Rok Spruk
@rokspruk.bsky.social
Professor of Economics, University of Ljubljana.
Yugoslav socialism ≠ Soviet socialism.
After breaking with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia built its unique workers’ self-management and produced world-class thinkers
It collapsed because its political architecture failed, not because its institutional experiment lacked originality.
History matters.
After breaking with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia built its unique workers’ self-management and produced world-class thinkers
It collapsed because its political architecture failed, not because its institutional experiment lacked originality.
History matters.
Between Myth and Memory
The Persistence of Misconception about Yugoslav Socialism
open.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Yugoslav socialism ≠ Soviet socialism.
After breaking with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia built its unique workers’ self-management and produced world-class thinkers
It collapsed because its political architecture failed, not because its institutional experiment lacked originality.
History matters.
After breaking with Stalin in 1948, Yugoslavia built its unique workers’ self-management and produced world-class thinkers
It collapsed because its political architecture failed, not because its institutional experiment lacked originality.
History matters.
A large part of European academia has replaced scientific inquiry with moral theater. My new essay explores how virtue has eclipsed reason, and what it means to defend integrity when empathy itself becomes heresy.
The Return of Moral Inquisition and the Decline of European Academia
When moral purity eclipses intellectual courage
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:34 AM
A large part of European academia has replaced scientific inquiry with moral theater. My new essay explores how virtue has eclipsed reason, and what it means to defend integrity when empathy itself becomes heresy.
Why is there no activism, no protests in the Eest against the horrific war atrocities and genocide in Sudan?
Because the case of Sudan cannot be used as a weapon against the US and Israel. Plain and simple.
Because the case of Sudan cannot be used as a weapon against the US and Israel. Plain and simple.
Sudan crisis lacks utility as can't be used against Israel | The Jerusalem Post
The reason for the disproportionate attention is simply a matter of utility: activism for the Gaza war advances political objectives; activism for the Sudan conflict does not.
www.jpost.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Why is there no activism, no protests in the Eest against the horrific war atrocities and genocide in Sudan?
Because the case of Sudan cannot be used as a weapon against the US and Israel. Plain and simple.
Because the case of Sudan cannot be used as a weapon against the US and Israel. Plain and simple.
The new bigotry hides behind the language of inclusion. I wrote about how woke conformism corrodes academic freedom and integrity, and what must be done to rebuild them.
open.substack.com/pub/rokspruk...
open.substack.com/pub/rokspruk...
The New Bigotry
How Woke Conformism Threatens Academic Freedom, Excellence, and Integrity
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:38 PM
The new bigotry hides behind the language of inclusion. I wrote about how woke conformism corrodes academic freedom and integrity, and what must be done to rebuild them.
open.substack.com/pub/rokspruk...
open.substack.com/pub/rokspruk...
Honored that my essay in The Jerusalem Post is now published.
I wrote it at a moment when silence was no longer an option. This is not only about Israel, but about the values that hold our civilization together: life, truth, and moral courage.
www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
I wrote it at a moment when silence was no longer an option. This is not only about Israel, but about the values that hold our civilization together: life, truth, and moral courage.
www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
Where I stand: Israel, Europe, and the moral line | The Jerusalem Post
I stood in Tel Aviv on the eve of war and returned to a Europe unable to speak. What I found was not debate, but the quiet collapse of courage.
www.jpost.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Honored that my essay in The Jerusalem Post is now published.
I wrote it at a moment when silence was no longer an option. This is not only about Israel, but about the values that hold our civilization together: life, truth, and moral courage.
www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
I wrote it at a moment when silence was no longer an option. This is not only about Israel, but about the values that hold our civilization together: life, truth, and moral courage.
www.jpost.com/opinion/arti...
I’m deeply astonished to see how low segments of Italian youth have sunk in espousing antisemitism. This isn’t just ignorance or protest run amok. It’s a moral collapse. We must call it out: hatred has no place in civil society, and silence is complicity
blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-iranian-i...
blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-iranian-i...
The Blogs: An Iranian in Italy, watching the mess
If my classmates knew what it was like to grow up under a radical Islamic regime, they would understand why I can't join them in a pro-Hamas demonstration
blogs.timesofisrael.com
October 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I’m deeply astonished to see how low segments of Italian youth have sunk in espousing antisemitism. This isn’t just ignorance or protest run amok. It’s a moral collapse. We must call it out: hatred has no place in civil society, and silence is complicity
blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-iranian-i...
blogs.timesofisrael.com/an-iranian-i...
