Marginal Revolution https://marginalrevolution.com/ Small Steps Toward A Much Better World Wed, 08 Apr 2026 03:18:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://marginalrevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cropped-MR-logo-thumbnail-32x32.png Marginal REVOLUTION https://marginalrevolution.com/ 32 32 42693868 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/herbert-hoover-is-indeed-still-underrated.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=herbert-hoover-is-indeed-still-underrated Herbert Hoover is still underrated https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953504444/0/marginalrevolution~Herbert-Hoover-is-still-underrated.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/herbert-hoover-is-indeed-still-underrated.html#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2026 06:52:55 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92793 We study the effects of large-scale humanitarian aid using novel data from the American Relief Administration’s (ARA) intervention during the 1921-1922 famine in Soviet Russia. We find that the allocation of relief closely tracked underlying food scarcity and was uncorrelated with subnational politics. We show that ARA rations reduced food prices, raised caloric intake, lowered […]

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We study the effects of large-scale humanitarian aid using novel data from the American Relief Administration’s (ARA) intervention during the 1921-1922 famine in Soviet Russia. We find that the allocation of relief closely tracked underlying food scarcity and was uncorrelated with subnational politics. We show that ARA rations reduced food prices, raised caloric intake, lowered the prevalence of relapsing fever, and increased rural birth cohorts. The aid benefited poorest peasants most and proved most effective in provinces with higher levels of human capital. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that, absent ARA relief, the 1926 population would have been 4.4 million lower.

That is from a new paper by Natalya Naumenko (my colleague), Volha Charnysh, and Andrei Markevich.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/herbert-hoover-is-indeed-still-underrated.html/feed 5 92793 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/stephen-pimentel-has-an-excellent-review-of-the-marginal-revolution.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stephen-pimentel-has-an-excellent-review-of-the-marginal-revolution Stephen Pimentel has an excellent review of *The Marginal Revolution* https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953501696/0/marginalrevolution~Stephen-Pimentel-has-an-excellent-review-of-The-Marginal-Revolution.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/stephen-pimentel-has-an-excellent-review-of-the-marginal-revolution.html#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2026 04:58:59 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92791 Here is one very good paragraph of many: Cowen is excellent on the question of why the marginalist insight had to wait so long, and why it eventually came in a simultaneous eruption across countries and three intellectual temperaments. The answer involves the slow assembly of preconditions: advances in calculus, the rise of statistical thought, […]

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]]> Here is one very good paragraph of many:

Cowen is excellent on the question of why the marginalist insight had to wait so long, and why it eventually came in a simultaneous eruption across countries and three intellectual temperaments. The answer involves the slow assembly of preconditions: advances in calculus, the rise of statistical thought, the professionalization of economics as a discipline, and certain changes in the philosophy of science associated with the Victorian debate between inductive and deductive methods. Progress in science, Cowen suggests, is rarely a matter of the lone genius, but rather of the alignment of previously dispersed elements. The genius arrives when the ground has been prepared to receive the insight.

And another:

There is a discomforting codicil to all of this. Perhaps, Cowen suggests near the book’s end, the intuitions of 20th-century microeconomics were always a kind of compensation for a deeper ignorance. Perhaps we elevated intuitive reasoning, with its clean parables of marginal utility, and elegant supply-and-demand diagrams, because they were what we had, and we mistook their availability for adequacy. Machine learning models that find hundreds of thousands of factors in financial data are not exactly refuting marginalism. They are revealing the scale of what marginalism was never equipped to see. Our intuitions were always a small corner of understanding, swimming in a larger froth of epistemic chaos. The illusion has been stripped bare.

Here is the full review.  Here is the book itself.  Via Mike Doherty.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/stephen-pimentel-has-an-excellent-review-of-the-marginal-revolution.html/feed 6 92791 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/two-assorted-links.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=two-assorted-links Two assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953496143/0/marginalrevolution~Two-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/two-assorted-links.html#comments Wed, 08 Apr 2026 02:27:29 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92798 1. Claims about the role of China, and its economics.  And there is a lot of remaining uncertainty, but here is one of the saner Iran war takes.

