Beatrice Magistro
@beamagistro.bsky.social
Assistant Prof of AI Governance @Northeastern. Previously @Caltech, @UofT, @UW. 🇮🇹🇪🇺🇺🇸🇨🇦, political economy & behavior, methods, AI, ⚽️, Juventus, foodie.
Reposted by Beatrice Magistro
Appealing to Independents: information on negative externalities increases support for environmental corrective taxes by @beamagistro.bsky.social & @rmichaelalvarez.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
Appealing to Independents: information on negative externalities increases support for environmental corrective taxes
Climate change requires urgent global action, but efforts to implement solutions like a carbon tax face deep political polarization, particularly in the United States. This study explores how fram...
doi.org
October 29, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Appealing to Independents: information on negative externalities increases support for environmental corrective taxes by @beamagistro.bsky.social & @rmichaelalvarez.bsky.social.
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
doi.org/10.1080/0964...
13/ Full introduction and ToC available here 👉 beatricemagistro.com/research/boo... stay tuned for the book and happy to share any chapters 🙂
Book Project
Who Thinks Like an Economist? How the Economist Mental Model Shapes Political DecisionsForthcoming at Cambridge University Press Introduction Available HereRecent populist waves—from Donald Trump’s…
beatricemagistro.com
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
13/ Full introduction and ToC available here 👉 beatricemagistro.com/research/boo... stay tuned for the book and happy to share any chapters 🙂
12/ You can't beat zero-sum populism with fact-checks alone. Where the EMM is scarce, zero-sum narratives and economic populist appeals find more fertile ground.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
12/ You can't beat zero-sum populism with fact-checks alone. Where the EMM is scarce, zero-sum narratives and economic populist appeals find more fertile ground.
11/ Individuals who think like economists are 1) more likely to favor welfare-enhancing policies (like trade and immigration), 2) far less zero-sum, and 3) responsive to economic information: they update when cost-benefit data change, while AMM voters stick to partisan cues.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
11/ Individuals who think like economists are 1) more likely to favor welfare-enhancing policies (like trade and immigration), 2) far less zero-sum, and 3) responsive to economic information: they update when cost-benefit data change, while AMM voters stick to partisan cues.
10/ I build new indices of economic knowledge that identify who's using the EMM (it's more than just education). Then I test them with surveys, conjoint experiments, and a classroom study across Italy, the UK, and the US, spanning trade, immigration, price controls, and AI. 🌍
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
10/ I build new indices of economic knowledge that identify who's using the EMM (it's more than just education). Then I test them with surveys, conjoint experiments, and a classroom study across Italy, the UK, and the US, spanning trade, immigration, price controls, and AI. 🌍
9/ This divergence in mental models—how we think, not what we value—drives wildly different readings of political events and policy choices.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
9/ This divergence in mental models—how we think, not what we value—drives wildly different readings of political events and policy choices.
8/ The EMM toolkit helps people look past zero-sum assumptions, stretch the time horizon, and ask how "losers" can be compensated. They systematically evaluate trade-offs, weigh long-run gains over quick relief, and support policies that maximize aggregate welfare.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
8/ The EMM toolkit helps people look past zero-sum assumptions, stretch the time horizon, and ask how "losers" can be compensated. They systematically evaluate trade-offs, weigh long-run gains over quick relief, and support policies that maximize aggregate welfare.
7/ Some citizens use the Economist Mental Model (EMM): weighing costs and benefits, opportunity costs, thinking at the margin. Others rely on Alternative Mental Models (AMMs), defaulting to heuristics, partisan cues, or zero-sum thinking.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
7/ Some citizens use the Economist Mental Model (EMM): weighing costs and benefits, opportunity costs, thinking at the margin. Others rely on Alternative Mental Models (AMMs), defaulting to heuristics, partisan cues, or zero-sum thinking.
