Tayfun Sönmez
tayfunsonmez.bsky.social
Tayfun Sönmez
@tayfunsonmez.bsky.social
Professor of Economics at Boston College, Minimalist Design Economist, Hiker, World Traveler

Website: https://www.tayfunsonmez.net

Banu Bedestenci Sönmez Liver Paired Exchange System: https://caprazkaracigernakli.inonu.edu.tr/en
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Science turns out to be like liberal democracy: imperfect but better than the available alternatives
#econsky #academicsky #science @vaccines
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/09/scin...
Science and politics: Can you fix science by doing much less of it?
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
September 22, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Our beloved Banu must be smiling from above today ✨💙 So emotional, happy, and proud of this milestone. Deepest congratulations to the wonderful Prof. Dr. Sezai Yilmaz and his amazing team. What a legacy 🙏❤️
The BBS-Liver Exchange System today completed its 300th transplant in Malatya, Türkiye, with 102 of them completed this year. Breakdowns of all transplants, categorized by exchange sizes and the type of pairs involved, are provided below. When we launched this program in 2022.
September 11, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Sezai Yılmaz hocamızın Malatya’da Avrupa’nın en başarılı karaciğer nakil merkezlerinden birini kurmasının ve sonrasında yollarımızın kesişerek dünyanın en etkili karaciğer çapraz nakil sistemini en kıymetlimiz-rahmetli eşim-Banu’nun anısına kurmamızın hikayesi🫶

www.fortuneturkey.com/malatyayi-du...
Malatya’yı Dünya Haritasına Yerleştiren Hekim | Fortune Turkey
www.fortuneturkey.com
July 31, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Yesterday, our amazing İnönü University partners showcased dynamic nature of liver exchange! We had an O blood-type patient with a O blood-type donor in a planned 3-way exchange. Pre-op calculations suggested graft size was too small for a direct transplant.
May 26, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Please join us for the 4-lecture mini course I will give on minimalist market design at University of StGallen this week. The course is open to all and available both in person and via zoom. See below for the registration info and the link in the next comment for the course slides.
Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd at @unisg.ch and online:

PhD minicourse on Minimalistic Market Design

with @tayfunsonmez.bsky.social !!!

Pls share and register for online or onsite attendance!

#econsky #econ #academicsky #marketdesign
May 19, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Congratulations Stefanie Stantcheva @s-stantcheva.bsky.social for this great recognition 👏 Very well-deserved 🏅
April 22, 2025 at 12:41 PM
The Turkish opposition held a massive rally today in one of Erdoğan’s most loyal strongholds. A farmer nailed it: "You can’t run a country with radish and turnip. You run it with truth, law, and justice." The turnip bit might be a coincidence — but it still lands a little too well in the U.S.
Turpunan, şalgamınan devlet idare edilmez. Adalet ilen idare edilir.

Hor görülen çiftçi, yok sayılan köylü Yozgat’tan başlayıp hesap soracak!

Milletin istikbalini, milletin azim ve kararı kurtaracak.

