Steven Durlauf
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durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf
@durlauf.bsky.social
2.9K followers 780 following 200 posts

Professor, Harris School of Public Policy, Director, Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility, University of Chicago

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Steven Neil Durlauf is an American economist and social scientist. He is currently Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor and the inaugural Director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the Harris School of Public Policy Studies at the University of Chicago. Durlauf was previously the William F. Vilas Research Professor and Kenneth J. Arrow Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As of 2021, is also a Part Time Professor at the New Economic School. .. more

Economics 66%
Sociology 10%
Posts Replies Media Videos

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
9. Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, Volker Ullrich

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
8. What is Ancient History?, Walter Scheidel

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
7. The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life, Sophia Rosenfeld

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
6. The First Russian Revolution: The Decembrist Revolt of 1825, Susanna Rabow-Edling

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
5. The Revolutionary Self: Social Change and the Emergence of the Modern Individual, 1770-1800, Lynn Hunt

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
4. Crucibles of Power: Smolensk under Stalinist and Nazi Rule, Michael David-Fox

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
3. The German Empire, 1971-1918, Roger Chickering

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
2. Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent, Kim Bowes

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 8h
9 favorite history books 2025.

1. Capitalism: A Global History, Sven Beckert

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility @ucstonecenter.bsky.social · 4d
Shopping this Black Friday? Wondering how tariffs will affect prices? Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) tells KQ2 that while the impact might not hit consumers immediately, the long-term effects could be significant.
www.kq2.com/news/u-s-tar...
U.S. tariffs could cast shadow over holiday shopping season
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — The busiest time of year for U.S. shoppers and retail consumers is right around the corner.
www.kq2.com

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 6d
Fantastic opportunity!
hermwerf.bsky.social Herman van de Werfhorst 🟥 @hermwerf.bsky.social · 6d
Come and do a PhD at the #EUI! We are five professors in sociology, within the department of Political and Social Sciences. Social stratification, education, family demography, analytical sociology, experimental sociology, it’s all here!
eui-eu.bsky.social European University Institute @eui-eu.bsky.social · 29d
🚨 Applications Now Open for the EUI PhD Programmes 2026-2027!

📊 Economics |⚖️ Law |📘 History | 🏛 Political and Social Sciences

Join the EUI's 50th PhD cohort!

Apply by 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) for the academic journey of a lifetime! 👉: eui.eu/phd

#EUIPhD #PhDOpportunity

Reposted by Stephen P. Jenkins, Steven N. Durlauf, Dave O’Brien , and 2 more

hermwerf.bsky.social
Herman van de Werfhorst 🟥 @hermwerf.bsky.social · 6d
Come and do a PhD at the #EUI! We are five professors in sociology, within the department of Political and Social Sciences. Social stratification, education, family demography, analytical sociology, experimental sociology, it’s all here!
eui-eu.bsky.social European University Institute @eui-eu.bsky.social · 29d
🚨 Applications Now Open for the EUI PhD Programmes 2026-2027!

📊 Economics |⚖️ Law |📘 History | 🏛 Political and Social Sciences

Join the EUI's 50th PhD cohort!

Apply by 15 January 2026 (14:00 CET) for the academic journey of a lifetime! 👉: eui.eu/phd

#EUIPhD #PhDOpportunity

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 6d
Thank you!

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 6d
In contrast, I emphasized what I believe are unique types of distributional instabilities that can arise in growing societies, specifically as technical change occurs. And I questioned whether the selection mechanisms Sam described well capture history.

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 6d
Sam's remarks were optimistic. He emphasized capacities of societies to act to reduce inequality and goes so far as to suggest that, in the spirit of Talcott Parson's evolutionary universals, more egalitarian societies are selected for over time.

Reposted by David Brady

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 6d
Delighted to post this recording of my public conversation with Sam Bowles, moderated by @ethanbdm.bsky.social,
on Why Economic Inequalities Endure.