6/ The answer, I argue, lies not merely in differences in material or non-material values but in the underlying mental models (the cognitive frameworks) that people use to evaluate trade-offs and predict policy outcomes.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
6/ The answer, I argue, lies not merely in differences in material or non-material values but in the underlying mental models (the cognitive frameworks) that people use to evaluate trade-offs and predict policy outcomes.
5/ Puzzle: why do so many people support policies that reduce aggregate welfare?
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
5/ Puzzle: why do so many people support policies that reduce aggregate welfare?
4/ These episodes are classic economic populism: zero-sum framings of economic interactions, oversimplication or neglect of trade-offs, shortsighted fixes that reliably backfire.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
4/ These episodes are classic economic populism: zero-sum framings of economic interactions, oversimplication or neglect of trade-offs, shortsighted fixes that reliably backfire.
3/ 2016. Economists warn "Brexit will hurt". Voters shrug. Same year in the US: experts decry tariffs; "America First" wins.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
3/ 2016. Economists warn "Brexit will hurt". Voters shrug. Same year in the US: experts decry tariffs; "America First" wins.
2/ Italy, November 2011. Markets panic, pensions at risk. Politics is paralyzed. Economist-turned-minister Elsa Fornero pushes a quick, tough pension reform. Voters revolt.
May 5, 2025 at 2:32 AM
2/ Italy, November 2011. Markets panic, pensions at risk. Politics is paralyzed. Economist-turned-minister Elsa Fornero pushes a quick, tough pension reform. Voters revolt.
I am beyond excited for what's next at Northeastern, hit me up if you’re in Boston!
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I am beyond excited for what's next at Northeastern, hit me up if you’re in Boston!
Finally, to my family in Italy and my host family in Seattle, especially to Edo and Winston, this moment is as much yours as mine. And to my niece, Rania: I hope you’ll achieve all this and much more one day.
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Finally, to my family in Italy and my host family in Seattle, especially to Edo and Winston, this moment is as much yours as mine. And to my niece, Rania: I hope you’ll achieve all this and much more one day.
Leaving LA will be bittersweet. A huge shoutout to my Juventus Official Fan Club Hollywood friends: you’ve my been family here, especially during the fires, and made LA unforgettable. I’ll miss you deeply.
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Leaving LA will be bittersweet. A huge shoutout to my Juventus Official Fan Club Hollywood friends: you’ve my been family here, especially during the fires, and made LA unforgettable. I’ll miss you deeply.
Special thanks to the many colleagues, students, postdocs, and friends I’ve had the privilege to work with at Bocconi, Edinburgh, Collegio Carlo Alberto, UW, the PEARL lab at UofT, and the Alvarez lab at Caltech. You’ve each made a difference in my journey and I promise to pay it forward.
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Special thanks to the many colleagues, students, postdocs, and friends I’ve had the privilege to work with at Bocconi, Edinburgh, Collegio Carlo Alberto, UW, the PEARL lab at UofT, and the Alvarez lab at Caltech. You’ve each made a difference in my journey and I promise to pay it forward.
And to the amazing women who inspire and support me every day, you’re truly making academia a better place: Caitlin Ainsley, @breebangjensen.bsky.social , @melissabaker.bsky.social , @sborwein.bsky.social, Megan Erickson, @melinamuch.bsky.social , and Clareta Treger.
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
And to the amazing women who inspire and support me every day, you’re truly making academia a better place: Caitlin Ainsley, @breebangjensen.bsky.social , @melissabaker.bsky.social , @sborwein.bsky.social, Megan Erickson, @melinamuch.bsky.social , and Clareta Treger.
I’m incredibly grateful to my mentors: @rmichaelalvarez.bsky.social, Peter Loewen and Victor Menaldo, who supported, guided, and believed in me every step of the way, especially when I didn’t.
April 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I’m incredibly grateful to my mentors: @rmichaelalvarez.bsky.social, Peter Loewen and Victor Menaldo, who supported, guided, and believed in me every step of the way, especially when I didn’t.