Alex Edmans

1. My new book, May Contain Lies: How Stories, Statistics, and Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It, will be published by Penguin in April. lnkd.in/eDbujwUd

“Executive-pay packages are notoriously complex, stuffed with performance measures and all-or-nothing targets,” laments Alex Edmans. The real question, he argues, is whether it is earned economist.com/by-invitation/…

@hwallop Yesterday I came across a typically inflated LinkedIn profile: "June Sarpong OBE is one of the world’s leading speaker’s, educator’s ...". But not one of the world's leading speller's or writer's.

BAFTA is advertising a head of communications job to join “it’s” team. Pay = £55k. Proof-reading skills obviously not necessary. Could the v poor handling of this week’s crisis be because it doesn’t pay important staff very well?

Executive-pay packages “can lead bosses to focus on what is measurable rather than what matters”, argues Alex Edmans. The finance professor offers a simple solution—and it’s not just paying CEOs less economist.com/by-invitation/…

The real question is not whether CEO pay is high. It is whether it is earned. "By Invitation" article for @TheEconomist economist.com/by-invitation/…

@florianederer Sadly, most schools don't take teaching ratings seriously for any faculty, tenured or untenured.

If anybody took teaching ratings for tenured faculty seriously, David Gelernter would long have been relieved of his teaching duties.

This paper critiques the current practice of #diversity, equity, & inclusion in business, arguing that its reduction to demographic representation has led to polarization & failed to achieve #DEI’s true objectives. Read: spkl.io/6011AUmZT Subscribe: spkl.io/6015AUmZX

In 2021 I did a @GreshamCollege public lecture series called "The Principles of Finance", on basic financial literacy. Yesterday I recorded shorter versions for A-level students. I set about updating my slides .... and realised I didn't have to. The personal allowance was £12,570 back in 2021. And it's still £12,570 now – and will be £12,570 at least until 2031. But I did have to update: ⬇️Dividend allowance (down from £2,000 to £500) ⬆️Dividend tax rates (all up) ⬇️Capital gains allowance (down from £12,300 to £3,000) All of this is bad news for savers (and, for the personal allowance, workers). Yes the public finances need repairing – but there are widespread inefficiencies that could be tackled first.

@Starcourse Thank you! September

@aedmans Looks amazing. When’s it coming out?

Handed in the final draft of my next book, "The Madness of Markets: Why Smart Investors Make Crazy Decisions – And How to Exploit Them". It's about the psychology of financial markets – what causes booms, busts, and bubbles; why the market overreacts to irrelevant information but ignores what truly matters; and how we can avoid common investing errors and turn others' mistakes to our advantage. Out of everything I’ve ever written, this is the one piece I’ve had the most fun writing and am most excited to share when it comes out – because of the really cool research by leading scholars in behavioral finance that it covers. This research was inspired by innovative ideas, draws from creative data sources, meets the highest standards of scientific rigour – yet remains practical for everyday investors. @PenguinUKBooks @CrownPublishing

Academia is a calling; it's not just a job. And viewing it as a calling and a privilege helps address the burnout and pressure that the article correctly highlights. See my essay "The Purpose of a Finance Professor" (which applies to all fields). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fi…

No, 75% of the revenues of the FTSE 100 are from overseas. In 2025, the domestically-focused FTSE 250 significantly underperformed the FTSE 100. The rise of the FTSE 100 is not due to the strong performance of the UK, but you like to claim credit where it's not due.

@leecrawfurd Thanks for your comment. I think both are serious. British Champion is a major title and lifetime achievement, not a slight misrepresentation. If you play football in the Championship you can't claim to play in the Champions League.

@aedmans fully inventing a qualification isn't the same thing as the slight misrepresentation Reeves did.

Dame Ann Limb, recently appointed to the House of Lords, refers to herself as Dr and claims to hold a PhD. This claim appears on her CV, her website, in public talks, and after her name on the members’ roll at the Athenaeum. But she has no such qualification. This matters. A cardiologist claiming to have won a junior hockey tournament may suggest only imperfect character, but misrepresenting core professional credentials is serious. An education specialist awarded an OBE for “services to education” should not repeatedly misstate her educational qualifications. Likewise, one should not falsely claim to be British Girls’ Chess Champion to imply strategic ability, use Dr as a title when holding only an honorary doctorate, or claim to be a bestselling author without appearing on any recognised bestseller list. Credentials aren't everything. None of my guest speakers have PhDs, play chess, or write books, yet they have tremendous expertise gained elsewhere. But you cannot claim a title or qualification without earning it. Doing so makes a mockery of all those who worked hard to achieve them, or worked hard but didn't become British Champion – and didn't claim it. It also erodes trust in expertise. If anyone can claim to be an expert, who can we believe? And it is a serious concern when such misrepresentation is overlooked in the awarding of a Damehood and an appointment to the House of Lords. thetimes.com/uk/royal-famil…

