Renaud Foucart
@rfoucart.bsky.social
Economist at Lancaster University. IO, public policy, environment, experiments. Formerly ULB Bruxelles, Nuffield College, HU Berlin and Nottingham U.
renaudfoucart.com
renaudfoucart.com
"If you put an infinite number of the complete works of Shakespeare in a room, it will produce a single monkey"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Inside an AI start-up’s plan to scan and dispose of millions of books
Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:52 AM
"If you put an infinite number of the complete works of Shakespeare in a room, it will produce a single monkey"
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
Just went on @france24.com to discuss how the French built a majority for the budget by all pretending to be in the opposition. (And to gossip about all the drama in the election for Paris mayor) www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...
A week in France - French Prime Minister survives two no confidence votes
On Friday - the French Prime Minister survived not one - but two no confidence motions in Parliament. Both the far-left and the far-right were unhappy that Sebastien LeCornu forced through the income…
www.france24.com
January 24, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Just went on @france24.com to discuss how the French built a majority for the budget by all pretending to be in the opposition. (And to gossip about all the drama in the election for Paris mayor) www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...
I wrote a piece in @uk.theconversation.com in the simplest words I know to explain to your grandma why, 3 years after chatGPT, employment remains at record low. And why what matters is how AI will affect how much of the money workers get, and how it is shared theconversation.com/why-ai-has-n...
Why AI has not led to mass unemployment
Slow revolutions give people time to adjust.
theconversation.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:43 PM
I wrote a piece in @uk.theconversation.com in the simplest words I know to explain to your grandma why, 3 years after chatGPT, employment remains at record low. And why what matters is how AI will affect how much of the money workers get, and how it is shared theconversation.com/why-ai-has-n...
Results of the new CfD allocation round is out. Is £91.20/MWh a burden that will impede electricity prices to go down, or an insurance that saves us when the next war bring prices up?
In ten years, a lot of people will shout "I told you so." Ignore them.
In ten years, a lot of people will shout "I told you so." Ignore them.
January 14, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Results of the new CfD allocation round is out. Is £91.20/MWh a burden that will impede electricity prices to go down, or an insurance that saves us when the next war bring prices up?
In ten years, a lot of people will shout "I told you so." Ignore them.
In ten years, a lot of people will shout "I told you so." Ignore them.
Not always a fan of the Guardian often sensasionalist science coverage, but this is the kind of moment when you can tell who is still in the realm of normal debate, and who is full on propaganda.
Well done to the Guardian
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Well done to the Guardian
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discovery of microplastics throughout human body
Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Not always a fan of the Guardian often sensasionalist science coverage, but this is the kind of moment when you can tell who is still in the realm of normal debate, and who is full on propaganda.
Well done to the Guardian
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Well done to the Guardian
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
No one will kill you in London, but if your phone is stolen the police will not look for it
London is young, vibrant, people take the risk
The rest of the country is increasingly old and scared, they hate it
Don't think it's much more complicated than that
London is young, vibrant, people take the risk
The rest of the country is increasingly old and scared, they hate it
Don't think it's much more complicated than that
January 12, 2026 at 10:16 AM
No one will kill you in London, but if your phone is stolen the police will not look for it
London is young, vibrant, people take the risk
The rest of the country is increasingly old and scared, they hate it
Don't think it's much more complicated than that
London is young, vibrant, people take the risk
The rest of the country is increasingly old and scared, they hate it
Don't think it's much more complicated than that
Being lost in a city
Without revealing your actual age,what's something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?
January 9, 2026 at 11:09 AM
Being lost in a city
I was on Fr24 yesterday to discuss why French farmers are so poor when CAP is 25% of the EU budget and France #1 recipient -- and why it matters so much for the EU to sign trade deals to exist outside of the US-China bipolar world (Mercosur today, India in the coming weeks)
January 9, 2026 at 11:07 AM
I was on Fr24 yesterday to discuss why French farmers are so poor when CAP is 25% of the EU budget and France #1 recipient -- and why it matters so much for the EU to sign trade deals to exist outside of the US-China bipolar world (Mercosur today, India in the coming weeks)
MTurker urgently need to pay for a premium version of Claude in order to provide credible answers to qualitative studies
“These findings provide clear evidence that data collected on MTurk simply cannot be trusted.”
