Melanie
@melaniek.bsky.social
Labor and Development Economist, Wesleyan University, IZA
Reposted by Melanie
This week's links include a mini-symposium on power calculations, what makes for good descriptive work, publishing tips for econometrics, making nice dot charts, and more... blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...
Weekly links October 17: statistical power, good descriptives, nice graphs, publishing metrics, and more…
blogs.worldbank.org
October 17, 2025 at 12:43 PM
This week's links include a mini-symposium on power calculations, what makes for good descriptive work, publishing tips for econometrics, making nice dot charts, and more... blogs.worldbank.org/en/impacteva...
Reposted by Melanie
I’m really feeling for the new PhDs hitting the market this year. 😭 I don’t have much good advice, but if it would be helpful to see my materials or chat, reach out!
They’re getting a little old at this point, but I’ve got a Dropbox full of my job market materials that I’m happy to share, esp. with econ of ed folks!
Also happy to chat about jobs that emphasize both research & teaching (R2s, LACs, etc.)
Just shoot me an email or DM! #econsky
Also happy to chat about jobs that emphasize both research & teaching (R2s, LACs, etc.)
Just shoot me an email or DM! #econsky
If we're heading into summer that means academic job market season is looming. As a reminder, my collected tips are here (along with my standing offer to set up time to chat with folks): www.paul-bruno.com/2021/07/tips...
September 21, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I’m really feeling for the new PhDs hitting the market this year. 😭 I don’t have much good advice, but if it would be helpful to see my materials or chat, reach out!
Reposted by Melanie
"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Censorship Is the Authoritarian’s Dream
The right to free expression must include the right to say horrible and evil things.
www.insidehighered.com
September 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM
"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history."
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Reposted by Melanie
Forthcoming in the AER: "Changing Income Risk across the US Skill Distribution: Evidence from a Generalized Kalman Filter" by J. Carter Braxton, Kyle Herkenhoff, Jonathan Rothbaum, and Lawrence Schmidt. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Changing Income Risk across the US Skill Distribution: Evidence from a Generalized Kalman Filter
(Forthcoming Article) - For whom has earnings risk changed, and why? We answer these questions by combining
the Kalman filter and EM-algorithm to estimate persistent and temporary earnings
for every i...
www.aeaweb.org
September 9, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Forthcoming in the AER: "Changing Income Risk across the US Skill Distribution: Evidence from a Generalized Kalman Filter" by J. Carter Braxton, Kyle Herkenhoff, Jonathan Rothbaum, and Lawrence Schmidt. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Reposted by Melanie
Why do you appreciate unions?
I’ll start:
Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits
I’ll start:
Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits
August 31, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Why do you appreciate unions?
I’ll start:
Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits
I’ll start:
Weekends off
Paid vacations
Work breaks
Sick leave
Paid holidays
No child labor
Safer working conditions
Health care and retirement benefits
Reposted by Melanie
I'm just glad one of these men has the nuclear codes and the other has all our personal data.
June 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
I'm just glad one of these men has the nuclear codes and the other has all our personal data.
Reposted by Melanie
Reposted by Melanie
When the moment came, Harvard didn’t hedge or flinch—it stood up. A reminder that integrity isn’t complicated, it’s just rare.
April 24, 2025 at 8:51 PM
When the moment came, Harvard didn’t hedge or flinch—it stood up. A reminder that integrity isn’t complicated, it’s just rare.
Reposted by Melanie
Reposted by Melanie
Congratulations to Stefanie Stantcheva (@s-stantcheva.bsky.social) of @harvard.edu, winner of the 2025 John Bates Clark Medal! #econsky www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/ho...
Stefanie Stantcheva, Clark Medalist 2025
www.aeaweb.org
April 22, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Congratulations to Stefanie Stantcheva (@s-stantcheva.bsky.social) of @harvard.edu, winner of the 2025 John Bates Clark Medal! #econsky www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/ho...
Reposted by Melanie
Hop-portunity costs, tariffs, and bunny suit economics.
April 20, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Hop-portunity costs, tariffs, and bunny suit economics.
Reposted by Melanie
There is a traditional introduction at the econ seminars at Wesleyan: Educated at X, Trained at Y.
Proud of both my X and Y today. Keep fighting
Proud of both my X and Y today. Keep fighting
It started with Wesleyan, as everyone acknowledges.
April 15, 2025 at 1:06 AM
There is a traditional introduction at the econ seminars at Wesleyan: Educated at X, Trained at Y.
Proud of both my X and Y today. Keep fighting
Proud of both my X and Y today. Keep fighting
Reposted by Melanie
I’ve gotten used to not knowing what tariffs are going to be in the near future, but not knowing what tariffs are *in the present* is an interesting plot twist
April 13, 2025 at 9:42 PM
I’ve gotten used to not knowing what tariffs are going to be in the near future, but not knowing what tariffs are *in the present* is an interesting plot twist
Reposted by Melanie
A serious question: Is Trump doing this just so politically-connected investors can profit from insider trading, or is that merely a side benefit?
