iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Sebastian Majstorovic @storytracer.com · 10/08/2026

Are open OCR models good enough to unlock historical knowledge? @danielvanstrien.bsky.social and I built a leaderboard using six expert-transcribed volumes from the @biodivlibrary.bsky.social sky.social. Meet FineBooks, from @hf.co and @eleutherai.bsky.social! huggingface.co/blog/fineboo...

huggingface.co

FineBooks: are open OCR models good enough to unlock historical knowledge?

A Blog post by FineBooks on Hugging Face

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

NBER @nber.org · 10/08/2026

How elite are the people we elect? Linking members of Congress born 1830–1950 back to the census household where they grew up, to trace the economic origins of political power, from @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social, Andrew B. Hall, Daniel M. Thompson, and Jesse Yoder www.nber.org/papers/w35569

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Massachusetts State Senate's new motto: better late than never! apps.bostonglobe.com/2026/07/stor...

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Damien C-C @dccc-phd.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The North-South Rail Link will cure the male loneliness epidemic.

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

A conversation over several lunches last week at DAE. Does every field need or benefit from a "Using AI in {your fav subfield of economics}? Or should we just ask watch @paulgp.com on Markus Academy?

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I'm pretty sure (without reading) that the returns to federal spending on economics research are like $100 for every $1 spent

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Alexander Berger @albrgr.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

New CBO paper: every $1 of federal R&D returns ~$3–$4 of GDP in present value over 30 years www.nber.org/papers/w35472

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Marcella Alsan @marcellaalsan.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Open access in QJE!📢 Using newly assembled archival data, we show how the AMA's nationwide campaign against national health insurance, labeling it "socialized medicine" and promoting private insurance, helped steer the U.S. away from universal health care academic.oup.com/qje/article/...

academic.oup.com

Why Doesn’t the United States Have National Health Insurance? The Political Role of the American Medical Association

Abstract. This article examines how the American Medical Association (AMA) helped shape the development of the U.S. health insurance system in the critical

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Kris Inwood @kris-inwood.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Just published in Historical Methods: Chris Minns & coauthors link Ontario marriage to historical census records to show married women & men had similar rates of intergenerational mobility 1871-1901. Unexpectedly, the inclusion of more false positive links does not bias the mobility estimates. OA

tandfonline.com

Mobility and marriage: Preliminary findings from a new longitudinal dataset of Canadian women, 1871-1901

This article develops a methodology to create a longitudinal historical database of women by linking Ontario marriage records 1859-1938 to complete count Canadian census data between 1871 and 1921....

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Elsevier introduces required interactive visualizations written in proprietary language to be placed behind a paywall

static.klipy.com

The Simpsons Monkey Paw Wish

ALT: The Simpsons Monkey Paw Wish

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

I think basically all local residential zoning laws should be eliminated. Build as much and as densely as you want. But also there should be a short and vetted list of historically appropriate colors you're allowed to paint your Victorian house cc my neighbors

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Grant Goehring presenting on the health externalities of trade. Another proud advisor moment for me at #NBERDAE

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

@qlquanle.bsky.social presenting "Network Competition and Exclusive Contracts: Evidence from News Agencies" at #NBERDAE IO in economic history? Dangerous territory (for reduced form applied micro ppl like me)

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Excited to have Martin Rotemberg present on tariffs and state capacity at #NBERDAE

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Greg Niemesh presenting on elite marriage markets in the US #nberdae Excited to learn how to get rich by marrying right? Too bad: step one is be born rich to start

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Don't let your kids go to segregation academies

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Proud advisor moment as @daniellecgw.bsky.social presents her work on segregation academies at #nberdae

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

#NBERDAE Summer Institute starts today. And guess who has the timer and the bell

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Two surely unrelated posts in my feed just now

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Someone who hates children and loves sunburns: Let's turn the splash pad on at 10am

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I don't have it yet, but there's an econ history paper in these transcripts or transcripts like them (that we can now turn into textual data at the cost of pennies per hour)

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Cam Arnzen @camarnzen.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Men still out-resource women on nearly everything known to predict voting: income, jobs, political interest. Except education, where women have pulled way ahead. @cohodes.bsky.social and I show how the education gap explains about half of why young women now outvote young men. 🔗 Link: bit.ly/4wwcd21

bit.ly

Education and the gender voting gap in U.S. presidential elections

Women in the United States have outpaced men in both voter participation and educational attainment in recent decades. Since education is closely tied…

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Joshua Mask @joshuafmask.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I'm happy to share a new working paper on remote work and AI: Same Occupations, Different Clocks: Separating Remote Work from Generative AI for Labor-Market Entrants www.joshmask.com/s/Mask2026c....

