Steven Durlauf

A propos - Trump backs down on tariffs, but 'the damage has been done and it's very persistent', expert says Speaking with FRANCE 24's Sharon Gaffney, Steven Durlauf, Director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, say...

Catch Steven Durlauf (@durlauf.bsky.social) on @france24.com discussing the United States' rapidly evolving tariff policies and their geopolitical implications.
www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/...

As slavery exhibits are removed in Philadelphia, and scholars like Lisa Cook are targeted in ways that threaten independent economic research and policy; good people must be reminded that arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend toward justice on its own—it bends in the direction that we push it.

Bravo @markgsheppard.com for a real public service.

Grateful for the opportunity to discuss the short run and long run harms of Trump's tariff threats over Greenland.

video.snapstream.net/Play/9GUds8G...

Trump Announces 10 Percent Tariff on European Countries in Standoff Over Greenland

This action of extortion against NATO allies crosses the Rubicon in terms of US relations with Europe. The threat destabilizes NATO and will cause long run damage to the United States economy.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...

4/ Denmark sent around 10,000 troops to Afghanistan, in the context of the one time in history that Article 5 has been invoked. 43 soldiers died, the highest per capita death rate of any member of the coalition. The dishonor of this threat will be a permanent stain.

This is already seen in the Canada-China agreement announced this week and the EU/Mercosur. This trend will accelerate.

3/The use of tariffs to extort political concessions from allies creates long run uncertainty in US trade relations with the rest of the world, even beyond what has been created so far. Our trading partners will seek to decouple from the US.

2/This action will accelerate antipathy towards the United States throughout the world. What future ally can trust the US in light of this action? Even if the Democrats win in 2028, the possibility of a future Trump-like president means a permanent loss of trust.

2/ Regardless of whether the threat works, it represents the de facto end of NATO as an alliance. NATO functions because of credible commitments between allies. This action demonstrates that Article 5 is a dead letter.

Trump Announces 10 Percent Tariff on European Countries in Standoff Over Greenland

This action of extortion against NATO allies crosses the Rubicon in terms of US relations with Europe. The threat destabilizes NATO and will cause long run damage to the United States economy.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...

Steven Durlauf’s 2025 Reading List: Five Books to Shape Your Economic Thinking - Stone Center As we enter a new year, it’s worth pausing to reflect on the literary contributions shaping how scholars and practitioners understand economic life today. Stone Center Director Steven Durlauf has […]

Building your 2026 reading list? 📚
@durlauf.bsky.social shares five books guaranteed to shape your economic thinking → bit.ly/3Lu5XGl

Wealth inequality has persisted for over 10,000 years–but why? Renowned economist Sam Bowles joined the Stone Center to explore its origins, from the ox and plow to the rise of power concentrations and the lasting effects of slavery.
Watch the full lecture here → bit.ly/4pqxM0V

4/ And his discussion of Keynes through a psychoanalytic perspective capitalism-"the General Theory was possible only because it was written in the aftermath of Freud"!-is not to be missed!

3/ This abstract definition is then brought to life through considerations of the role of accounting the constitution of economies and his treatment of stocks and flows to conceive capitalism as a process are among the highlights.

2/ The Real Economy elaborates the proposition

"The real economy is, then: a bounded spatiotemporal order of demand-constrained production, determined by logical accounting relationships among the different stocks of wealth in the economy that generate the different flows of income over time in it"

1/ Jonathan Levy's books Ages of American Capitalism: A History of the United States and The Real Economy: History and Theory, are fascinating and I recommend them in the strongest terms. Jon challenges modes of thinking by economists, certainly including mine.

3/ As for the finalists for next Federal Reserve Chair, the willingness to accept the position under these circumstances is automatically disqualifying.

2/ No marginal value played in policy design that can justify acquiescence in the destruction of Federal Reserve (and by implication, all agency) independence via the weaponizing of the Justice Department in this fashion. The damage to economic policymaking that is involved cannot be understated.

YouTube video by Federal Reserve Statement by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell

1/ Any economist who has accepted a position in the Trump administration should resign over the abuse of power involved in this attack on Jerome Powell.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KckG...

A belated thanks!

📊 Inequality, Reconsidered was a week-long series of @ucstonecenter.bsky.social events to rethink how we study and address inequality. Led by insights from Samuel Bowles and @durlauf.bsky.social, the series emphasized power, institutions, and lived experience alongside data. https://har.rs/4baRCc2

Meritocracy remains controversial yet increasingly central to policy debates. Evaluating it requires care: we must first define “merit” relative to social objectives, whether prospectively or retrospectively. @durlauf.bsky.social's latest essay offers ways to think about these issues→ bit.ly/3Y283jj

Bravo! As deserved as it gets. Wendy Carlin is a treasure.

Thank you! The amazing work is in fact the extraordinary data sets you have constructed- a gamechanger for quantitative historical social science.

What can 13 minutes teach us about inequality? A lot, it turns out. @durlauf.bsky.social and @jadenreports.bsky.social cover wealth, education, and capitalism in a recent interview. Zoe Cobb, Stone Center staffer and youth voice, captures the key insights in a must-read summary → bit.ly/43ZFVke

9 favorite history books 2025.

1. Capitalism: A Global History, Sven Beckert

9. Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic, Volker Ullrich

8. What is Ancient History?, Walter Scheidel

7. The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life, Sophia Rosenfeld