New issue of Econ Journal Watch

Volume 23, Issue 2 of Econ Journal Watch was released in September 2026. In this issue, David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson explore the "China shock" and its impact on the United States economy from 1990 to 2007. However, when Kirill Borusyak et al.'s (2022) corrections are applied, the authors argue that the negative effects on unemployment, labor force participation, wages, and household incomes disappear.

Joseph Francis emphasizes how the "credibility revolution" in econometrics often fails to deliver on its promises.

A significant legal decision in June 2023, SFFA v. Harvard, ruled that race-based admissions are unconstitutional. Thirty-three selective colleges projected a Black enrollment decline ranging from 50 to 70 percent. Despite these warnings, fifteen research universities maintained that race-neutral admissions would undermine the diversity they sought. David Kane's analysis shows that the predictions regarding Black enrollment did not materialize.

Michael Weissman critiques Michael Worobey et al.'s claim in Science, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 was first introduced to humans at the Huanan Seafood Market. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that human introduction occurred earlier and elsewhere. Michael O' Connor argues that momentum factors, which witnessed a decline around 2003, alongside market capitalization and the book-to-market ratio decline about a decade later, signify a structural break or 'regime change.'

Kenneth Judd and Karl Schmedders critique Jesús Fernández-Villaverde's article in the Journal of Economic Literature, arguing that he overstates the novelty of neural-network or "deep learning" solvers. They assert that such solvers should be considered part of a broader family of projection and weighted-residual solvers. Vidar Andre Utvik and coauthors discuss the UN's Digital Public Goods Alliance, demonstrating its effectiveness by underscoring the swift creation of Covid-19 surveillance tools in Sri Lanka and Norway.

However, John Levendis contends that local professionals cooperated voluntarily, and community innovation preceded WHO guidance.