John Cawley

Our affiliates John Cawley and Fatima Cody Stanford sat down with Principal Laura O’Laughlin and Vice President Nicholas Van Niel for a discussion about the causes of obesity, and how insights from both economists and clinicians can be crucial in treating it. www.analysisgroup.com/Insights/ag-...

Are the Kids Alright? Maxwell Expert Panel Examines Youth Mental Health Are the Kids Alright? Maxwell Expert Panel Examines Youth Mental Health

Are the kids alright? 🧠

Maxwell School faculty met in Washington, D.C., to explore youth mental health, risky behavior and how social and economic changes are affecting young people today.
@johncawley.bsky.social @cprmaxwell.bsky.social

Title of an editorial in The Times [of London], April 1940

Thomas Paine, "The American Crisis" (1776):
"There are persons who see not the full extent of the evil which threatens them; they solace themselves with hopes that the enemy, if he succeed, will be merciful. It is the madness of folly to expect mercy from those who have refused to do justice..."

Under an hour to the #IHEA @ashecon.bsky.social happy hour at the #ASSA2026 @assameeting.bsky.social! All are welcome! Come find me for drink tickets.

Top three items of swag so far from #ASSA2026 :
#3: notebook from @aeacsqiep.bsky.social
#2: powerful mini flashlight from EconLit
#1: insulated mug from @aeainformation.bsky.social

#EconSky

So for those of you on the #EconJobMarket, it's not your imagination; it's tough out there. Hopefully universities (despite their financial pressures) can support unmatched candidates for an additional year if necessary.

The relative bright spot is in the private sector. Among nonacademic jobs, both a) consulting or research; and b) banking, finance, business, industry, number of openings is low but still similar to some recent year.

Within categories of nonacademic jobs; perhaps the bleakest sector is hiring by the federal govt. (Not surprising given DOGE cuts and then the government shutdown.) # of such jobs is down 71.1% from last year and is even 79.1% lower than during COVID (2020). There are only 24 listed this yr!

The nonacademic market is also weak. Number of full-time nonacademic jobs listed on JOE is down 26.7% from just last year, and is even 45.1% lower than during the worst of COVID (2020).

Number of full-time academic jobs outside of the US that are listed on JOE (which may not be all of them) are down 13% from last year and are 25.3% lower than during COVID (2020).

Within academic jobs: # full-time jobs in the U.S. at 4-year colleges (e.g. liberal arts colleges) and univ with grad programs are both down roughly one-third from last year. (Both are higher than during worst of COVID (2020).)

Within job types: # full-time academic jobs in the US is down 32.6% from last year. On bright-ish side, is 20.7% higher than during the worst of COVID (2020).

One last (sobering) update on the #EconJobMarket before the winter holidays; data as of 2025-12-14.
In terms of # of job listings on Job Openings for Economists (JOE), this is the worst job mkt in recent yrs for PhD Economists. # jobs down 20% from last yr, even 18.9% lower than during COVID (2020).

Full memo soon to be posted to website of AEA Cttee on the Job Market:
3/3

www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

The avg # of anticipated assistant professor hires this coming year is 0.52 per responding dept; if every dept hires as it expects that will be a reduction from last year of 0.17 positions hired per dept, and a reduction from two years ago of 0.29 positions hired per dept.
2/3

The American Economic Association's Committee on the Job Market surveyed Economics Departments in the U.S. regarding their plans to hire assistant professors this cycle (2025-26). 29.7% said that their department was under a hiring freeze.
1/3
#EconSky #EconJobMarket

Today at 6:30pm! Join CPR Senior Research Associate @johncawley.bsky.social for a Maxwell DC Conversation Series session on "The Politics of Weight Loss Drugs."

Learn more or register here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

@maxwellsu.bsky.social

Clearly, this continues to be a year of weak demand for PhD economists - especially in government, but also in academia and the private sector. Best wishes to all of those on the market this year.

These graphs are updated weekly and are available online here: www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

A relative bright spot is hiring in the private sector - while low, it is still comparable to that in some recent years.

Due to DOGE cuts and then the shutdown, the number of listings for jobs in the US Federal government is down about 75% compared to recent years. Virtually no new jobs in the Federal government have been posted for the past 10 weeks.

The number of nonacademic jobs on JOE is down 27.8% from last year and also considerably (41.5%) lower than during COVID.

The number of full-time academic jobs outside the U.S. listed on JOE is down 14.9% from last year, and is 20.3% lower than during COVID (2020).

Demand for Econ PhDs is down among both 4-year colleges and at universities with a grad program in the U.S.

In terms of full-time academic jobs in the US, it is definitely better than during COVID (33.2% more job listings), but clearly worse than all years since (e.g. 34.6% fewer listings than this time last year).

A pre-Thanksgiving update on the #EconJobMarket, with data as of Nov 23. Based on total # of job listings on JOE, this year continues to be even weaker (by 14.3%) than during COVID (2020). 1/many #EconSky

Looking forward to seeing everyone at #2025APPAM in Seattle!
(Fingers crossed regarding flight delays/cancellations...)

CC: @appam.bsky.social @maxwellsu.bsky.social

Hope you can join us, March 18-20, 2026, University of Galway

www.maxwell.syr.edu/research/cen...

These graphs are updated weekly and are available online here:
www.aeaweb.org/about-aea/co...

Clearly, this is a year of weak demand for PhD economists in many sectors - especially government, but also academia and the private sector. Best wishes to all of those on the market this year.