I'm happy to report that I've been promoted to Professor of Political Science and Political Economy. Many thanks to so many friends and colleagues who have helped along the way! It's a privilege and honor to teach, research, and serve in the academy today.

Prison is supposed to be punitive, but sending people into unsafe gang-dominated facilities undermines the larger purpose of the penal system — especially given that the vast majority of prisoners will be released. Better conditions could pay off. slowboring.com/p/america-shou…

In today’s episode, George Mason University Professor Peter Boettke and Director Steven N. Durlauf discuss the central ideas in classical liberalism and the intellectual history of economics as a moral science. Listen every other Monday: Website: bit.ly/3YdiCkj Spotify:

Looking forward to next week's PPE Society conference in London. Scroll to the bottom for a look at the agenda. ppesociety.org/ppe-society-lo…

Last year was the largest one-year percentage point decline in murder ever recorded. This year is on track to do so again. In fact, nearly every category of crime is down sharply, with many at multi-decade lows or even the lowest per-capita rates ever recorded.

🎧 How do American prison gangs facilitate money, trade, and economics behind bars? What can we learn from this? David Skarbek tells me all about it, based on his award-winning book: "The Social Order of the Underworld." youtube.com/watch?v=kmUPqW…

How many people live with criminal governance in the Americas? Based on nationally representative survey data, we offer a rough estimate (Spoiler: as many as 100 million). Criminal governance also seems to be systematically correlated with greater, not weaker, state presence.

Great conversation with my friend and former colleague.

Hot off the presses! Important new book from the excellent ⁦Reid Pauly⁩.

First day teaching my course on crime, punishment, and politics.

We would like to give a special shoutout and thanks to our amazing PPE Society students! PPE Society aims to discover and unite Brown students who share a desire to understand how societies may become better places for people to live and flourish.

Free Speech has been enshrined in our Constitution since 1789. One of many fundamental American principles discussed in my forthcoming book, Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840–1920. Releasing this Tuesday, September 16th.

They don’t quite frame it this way, but the Free Press published today what is essentially a pretty solid 10-step guide for starting to repair America:

I'm honored that my book, "Democracy Tamed: French Liberalism and the Politics of Suffrage," has been awarded the 2025 Catherine & Michael Zuckert Book Award from the Association for the History of Political Thought (AHPT). Oxford Academic politicalthought.org/book-prize

Those talking about cash bail are right that there are too many dangerous people out on the street. We need to get better at identifying defendants who are a public safety threat and detain them. But the real scandal is how few violent offenders are caught in the first place.

If universities aren’t exempted from the new H1B rule or given a discount, the US may lose its academic leadership. The US now attracts a highly disproportionate share of global academic talent. Whatever the benefits of the new H1B rules, many brilliant minds will go elsewhere.

Happening now in Pembroke Hall at Brown University: The Northeast Political Economy Conference, sponsored by the PPE Center and The Bravo Center