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Thomas Durfee

@thomasjdurfee.bsky.social
3.9K followers 572 following 974 posts

Post-Doc at UMN's Roy Wilkins Center. Former Visiting at Macalester College. Ph.D from U of Minnesota Dept of Applied Econ. Labor and Public Econ, Policy Analysis, & Disparity Studies. he/him sites.google.com/view/thomas-durfee…

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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
🎵Bigmouth ladadada, Bigmouth strikes again🎵
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 07/10/2026
Minnesota State Community and Technical College says it’s moving forward with plans to close its campus in Detroit Lakes as soon as summer 2028.
mprnews.org
Minnesota State Community and Technical College set to close Detroit Lakes campus
Tentatively set to occur in the summer of 2028 or later, the closure would leave M State with campuses in Moorhead, Fergus Falls and Wadena. “This was not an easy decision,” the school’s president sai...
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
When they sent the wrong promotional Magic the Gathering cards to a youtuber a few years ago, Wizards sent the actual factual Pinkertons to threaten the guy to get it back. This is going to be an uphill unionizing campaign.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
...Not unless we put on the best darn talent show this college has ever seen!
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Touch graphs. I see this a lot in GMM models. I was already worried about lagged outcomes as an instrument, now this. The other issue I see is people thinking they can only test animus with experimental data, and observational can only identify statistical since it has variation.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Man Chuckles Reading Sensible Chuckle Magazine
Alt: Man Chuckles Reading Sensible Chuckle Magazine
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Do kids still torrent these days?
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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Don't put any scholarly work into an LLM that you wouldn't want to be used to scoop you
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Minnesota: Ope
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Discrimination will keep hiding in your residual because the act of discrimination is a bad faith, endogenous moving target. I see a lot of economists "control for race because it's as good as randomly assigned" and I feel like they are trying to argue towards first principles rather that from them
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Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This advice is a case where stratification economics would be quite useful to economists speaking about politics. It would show the fallacy of the base assumption. Economists view politics as about policy, but it’s much more about identity and intranational competition over resources and power.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm not like those other despots. I'm built different.
static.klipy.com
Amy Poehler: I'm a Cool Mom!
Alt: Amy Poehler: I'm not a regular mom, I'm a Cool Mom!
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Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT! The 2027 Meeting of the Race and Stratification in the Economy Working Group at @nber.org will be held on April 2, 2027! The deadline for submissions is December 10,2026. Please Share!! More details are here: www.asc.ohio-state.edu/logan.155/pd...
asc.ohio-state.edu
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
My sister's history teacher gave extra credit if you took a photo with the textbook on vacation, so one time when we were going down to Florida she brought it along. Not in her bags, mind you. She snuck a 1000 page textbook into my bags so she didn't have to carry it around the airport. Siblings
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The unit of analysis is not cancer at the patient level, but the log of cases by counties for a group. But county borders are not random, nor are the controls. If people select into location based on edu, income, and if nuclear plants are placed strategically, controls respond to treatment.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Tl;Dr The original paper's unit is the county of residence, stratified by age-sex Treatment is a score from the sum of the inverse of distance to nuclear plants Controls for county's edu, income, race shares, % renting, and some population health metrics ID: Gen. estimating equation Poisson
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Elizabeth Wrigley-Field @wrigleyfield.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
My Minnesota friends have already seen this, but I keep thinking about it and want more people outside our state to, too.
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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 03/10/2026
Anybody know of any papers looking at Black leaders and their impact on hiring in *any* capacity? I know there's stuff in education, but also asking political science, sociology, etc.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Benson and Lepage, Learning to discriminate on the job. Might be WP. I think it was a study of retail hiring and the probability that a manager (any race) discriminates in a way that's sensitive to their past hiring. I don't remember if they break out their estimates by race of manager.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
some descriptive statistics here on the civility industrial complex on college campuses that I haven’t seen analyzed before www.uncivilcollective.org/resources
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
If you see this, post a vampire that isn't dracula
static.klipy.com
Dio Jojo: It Was Me, Dio!
Alt: Dio Jojo: It Was Me, Dio!
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
You heard of difference in difference, now try synthetic synthetic control.
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Marc Scully @marcscully.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Behavioural Science in 2026.
The Homer stonecutter meme.

