John Billings
@johnhbillings.bsky.social
https://twitter.com/JohnHBillings <- over on the other app. Slowly migrating here.
journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol...
even a team of human minds working with high-powered tools can succumb to compression issues
even a team of human minds working with high-powered tools can succumb to compression issues
Could a Neuroscientist Understand a Microprocessor?
Author Summary Neuroscience is held back by the fact that it is hard to evaluate if a conclusion is correct; the complexity of the systems under study and their experimental inaccessability make the a...
journals.plos.org
July 11, 2025 at 3:49 PM
This is cool and now in my "interesting papers to read later" folder.
Proposing a new approach to industrial policy measurement based on information contained in policy text, from Réka Juhász, Nathan J. Lane, Emily Oehlsen, and Veronica C. Perez https://www.nber.org/papers/w33895
June 18, 2025 at 10:45 AM
This is cool and now in my "interesting papers to read later" folder.
Reposted by John Billings
everyone should read this but in particular phd students should read this to learn how to properly title graphs
Since becoming President, Trump has imposed the largest tariff hike in modern American history and is continually threatening further escalations
That trade war is costing the US billions—and breaking the country's trade flows in important ways🧵
www.apricitas.io/p/how-tariff...
That trade war is costing the US billions—and breaking the country's trade flows in important ways🧵
www.apricitas.io/p/how-tariff...
How Tariffs Are Breaking US Trade
A Detailed Look at How US Trade Flows Are Unraveling Amidst Trump's Trade War
www.apricitas.io
June 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM
everyone should read this but in particular phd students should read this to learn how to properly title graphs
Reposted by John Billings
With Google's AlphaEvolve, we have mounting evidence that LLMs can discover novel & useful ideas, especially when given access to tools and systems.
These results are impressive: given 50 open math problems, the AI rediscovered the leading approach 75% of the time & improved on it 20% of the time.
These results are impressive: given 50 open math problems, the AI rediscovered the leading approach 75% of the time & improved on it 20% of the time.
May 15, 2025 at 3:46 AM
With Google's AlphaEvolve, we have mounting evidence that LLMs can discover novel & useful ideas, especially when given access to tools and systems.
These results are impressive: given 50 open math problems, the AI rediscovered the leading approach 75% of the time & improved on it 20% of the time.
These results are impressive: given 50 open math problems, the AI rediscovered the leading approach 75% of the time & improved on it 20% of the time.
Reposted by John Billings
A highly relevant paper by my colleague Mauricio Ulate, and coauthors Andres Rodriguez-Clare and Jose Vasquez assessing the consequences of the recent tariffs.
U.S. real income falls by 1% by 2028, with some states having declines of more than 3%.
www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
U.S. real income falls by 1% by 2028, with some states having declines of more than 3%.
www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
May 13, 2025 at 3:38 PM
A highly relevant paper by my colleague Mauricio Ulate, and coauthors Andres Rodriguez-Clare and Jose Vasquez assessing the consequences of the recent tariffs.
U.S. real income falls by 1% by 2028, with some states having declines of more than 3%.
www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
U.S. real income falls by 1% by 2028, with some states having declines of more than 3%.
www.frbsf.org/wp-content/u...
Spoons vs shovels, 1901, quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/s...
December 14, 2024 at 7:54 PM
Spoons vs shovels, 1901, quoteinvestigator.com/2011/10/10/s...
Reposted by John Billings
Super excited to publicly launch "All Day TA" (http://www.alldayta.com), a product @joshgans.bsky.social and I have been working on with our team over the last year. Short version: if you teach in spring, you will want to use this! It's the future of higher education. A short thread: 1/x
December 13, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Super excited to publicly launch "All Day TA" (http://www.alldayta.com), a product @joshgans.bsky.social and I have been working on with our team over the last year. Short version: if you teach in spring, you will want to use this! It's the future of higher education. A short thread: 1/x
Reposted by John Billings
I'm not an R person, but I totally agree with this point: we're doing students a disservice by teaching them stata.
Even worse if you're teaching at a public university: using public money to create consumers for a private company.
Even worse if you're teaching at a public university: using public money to create consumers for a private company.
We should care about students’ career outcomes. Teaching them R will be MUCH more helpful than Stata. Not only is R more highly valued, it also makes learning things like Python much easier.
December 14, 2024 at 7:10 AM
I'm not an R person, but I totally agree with this point: we're doing students a disservice by teaching them stata.
Even worse if you're teaching at a public university: using public money to create consumers for a private company.
Even worse if you're teaching at a public university: using public money to create consumers for a private company.
Reposted by John Billings
This is how science should work. 💡
A group of researchers has attempted to replicate our work on self-control and asset market prices published in the Review of Financial Studies (doi.org/10.1093/rfs/...) and not been able confirm our findings. See doi.org/10.2139/ssrn...
Do experimental asset market results replicate? High-powered preregistered replications of 17 claims
Experimental asset markets provide a controlled approach to studying financial markets. We attempt to replicate 17 key results from four prominent studies, coll
doi.org
December 14, 2024 at 4:07 PM
This is how science should work. 💡
Reposted by John Billings
Thank you to many who provided valuable input on my monograph on minimalist market design. Here is a much revised and expanded version. It introduces a design framework that is useful for generating cutting-edge research with strong potential for policy impact. #EconSky arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307 1/
December 11, 2024 at 3:20 AM
Thank you to many who provided valuable input on my monograph on minimalist market design. Here is a much revised and expanded version. It introduces a design framework that is useful for generating cutting-edge research with strong potential for policy impact. #EconSky arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307 1/
Reposted by John Billings
"Simply put, when immigrants come to a place looking for jobs, they also demand goods and services—thus creating jobs for native-born workers… The question has always been which effect is bigger."
