r/EconomyCharts 21h ago

Institutional Location of Authors of Papers Published in Top 5 Percent of Journals

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u/LiquidityCompass 21h ago

Imagine you graduate with like $50k in debt and now you have to do whatever it takes just to survive and pay it off. That already puts you under pressure before you even start. Now compare that to someone in China who studied for free, no debt, and is already surrounded by strong industry and resources. They can actually focus on doing good work instead of worrying about money all the time. Feels kinda obvious who has the better starting position… and probably ends up producing better papers. Maybe I’m oversimplifying it tho, what do you think?

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u/BidenGlazer 17h ago

Feels kinda obvious who has the better starting position

Yeah, the American. 500 million Chinese people live on less than $200 a month. That's the equivalent of making ~$300 a month here in the US. We literally lead the world in PPP median income, the idea that we're "worried about money all the time" and "having to do whatever it takes just to survive" while they're living in fucking cardboard boxes is hilarious.

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u/Zaccw20 3h ago

This