Bruce Bradbury

@brucebradbury.bsky.social

610 followers 540 following 160 posts

An Australian economist writing on social and economic policy and outcomes.
https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/bruce-bradbury

Videos

Economics 30%

Education 20%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

Jenny Frecklington-Jones #IStandWithPalestine🍉🍉 @joneshowdareyou.bsky.social · 9h

Just how spot on was Jon Kudelka.

Pure and simple genius. #auspol

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Bruce Bradbury

Ethan Mollick @emollick.bsky.social · 11h

Every few months, I write an updated, idiosyncratic guide on which AIs to use right now.

My new version has the most changes ever, since AI is no longer just about chatbots. To use AI you need to understand how to think about models, apps, and harnesses. open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu...

A Guide to Which AI to Use in the Agentic Era

It's not just chatbots anymore

open.substack.com

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 2d

Our online short course on Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia is running again in May. More information at www.unsw.edu.au/study/profes...

Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia | UNSW

Understand social disadvantage and inequality in Australia with UNSW. Learn about the causes of poverty and how to drive positive social impact.

www.unsw.edu.au

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 5d

Note: The submission website is just setup for single paper submissions. If you want to submit a symposium, submit the individual papers to the system and email the organisers directly about the symposium suggestion.

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 13d

Or could it be that criminals get worse at committing crime after having cancer, are more likely to get caught, and thus recorded in the crime statistics? This would also be associated with severity of cancer/survival probability.

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, Jon Green, Amy W. Ando , and 1 more Linda J. Skitka, Jon Green, Amy W. Ando, Bruce Bradbury

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · 13d

Look at how being diagnosed with cancer impacts people's involvement in crime!

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 16d

(Actually 'baby boomers' is too broad. Probably only those born between 1953 and 1960)

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 16d

This will mean something to baby boomers from Sydney.

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 16d

At Selina's on 7 Feb. But which year?

Street poster advertising The Angels, Dragon and Mi-Sex on at Selina's 7 February

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

Janet Gornick @janetgornick.bsky.social · 24d

New GC-CUNY Stone Center Working Paper by Max Longmuir. "Overall, this study highlights the critical interaction between financial wealth, investment behavior, and inequality dynamics."
👇👇👇

Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality @stone-lis.bsky.social · 27d

A WP by Maximilian Longmuir @smaexie.bsky.social provides new evidence on the relationship between household investment decisions and wealth inequality, and examines the role of policies that support broader risky financial market engagement.

stonecenter.gc.cuny.edu/publications...

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · 27d

"Burning down the house"

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

LSE Inequalities @lseinequalities.bsky.social · 29d

At our next Inequalities Seminar, we are joined by Markus Jäntti 💡

He explores the welfare implications of both inter- and intragenerational mobility and, once family incomes are introduced, assortative mating.

🎟️ Attend in-person: buff.ly/5rtmc94
💻 Attend online: buff.ly/cCavMly

Reposted by Louis Moresi, Euan G. Ritchie, Ariadne Vromen , and 2 more Louis Moresi, Euan G. Ritchie, Ariadne Vromen, Bruce Bradbury, Tim Stephens

Andrew Stafford @andrewstafford.bsky.social · 29d

I wrote this some time ago - with all of us knowing this day would come, and Rob, of course, fighting like the bloody-minded bastard he was to the very end. He irrevocably changed my life - and how our country saw itself. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/j...

Rob Hirst was a force of nature, a born showman who led Midnight Oil from the back

Phenomenal drummer and percussionist was an equally accomplished songwriter who embodied the band’s bloody-minded spirit

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

Aaron Sojourner @aaronsojourner.org · Jan 19

"... the standard monopsony model does not provide a full, realistic account of the labor market."
#EconSky
www.nber.org/papers/w34699

Monopsony, Markdowns, and Minimum Wages
Ester Faia, Benjamin Lochner, Benjamin Schoefer #34699

Abstract:
This paper presents the first direct test of two interlinked predictions at the core of the monopsony theory of the labor market: (i) that firms exploit wage-setting power by marking down wages below the marginal revenue product of labor, and (ii) that exogenous wage constraints, if binding, eliminate markdowns. Our research design revisits the 2015 introduction of a high minimum wage in Germany. Drawing on a monopsony model, we derive an empirically tractable difference-in-differences specification that provides a quantitative benchmark for the firm-level markdown response. Our main result is that empirical markdowns respond only 0–25% as much as the monopsony model would have predicted. Hence, at least for the labor market segment we study, (i) markdowns largely reflect other distortions than monopsony, (ii) markdowns are mismeasured, (iii) minimum wages induce widespread labor shortages, or (iv) the standard monopsony model does not provide a full, realistic account of ! the labor market.

