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Best of #econtwitter - Week of February 19, 2023: interesting tweets

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Best of #econtwitter - Week of February 19, 2023: interesting tweets

Feb 23, 2023
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Best of #econtwitter - Week of February 19, 2023: interesting tweets

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Welcome readers old and new to this week’s edition of Best of Econtwitter. Please submit suggestions — very much including your own work! — over email or on Twitter @just_economics.

Belated edition this week!

Interesting discussions

Twitter avatar for @ShengwuLi
Shengwu Li @ShengwuLi
Preparing to talk to students about research advice / hidden curriculum. Here are guesstimated base rates for converting ideas to papers.
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4:06 PM ∙ Feb 12, 2023
1,388Likes245Retweets

^really too bad substack cuts off the images so you can’t see the images — but you can click through

Twitter avatar for @alexoimas
Alex Imas @alexoimas
This is why I’m a big fan of pre-docs. The process/reward structure for research vs courses are so different. So many students good at latter, start phd and excel in first/second year. Then spend 4-5 years deeply unhappy and floundering. Opportunity cost on those years is huge.
Twitter avatar for @ShengwuLi
Shengwu Li @ShengwuLi
Preparing to talk to students about research advice / hidden curriculum. Here are guesstimated base rates for converting ideas to papers. https://t.co/HCvI5Kfk74
5:27 PM ∙ Feb 12, 2023
65Likes5Retweets

^more on predocs in the next section…

Twitter avatar for @stroebel_econ
Johannes Stroebel @stroebel_econ
@ShengwuLi Would love to see full slide deck!
10:08 PM ∙ Feb 12, 2023
Twitter avatar for @ShengwuLi
Shengwu Li @ShengwuLi
@stroebel_econ Full slide deck is… maybe a little too frank about publishing lags in econ.
10:42 PM ∙ Feb 12, 2023
Twitter avatar for @nikir1
Nicole Boyson @nikir1
I've been co-editor at the Financial Analysts Journal for about 18 months now (I ❤️ it). I have a few tips that I hope current and future reviewers will find useful and constructive, and that I believe apply to all academic reviewers (at least in Finance). OK, here we go: 1/8
9:51 PM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
84Likes10Retweets
Twitter avatar for @emollick
Ethan Mollick @emollick
Remember how a couple days ago us educators were feeling comfortable that ChatGPT produces B essays & can't do citations & makes up stuff all the time? I had the new Bing AI create an assignment and rubric. Then I had it write an essay in response. Not perfect, but a huge leap.
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3:42 AM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
930Likes153Retweets
Twitter avatar for @camjpatrick
Cameron Patrick @camjpatrick
how do meta-analyses ever conclude anything beyond “the entire literature is very bad and researchers should feel bad”
7:37 AM ∙ Feb 10, 2023
1,439Likes138Retweets
Twitter avatar for @I4Replication
I4R @I4Replication
We currently have ~35 registered for the upcoming replication games in association with @UniofNottingham - we're looking for more participants (remote and in-person) in politics, health econ, econ history and macro!
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3:04 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
32Likes10Retweets
Twitter avatar for @ben_golub
Ben Golub 🇺🇦 @ben_golub
If you have an economics Ph.D. or are currently studying for one: Is economic theory a field in crisis?
4:06 AM ∙ Feb 18, 2023
35Likes7Retweets

^(see replies)

Twitter avatar for @abiylfoyp
Jim Savage @abiylfoyp
One of life's great disappointments is that only after you've done a huge amount of work on a topic can you make it seem so trivial as to be obvious.
6:58 PM ∙ Feb 17, 2023
Twitter avatar for @_LukasFreund_
Lukas Freund @_LukasFreund_
@ben_golub And...the Econ-Mastodon experiment seems to have run out of steam, or am I misjudging that? (With the pros and cons that would bring.)
3:45 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023

Predocs

Twitter avatar for @pengpeng_xiao
Pengpeng Xiao @pengpeng_xiao
My jaws keep dropping as I go through 70 PhD applicant files. People w/ 2 coauthored papers & an interesting solo writing sample don’t even make it to the top 10 in my pile. The level of knowledge, research experience & passion these kids bring to the table is just remarkable! 🤩
Awesome Rock And Roll GIF
4:27 PM ∙ Feb 13, 2023
795Likes66Retweets

^this tweet sparked a lot of …discussion…

Twitter avatar for @asv141
Akhil Vohra @asv141
Imo this is a direct consequence of the predoc/ra programs that people do between undergrad and applying to grad school… unsure whether this is a good thing 1/2
Twitter avatar for @pengpeng_xiao
Pengpeng Xiao @pengpeng_xiao
My jaws keep dropping as I go through 70 PhD applicant files. People w/ 2 coauthored papers & an interesting solo writing sample don’t even make it to the top 10 in my pile. The level of knowledge, research experience & passion these kids bring to the table is just remarkable! 🤩 https://t.co/ZcgroG2rKb
3:05 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
60Likes2Retweets
Twitter avatar for @ShengwuLi
Shengwu Li @ShengwuLi
Reminder that research potential is extremely hard to measure at the PhD admissions stage, and many great researchers come from outside ‘top’ departments.
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8:58 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
906Likes158Retweets
Twitter avatar for @HundredChiltern
Chiltern Hundred @HundredChiltern
@ShengwuLi Assuming Harvard cohort size of 25, only 1 Harvard student will publish in AER after 6 years? Seems low. Am I interpreting that right?
10:04 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023