@jerusalem.bsky.social and Rogé Karma brilliantly review research including mine in this podcast—>
@jerusalem.bsky.social and Rogé Karma brilliantly review research including mine in this podcast—>
The Immigration-Wage Myth
Does the American worker have good reason to fear immigration?
www.theatlantic.com
December 10, 2024 at 7:58 PM
"Simply put, when immigrants come to a place looking for jobs, they also demand goods and services—thus creating jobs for native-born workers… The question has always been which effect is bigger."
@jerusalem.bsky.social and Rogé Karma brilliantly review research including mine in this podcast—>
@jerusalem.bsky.social and Rogé Karma brilliantly review research including mine in this podcast—>
Reposted by John Billings
Very happy that this paper is out after a long time in the making. Many thanks to participants, RAs, advisory board members, and coauthors.
Results from a guaranteed income program for low-income households in Compton, California, from Sidhya Balakrishnan, Sewin Chan, Sara Constantino, Johannes Haushofer, and Jonathan Morduch https://www.nber.org/papers/w33209
December 9, 2024 at 11:52 PM
Very happy that this paper is out after a long time in the making. Many thanks to participants, RAs, advisory board members, and coauthors.
Reposted by John Billings
Pretty striking findings! www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/app/uploads/...
December 5, 2024 at 1:21 AM
Pretty striking findings! www.parisschoolofeconomics.eu/app/uploads/...
Reposted by John Billings
University of Chicago Harris School PhD student Rohen Shah is on the job market! Rohen is a fabulous applied microeconomist working at the intersection of behavioral and labor economics. Check out his J-PAL funded JMP here: uchicago.box.com/s/fh735yvmlt...
Website: sites.google.com/view/rohen-s...
Website: sites.google.com/view/rohen-s...
December 4, 2024 at 9:08 AM
University of Chicago Harris School PhD student Rohen Shah is on the job market! Rohen is a fabulous applied microeconomist working at the intersection of behavioral and labor economics. Check out his J-PAL funded JMP here: uchicago.box.com/s/fh735yvmlt...
Website: sites.google.com/view/rohen-s...
Website: sites.google.com/view/rohen-s...
Reposted by John Billings
Imagine seeing this learning curve and then deciding to slap a tariff on it
December 4, 2024 at 12:49 PM
Imagine seeing this learning curve and then deciding to slap a tariff on it
I helped write a report on the effect of Pittsburgh's Inclusionary Zoning policy on housing construction.
Here is a link to it:
www.prohousingpgh.org/pittsburgh-i...
Here is a link to it:
www.prohousingpgh.org/pittsburgh-i...
Inclusionary Zoning Research — Pro-Housing Pittsburgh
www.prohousingpgh.org
December 3, 2024 at 5:11 PM
I helped write a report on the effect of Pittsburgh's Inclusionary Zoning policy on housing construction.
Here is a link to it:
www.prohousingpgh.org/pittsburgh-i...
Here is a link to it:
www.prohousingpgh.org/pittsburgh-i...
Reposted by John Billings
Impressive research showing the persistent overrepresentation of high-income groups in U.S. elite colleges over a century 🇺🇸
This echoes my work on French elite colleges (Grandes Écoles), where admission rates for children of alumni first dropped but have then remained ~80x higher for 80 years 🇫🇷
This echoes my work on French elite colleges (Grandes Écoles), where admission rates for children of alumni first dropped but have then remained ~80x higher for 80 years 🇫🇷
November 18, 2024 at 4:52 PM
Impressive research showing the persistent overrepresentation of high-income groups in U.S. elite colleges over a century 🇺🇸
This echoes my work on French elite colleges (Grandes Écoles), where admission rates for children of alumni first dropped but have then remained ~80x higher for 80 years 🇫🇷
This echoes my work on French elite colleges (Grandes Écoles), where admission rates for children of alumni first dropped but have then remained ~80x higher for 80 years 🇫🇷
Reposted by John Billings
I knew flu all but disappeared but fascinating to see the low levels of other respiratory pathogens during time of peak COVID precautions.
Tons of great #dataviz overall in this 🔥@ourworldindata.bsky.social COVID report: ourworldindata.org/key-charts-u...
#publichealth #episky #demography
Tons of great #dataviz overall in this 🔥@ourworldindata.bsky.social COVID report: ourworldindata.org/key-charts-u...
#publichealth #episky #demography
November 18, 2024 at 11:50 AM
I knew flu all but disappeared but fascinating to see the low levels of other respiratory pathogens during time of peak COVID precautions.
Tons of great #dataviz overall in this 🔥@ourworldindata.bsky.social COVID report: ourworldindata.org/key-charts-u...
#publichealth #episky #demography
Tons of great #dataviz overall in this 🔥@ourworldindata.bsky.social COVID report: ourworldindata.org/key-charts-u...
#publichealth #episky #demography