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Richard Holden

@profholden.bsky.social
555 followers 98 following 42 posts

UNSW Scientia Professor of Economics. Director, Manos Institute for Cognitive Economics. AFR columnist. President Emeritus ASSA. richardholden.org

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Reposted by Richard Holden
Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia @acadsocsci.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
⭐️ FEATURED FELLOW ⭐️ Professor Richard Holden UNSW “Cognitive economics...is about “getting inside” people’s heads to rebuild economics by understanding the limit of human computational capacity and the individual reasoning process". Read more:https://bit.ly/4wRGMzC @profholden.bsky.social
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
My latest Economics Explained column in the Australian Financial Review is about "Bad Networks". Turns out a party that everyone wants to leave can get started after all. Based on my paper in the JPubE with Robby Akerlof and DJ Thornton. Open access link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I was there. And I can't believe it either!
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
My latest Economics Explained column in the Australian Financial Review points out that company taxes fall mainly on households. That they hit young, low-skilled, and female workers the hardest. And that they made the income tax schedule 40% less progressive.
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 30/10/2025
King Charles strips Andrew of prince title and ejects him from mansion ft.trib.al/041LNsQ
ft.trib.al
King Charles strips Andrew of prince title and ejects him from mansion
Royal subject to ‘censures deemed necessary’ in sharp change of tone by Buckingham Palace
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Gabriele Gratton @grattonecon.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
🚨 WE @unswecon.bsky.social ARE HIRING! 🚨 JMC: apply and email/DM for any question! A short 🧵 on @unswecon.bsky.social and why you want to apply and join us in Sydney👇 econjobmarket.org/positionGrou...
econjobmarket.org
EJM - Econ Job Market
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Ethan Bueno de Mesquita @ethanbdm.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Just here to say: Pr(Engage in Violence | Very Online) \ne Pr(Very Online | Engage in Violence) This is a bi-partisan error. You may now return to yelling at one another.
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Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
This will be awesome. Any JHU undergrads and AEI Collegiate Network students interested in economics and politics (and football!) should check it out…
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Oh dear. A “foreign policy for the middle class” was a dreadful idea. “A monetary policy for the middle class” is even worse. And, btw, price stability and preventing financial crises is great for the middle class. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/14/o... via @NYTOpinion
nytimes.com
Opinion | Don’t Just Defend the Fed. Reinvent It.
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 05/09/2025
AI start-up Anthropic settles landmark copyright suit for $1.5bn on.ft.com/427Vjdm
on.ft.com
AI start-up Anthropic settles landmark copyright suit for $1.5bn
Case will compensate authors but could raise costs of training large language models
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
I'm advertising for 2 full-time pre-docs at the Manos Institute for Cognitive Economics at UNSW. If you've got a strong honors degree in economics or computer science check us out at cognitiveeconomics.com. external-careers.jobs.unsw.edu.au/cw/en/job/5346…. @cognitiveeconomics.bsky.social
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
The GOAT Eliud Kipchoge and today’s winner of the Sydney marathon, Hailemaryam Kiros, in action on a perfect “winter” day in Centennial Park. A great race in the world’s best city.
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UNSW Economics Dept @unswecon.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Today’s econ seminar featured Ruben Durante presenting amazing work on the effect of GenAI on demand for news (joint with @filipecampante.bsky.social and @ananyasen.bsky.social)
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
My latest Economics Explained column is about debt. That has to start with Modigliani-Miller... "I like to think of it as the Yogi Berra theorem. The American baseball legend once quipped:'You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.'" www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
How I learnt to relax about corporate debt
A recent proposal from the Productivity Commission raises a question – should we fear how much companies owe in the way we worry about government deficits?
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 24/08/2025
My latest AFR column. We need: “To rely on youth–not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease.” Are you up for that PM? www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
What Chalmers should do this week to go ‘full abundance agenda’
The treasurer’s “slowly, slowly catches the monkey” stuff is not going to solve the profound productivity and standard-of-living problems Australia faces.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
A couple of weeks ago we launched the Manos Institute for Cognitive Economics here @UNSW. I'm proud to serve as Director. Our mission is to understand the limits of human computational capacity and the individual reasoning process. Check out what we’re doing at cognitiveeconomics.com
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Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 20/08/2025
UK inflation accelerates to 3.8% in July on.ft.com/45ZqMAE
on.ft.com
UK inflation accelerates to 3.8% in July
BoE is seeking reassurance that recent resurgence in price growth is temporary
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
My take on the opening to this week’s economic summit in AFR. www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
Cone of silence at roundtable could be good or bad thing
Done right the summit will be a worthy legacy for Albanese. And it would make Chalmers a genuinely “reforming treasurer”.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
My latest Economics Explained column in the Australian Financial Review is about government debt.