^this is an aside but: I have noted before in this newsletter that the referenced Conley and Onder (2014, JEP) is based on data from 1986-2000, and someone needs to update it. Publishing patterns have changed, norms/expectations have changed, the duration of grad school has increased by 50%, students are more likely to coauthor with their advisors… and that’s all besides the rise of predocs in the last decade

Twitter avatar for @FairyCalvo
Calvo Fairy @FairyCalvo
@JosephPolitano @jacob_coblentz This kind of stuff is wildly exaggerated on Twitter. I’ve reviewed applications for a fairly high-ranking program (not MIT but high). Taking PhD sequences as an undergrad and doing well in them is still rare enough that it makes admission very very likely.
1:05 AM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
Twitter avatar for @ashdgandhi
Ashvin Gandhi @ashdgandhi
The thing we need to be more honest about is that having a credible shot at a top PhD program means that you need to be one of the few dozen best applicants IN THE WORLD. That's not a small thing. The world is a big place, and there are a lot of hungry people out there!
Twitter avatar for @ashdgandhi
Ashvin Gandhi @ashdgandhi
Getting into an econ PhD program without doing a predoc was easy! All I did was... *checks transcript*... get A's in >28 semesters of econ and math coursework/research (5 at the PhD-level), and work as an RA every summer. And, I was rejected more places than I was admitted!
6:15 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
78Likes1Retweet
Twitter avatar for @IvanWerning
Ivan Werning @IvanWerning
Marxist viewpoint on new pre-doc equilibrium: Ask yourself, who really benefits from it, compared to the previous equilibrium without them? Mainly those hiring them. (Yes, rational GIVEN equilibrium for those doing them, but that's not the question.)
1:17 AM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
305Likes27Retweets
Twitter avatar for @lugaricano
Luis Garicano 🇪🇺🇺🇦 @lugaricano
@IvanWerning It reminds me of this paper I did with Luis Rayo- master extracts all surplus by teaching as s-l-o-w-l-y as possible to keep the apprentice generating output.
aeaweb.orgRelational Knowledge Transfers(September 2017) - We study how relational contracts mitigate Becker’s classic problem of providing general human capital when training contracts are incomplete. The firm’s profit-maximizing agreement is a multiperiod apprenticeship in which the novice is trained gradually over time and eventually r…
2:13 AM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
73Likes10Retweets
Twitter avatar for @t_holden
Tom Holden @t_holden
@IvanWerning One of the problems is that we tend to judge CVs by output relative to time since PhD. If you can extend the time before that timer starts, then you're usually better off. (I have never heard anyone discount a mature CV because they took a long time to get their PhD.)
9:57 AM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
Twitter avatar for @ashdgandhi
Ashvin Gandhi @ashdgandhi
Friendly reminder that the alternatives to insanely competitive PhD admissions are requiring postdocs (sciences) or a complete inability to place students (humanities and most social sciences). The status quo in econ isn't perfect, but it's probably better than most alternatives!
9:59 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
Twitter avatar for @Afinetheorem
Kevin Bryan @Afinetheorem
@besttrousers @nominalthoughts Basically one of the only fields in academia where students all get jobs on graduation, where intake is based on that rather than how many cheap lab workers you can get or how deluded you are about demand for 18th century lit scholars. Isn't econ the only one doing things right?
8:39 AM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
3Likes1Retweet
Twitter avatar for @ZachLevinTweets
Zach Levin @ZachLevinTweets
To add to the ~discourse~ having a break from being a student between undergraduate and a PhD is INCREDIBLY valuable. But that is about developing as an adult/human being. Not about pre-docs and publishing. We should value two years off however spent. You'll be a better student.
10:03 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
81Likes4Retweets
Twitter avatar for @josh_t_dean
Josh Dean @josh_t_dean
Since we're in unsolicited PhD advice season, here's mine (with a negotiations prof hat on): Consider your outside options carefully. 🧵1/4
3:22 PM ∙ Feb 15, 2023
52Likes5Retweets

The big picture on all this stuff is that the time it takes to become a scientist is increasing in all fields (graphs): the “burden of knowledge”. This isn’t just about econ

Fin

Twitter avatar for @maiamindel
maia @maiamindel
2023 Macro Valentines
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4:07 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
324Likes47Retweets
Twitter avatar for @MaxKennerly
Max Kennerly @MaxKennerly
"Additionally, he would like to thank his neighbour, Gary..." arxiv.org/abs/2302.03988
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1:46 PM ∙ Feb 10, 2023
976Likes203Retweets
Twitter avatar for @_LukasFreund_
Lukas Freund @_LukasFreund_
Wow, new standards of outreach & dissemination set here by @fpvinay, @FpjPortier and Moscarini. A *song* accompanying the (fascinating) paper "The Job Ladder: Inflation vs. Reallocation"! 🔗 sites.google.com/site/fabienpos…
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9:06 PM ∙ Feb 18, 2023
15Likes1Retweet
Twitter avatar for @johnjhorton
John Horton @johnjhorton
savage
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12:49 AM ∙ Feb 14, 2023
15Likes1Retweet
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Best of #econtwitter - Week of February 19, 2023: interesting tweets

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