Sandıktan korkan darbeciler değil, millet kazanacak!
April 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Unfortunately, this post has aged far better than I ever wished it would 👇 #EconSky
Last year @shengwuli.bsky.social pointed out that the core tenet of my minimalist market design framework—"Don't fix what's not broken"—echoes Chesterton’s Fence (now discussed in Section 2.2.2). In an age of Trumpian & DOGE policies, this tenet feels especially relevant. arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307
April 7, 2025 at 1:02 AM
A collusion of autocrat wannabes: According to CHP leader Özgür Özel, Erdoğan secured Trump’s tacit approval for the arrest of Turkey’s opposition leader—while Trump, in turn, has been increasingly embracing Erdoğan-style authoritarian tactics.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...?
Turkish Opposition Asks Erdogan If US Approved Rival’s Arrest
Turkey’s opposition leader Ozgur Ozel on Sunday challenged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to say whether he received approval from the Trump administration for the recent arrest of Erdogan’s main riva...
www.bloomberg.com
April 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Given the strong parallels between leadership styles of Trump and Erdogan, and the rapid deterioration of democratic institutions in the US, the same headline equally applies to Americam democracy 🙁
April 4, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Before his arrest on bogus charges, opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu said: “No salvation alone; either all of us together, or none of us.” His words echo far beyond Turkey — a powerful call to unite against authoritarianism.
March 23, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Here's an open letter to the American people, that I was proud to sign along with thousands of other members of the National Academy of Sciences #EconSky #AcademicSky
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/03/open...
Open letter on Science
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
March 31, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Congestion and congestion pricing: Ostrovsky and Kominers (QED) #Econsky #congestion
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/03/mike...
Mike Ostrovsky on congestion pricing (podcast)
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
March 31, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Erdogan, during his tenure as Mayor of Istanbul in 1990s famously stated “Democracy is like a train: when we reach our destination, we get off.” More than 2 million people gathered today in Istanbul (despite a 9 day holiday) to show Turkish people’s commitment to democracy.
NEW: Today in Instanbul, Turkey.

A people fighting for democracy & against authoritarianism. This is how you do it!

Chairman of Republican People’s Party, Özgür Özel:

“Today, 2.2 million of our citizens overflowed Maltepe Square. This is just the beginning. This nation will not remain silent.” 🇹🇷
March 29, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Before his arrest on bogus charges, opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu said: “No salvation alone; either all of us together, or none of us.” His words echo far beyond Turkey — a powerful call to unite against authoritarianism.
March 23, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Trump’s policies embolden the Erdoğan regime to push Turkey toward full-blown dictatorship, while Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts amid civil unrest. www.politico.eu/article/musk...
Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest
Suspensions affect accounts spreading information about the widespread demonstrations.
www.politico.eu
March 23, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Truly looking forward to this event. Please join the subsequent mini course I will give on minimalist market design if you are close by to St. Gallen in late May.

www.unisg.ch/en/news/even...
ERP-HSG Lecture with Prof. Tayfun Sönmez: “Minimalist Market Design for Organ Transplantation”
In this public ERP-HSG Lecture, Prof. Tayfun Sönmez (Boston College) explores the transformative impact of “minimalist market design” in organ transplantation and beyond. Drawing on two decades of res...
www.unisg.ch
March 20, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Last year @shengwuli.bsky.social pointed out that the core tenet of my minimalist market design framework—"Don't fix what's not broken"—echoes Chesterton’s Fence (now discussed in Section 2.2.2). In an age of Trumpian & DOGE policies, this tenet feels especially relevant. arxiv.org/pdf/2401.00307
March 10, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Fantastic research program offering solutions to challenges Boston Public Schools officials faced 2 decades ago when choosing between the Deferred Acceptance and Top Trading Cycles. The framework by ‪@charmelades.bsky.social & @aromeromedina.bsky.social could have served as an innovative compromise.
March 9, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Thank you, Al, for promoting our collaborators' work. You can more learn about the background of how we initiated the Liver Paired Exchange Program in Malatya in Section 12.3 of the manuscript of @tayfunsonmez.bsky.social

arxiv.org/pdf/2401.003...
February 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
In these difficult times, we find solace in the achievements of our partners in Malatya, Turkey, who performed their fifth 6-way liver exchange today 👏 Having performed 29 LE transplants in 2025 through the Banu Bedestenci Sönmez LPE system, they are on track to surpass their record of 122 in 2024 🥇
February 12, 2025 at 7:16 PM
For years, I have argued that there should be a penalty for producing non-impactful research, especially in top outlets. Such a mechanism would deter the producing mediocre research, whether generated with or w/o AI. It would also help curb the undue advantage held by gatekeepers in academia.
February 6, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by Tayfun Sönmez
Opposition from civil society is no doubt important, but it's effective, organized, *unified* political opposition that is needed to reverse the authoritarian slide. That at least is the lesson I draw from (the failures of the opposition parties in) Erdogan's Turkey. Looking at you, Democrats!
February 4, 2025 at 5:52 PM