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]]> 1. Claims about the role of China, and its economics.  And there is a lot of remaining uncertainty, but here is one of the saner Iran war takes.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/two-assorted-links.html/feed 40 92798 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/andy-hall-advice-on-ai-and-economic-research.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=andy-hall-advice-on-ai-and-economic-research Andy Hall advice on AI and economic research https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953473547/0/marginalrevolution~Andy-Hall-advice-on-AI-and-economic-research.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/andy-hall-advice-on-ai-and-economic-research.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:16:58 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92783 Here is the document, excerpt: In January, I released the results of an experiment showing how Claude Code could helpfully extend old papers “automagically.” It was pretty astonishing to me. Claude was able to come up with a plan, scrape the web, write code, run regressions, create tables and figures, and write a whole memo […]

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]]> Here is the document, excerpt:

In January, I released the results of an experiment showing how Claude Code could helpfully extend old papers “automagically.” It was pretty astonishing to me. Claude was able to come up with a plan, scrape the web, write code, run regressions, create tables and figures, and write a whole memo on what it had found—all in about 45 minutes.

Are AI tools perfect? No. Claude made some interesting mistakes in that extension, and since then, I’ve seen it make a whole bunch more. Are human researchers perfect, though? Hell no. 

The evidence that AI tools should now be an essential part of your toolkit is overwhelming—look at the recent work that my Stanford colleague Yiqing Xu has put out, for example, which allows for the automated verification of empirical research. This is so clearly valuable. When it comes to empirical work, we’re never going back to the pre-AI world.

Here is a thread on the paper, heedworthy throughout.  If you do not have some kind of decent plan here, other economists will leave you in the dust.  Even if it is only a minority of “other economists” their total leverage and impact will be extreme.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/andy-hall-advice-on-ai-and-economic-research.html/feed 20 92783 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/tuesday-assorted-links-563.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tuesday-assorted-links-563 Tuesday assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953473550/0/marginalrevolution~Tuesday-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/tuesday-assorted-links-563.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:14:25 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92786 1. Natasha Sarin on slow motion bank runs? (NYT) 2. The Moon.  And the colors. 3. How free market is Hungary? 4. “Where no human hand has touched the refereeing process.” 5. Is Clavier-Übung III the most underrated music by Bach? (NYT) 6. Ethnic targeting of bioweapons is not so easy. 7. Did Protestants give […]

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]]> 1. Natasha Sarin on slow motion bank runs? (NYT)

2. The Moon.  And the colors.

3. How free market is Hungary?

4. “Where no human hand has touched the refereeing process.”

5. Is Clavier-Übung III the most underrated music by Bach? (NYT)

6. Ethnic targeting of bioweapons is not so easy.

7. Did Protestants give co-eds to China?

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/tuesday-assorted-links-563.html/feed 44 92786 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/ludwig-straub-wins-the-clark-medal.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ludwig-straub-wins-the-clark-medal Ludwig Straub wins the Clark medal https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953472680/0/marginalrevolution~Ludwig-Straub-wins-the-Clark-medal.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/ludwig-straub-wins-the-clark-medal.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 17:52:34 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92790 Here is his home page: Ludwig Straub is a professor of economics at Harvard University. His research areas are macroeconomics and international economics. Among his topics of interest are the recent decline in the natural rate of interest, rising levels of private and public debt, and the transmission of monetary and fiscal policy. Ludwig also […]

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]]> Here is his home page:

Ludwig Straub is a professor of economics at Harvard University. His research areas are macroeconomics and international economics. Among his topics of interest are the recent decline in the natural rate of interest, rising levels of private and public debt, and the transmission of monetary and fiscal policy. Ludwig also has an active research agenda solving and analyzing heterogeneous-agent models. Among his most recent papers is a 2025 paper studying the short-run effects of tariff shocks.

