Shyam GouriSuresh
@primedprimate.bsky.social
Prof Econ & S. Asian Studies, Davidson College. aimless aspirant, bumbling babbler, curious creature, devoted dad. My views are personal & ephemeral.
Indeed, many folks (especially those paranoid about crime due to their media consumption) are also similarly surprised by how small homicides are as a percentage of all deaths.
November 19, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Indeed, many folks (especially those paranoid about crime due to their media consumption) are also similarly surprised by how small homicides are as a percentage of all deaths.
Looks like this graph shows housing as a share of expenditures, rather than as a share of income. Given the increase in savings' share as income rises, the curve with respect to income may be steeper than this figure, but likely still substantially flatter than conventional wisdom.
November 19, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Looks like this graph shows housing as a share of expenditures, rather than as a share of income. Given the increase in savings' share as income rises, the curve with respect to income may be steeper than this figure, but likely still substantially flatter than conventional wisdom.
It's also factually wrong on another dimension: in terms of *world* population, there are more men than women.
November 13, 2025 at 8:23 AM
It's also factually wrong on another dimension: in terms of *world* population, there are more men than women.
Santa should get them on Etsy. Won't be a Barbie, though.
November 9, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Santa should get them on Etsy. Won't be a Barbie, though.
While you are technically right, need-based financial aid offered by universities *does* come across as generosity to most. Also, technically, if one isn't *using* SNAP but simply has an empty card, an associated discount is no different from AARP, Student, or Military discounts.
November 2, 2025 at 11:59 PM
While you are technically right, need-based financial aid offered by universities *does* come across as generosity to most. Also, technically, if one isn't *using* SNAP but simply has an empty card, an associated discount is no different from AARP, Student, or Military discounts.
I have seen compelling examples for news media; my prior for social media would be *at least* as strong an effect.
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
academic.oup.com/ej/article/1...
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
academic.oup.com/ej/article/1...
Bias in Cable News: Persuasion and Polarization
(September 2017) - We measure the persuasive effects of slanted news and tastes for like-minded news, exploiting cable channel positions as exogenous shifters of cable news viewership. Channel positio...
www.aeaweb.org
August 23, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I have seen compelling examples for news media; my prior for social media would be *at least* as strong an effect.
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
academic.oup.com/ej/article/1...
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
academic.oup.com/ej/article/1...
I don't think it's only about being upset. It's more about recognizing that opinions and even moral perspectives can be contagious (like Haidt suggests). And audience capture can happen too. I think we need to acknowledge our own psychological susceptibility.
August 23, 2025 at 10:12 PM
I don't think it's only about being upset. It's more about recognizing that opinions and even moral perspectives can be contagious (like Haidt suggests). And audience capture can happen too. I think we need to acknowledge our own psychological susceptibility.
In a previous version, a referee asserted that our framework was impossible to apply empirically... which motivated us to try. We used prior experimental results to show that it was not only possible but also a surprisingly good fit despite having fewer degrees of freedom than regular approaches.
August 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM
In a previous version, a referee asserted that our framework was impossible to apply empirically... which motivated us to try. We used prior experimental results to show that it was not only possible but also a surprisingly good fit despite having fewer degrees of freedom than regular approaches.
It's a temptation good that's worthy of "sin" taxes even higher than the revenue-maximizing rate. ;)
August 18, 2025 at 2:35 PM
It's a temptation good that's worthy of "sin" taxes even higher than the revenue-maximizing rate. ;)
You mean shifts the supply curve to the right, right?
August 9, 2025 at 4:46 PM
You mean shifts the supply curve to the right, right?
I’d be a checked-out engineer too, as Osborne said. I would almost certainly be happier in that alternate universe, but probably less fulfilled and blissfully unaware of it.
August 9, 2025 at 4:20 PM
I’d be a checked-out engineer too, as Osborne said. I would almost certainly be happier in that alternate universe, but probably less fulfilled and blissfully unaware of it.
Yup! This JME paper presents a formal model- www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Customer anger may help explain price rigidity and shape inflation dynamics.
Customer anger may help explain price rigidity and shape inflation dynamics.
Customer anger at price increases, changes in the frequency of price adjustment and monetary policy
While firms claim to be concerned with consumer reactions to price increases, these often do not cause large reductions in purchases. The model develo…
www.sciencedirect.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Yup! This JME paper presents a formal model- www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Customer anger may help explain price rigidity and shape inflation dynamics.
Customer anger may help explain price rigidity and shape inflation dynamics.
Akerlof & Shiller raise a curious question in Animal Spirits: why doesn’t the local Home Depot raise shovel prices before a snowstorm? Maybe firms care about customer perceptions...
Relatedly, Mike Munger has some interesting thoughts on the psychology of price gouging, too.
Relatedly, Mike Munger has some interesting thoughts on the psychology of price gouging, too.
July 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Akerlof & Shiller raise a curious question in Animal Spirits: why doesn’t the local Home Depot raise shovel prices before a snowstorm? Maybe firms care about customer perceptions...
Relatedly, Mike Munger has some interesting thoughts on the psychology of price gouging, too.
Relatedly, Mike Munger has some interesting thoughts on the psychology of price gouging, too.
IIRC, teaching productivity declines more slowly and your spheres of influence may be larger than you think... on that note, could you please reshare the econometrics questions you've asked Swarthmore honors students over the years? I had bookmarked some on X, but I'm no longer on that site. Thanks!
July 23, 2025 at 7:45 PM
IIRC, teaching productivity declines more slowly and your spheres of influence may be larger than you think... on that note, could you please reshare the econometrics questions you've asked Swarthmore honors students over the years? I had bookmarked some on X, but I'm no longer on that site. Thanks!
Formally add "prepone" as a preferred alternative to anticipate, the opposite of postpone.
July 16, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Formally add "prepone" as a preferred alternative to anticipate, the opposite of postpone.
My reading of the first excerpt is that the optimal tax rate is not a constant (unlike the optimal cholesterol level, which presumably *is* a constant); rather it is a function of economic conditions that themselves vary. I fully agree with your criticism of the second excerpt.
June 28, 2025 at 2:14 AM
My reading of the first excerpt is that the optimal tax rate is not a constant (unlike the optimal cholesterol level, which presumably *is* a constant); rather it is a function of economic conditions that themselves vary. I fully agree with your criticism of the second excerpt.
@khoavuumn.bsky.social being the most prominent example, no cap.
June 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
@khoavuumn.bsky.social being the most prominent example, no cap.
That's an interesting model and better than the status quo. As a reader, I might care more about IF (it's a rough sorting of results by usefulness and applicability under the assumption that the default result is null). But IF is an extremely unreliable and noisy signal of research rigor.
May 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
That's an interesting model and better than the status quo. As a reader, I might care more about IF (it's a rough sorting of results by usefulness and applicability under the assumption that the default result is null). But IF is an extremely unreliable and noisy signal of research rigor.
Someone placed a coffee mug on the snow?
February 17, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Someone placed a coffee mug on the snow?