Top image: Remove the stone of "Terrible MTurk data"
Bottom image: Attach the stone of "Terrible synthetic sample data"
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Amy Klobuchar stopping a line of bad faith inquiry by correcting their midwest college sports knowledge is just...
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Dani Sandler @dismalscientist86.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New Census Working Paper: "Gender Differences in the Returns to Double Majoring: A Case of Signaling?" by Andrew Smith, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Maria Zhu www.census.gov/library/work...
census.gov
Gender Differences in the Returns to Double Majoring: A Case of Signaling?
Women earn about 5% more for double majoring in college, while men see no return, consistent with double majors serving as a signal in the labor market.
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aric @aghastronaut.com · 29/09/2026
Any questions?
Associates of Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., holding up a picture of David S. Pumpkins behind him as he's got a "gotcha" face on right before he's about to eat shit.
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Nic Duquette @nicduquette.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The purpose of distributive requirements in college (humanities or otherwise) cannot be an educated citizenry, because the majority of Americans do not finish a four-year degree. Arguing over how to do this in college means giving up on a complete education for the median American.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I also wonder how double majors play into it. Do we get more double majors as a way to pursue interests at the cost of fewer freshmen? I could only get econ/philo in 4 years because I passed out of many. Does that serve a liberal arts education? Soc Sci/Philo, I lean yes. Business/Finance, no.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I don't have an answer for what should be reinforced even after AP credit. AP calc led to more calc My AP Lit was harder than Brit Lit No AP Art History, I loved Buddhist Art Hist. They also cut the major anyway 🙃 UST required 3 theology classes (no AP). As a non Catholic, it made class tense.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
And placement. Grad/law/medical programs do not seem to care. As long as entry is conditioned on your ranking in the pool, a department asking students to take more outside their wheelhouse puts their application at a disadvantage. I like the lib arts model, I don't feel like I have a good answer.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The academic's office:
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Irwin (Bud) Collier @irwincollier.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
#EconSky #MITeconomics Peter Diamond and Eric Maskin co-taught the economics of uncertainty at MIT in the Fall of 1978. Their five page course reading list has been transcribed and posted. www.irwincollier.com/m-i-t-readin...
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Matt DeLong @mattdelong.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
University of Minnesota announces $225 million in budget cuts across all campuses
startribune.com
University of Minnesota announces $225 million in budget cuts across all campuses
It comes after the U approved a budget in June raising students’ tuition by 3.8%, the sixth consecutive year of increases for the U.
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Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The rule of law is not just an abstract idea but something that sits at the heart of a lot of what we do. We take it for granted but we should not. I fear that the long term effects of this open defiance of the court will have longstanding implications that will erode our ability to do basic justice
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Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
tech ceos are openly salivating about the idea of kids losing basic literacy and numeracy. this tells you pretty much all you need to know
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
8/14/2026 www.nytimes.com/2026/08/14/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Is Ocasio-Cortez Ready for the Glass Cliff? (Gift Article)
She will run as a woman but unlike how every woman before her was forced to run.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
But does it still have the Niacin my body needs?
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Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴 @wamsleylab.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Yeah, that's a problem www.chronicle.com/article/high... #academicsky #edusky
A line graph demonstrating the nonacademic spending has outpaced academic spending, from 2010 to 2024. The note indicates this is for 146 R1 institutions. Source: NCES, Created with Datawrapper
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aric @aghastronaut.com · 21/09/2026
Ruining the planet by typing "Jabba the Hutt saying bazinga" into the plagerism machine
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it's Candy Love @candylovely.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Basketball player detained by ICE #Kentucky www.thestate.com/sports/colle...
thestate.com
ICE detained-HBCU basketball player reportedly needs treatment
An HBCU basketball player at Kentucky State University has spent more than a month in immigration custody after being detained by ICE while traveling with her team.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We study the effect of college education on earnings, using an indicator if their majors had a Greek root as an instrument for ability.
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Jason Carl @vampiresnvino.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
The raw milk drinkers are afraid of halal cheese
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Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"one of the world's leading thinkers" is the most shameful descriptor imaginable. one should simply call oneself a poster.
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Drivin' to Discover
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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 13/09/2026
One of the stupidest policies I've ever seen in my life. Genuinely.
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Rafe Meager (they/them) @economeager.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
well hold on now bsky.app/profile/bloo...
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John Moe @johnmoe.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
🎶 You got to be good at poker Have skills at poker Win at the poker games Be a poker champ 🎶
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Thomas Durfee @thomasjdurfee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
So, one of the approximately two things we all agree on.
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Emily Riederer @emilyriederer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
For no real reason, I was looking up something about the ancestry of causal DAGs in path diagrams and came across this picture. I got to see it so you do to. HT to Sewall Wright who both set the course for a very useful analytical tool but also took the time to include cute drawings of guinea pigs
Sketch of Wright's path diagram showing the influence of heredity and environment on the inheritance of color of guinea pigs. Drawing is mostly a directed acyclic graph but includes four cute sideways drawings of guinea pigs.
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