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Ethan Bueno de Mesquita @ethanbdm.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
I see a lot of folks posting about that NYTimes article. So I'm just going to say something I know you all already know, but is important. You cannot infer the effect on unemployment of majoring in one topic vs another by comparing the unemployment rates of folks who chose those majors.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
My latest AFR column is about Stephen Miran’s appointment as a Fed governor. With a take on Stephen Moore and Herman Cain as well. www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
I went to Harvard with Stephen Miran. He’s no dummy
Stephen Miran is a more mainstream economist than some of the other names Donald Trump floated as possibilities for the US Fed in his first term.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Tip for young players. If an AI tells you to take a substance commonly used as a dog anticonvulsant then seek a second opinion.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
We can and should strengthen regulation of childcare centers. I offer 4 ideas in my latest AFR column. But ultimately it is more supply, competition, and choice for families that is necessary for high-quality, affordable childcare. www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
Competition would help keep kids safe in childcare
Under the government’s vision of a single-payer system, we are headed for a very expensive failure to protect our children and provide choice for families.
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ACCAN @accan-aus.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Our CEO Carol Bennett wrote about ACMA's recent spectrum proposal in The Canberra Times this morning. Read in full: buff.ly/KvwGLAf @profholden.bsky.social @canberratimes.bsky.social #acma #spectrum #spectrumauction #spectrumlicence #auspol
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ACCAN @accan-aus.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
🚨 Breaking from ABC News this morning: ACMA is proposing to renew valuable spectrum licences - but this decision means taxpayers may miss out on several billion dollars in licence fees. Read the article: buff.ly/KCJ5xWY @profholden.bsky.social #acma #spectrum #abcnews #auspol
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ACCAN @accan-aus.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
#Spectrum, a crucial public asset, is being renewed for telcos by the regulator #acma instead of auctioned. This could benefit major telcos, cost Australian taxpayers $2–3.2 billion, and hinder competition and innovation. 📹 buff.ly/cSPDQnS @caroljbennett.bsky.social @profholden.bsky.social #auspol
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Once a fortnight in The Australian Financial Review my "Economics Explained" column does a deep dive on an important economic idea which isn't driven by the news cycle. Last week was on the "Marketplace for Ideas."
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
My latest "Economics Explained" column in @financialreview. "So how efficient is the marketplace for ideas? And how much can we rely on competition in that market to substitute for regulation of speech? More than one might think. And less than one might like." www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
How efficient is the marketplace for ideas?
Is significant regulation of speech required? Or can we leave it up to the “marketplace for ideas” to handle it?
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Here's the video of my talk last week at the Sydney Institute about my book with @shamilton.bsky.social "Australia's Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we Crushed the Curve but Lost the Race." www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgFu...
youtube.com
Professor Richard Holden - Australia's Pandemic: Economic & Health Responses Assessed
YouTube video by The Sydney Institute
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
Here's the video of my talk last week at the Sydney Institute about my book with @shamilton.bsky.social "Australia's Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we Crushed the Curve but Lost the Race." youtu.be/MgFugDI1Tkg?...
youtu.be
Professor Richard Holden - Australia's Pandemic: Economic & Health Responses Assessed
YouTube video by The Sydney Institute
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
It was a great pleasure to chat about how, sometimes, businesses behave badly and what we can do about it with @joshbornstein.bsky.social and @adeleferguson.bsky.social at the #sydneywritersfestival. Such an honor to be in conversation with two wonderful and incisive story tellers.
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Shengwu Li @shengwuli.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
In hindsight, if a major material science firm had found a way to make its best material scientists 80% better, there’s no way it would stay anonymous. It would shout it from the rooftops, and put it in its earnings call. This is an argument that should have occurred to economists.