January 8, 2026 at 9:35 PM
MTurker urgently need to pay for a premium version of Claude in order to provide credible answers to qualitative studies
Reposted by Renaud Foucart
new vox dev piece on our recent RCT to counter misinformation in classrooms in india:
🆕 Countering misinformation in the classroom
Today on VoxDev w/ @priyadarshi-amar.bsky.social (@uc3m.es @ic3jm.bsky.social), @sumitra.bsky.social (@ausis.bsky.social), @simonchauchard.bsky.social & Florian Sichart (@princetonpolitics.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/educat...
Today on VoxDev w/ @priyadarshi-amar.bsky.social (@uc3m.es @ic3jm.bsky.social), @sumitra.bsky.social (@ausis.bsky.social), @simonchauchard.bsky.social & Florian Sichart (@princetonpolitics.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/educat...
Countering misinformation in the classroom
Sustained, classroom-based media literacy improved the ability of teenagers in rural India to resist misinformation. The effects are large, lasting – and even spill over to parents.
voxdev.org
January 7, 2026 at 1:58 PM
new vox dev piece on our recent RCT to counter misinformation in classrooms in india:
Reposted by Renaud Foucart
At the University of Alabama at Birmingham we had students protesting the module on evolutionary game theory on religious grounds. So we renamed it "the dynamic theory of games" and the students were none the wiser. >
So glad we got rid of cancel culture though
Texas A&M actually tells a philosophy professor he may not teach Plato.
January 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM
At the University of Alabama at Birmingham we had students protesting the module on evolutionary game theory on religious grounds. So we renamed it "the dynamic theory of games" and the students were none the wiser. >
Too bad -- I often think most of today's incel philosophy is just re-heated Pausanias from Plato's symposium
January 7, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Too bad -- I often think most of today's incel philosophy is just re-heated Pausanias from Plato's symposium
My attempt to explain a country with the population density of the Netherlands and the urban choices of Arlington, Texas, who also happens to care about inclusion and ends up bringing kids to school in taxis and giving cars to 860,000 disabled people because that's the only way to give autonomy
December 4, 2025 at 8:32 PM
My attempt to explain a country with the population density of the Netherlands and the urban choices of Arlington, Texas, who also happens to care about inclusion and ends up bringing kids to school in taxis and giving cars to 860,000 disabled people because that's the only way to give autonomy
Reposted by Renaud Foucart
These are the conversations the UK still refuses to have.
The three spectres hanging over Rachel Reeves’ make-or-break budget
These are the conversations the UK still refuses to have.
tcnv.link
November 24, 2025 at 6:07 PM
These are the conversations the UK still refuses to have.
My preface to the UK budget in The Conversation about three things no one is talking about: the Covid debt, the energy support scheme, and Brexit. Three political choices that we treat as shocks and refuse to discuss to avoid sounding awkward.
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
The three spectres hanging over Rachel Reeves’ make-or-break budget
These are the conversations the UK still refuses to have.
theconversation.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:16 PM
My preface to the UK budget in The Conversation about three things no one is talking about: the Covid debt, the energy support scheme, and Brexit. Three political choices that we treat as shocks and refuse to discuss to avoid sounding awkward.
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
theconversation.com/the-three-sp...
I wrote about electricity prices in the UK in @uk.theconversation.com
theconversation.com/why-electric...
theconversation.com/why-electric...
Why electricity costs so much in the UK (it’s not all about the weather)
Many countries in Europe pay much less for their energy.
theconversation.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:21 AM
I wrote about electricity prices in the UK in @uk.theconversation.com
theconversation.com/why-electric...
theconversation.com/why-electric...
- high gas prices have driven up the price of electricity
- consumers pay surcharges on their bills to develop renewables
- renewables lower the price of electricity
- nuclear is complicated
- The UK has less sun than Spain.
Me in @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/why-electric...
- consumers pay surcharges on their bills to develop renewables
- renewables lower the price of electricity
- nuclear is complicated
- The UK has less sun than Spain.
Me in @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/why-electric...