Here is his Google Scholar page.  The Medal citation gives an overview of his work.  Congratulations!

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/ludwig-straub-wins-the-clark-medal.html/feed 10 92790 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-drama-no-spoilers.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-drama-no-spoilers *The Drama* (no real spoilers) https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953465684/0/marginalrevolution~The-Drama-no-real-spoilers.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-drama-no-spoilers.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 15:38:15 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92787 An excellent and highly original movie, I cannot say much without infringing upon the surprise of the basic premise.  Exquisitely choreographed in its timing, scene by scene.  So anti-Woke that it will make some uncomfortable?  The reviews which are very negative are unfair and stem from this fact.  I recommend it, but yes some of […]

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]]> An excellent and highly original movie, I cannot say much without infringing upon the surprise of the basic premise.  Exquisitely choreographed in its timing, scene by scene.  So anti-Woke that it will make some uncomfortable?  The reviews which are very negative are unfair and stem from this fact.  I recommend it, but yes some of you will go away feeling offended.  I can report that one theme is that couples who are getting married often do not know each other well.  Here is the trailer.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-drama-no-spoilers.html/feed 32 92787 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/solve-for-the-equilibrium-18.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=solve-for-the-equilibrium-18 Solve for the equilibrium https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953449694/0/marginalrevolution~Solve-for-the-equilibrium.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/solve-for-the-equilibrium-18.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 13:09:06 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92788 Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” Here is the rest of the message.

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Trump: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”

Here is the rest of the message.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/solve-for-the-equilibrium-18.html/feed 284 92788 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/why-do-americans-no-longer-work-so-much-more-than-non-americans.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-do-americans-no-longer-work-so-much-more-than-non-americans Why do Americans No Longer Work So Much More Than Non-Americans? https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953432129/0/marginalrevolution~Why-do-Americans-No-Longer-Work-So-Much-More-Than-NonAmericans.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/why-do-americans-no-longer-work-so-much-more-than-non-americans.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:36:36 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92785 In the 1990s, Americans used to work much more than non-Americans. Nowadays, about half of the gap in hours worked has reversed. To evaluate the convergence of working hours, we develop a tractable model of labor supply enriched with multiple sources of heterogeneity across individuals, an extensive margin of participation, multi-member households, and an elaborate […]

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In the 1990s, Americans used to work much more than non-Americans. Nowadays, about half of the gap in hours worked has reversed. To evaluate the convergence of working hours, we develop a tractable model of labor supply enriched with multiple sources of heterogeneity across individuals, an extensive margin of participation, multi-member households, and an elaborate system of taxes and benefits upon non-employment. Using detailed measurements from micro-level and aggregate datasets, we identify model parameters and sources of heterogeneity across individuals for various countries. We run a horse race between competing explanations and find that U.S. hours per person declined after 2000 owing mainly to the rise of government health benefits provided to the non-employed. Non-U.S. countries have generous benefits for the non-employed, but this generosity has not changed as much over time as in the United States, and public health coverage does not depend on employment status or income levels. For these countries, the rise of labor supply is generally accounted for by a mix of factors, such as the rise of wages and the falling disutility of work.

That is from a new NBER working paper by Serdar Birinci, Loukas Karabarbounis & Kurt See.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/why-do-americans-no-longer-work-so-much-more-than-non-americans.html/feed 32 92785 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/interpreting-polygenic-prediction-of-cognitive-ability.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interpreting-polygenic-prediction-of-cognitive-ability Interpreting Polygenic Prediction of Cognitive Ability https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953425847/0/marginalrevolution~Interpreting-Polygenic-Prediction-of-Cognitive-Ability.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/interpreting-polygenic-prediction-of-cognitive-ability.html#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2026 04:50:30 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92782 The subtitle is Evidence for Direct, Reliable, and Portable Genetic Effects, and the authors are Tobias Wolfam, et.al.  The abstract: The interpretation of polygenic scores (PGS) for general cognitive ability (GCA) remains contested, with concerns about indirect genetic effects, environmental confounding, cross-ancestry portability, and the gap between PGS prediction and twin heritability estimates. Relying on […]