Reposted by Chris Hanretty, Bruce Bradbury, Evan Roberts

Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · Jan 19

if i could make you read ONE (1) single post to improve your understanding of the challenges of social science in general it would be this one from @markfabian.bsky.social about wellbeing science specifically

profmarkfabian.substack.com/p/airing-my-...

Airing my grievances with wellbeing science

We have a streetlight problem

profmarkfabian.substack.com

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

Australian Social Policy Conference 2026 @aspc2026.bsky.social · Jan 18

Abstract submissions are now open for Aus Social Policy Conference 2026, to be hosted at University of Queensland (Brisbane)!

Abstract submissions due by 5pm Friday 27 February 2026.

Call for papers and submission link here: www.aspc2026.com/callforpapers

Call for papers — Australian Social Policy Conference 2026

www.aspc2026.com

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Jan 16

Would his PhD have passed its 'ethics' review?

Reposted by Aaron Sojourner, Bruce Bradbury

Arin Dube @arindube.bsky.social · Jan 15

New Substack post: The wage compression that persisted.

arindube.substack.com/p/the-wage-c...

The Wage Compression that Persisted

A few of years back, my coauthors David Autor and Annie McGrew discovered something out of character for the modern U.S.

arindube.substack.com

Reposted by Bruce Bradbury

David Brady @davebrady72.bsky.social · Jan 14

Jonas Radl and colleagues show that is actually the case based on a large experiment of 5th graders in two different counties. Moreover, they demonstrate the role of incentives and how incentives have different effects depending on social background ground.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The Social Origins of Effort: How Incentives Reduce Socioeconomic Disparities among Children - Jonas Radl, William Foley, Lea Katharina Kröger, Patricia Lorente, Alberto Palacios-Abad, Heike Solga, Ja...

Cognitive effort (i.e., the mobilization of mental resources for task performance) is essential to equality of opportunity and meritocracy because it epitomizes...

journals.sagepub.com

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Jan 6

Still at the beach in Australia...

Blue green water, red rocks and snorkeler at Currarong, NSW, Australia

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 29

How can social protection policies help? One partial answer is to provide greater support for people with moderate impairments. In Australia, increasing JobSeeker allowance, relaxing income tests, relaxing job search requirements - in other words moving towards a UBI.

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 29

AI might not take our manual jobs. But can our ageing bodies handle it? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/28/o...

Opinion | When A.I. Took My Job, I Bought a Chain Saw

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Lesley A. Hall, Christian E. Weller , and 4 more Diane Coyle, Lesley A. Hall, Christian E. Weller, Rod Dacombe, Henry Farrell, Bruce Bradbury, Michael Jones‐Correa

Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore @sjblakemore.bsky.social · Dec 18

New job at Cambridge!

Professorship of Public Policy

www.cam.ac.uk/jobs/profess...

Professorship of Public Policy

The Board of Electors to the Professorship of Public Policy invite applications from candidates whose work falls within the field of public policy. We are looking for a successful and dynamic leader

www.cam.ac.uk

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 17

Males get more free time. (The hours add up to over 24, because it restricts to those who participate in the activity. But the gender gap persists when averaged over all). www.abs.gov.au/statistics/p... #ABS

Time spent per day. Men have 5.8 hours and women 5.4 hours of 'free time'.

Reposted by Jérôme Denis, McKenzie Wark, Bruce Bradbury , and 2 more Jérôme Denis, McKenzie Wark, Bruce Bradbury, Katrina Navickas, Élise Féron

🏳️‍⚧️The Milkmaid of Human Kindness🎶 @josie.zone · Dec 16

I try to avoid linking to Substacks but this essay is FASCINATING

I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.

I'm calm. I'm calm. I promise.

marcusolang.substack.com

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 16

Going to be one of the most downloaded papers ever!

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 15

"parallel trends in the log of an outcome variable precludes parallel trends in levels. The paper closes with an examination of a valiant recent attempt to wriggle out of this troubling functional-form constraint" Looking forward to reading.

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Dec 15

This looks like a must-read for diff-in-diffs folks.

www.nber.org/papers/w34550

Reposted by Kris Inwood, Bruce Bradbury

John Holbein @johnholbein1.bsky.social · Dec 15

This looks like a must-read for diff-in-diffs folks.

www.nber.org/papers/w34550

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 11

As one of the substack responders said, this introduces questions about moral behaviour which researchers are nervous about. Also, are some people with CD very economically successful? Even so, I agree with your implied conclusion that we shouldn't be ignoring this.

Bruce Bradbury @brucebradbury.bsky.social · Dec 11

"AI is the asbestos in the walls of our technological society, stuffed there with wild abandon by a finance sector and tech monopolists run amok. We will be excavating it for a generation or more."
pluralistic.net/2025/12/05/p...

Pluralistic: The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI (05 Dec 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

pluralistic.net

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