Why electricity costs so much in the UK (it’s not all about the weather)
Many countries in Europe pay much less for their energy.
theconversation.com
October 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
- high gas prices have driven up the price of electricity
- consumers pay surcharges on their bills to develop renewables
- renewables lower the price of electricity
- nuclear is complicated
- The UK has less sun than Spain.
Me in @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/why-electric...
- consumers pay surcharges on their bills to develop renewables
- renewables lower the price of electricity
- nuclear is complicated
- The UK has less sun than Spain.
Me in @uk.theconversation.com theconversation.com/why-electric...
People love to be in control. They also love to take credit for success and blame others for failures. When we offer subjects a chance to delegate to a lottery that might pick their choice or someone else's, they stop being control freaks (1/6) (in econ letters) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
October 23, 2025 at 8:33 AM
People love to be in control. They also love to take credit for success and blame others for failures. When we offer subjects a chance to delegate to a lottery that might pick their choice or someone else's, they stop being control freaks (1/6) (in econ letters) www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
So, here in sunny Lancaster, we have this rockstar student on the market this year. Before him, the world thought that increasing the number of economic graduates (the best paid ones) should strongly decrease their salaries. Joseph shows it is not the case. (1/3)
I'm happy to share my job market paper.
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
October 11, 2025 at 12:25 PM
So, here in sunny Lancaster, we have this rockstar student on the market this year. Before him, the world thought that increasing the number of economic graduates (the best paid ones) should strongly decrease their salaries. Joseph shows it is not the case. (1/3)
Reposted by Renaud Foucart
I'm happy to share my job market paper.
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
October 8, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I'm happy to share my job market paper.
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
It asks a simple but classic question: to what extent are graduate wages affected by the supply of graduate labour in the economy?
🧵
The world is ageing - what can we learn from Europe's difficulties to make an old world a happy one? Me, in TIME time.com/7320745/boom...
The Global Economy Has a Boomer Problem
The generation that gave itself a wealthy retirement is hurting young people today. It doesn't have to be this way, writes Renaud Foucart.
time.com
September 28, 2025 at 5:02 PM
The world is ageing - what can we learn from Europe's difficulties to make an old world a happy one? Me, in TIME time.com/7320745/boom...
I guess it's time to open Thomas Schelling again! What should Europe (and the US???) do to get us closer to peace as Russia is probing attacks on Eastern Europe? Four points. (1/7)
September 10, 2025 at 9:14 AM
I guess it's time to open Thomas Schelling again! What should Europe (and the US???) do to get us closer to peace as Russia is probing attacks on Eastern Europe? Four points. (1/7)
Reposted by Renaud Foucart
Yes, François Bayrou precipitated his own downfall, but at least the 74-year old outgoing PM broached the politically explosive topic of how boomers benefit above the odds from the French state, argues @lancasteruni.bsky.social’s @rfoucart.bsky.social 🇫🇷
Full itw ⤵️
f24.my/BPzV
Full itw ⤵️
f24.my/BPzV
'Intergenerational fairness': In final speech to parliament, Bayrou unveils how pension is funded
f24.my
September 9, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Yes, François Bayrou precipitated his own downfall, but at least the 74-year old outgoing PM broached the politically explosive topic of how boomers benefit above the odds from the French state, argues @lancasteruni.bsky.social’s @rfoucart.bsky.social 🇫🇷
Full itw ⤵️
f24.my/BPzV
Full itw ⤵️
f24.my/BPzV
I wrote on a paradox of the latest Google ruling: as time passes, even illegal monopolies disappear because of innovation. Monopolies may actually encourage radical innovation. But this also means zero accountability for those who break the rules.
theconversation.com/google-avoid...
theconversation.com/google-avoid...
Google avoids being dismantled after US court battle – and it’s down to the rise of AI
AI poses a risk to Google’s main revenue source: online advertising.
theconversation.com
September 5, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wrote on a paradox of the latest Google ruling: as time passes, even illegal monopolies disappear because of innovation. Monopolies may actually encourage radical innovation. But this also means zero accountability for those who break the rules.
theconversation.com/google-avoid...
theconversation.com/google-avoid...
Perhaps the one absolute success of 14 years of Conservative party rule in the UK will be claimed by no one www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...
August 13, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Perhaps the one absolute success of 14 years of Conservative party rule in the UK will be claimed by no one www.ons.gov.uk/employmentan...