New CEPR Discussion Paper - DP20914 The End of DEI Alex Edmans @aedmans @LBS ow.ly/PGWp50XIkII #CEPR_BCF #EconTwitter

@desireefixler Interesting decision, given that, in the FCA's own words, "There is growing evidence that a diversity of perspectives and thought, when part of an inclusive culture, results in better judgements and decision making." regulationtomorrow.com/eu/diversity-a…

Yes, I believe in meritocracy, free enterprise and deregulation. I’ll keep championing them — with no filters now. 🚀

New paper, "The End of DEI". DEI is one of the most polarizing issues in business and society. Advocates claim that DEI enhances fairness, while critics argue it undermines meritocracy. The problems stem from the practice of DEI – reducing it to demographic diversity – rather than its principle. This paper proposes an alternative framework, Potential, Synergy, and Inclusion, that preserves DEI’s objectives while addressing its weaknesses. 🌱 Potential emphasizes recruiting individuals for their capacity to create future value rather than past achievements. Demographics can be informative about an applicant’s trajectory, but many other aspects of their background are also relevant. 🤝 Synergy focuses on building teams with complementary skills and perspectives. One such synergy arises from cognitive diversity, for which demographics are only a partial source. 🗣️ Inclusion enables employees to voice ideas, challenge norms, and overcome structural frictions. While DEI is viewed as advancing only minority groups and primarily aligned with one side of the political spectrum, the proposed approach seeks to grow the pie for the benefit of all. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

The power of cognitive diversity - and of creating an inclusive culture that encourages constructive challenge, dissenting viewpoints and bold ideas. @WSJ article. wsj.com/lifestyle/work…

@LouiseMensch @RachelReevesMP Thanks for your comment. Her verbatim words were "I was the British girls under-14 champion" (see theguardian.com/politics/2023/…) and this is the exact title awarded by the event that I referenced: "British Girls' Under 14 Champion Emily HOWARD" (see saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/1…).

@aedmans I am a Conservative and have no time for @RachelReevesMP but you are misstating this. She never claimed to be part of the Championship you reference, she said she was the England girls champion at 14 and she absolutely was. She competed in an all girls tournament and she won it.

I played for the England junior chess team, was British Squad Champion and London Junior Champion, but had never heard of Rachel Reeves, even though she was only a year above me. Newspaper claims that she was British U14 girls' champion are false; she came 26th out of 34 in that tournament. Yet these claims have been widely repeated due to the narrative fallacy - the appealing story that she'd be a great Chancellor because chess teaches: ♙ the discipline to evaluate risks before making a move ♘ the ability to maintain a consistent long-term strategy rather than lurch between short-term fixes ♗ the realism to play the position on the board rather than misrepresent it or blame others for it ♖ the judgement to play the strongest move, not the flashiest one ♕ the capacity to think several moves ahead and foresee second-order effects If chess really shaped her approach, it’s hard to see it on the board.

@sjmawhinney @vickygrayson_ She verbatim stated “I was the British girls under-14 champion” (see theguardian.com/politics/2023/…). Victoria's screenshot showed who won that particular title.

@vickygrayson_ @aedmans Ha! This is hilarious! That's not even close to what happened here! She was an U14 female champion just a different one.

@MatthewStadlen Thanks for your questions Matt. maycontainlies.com/was-rachel-ree… hopefully answers them in more detail. Let me know if you have further questions.

The tournament you're referring to in which you say Reeves came 26th wasn't a girls only tournament, was it? Presumably she would have ranked considerably higher in that tournament among the girls who competed? And, as you say in a subsequent post, she did jointly win an U14 tournament. Although that tournament didn't confer the title "British Girls' Champion", it was called the British Women’s Chess Association (BWCA) Girls Championship. So Reeves' claim to have been the "British girls' under-14 champion" doesn't seem much of a stretch? According to The Times, Malcolm Pein, an international master and director of international chess for the English Chess Federation, says: “The BWCA competition was in my view the only credible girls championship, as it was for girls only, as opposed to being subsumed into the Open British U14 Championships where 90 per cent or so of the players were boys..."