Economics professor at BU. I mostly study hidden influence in U.S. politics. Some people call it corruption. I don't disagree. https://xitter.cf/t.co/AfYvgj5qu1
Joined March 2013
- Tweets3.9K
- Following800
- Followers7.9K
- Likes2.2K
Albertans voted overwhelmingly to stay in Canada. Thanks President Trump! I'm sure he didn't flip the vote but I am curious how much he moved the needle.
apnews.com/article/alberta-c…
I'm interested in hearing expert opinions on the *reversal* of legalization of recreational marijuana. It's on the ballot in Massachusetts. Apparently, it would be the first state to do so if it passes. I can certainly think of pros as well as cons.
A minor PSA on submitting to AEJ: Applied -- you can request a specific *coeditor* but not a member of the editorial board more broadly. Non-coeditors do not act as editors on submissions.
I gave a couple of lectures on corruption to the cadets at West Point a number of years ago. Both students and faculty (civilian and military) were amazing. Yet another great institution this administration may destroy. apnews.com/article/hegseth-w…
I had hand surgery yesterday. For anyone looking for a voice-to-text app, I cannot recommend @WisprFlow enough. A big thanks to Ben Olken for the recommendation. And yes this was written with WisprFlow.
A few years ago Mike Luca and I talked about writing a book called Businesses Behaving Badly about how companies exploit human frailties in judgment for profit. If we did it now, this would be the opening story: nytimes.com/2026/09/19/busin…
(It's not that we decided it wasn't important enough to warrant our time. Rather, @R_Thaler and others have already covered a lot of this ground very well in other work.)
I don't want to hear any "but what about..." Yes, there's always been corruption, and yes, it's hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons in corruption over time, but what is happening today is breathtaking by any historical standard. propublica.org/article/donal…
Ray Fisman retweeted
97% of the prediction markets on the 2026 midterms can be moved five cents for less than $3,500
One of my kids made a new webpage for me. It's still a work in progress (esp the personal page) but I like it:
rayfisman.com
A student today told me that they read a Dan Ariely book in AP: Micro, and asked if she should forget everything she read in it, even though it sounded so true.
Ray Fisman retweeted
NEW Economist/YouGov Aug 28-31: Canada
38% of Republicans view Canada as unfriendly or an enemy of the U.S., by far the highest level in the past decade
(Link in reply)
ALT A chart of YouGov polling data with the headline: "A growing share of Republicans view Canada as unfriendly or an enemy of the U.S.." The chart's sub-headline is: "Do you consider the following to be an ally or an enemy of the United States? Canada (% who say "unfriendly" or "enemy")." The chart has the note: "Note: Responses of "ally," "friendly," and "not sure" are not shown."
Wow. The effect sizes had always seemed...surprising. Kudos to Wertenbroch for sharing the data.
An influential paper by Ariely & Wertenbroch (2002) reported two studies with tampered data.
Post 1 of 2.
datacolada.org/138
Ray Fisman retweeted
We’re delighted to welcome economist professor @RFisman, a leading researcher in politics and finance, as the new Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair of Canada in Finance and Political Economy at the Rotman School of Management.
Learn more: ow.ly/zKlM50ZGENC
#RotmanSchool
ALT Headshot of economist professor Raymond Fisman, the new Eddie Goldenberg Research Chair of Canada in Finance and Political Economy at the Rotman School of Management.
My book on the economics of business social responsibility is officially forthcoming!!
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780…
Shout out to the people at the @massrmv - I booked an appointment for a Real ID at 10 this morning, filled out the paperwork in ~10 min, got an appt for 11:30. Met with a friendly and efficient RMV employee. Done by 11:45. Hooray for good government. Thanks for everything you do!
My brother
@DFisman
has been using GPT to resurrect some of his older cartoons, and also to create some new ones. I have a feeling these ones will resonate...1/2