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]]> The subtitle is Evidence for Direct, Reliable, and Portable Genetic Effects, and the authors are Tobias Wolfam, et.al.  The abstract:

The interpretation of polygenic scores (PGS) for general cognitive ability (GCA) remains contested, with concerns about indirect genetic effects, environmental confounding, cross-ancestry portability, and the gap between PGS prediction and twin heritability estimates. Relying on a newly constructed PGS using within-family designs in two independent sibling cohorts (UK Biobank, N=4,642 pairs; ABCD, N=736 pairs), we demonstrate that direct genetic effects account for the large majority of PGS prediction (within-family attenuation \delta / \beta \approx 0.88). Correcting for measurement error in brief cognitive assessments, the within-family association with latent general ability is approximately 0.45, substantially higher than observed-scale estimates. Cross-ancestry portability follows theoretical expectations (66% effect retention in African Americans). Within families, higher PGS predicts greater educational attainment, occupational status, and reduced cardiometabolic disease risk, with no evidence for gene-environment interactions or substantial adverse pleiotropy. These findings replicate using a benchmark predictor based on publicly available data, confirming they reflect properties of cognitive genetic architecture rather than idiosyncrasies of a particular score.

I expect results like this will hold up.  Here is commentary from GPT Pro.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/interpreting-polygenic-prediction-of-cognitive-ability.html/feed 63 92782 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/wow-nepal.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=wow-nepal Wow Nepal https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953397443/0/marginalrevolution~Wow-Nepal.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/wow-nepal.html#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:30:48 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92774 Wow Nepal, 10728 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA, 703-880-9898, open 11-9 every day. The “Wow” here is exactly right, as it is wonderful to have a new great restaurant around. Most Nepalese restaurants in America are variants on north Indian food with batches of half-hearted momos thrown in. This place is the real thing. The goat […]

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]]> Wow Nepal, 10728 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA, 703-880-9898, open 11-9 every day.

The “Wow” here is exactly right, as it is wonderful to have a new great restaurant around. Most Nepalese restaurants in America are variants on north Indian food with batches of half-hearted momos thrown in. This place is the real thing. The goat momos are among the best dishes in northern Virginia right now. The fish is excellent, everything else at least very good. Note that the place is small and fills up early, so arrive in time to get your seat.  Strongly recommended.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/wow-nepal.html/feed 36 92774 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/monday-assorted-links-554.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=monday-assorted-links-554 Monday assorted links https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953389388/0/marginalrevolution~Monday-assorted-links.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/monday-assorted-links-554.html#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:18:52 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92765 1. Distill your Chinese co-workers? (speculative) 2. Creating artificial gravity in space? 3. Good news for your testicles? 4. The contingencies of the South African economy. 5. AI aggregation and knowledge. 6. The real effects of nominal interest rates. 7. Might Venezuela grow twelve percent this year?

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]]> 1. Distill your Chinese co-workers? (speculative)

2. Creating artificial gravity in space?

3. Good news for your testicles?

4. The contingencies of the South African economy.

5. AI aggregation and knowledge.

6. The real effects of nominal interest rates.

7. Might Venezuela grow twelve percent this year?

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/monday-assorted-links-554.html/feed 49 92765 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-public-choice-outreach-conference-8.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-public-choice-outreach-conference-8 The Public Choice Outreach Conference! https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953369159/0/marginalrevolution~The-Public-Choice-Outreach-Conference.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-public-choice-outreach-conference-8.html#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2026 11:18:51 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92767 The annual Public Choice Outreach Conference is a crash course in public choice. The conference is designed for undergraduates and graduates in a wide variety of fields. It’s entirely free. Indeed scholarships are available! The conference will be held Friday June12- Sunday June 14 , near Washington, DC in Reston, VA. Lots of great speakers […]

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]]> The annual Public Choice Outreach Conference is a crash course in public choice. The conference is designed for undergraduates and graduates in a wide variety of fields. It’s entirely free. Indeed scholarships are available! The conference will be held Friday June12- Sunday June 14 , near Washington, DC in Reston, VA. Lots of great speakers including Tyler, myself, Bryan Caplan, Robin Hanson, Jon Klick, Shruti Rajagopalan and more.

