Erica Owen
@ericaowen.bsky.social
Associate professor of international affairs studying trade, global production, automation, and workers at the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.
Reposted by Erica Owen
Just posted "Political Economy of Automation & Fragmented Prod.," w/ @gonzalezrostani.bsky.social & @ericaowen.bsky.social, showing how automation in the Global North spills over the Global South thru. trade/exports/jobs, leading to
↑ organized crime
↑ Left-populism
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
↑ organized crime
↑ Left-populism
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
The Political Economy of Automation and Fragmented Production: Evidence from Mexico
How does automation in the Global North shape politics and violence in the Global South? We develop a political economy theory in which robot adoption in advanc
papers.ssrn.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Just posted "Political Economy of Automation & Fragmented Prod.," w/ @gonzalezrostani.bsky.social & @ericaowen.bsky.social, showing how automation in the Global North spills over the Global South thru. trade/exports/jobs, leading to
↑ organized crime
↑ Left-populism
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
↑ organized crime
↑ Left-populism
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Erica Owen
All are invited to the first in Publishing with University Presses Webinar Series, "Turning Your Dissertation into a Book," Oct 9 at 1pm ET. Organized by our Faculty Outreach Committee with the Rutgers Ctr for Minority Serving Institutions.
Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
September 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
All are invited to the first in Publishing with University Presses Webinar Series, "Turning Your Dissertation into a Book," Oct 9 at 1pm ET. Organized by our Faculty Outreach Committee with the Rutgers Ctr for Minority Serving Institutions.
Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
Reposted by Erica Owen
It's been a little disheartening to hear so much confusion in the reporting on Trump's new trade deal with Japan. So let me try to clarify.
July 24, 2025 at 7:10 PM
It's been a little disheartening to hear so much confusion in the reporting on Trump's new trade deal with Japan. So let me try to clarify.
Reposted by Erica Owen
Regarding the tariffs and concept that the US companies will bring back manufacturing jobs to the US in the coming years; What's significantly more likely to happen is factories built in the US will be heavily automated, robotics driven by AI, with an increasingly minimal amount of human staff.
April 3, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Regarding the tariffs and concept that the US companies will bring back manufacturing jobs to the US in the coming years; What's significantly more likely to happen is factories built in the US will be heavily automated, robotics driven by AI, with an increasingly minimal amount of human staff.
Reposted by Erica Owen
👇🎯 Restoring manufacturing & restoring manufacturing employment are not the same thing. It's not the 1950s anymore.
April 10, 2025 at 7:51 PM
👇🎯 Restoring manufacturing & restoring manufacturing employment are not the same thing. It's not the 1950s anymore.
Reposted by Erica Owen
On the tariffs @strangeloopcanon.com over at the other place has pretty convincing evidence that the White House may have used LLMs to come up with its tariff model and that that evidence may have come from LLM scraping of a Peter Navarro book. We are in the dumbest AI timeline.
April 3, 2025 at 10:46 AM
On the tariffs @strangeloopcanon.com over at the other place has pretty convincing evidence that the White House may have used LLMs to come up with its tariff model and that that evidence may have come from LLM scraping of a Peter Navarro book. We are in the dumbest AI timeline.
Reposted by Erica Owen
I’m just a small-town international political economy professor, so I may not have this right. But are you telling me now that…international trade is actually good & enables consumers to buy more goods at lower prices than if we do the mercantilism? 🤔
As the price of eggs reaches record highs, the U.S. is looking into importing eggs from other countries, the agriculture secretary said on Wednesday. In addition to importing eggs, the department will invest up to $1 billion in its five-pronged approach to combating bird flu.
As Egg Prices Soar, U.S. Looks to Import From Other Countries
The United States is in talks with several countries in an effort to immediately secure new supplies.
www.nytimes.com
February 26, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I’m just a small-town international political economy professor, so I may not have this right. But are you telling me now that…international trade is actually good & enables consumers to buy more goods at lower prices than if we do the mercantilism? 🤔
Reposted by Erica Owen
Again, when people ask you if you can imagine a time when the US might be classified as a competitive authoritarian/not-fully-democratic regime, the only honest answer is that we already are there now. That's uncomfortable to have to articulate & even more so for folks to hear, but it is what it is.
I gave a campus talk last night on Trump's first 100 days for the WUD Society & Politics group. A student asked me if I thought that, at some point, we might start to describe the US as a competitive authoritarian regime. I said that we were already there, it's just that most folks haven't noticed:
February 26, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Again, when people ask you if you can imagine a time when the US might be classified as a competitive authoritarian/not-fully-democratic regime, the only honest answer is that we already are there now. That's uncomfortable to have to articulate & even more so for folks to hear, but it is what it is.
Reposted by Erica Owen
Phenomenal social science right here.
The DOGE firings have nothing to do with “efficiency” or “cutting waste.” They’re a direct push to weaken federal agencies perceived as liberal. This was evident from the start, and now the data confirms it: targeted agencies overwhelmingly those seen as more left-leaning. 🧵⬇️
February 20, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Phenomenal social science right here.
With everything happening in domestic & international affairs, trade policy may not be the most pressing issue. But tariffs and trade wars still shape our economy, jobs, and prices daily. Listen to learn how U.S. trade policies impact businesses, workers, and consumers in this unpredictable moment.
February 19, 2025 at 6:25 PM
With everything happening in domestic & international affairs, trade policy may not be the most pressing issue. But tariffs and trade wars still shape our economy, jobs, and prices daily. Listen to learn how U.S. trade policies impact businesses, workers, and consumers in this unpredictable moment.
Reposted by Erica Owen
Like other economists I'm being asked to comment on Trump tariffs.
We should do so - it's our job.
But first we should make the point stated eloquently here by @alanbeattie.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/c26b...
We should do so - it's our job.
But first we should make the point stated eloquently here by @alanbeattie.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/c26b...
February 3, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Like other economists I'm being asked to comment on Trump tariffs.
We should do so - it's our job.
But first we should make the point stated eloquently here by @alanbeattie.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/c26b...
We should do so - it's our job.
But first we should make the point stated eloquently here by @alanbeattie.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/c26b...
Reposted by Erica Owen
Trump is openly violating the law on a vast and unprecedented scale and everyone is acting like it's normal. NPR had a long story about finding a rare shrew. NYT said he was disregarding "legal niceties." This is an attack on the Constitution as profound as the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
January 31, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Trump is openly violating the law on a vast and unprecedented scale and everyone is acting like it's normal. NPR had a long story about finding a rare shrew. NYT said he was disregarding "legal niceties." This is an attack on the Constitution as profound as the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Reposted by Erica Owen
Job alert! On the search committee for a TT job in public policy at Pitt-GSPIA. Details are linked and review begins on 1/30. Contact me for details. cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...
Assistant Professor in Public Policy (Tenure Stream)
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
cfopitt.taleo.net
January 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Job alert! On the search committee for a TT job in public policy at Pitt-GSPIA. Details are linked and review begins on 1/30. Contact me for details. cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...