Happy to share that my new paper with Chiara Focacci and Mitja Kovac “The Missing Window of Opportunity and Quasi-Experimental Effects of Institutional Integration: Evidence from Ukraine” is now published in Review of Law & Economics
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
The Missing Window of Opportunity and Quasi-Experimental Effects of Institutional Integration: Evidence from Ukraine
We examine the contribution of institutional integration to a country’s institutional capacity. To this end, we examine the effects of remaining outside of the European integration process for 28 Ukra...
www.degruyterbrill.com
July 10, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Happy to share that my new paper with Chiara Focacci and Mitja Kovac “The Missing Window of Opportunity and Quasi-Experimental Effects of Institutional Integration: Evidence from Ukraine” is now published in Review of Law & Economics
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Delighted to see our new paper with Nuno Garoupa on revolutions, structural breaks and the long-term economic and institutional consequences of the 1979 Iranian Revolution published in Constitutional Political Economy.
Revolutions as structural breaks: the long-term economic and institutional consequences of the 1979 Iranian Revolution - Constitutional Political Economy
This paper examines whether major political institutional disruptions produce temporary shocks or structural breaks in long-term development. Using the 1979 Iranian Revolution as a natural experiment,...
link.springer.com
June 5, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Delighted to see our new paper with Nuno Garoupa on revolutions, structural breaks and the long-term economic and institutional consequences of the 1979 Iranian Revolution published in Constitutional Political Economy.
Reposted by Rok Spruk
Public funds to Italian firms in disadvantaged areas (ex. Law 488/92) permanently increased employment, but allocation matters: Firms selected by objective rules create more jobs per € than those favored by local politicians. buff.ly/jcc6d6U
May 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Public funds to Italian firms in disadvantaged areas (ex. Law 488/92) permanently increased employment, but allocation matters: Firms selected by objective rules create more jobs per € than those favored by local politicians. buff.ly/jcc6d6U
Reposted by Rok Spruk
Fun read for sociologists: Apparently Granovetter's "The Strength of Weak Ties," the most cited paper in sociology, was initially rejected from the American Sociological Review. The reviews are a wild slice of disciplinary history. If you're ever dealing w nasty reviews, this could be reassuring...
May 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Fun read for sociologists: Apparently Granovetter's "The Strength of Weak Ties," the most cited paper in sociology, was initially rejected from the American Sociological Review. The reviews are a wild slice of disciplinary history. If you're ever dealing w nasty reviews, this could be reassuring...
Our research shows the Yugoslav wars carved a 38% average drop in regional GDP per capita, with the hardest-hit areas facing permanent economic decline - capitals bounced back faster, rural areas never did. Serb–Croat ethnic tensions alone explain up to 40% of those losses. #EconHistory #Yugoslavia
Ethnic Conflicts, Civil War and Economic Growth: Region-Level Evidence from former Yugoslavia
We investigate the long-term impact of civil war on subnational economic growth across 78 regions in five former Yugoslav republics from 1950 to 2015. Leveraging the outbreak of ethnic tensions and th...
arxiv.org
May 8, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Our research shows the Yugoslav wars carved a 38% average drop in regional GDP per capita, with the hardest-hit areas facing permanent economic decline - capitals bounced back faster, rural areas never did. Serb–Croat ethnic tensions alone explain up to 40% of those losses. #EconHistory #Yugoslavia
Reposted by Rok Spruk
If you predicted that Princeton would be leading the principled defense of independent academic institutions, good for you as a seer. (In notable contrast to Harvard, Columbia, et al.)
Great respect to Princeton leadership, starting with Prez Eisgruber.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Great respect to Princeton leadership, starting with Prez Eisgruber.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
April 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
If you predicted that Princeton would be leading the principled defense of independent academic institutions, good for you as a seer. (In notable contrast to Harvard, Columbia, et al.)
Great respect to Princeton leadership, starting with Prez Eisgruber.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Great respect to Princeton leadership, starting with Prez Eisgruber.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
For a long time, I have warned that cryptocurrencies and bitcoin are the most sophisticated forms of money laundering, spearheaded by libertarian fantasies.
