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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 08/02/2026

Some teaching principles: #econsky basilhalperin.com/essays/teach... 0. Have extreme empathy. 1. Grading should be predictable. 2. Enthusiasm matters! Show that you care – channel your enjoyment! 3. Actively solicit feedback. ...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 04/02/2026

Bonus: thoughts on math You can also subscribe here 🤠 basilhalperin.substack.com/p/some-princ...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 04/02/2026

Some excerpts, starting with goals...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 04/02/2026

New post: Some principles for teaching basilhalperin.com/essays/teach...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 28/03/2025

For more, check out the website: stripe.events/fellowship We invite graduate students and early-career researchers who are interested in studying the economics of AI to apply – ***regardless of prior experience working on the topic*** #econsky

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 28/03/2025

We welcome researchers interested in any aspect of the economics of AI, broadly defined. We are particularly interested in research that: 1. is focused on the economics of *transformative* AI 2. is forward-looking 3. is expected to be of durable importance, and 4. moves fast :)

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 28/03/2025

What you’ll get: – $10k, and you should ask for more if you have a reason – a conference in SF in a few months with senior economists and AI developers – opportunity to access Stripe data and/or work with its customers – a community of fellow nerds

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 28/03/2025

Introducing the Stripe Economics of AI Fellowship: The economics of AI remains surprisingly understudied. The fellowship aims to help fill that gap, by supporting grad students and early-career researchers with $, data, a conference, and community –

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 17/02/2025

Anyway Tom’s post is very poetic and deeply resonant personally with my own experience pushing Greek letters around, check it out

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 06/01/2025

Trump tariff proposal reportedly reduced to only cover “critical” security imports — Leopold Aschenbrenner has an old, interesting alternative to these tariffs: Minimal *quotas* for critical goods — idea being Weitzman/Hayek meets geoeconomics: www.forourposterity.com/the-economic...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 05/01/2025

Soo no discussion of this Tyler post on “The future of the scientist in a world with advanced AI” because it’s too depressing or? “The humans will gather the data” 😬

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 02/01/2025

need an RCT to know whether tweeting about an AEA session actually increases attendance: ***Policy implications of transformative AI*** -- for those interested in AI, policy, or their intersection... tomorrow at 2:30!

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 02/01/2025

from Daniel, Klos, and Rottke (2024) ARFE kentdaniel.net/papers/unpub...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 02/01/2025

Why has the cost of shorting stocks gone up? Daytrader effect?

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 01/01/2025

7. Collect credible estimates of VSL over time -- how has it evolved over time & with GDP growth? And/or update Costa and Kahn (2004):

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 21/11/2024

If I follow -- this 2015 @chrisblattman.bsky.social post (featuring @johnjhorton.bsky.social and others) may be discussing exactly this chrisblattman.com/blog/2015/12...

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 19/11/2024

Accuse me of naive optimism but it doesn't seem to me our choices are only "10% inflation" or "10% unemployment"... let's just do even better next time?

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 18/11/2024

2. Relatedly (and again tentatively): an update against *downward* nominal wage rigidity -- the idea that nominal wages are asymmetrically rigid downward, but not upward - seems like wages have been rigid upward too - would be very curious if someone digs (or has dug) into this

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 18/11/2024

Tentative takeaways for macro theory, based on Zach's empirics showing wage growth has been uniformly weak in the recent episode: 1. Basic sticky wage theory looks extremely good?

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

Zach then puts it all together showing how different methodological choices take you ...from +1.5% growth -- this is the number in the charts you see floating around twitter -- ...to -1.7% growth Check out the full post, the 14 footnotes are more interesting than most tweets

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

Point 3: if you look at median growth in *total income* rather than in *wages* -- i.e., including taxes/transfers: there was a collapse in the Biden presidency (in large part due to stimulus timing; and an increase in household formation)

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

Point 2 (this one is still crazy/slightly hilarious to me): - *the change in median wages* is not what matters - it is *the median change in wages* that does And, other than the Great Recession, this growth was the lowest it's been in 30 years (!)

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

Point 1: In no part of the income distribution did wages grow faster while Biden was president than they did 2012-2020 (!), in the raw data and especially with a composition adjustment

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

This from @zmazlish.bsky.social is THE analysis of wages/income under Biden-Powell jzmazlish.substack.com/p/yes-inflat... TLDR: growth has been... historically weak (this is not normative -- just the numbers)

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 12/11/2024

surveying 14th century peasants on 'the impacts of higher wages' number one answer: mass death, boils

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Basil Halperin @basilhalperin.com · 09/11/2024

"average weighted tariff >6% by Q4 2024"... context: currently 2.5% kalshi.com/markets/kxla...

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