Our discussion ranges from the distant past to speculation on how AI will affect future inequality.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG0C...
UChicago Stone Center | Why Economic Inequalities Endure
YouTube video by Harris Public Policy
www.youtube.com

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf

rlspang.bsky.social
Rebecca Spang @rlspang.bsky.social · 7d
It's not a perfect analogy but I've been thinking about this 1792 cartoon ever since I saw yesterday's photo
Caricature of Louis XVI ("The Last") drinking from a wine bottle. He wears "bourgeois" garb [think "dressed up Benjamin Franklin" with a black coat over white breeches shirt jacket etc) a red ribbon and crucially a "phrygian cap" (liberty cap) with a revolutionary tricolor cockade. Supposedly a scene from the Tuileries Palace June 20, 1792 Trump, grinning, with goofy thumbs up, next to Mamdani, in front of portrait of FDR at his desk.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 7d
Sam's thinking has also evolved in deep ways over time. His incredible interest in all domains of social science and his complete comfort in adapting his thinking are another type of courage.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 7d
Sam's dedication to understanding inequality and his particular modes of analysis were deeply controversial in the early parts of his career. This courage in challenging conventional paradigms regardless of professional cost are well known.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 7d
In my opinion, there is no economist who has contributed more to understanding inequality in the last 60 years than Sam Bowles.

Reposted by Nathan Nunn, Aaron Sojourner, Miguel Á. Malo

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 7d
Honored to introduce Samuel Bowles Public Lecture The Origin and Future of Inequality, part of 3 days organized by
@ucstonecenter.bsky.social.

Sam has been an inspiration, both intellectually and morally to me, as well as to so many in the profession.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV-9...
UChicago Stone Center | The Origin and Future of Economic Inequality by Samuel Bowles
YouTube video by Harris Public Policy
www.youtube.com

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 9d
Great paper with important implications for understanding life cycle inequalities. For example, one can see how strong memory of in labor market trajectories can lead to amplification of the experience of early career discrimination. Recommended!
nber.org NBER @nber.org · 14d
Studying the causal effect of different early career occupational experiences on labor market outcomes, from @jessebruhn.bsky.social, Jacob Fabian, Luke Gallagher, Matthew Gudgeon, Adam Isen, and Aaron R. Phipps www.nber.org/papers/w34463

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 10d
Very pleased that this interesting conversation between Doug Downey and @gtwodtke.bsky.social on schools and inequality has posted.
ucstonecenter.bsky.social UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility @ucstonecenter.bsky.social · 10d
Doug Downey wants to convince you that schools actually reduce inequality, not expand it. In his conversation with @gtwodtke.bsky.social, they examine how the education system likely compensates for SES gaps and why school reforms are a band-aid fix to root problems.
Listen now → bit.ly/48nPLij

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 10d
Thank you @aeacswep.bsky.social.

Who will follow and do the right thing?
aeacswep.bsky.social CSWEP @aeacswep.bsky.social · 10d
CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.

Reposted by Heather Boushey, Steven N. Durlauf, Yana van der Meulen Rodgers , and 10 more

aeacswep.bsky.social
CSWEP @aeacswep.bsky.social · 10d
CSWEP strongly condemns Larry Summers’ behavior as revealed in the email correspondence with the late Jeffrey Epstein. While abuse of power in the economics profession is not new, rarely has the intent behind such abuse been so clearly stated.

Reposted by Steven N. Durlauf, David Brady

ucstonecenter.bsky.social
UChicago | Stone Center on Wealth Inequality & Mobility @ucstonecenter.bsky.social · 10d
Doug Downey wants to convince you that schools actually reduce inequality, not expand it. In his conversation with @gtwodtke.bsky.social, they examine how the education system likely compensates for SES gaps and why school reforms are a band-aid fix to root problems.
Listen now → bit.ly/48nPLij

Reposted by Michael Kevane, Aaron Sojourner, Timothy D. McBride

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 12d
The proudest moment of my life was my admission to
Harvard in 1976. Today I am deeply ashamed. @harvard.edu must revoke Summers' University Professorship. His holding the school's highest honor debases the university and is an insult to every woman and person of color in the academic community.

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Kim L. Scheppele, Jonathan A. Eisen , and 15 more

theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
The Harvard Crimson @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social · 13d
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: Jeffrey E. Epstein.

Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ | News | The Harvard Crimson
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender…
www.thecrimson.com

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 13d
9/To be clear, I do not dogmatically oppose price controls. FTR, I support higher minimum wages. But the failed price control policies described by the authors require that one make serious arguments about mechanisms producing welfare improvements treating implementation as more than details.

durlauf.bsky.social
Steven Durlauf @durlauf.bsky.social · 13d
8/ The Public Choice and Chicago Regulation Schools (I am a member of neither) critiques cannot simply be dismissed; they need to be addressed. Little is explained here. The time inconsistency problem cannot be wished away by sunset clauses.