A natural experiment in economics
A natural experiment in economics by Tyler Cowen July 25, 2026 at 1:02 am in Data Source Economics Political Science Science To study whether and how academics respond to political pressure, we exploit a natural experiment: the publication in early 2025 of a “blacklist” of words flagged by the U.S. government. We find that the release of this list led to a sharp reduction in the use of these flagged words among economists at universities that rely heavily on federal funding, relative to scholars from institutions that are less dependent on federal funding or based in the UK. The drop is driven by content related to gender, race, and environment.
- ▪A natural experiment in economics by Tyler Cowen July 25, 2026 at 1:02 am in Data Source Economics Political Science Science To study whether and how academics respond to political pressure, we exploit a natural experiment: the publication
- ▪We find that the release of this list led to a sharp reduction in the use of these flagged words among economists at universities that rely heavily on federal funding, relative to scholars from institutions that are less dependent on federa
- ▪The drop is driven by content related to gender, race, and environment.
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| Original publisher | Marginal Revolution |
| Canonical URL | https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2026/07/a-natural-experiment-in-economics.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-natural-experiment-in-economics |
| Publication time | Sat, 25 Jul 2026 05:02:26 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-25T05:05:24.288Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-25T05:05:24.288Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
A natural experiment in economics by Tyler Cowen July 25, 2026 at 1:02 am in Data Source Economics Political Science Science To study whether and how academics respond to political pressure, we exploit a natural experiment: the publication in early 2025 of a “blacklist” of words flagged by the U.S. government. We find that the release of this list led to a sharp reduction in the use of these flagged words among economists at universities that rely heavily on federal funding, relative to scholars from institutions that are less dependent on federal funding or based in the UK. The drop is driven by content related to gender, race, and environment.
…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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