Please apply and encourage your students to apply.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/the-public-choice-outreach-conference-8.html/feed 12 92767 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/migrant-income-and-long-run-economic-development.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=migrant-income-and-long-run-economic-development Migrant Income and Long-Run Economic Development https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953355131/0/marginalrevolution~Migrant-Income-and-LongRun-Economic-Development.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/migrant-income-and-long-run-economic-development.html#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:27:19 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92776 We study how international migrant income prospects affect long-run development in origin areas. We leverage the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis exchange rate shocks in a shift-share identification strategy across Philippine provinces. Initial migrant income shocks are magnified six-fold over time, increasing domestic income, education levels, migrant skills, and high-skilled migration. Remarkably, 74.9 percent of long-run […]

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We study how international migrant income prospects affect long-run development in origin areas. We leverage the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis exchange rate shocks in a shift-share identification strategy across Philippine provinces. Initial migrant income shocks are magnified six-fold over time, increasing domestic income, education levels, migrant skills, and high-skilled migration. Remarkably, 74.9 percent of long-run income gains come from domestic rather than migrant income. Trade driven impacts of exchange rate shocks are orthogonal to effects via migrant income. A structural model reveals that 19.7 percent of long-run income gains stem from educational investments. International migration fosters broad economic development in origin communities.

That is from a recent AER piece by Gaurav Khanna, Emir Murathanoglu, Caroline Theoharides, and Dean Yang.  Here is a good thread on the piece.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/migrant-income-and-long-run-economic-development.html/feed 17 92776 https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/does-this-have-implications-for-higher-ed-in-particular.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=does-this-have-implications-for-higher-ed-in-particular Does this have implications for higher ed in particular? https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/953351780/0/marginalrevolution~Does-this-have-implications-for-higher-ed-in-particular.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/does-this-have-implications-for-higher-ed-in-particular.html#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2026 05:15:04 +0000 https://marginalrevolution.com/?p=92754 Declining fertility and population loss pose significant challenges for state and federal local governments responsible for providing a range of services to citizens, including education, health care, and infrastructure. Indeed, many areas are already experiencing outright population decline, with roughly half of U.S. counties losing population between 2010 and 2020. This paper examines how shrinking […]

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Declining fertility and population loss pose significant challenges for state and federal local governments responsible for providing a range of services to citizens, including education, health care, and infrastructure. Indeed, many areas are already experiencing outright population decline, with roughly half of U.S. counties losing population between 2010 and 2020. This paper examines how shrinking and aging populations affect the operations and fiscal sustainability of state and local governments. Preliminary evidence presented in this paper suggests that scaling down educational services is considerably more difficult than scaling up. The estimated per-enrollee cost increases associated with a 10 percent enrollment decline are four times larger than the cost decreases associated with a 10 percent enrollment increase. Regions with contracting populations will face additional challenges as a smaller working-age population bears the burden of funding pensions and retiree health plans for larger aging cohorts. While lower fertility can create a short run fiscal dividend as local governments serve fewer children, that dividend will only be realized if state and local public officials make efficient retrenchment a priority.

From Jeffrey Clemens, via the excellent Kevin Lewis.  As I think JFV mentioned lately, we have not done enough thinking about what a society with low TFR really is going to look like after a while.

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]]> https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/04/does-this-have-implications-for-higher-ed-in-particular.html/feed 74 92754