Goal of the week candidate! He's been invited to the Midwest regional ID camp this summer... so it's not just me seeing this :)

In the 1800s, mills located in counties without powerful rivers were more likely to adopt steam power, driving more rapid manufacturing growth. UChicago Economics' Shanon Hsuan-Ming Hsu, Chicago Booth's Richard Hornbeck & Anders Humlum; Martin Rotemberg bfi.uchicago.edu/insight/resear…

Slavery was not economically productive. Accounting for the costs it imposted on enslaved people suggests that emancipation boosted the economy by up to 35% of GDP. Prof. Richard Hornbeck & Hal Weitzman discuss on Chicago Booth Review's podcast: ow.ly/mLtQ50QJV0P

US tariff policy:

We're excited to host the Workshop on Institutions and Political Economy in Historical Perspective this Wed & Thurs (May 29-30) at LSE! Looking forward to amazing presentations from leading scholars in economic history & political economy, early career researchers, and LSE

Don’t forget— MLB was originally racially integrated. They chose to segregate. Moses Walker played in 1884. The league later decided they didn’t want Black players.

Two set pieces today, and I missed seeing two set pieces and a long shot yesterday (cost of carpooling)

New paper with benton “Her Property Transactions: White Women and the Frequency of Female Ownership in the Antebellum Era” NBER. We find White women were regularly participating in enslaved transactions, the opposite of the received wisdom. nber.org/papers/w32529

Who else learned to get their homework done during the commercials?

This uses our newly digitized Census of Manufactures manuscripts to lay out some new insights into female-owned manufacturing establishments in the 19th century US during a period of substantial growth. Interesting comparisons to patterns in modern developing countries.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make better.” 8-year-old

A 🧵on a new NBER paper from Rick Hornbeck, Ferdinand Rauch and Guy Michaels: “Identifying Agglomeration Shadows: Long-run Evidence from Ancient Ports.” Despite the title, I think this has important relevance for the Midwest economy, past and present.

Examining “agglomeration shadows” using locations of ancient Mediterranean ports, illustrating how growth in some places can discourage growth of nearby areas, from Rick Hornbeck, Guy Michaels, and Ferdinand Rauch nber.org/papers/w32634

#QJE May 2024, #10, “Answering the Call of Automation: How the Labor Market Adjusted to Mechanizing Telephone Operation,” by Feigenbaum (James Feigenbaum) and Gross (Daniel P. Gross): doi.org/10.1093/qje/qj…

Econ RA/Predoc Opportunity! Ben Feigenberg & I (Anjali Adukia) are looking for an RA to work with us on projects studying the impacts of restorative justice in schools. Apply here: uchicago.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/External… Econ RA Listings The University of Chicago University of Illinois Chicago Harris Policy Becker Friedman Institute for Economics #EconTwitter

Scheduling the 2026 World Cup in Vegas

Anyone interested in urban + spatial economics topics: check out OSUS's awesome lineup!💥 The first seminar is next week, featuring Rick Hornbeck!