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Al Roth @alroth.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
#econsky #prague marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/05/publ...
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
Public Lecture on Market Design at Prague Castle, Wednesday, 7 May, 6 p.m
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Nigella Lawson @nigella.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Sharp, sweet, crisp, gooey and dreamily creamy: Lemon Pavlova is #RecipeOfTheDay! www.nigella.com/recipes/lemo...
nigella.com
Lemon Pavlova
Ever since my first pav in How To Eat, I have been something of a pavaholic. For me, acidity is key. So naturally, a lemon pavlova made perfect sense. You will note there are a lot of flaked almonds ...
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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
"I'm going to govern in econometrics" is a winning campaign slogan for the ages.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 27/04/2025
I agree with Anthony Albanese that Australia's healthcare system is uniquely Australian and brilliantly designed. In 2020 Rosalind Dixon and I wrote about why in American Affairs. americanaffairsjournal.org/2020/02/a-pu...
americanaffairsjournal.org
A Public Baseline: The Australian Health Care Model - American Affairs Journal
Health care in the United States is riddled with contradictions. The country spends $3.5 trillion a year on health care—more than $10,700 per person and 17.9 percent of GDP—yet 28.5 million Americans ...
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
My latest AFR column. “His report, A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System, is akin to other all-encompassing takes on big issues, such as the New York Times’ article “A Field Guide to the American Sandwich”, albeit less penetrating and useful.” www.afr.com/policy/econo...
afr.com
There is no cunning theory behind Trump’s tariff plan
The White House cited my classmate’s economic research to justify its reciprocal tariffs – it got the maths wrong. But it gets worse.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
This would make a lot of sense.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Spot on
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Al Roth @alroth.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
89 seconds to midnight... thebulletin.org/doomsday-clo...
thebulletin.org
Doomsday Clock - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
It is 89 seconds to midnight.
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Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
I wrote about my top reasons for worrying about DeepSeek — and my top reasons to not panic just yet. In the end, though, I really do think it could give AI labs license to invest less in safety www.platformer.news/deepseek-ai-...
It’s important to remember that all of the most important AI safety problems remain unsolved. Should one of the corporate AI labs suddenly invent and release a superhuman intelligence, there is no way to ensure it is aligned with human values or desires, and no plan for what to do next. The Biden administration placed some gentle restrictions on US AI labs with an executive order, but Trump repealed it on day one. 

As Mowshowitz writes: “These people really think that the best thing humanity can do is create things smarter than ourselves with as many capabilities as possible, make them freely available to whoever wants one, and see what happens, and assume that this will obviously end well and anyone who opposes this plan is a dastardly villain.”
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Jevon’s Paradox isn’t actually paradoxical. It’s a cool observation—that perhaps should be called just that.
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Khoa @khoavuumn.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
When you lower inflation by lowering interest rate and discouraging labor supply
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Well, yes. But what to do?
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Shengwu Li @shengwuli.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
The raptors are testing the fences for weaknesses.
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Richard Holden @profholden.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
If DeepSeek is just making this stuff up about the training cost of v3 then those Nvidia deep-out-of-the-money call options are going to come in handy.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 28/01/2025
A 42-year-old man who received a pardon from President Trump for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy after he resisted arrest during a traffic stop, the Indiana State Police said.
nytimes.com
Man Pardoned in Jan. 6 Riot Is Fatally Shot by Sheriff’s Deputy During Traffic Stop
The police said that Matthew W. Huttle, 42, of Hobart, Ind., who was sentenced to six months for his role in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in 2021, resisted arrest after he was stopped in Indiana on Su...
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Joshua Gans @joshgans.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
It says something about willingness to pay how often I have to explain to @alldayta.bsky.social potential customers that it is not $50 per student but $50 for the entire course!
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Chris Blattman @chrisblattman.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Come work for me at UChicago @beckerfriedman.bsky.social ! I'm hiring a full-time pre-doc to start this April/May/June for data analysis on crime, education, mental health, and organized crime, mostly on projects in Latin America. Details & apply here: job-boards.greenhouse.io/universityof...
job-boards.greenhouse.io
Research Professional – Christopher Blattman (Full-Time, Benefits Eligible)
Chicago, IL
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Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
He is right.
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