTube video by Harris Public Policy
www.youtube.com

Great paper with important implications for understanding life cycle inequalities. For example, one can see how strong memory of in labor market trajectories can lead to amplification of the experience of early career discrimination. Recommended!
nber.org NBER @nber.org · Nov 15
Studying the causal effect of different early career occupational experiences on labor market outcomes, from @jessebruhn.bsky.social, Jacob Fabian, Luke Gallagher, Matthew Gudgeon, Adam Isen, and Aaron R. Phipps www.nber.org/papers/w34463

Very pleased that this interesting conversation between Doug Downey and @gtwodtke.bsky.social on schools and inequality has posted.
Doug Downey wants to convince you that schools actually reduce inequality, not expand it. In his conversation with @gtwodtke.bsky.social, they examine how the education system likely compensates for SES gaps and why school reforms are a band-aid fix to root problems.
Listen now → bit.ly/48nPLij

Thank you @aeacswep.bsky.social.

Who will follow and do the right thing?
CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.
CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.