El Salvador’s erratic and wild experiment with cryptocurrency ended in dismal failure, and IMF bailout.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
El Salvador’s erratic and wild experiment with cryptocurrency ended in dismal failure, and IMF bailout.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
El Salvador’s wild crypto experiment ends in failure
Its curtailment is the price of an IMF bail-out. And one worth paying
www.economist.com
March 3, 2025 at 8:54 PM
For a long time, I have warned that cryptocurrencies and bitcoin are the most sophisticated forms of money laundering, spearheaded by libertarian fantasies.
El Salvador’s erratic and wild experiment with cryptocurrency ended in dismal failure, and IMF bailout.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
El Salvador’s erratic and wild experiment with cryptocurrency ended in dismal failure, and IMF bailout.
www.economist.com/finance-and-...
The long-run cost of Yugoslav socialism.
Excited to share the new paper coauthored with Nuno Garoupa and Mitja Kovac.
Excited to share the new paper coauthored with Nuno Garoupa and Mitja Kovac.
EJCE
ejce.liuc.it
February 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM
The long-run cost of Yugoslav socialism.
Excited to share the new paper coauthored with Nuno Garoupa and Mitja Kovac.
Excited to share the new paper coauthored with Nuno Garoupa and Mitja Kovac.
Bringing Hygge, universal health and child care to Hollywood
Danes offer to buy California to spite Trump’s Greenland aims: ‘We’ll bring hygge to Hollywood’
Satirical petition from Denmark, which owns Greenland, racks up 200,000 signatures as Trump eyes Arctic island
www.theguardian.com
February 12, 2025 at 7:19 AM
Bringing Hygge, universal health and child care to Hollywood
Perché gli Stati Uniti sono rimasti indietro?
Paramount in Settlement Talks With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit
A settlement, if reached, would be an extraordinary concession by a major U.S. media company to a sitting president.
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Perché gli Stati Uniti sono rimasti indietro?
No country has done more for the treatment and recovery of children of Chernobyl than Cuba, providing complete medical care to over 24,000 victims.
The EU and US have long forgotten the Chernobyl tragedy, and keep accusing Cuba of being Sino-Russian puppet.
en.escambray.cu/2021/tarara-...
The EU and US have long forgotten the Chernobyl tragedy, and keep accusing Cuba of being Sino-Russian puppet.
en.escambray.cu/2021/tarara-...
Tarará: The Story of Chernobyl Children in Cuba – Escambray
en.escambray.cu
January 30, 2025 at 10:12 AM
No country has done more for the treatment and recovery of children of Chernobyl than Cuba, providing complete medical care to over 24,000 victims.
The EU and US have long forgotten the Chernobyl tragedy, and keep accusing Cuba of being Sino-Russian puppet.
en.escambray.cu/2021/tarara-...
The EU and US have long forgotten the Chernobyl tragedy, and keep accusing Cuba of being Sino-Russian puppet.
en.escambray.cu/2021/tarara-...
Prioritising investment deregulation fuelled wage compression and stagnation, raising inequality and political divides, paving the path for the rise of oligarchy-controlled information environment threatening the survival of democracy.
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
How free-market policymakers got it all wrong for decades — Harvard Gazette
Conservative economist says singular focus on deregulation, unfettered trade failed to deliver for American households.
news.harvard.edu
January 18, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Prioritising investment deregulation fuelled wage compression and stagnation, raising inequality and political divides, paving the path for the rise of oligarchy-controlled information environment threatening the survival of democracy.
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
An excellent essay by @frankfukuyama.bsky.social on Elon Musk, Berlusconization of US politics and the decline of Western civilization
www.persuasion.community/p/elon-musk-...
www.persuasion.community/p/elon-musk-...
Elon Musk and the Decline of Western Civilization
Silvio Berlusconi invented the modern oligarchy. Musk is expanding it.
www.persuasion.community
January 14, 2025 at 2:21 PM
An excellent essay by @frankfukuyama.bsky.social on Elon Musk, Berlusconization of US politics and the decline of Western civilization
www.persuasion.community/p/elon-musk-...
www.persuasion.community/p/elon-musk-...
Delighted and very happy that our joint research with Shai Dothan and Mitja Kovac on long-term effects of deep institutional shocks has been selected as the editor's choice of the most impactful research article in 2024 in Journal of Government and Economics.
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...