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This is cool and all, but has he considered not making the buses faster and instead proposing unrealistic plans for the Orange Line that will never actually happen instead?

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Another MA state legislative session, another abject failure to do anything about MA’s housing shortage. Down to the smallest of small ball—municipal opt-in for allowing housing on religious properties (Yes In God’s Backyard) and commercial to residential conversions.

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Referee reports supplied per year should be a required line on academic CVs

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

So yes, the past is a foreign country and all that. But also... maybe it isn't? Ad from Columbia, SC in 1922 for men who are young and men who want to stay young. The solution: buy clothes

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Get yourself the confidence of a Carl or Charles Anderson in Moline, IL in 1910 who doesn't use a middle initial

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Jeffrey Lin @jeffrlin.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

On February 14, 1876, Bell & Gray each filed for a telephone patent. Such collisions were once routine — up to 1 in 20 patents triggered an "patent interference." Over the next 150 years, that rate fell by more than 98%. In a new paper, we explain why — and what it might cost.

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

How light traffic would be everyday if we had congestion pricing:

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Greater Boston equivalent: NIMBY mayors and city councils should be forced to go house hunting Mayor who bought his SFH house in 1991 for $380k: A house in Newton costs what?!?!?

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

And local politicians only solution is more parking

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

With footnotes and with bayonets, as it turns out

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Micah @rincewind.run · 02/07/2026

pickett's charge is one of the stupidest military maneuvers ever ordered and I do not have to die on that hill because so many confederates did it for me

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Want a politically (and economically) productive investment? Absolutely massive universities in low population states. Land grant universities x1000

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Brian Gongol @briangongol.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Fun fact: Around this time, it was still entirely possible to die of waterborne diseases like typhoid in ordinary American cities (and it happened a lot). The very first large-scale experiment with drinking water disinfection happened in 1908. The real determinants of wellness are pretty mundane.

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Wellness influencer, circa 1910 Price $1, Worth $10k (to anyone!)

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

Christian Vedel @christianvedel.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Machine Learning is causing massive leaps everywhere. Also in Economic History. There is a conversation we need to have. What ought to be the new scientific standards? Together with two coauthors . Our argument: We should maybe care a bit less about accuracy 📝🧵

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Claude's voice is hell most of the time. But then it dismisses a data pipeline as "census-monism" and all is forgiven

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Like the wallet inspector, but for your data and code. (Kidding, this is very cool and useful)

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

The Review of Economic Studies (REStud) @reveconstudies.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

The expansion of the railroad network was a crucial driver of growth and organizational change of the federal bureaucracy in the XIX century U.S. Decrease in the costs of monitoring bureaucrats was a key mechanism New paper by Mastrorocco & Teso www.restud.com/state-capaci... #REStud #EconSky

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Big win for Australia Hogan. Makes the shame of America Hogan (front used to kill Gawker and then endorsed Trump) look worse. Plus Thunderlips was terribly acted in Rocky III

static.klipy.com

ThunderLips is going berserk!

ALT: ThunderLips is going berserk!

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Reposted by James Feigenbaum

NBER @nber.org · 28/06/2026

Using ancient DNA data to measure migration over the past 10,000 years shows that human mobility followed climate corridors and migration acted as adaptation to climate change, from Peter Huybers, Marco Tabellini, Charles A. Taylor, and Francesco Toti www.nber.org/papers/w35371

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James Feigenbaum @jamesfeigenbaum.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Good news, the MBTA has a plan to increase ridership at West Newton Bad news, they're going to do it by closing the Newtonville Station until summer 2029

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