April 9, 2025 at 9:33 PM
A serious question: Is Trump doing this just so politically-connected investors can profit from insider trading, or is that merely a side benefit?
Reposted by Melanie
March 28, 2025 at 5:28 AM
Reposted by Melanie
Reposted by Melanie
They’re removing specific ADA guidelines because of “Cost of Living” concerns. This harkens back to some of the original arguments against the ADA and Section 504 when it was introduced - that accommodations and access were prohibitively expensive.
Justice department removes disability guidelines for US businesses | Trump administration | The Guardian www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Justice department removes disability guidelines for US businesses
Multiple pages scrubbed from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) website due to a Trump order
www.theguardian.com
March 21, 2025 at 1:55 AM
They’re removing specific ADA guidelines because of “Cost of Living” concerns. This harkens back to some of the original arguments against the ADA and Section 504 when it was introduced - that accommodations and access were prohibitively expensive.
Reposted by Melanie
“I did not put my life on the line for some tech bro billionaire from South Africa to come in here and try to destroy our country...”
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
Veterans’ group unveils new ad targeting Musk and DOGE, raising 2026 stakes
“I did not put my life on the line for some tech bro billionaire from South Africa to come in here and try to destroy our country,” one U.S. veteran said.
www.msnbc.com
March 19, 2025 at 7:31 PM
“I did not put my life on the line for some tech bro billionaire from South Africa to come in here and try to destroy our country...”
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
Reposted by Melanie
The New Concert of Powers
March 18, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The New Concert of Powers
Reposted by Melanie
"What we are seeing at Columbia is unprecedented: the federal government forcing an academic institution to acquiesce to its ideological beliefs."
— Isaac Kamola, director of the AAUP's Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on CNN today.
— Isaac Kamola, director of the AAUP's Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on CNN today.
March 17, 2025 at 3:23 AM
"What we are seeing at Columbia is unprecedented: the federal government forcing an academic institution to acquiesce to its ideological beliefs."
— Isaac Kamola, director of the AAUP's Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on CNN today.
— Isaac Kamola, director of the AAUP's Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom on CNN today.
Reposted by Melanie
Just received this from Yale. It would be useful for students to have a tutorial on what they are allowed to say, and what they're not allowed to say.
March 16, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Just received this from Yale. It would be useful for students to have a tutorial on what they are allowed to say, and what they're not allowed to say.
Reposted by Melanie
This is insane
ICE stripped a German green card holder naked, drove him from Boston to Vermont to Rhode Island, put him in a cold shower, deprived him of medication, sleep and food until he collapsed.
No one knows why he was detained.
No one knows why he was detained.
Green card holder from New Hampshire 'interrogated' at Logan Airport, detained
Fabian Schmidt’s family said they are unsure of why he is being held. They said he has a recently renewed green card, and no active issues in court.
www.nhpr.org
March 15, 2025 at 6:18 PM
This is insane
Reposted by Melanie
If you have research dependent on these data here is my suggestion
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
Research with restricted-use data is more precise, powerful, and relevant. Faculty and staff will be working through the weekend to answer important research questions before we no longer can. This is not normal, necessary, or efficient.
AERA has just learned that all restricted-use NCES data licenses will be cancelled, possibly as early as March 20. We urgently request that all AERA members and others in the research community with restricted-use licenses take these two actions: www.aera.net/Research-Pol...
March 15, 2025 at 12:21 AM
If you have research dependent on these data here is my suggestion
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
1/N
Big picture:
Create a dataset of cell means (cells must be big enough to pass disclosure)
- load these cell means into many, many tables & put through review
-These cell means can then be used in OLS - which runs on means
Reposted by Melanie
Dofile and datasets to replicate our empirical applications in Chapters 3 and 4 are available from SSC:
ssc desc cc_xd_didtextbook
net get cc_xd_didtextbook
ssc desc cc_xd_didtextbook
net get cc_xd_didtextbook
March 12, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Dofile and datasets to replicate our empirical applications in Chapters 3 and 4 are available from SSC:
ssc desc cc_xd_didtextbook
net get cc_xd_didtextbook
ssc desc cc_xd_didtextbook
net get cc_xd_didtextbook
Reposted by Melanie
Households in counties that had high Liberty Bond participation during World War I had higher stock ownership and more favorable opinions towards retirement saving in later decades, from Gillian Brunet, Eric Hilt, and Matthew S. Jaremski https://www.nber.org/papers/w33541
March 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Households in counties that had high Liberty Bond participation during World War I had higher stock ownership and more favorable opinions towards retirement saving in later decades, from Gillian Brunet, Eric Hilt, and Matthew S. Jaremski https://www.nber.org/papers/w33541