January 14, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Delighted and very happy that our joint research with Shai Dothan and Mitja Kovac on long-term effects of deep institutional shocks has been selected as the editor's choice of the most impactful research article in 2024 in Journal of Government and Economics.
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...
www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...
Reposted by Rok Spruk
#QJE Feb 2025, #6, “LinkedOut? A Field Experiment on Discrimination in Job Network Formation,” by Evsyukova (@yuliaevsyukova.bsky.social), Rusche (@felixrusche.bsky.social), and Mill (@econmill.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
LinkedOut? A Field Experiment on Discrimination in Job Network Formation*
Abstract. We assess the impact of discrimination on Black individuals’ job networks across the United States using a two-stage field experiment with 400+ f
doi.org
January 12, 2025 at 12:11 PM
#QJE Feb 2025, #6, “LinkedOut? A Field Experiment on Discrimination in Job Network Formation,” by Evsyukova (@yuliaevsyukova.bsky.social), Rusche (@felixrusche.bsky.social), and Mill (@econmill.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Based on my paper on the rise and fall of ARG, a recent discussion in a German newspaper asks whether German economy is on the same trajectory of decline as ARG in early 20th century
As I said back in 2016 in LJU, under current econ policies, the West will end up like ARG
web.de/magazine/pol...
As I said back in 2016 in LJU, under current econ policies, the West will end up like ARG
web.de/magazine/pol...
Kettensäge gegen Bürokratie: Was Deutschland von Milei lernen kann
Der argentinische Präsident Javier Milei wird für seinen Reformkurs von Anhängern verehrt und von Gegnern gehasst. In Deutschland polarisierte Christian Lindner mit seiner Aussage, man könne von ihm l...
web.de
January 11, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Based on my paper on the rise and fall of ARG, a recent discussion in a German newspaper asks whether German economy is on the same trajectory of decline as ARG in early 20th century
As I said back in 2016 in LJU, under current econ policies, the West will end up like ARG
web.de/magazine/pol...
As I said back in 2016 in LJU, under current econ policies, the West will end up like ARG
web.de/magazine/pol...
Trump’s arguments to support the overhaul of Torrijos-Carter treaty and control the Panama Canal are flat wrong and nothing else than a badly designed disinformation campaign.
www.economist.com/the-economis...
www.economist.com/the-economis...
What would Donald Trump gain from seizing the Panama Canal?
The president-elect claims the crossing is controlled by China and rips off American consumers
www.economist.com
January 10, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Trump’s arguments to support the overhaul of Torrijos-Carter treaty and control the Panama Canal are flat wrong and nothing else than a badly designed disinformation campaign.
www.economist.com/the-economis...
www.economist.com/the-economis...
Without any policy response, oligarch-controlled social media algorithms is likely to skew the information environment to the point where it is incompatible with the surival of liberal democracy.
Its demise is one of Musk’s and his amigos’ unstated goals
www.ft.com/content/41e8...
Its demise is one of Musk’s and his amigos’ unstated goals
www.ft.com/content/41e8...
Trump campaign worker won Elon Musk’s $1mn election raffle prize
US swing state voters were told to sign petition ‘in support of the constitution’ to get awards
www.ft.com
January 10, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Without any policy response, oligarch-controlled social media algorithms is likely to skew the information environment to the point where it is incompatible with the surival of liberal democracy.
Its demise is one of Musk’s and his amigos’ unstated goals
www.ft.com/content/41e8...
Its demise is one of Musk’s and his amigos’ unstated goals
www.ft.com/content/41e8...
Some interesting thoughts from The Economist about the potential US purchase of Greenland. Two thoughts:
Economic benefits of US statehood are well-known
Territories under US administration historically (Philippines, 1898-1946) failed to benefit from US control, grew dismally and remained poor.
Economic benefits of US statehood are well-known
Territories under US administration historically (Philippines, 1898-1946) failed to benefit from US control, grew dismally and remained poor.
An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century
The economics of buying new territory
www.economist.com
January 9, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Some interesting thoughts from The Economist about the potential US purchase of Greenland. Two thoughts:
Economic benefits of US statehood are well-known
Territories under US administration historically (Philippines, 1898-1946) failed to benefit from US control, grew dismally and remained poor.
Economic benefits of US statehood are well-known
Territories under US administration historically (Philippines, 1898-1946) failed to benefit from US control, grew dismally and remained poor.