My areas of specialization include long-run growth, cultural economics, and economic and financial history. I hold a UBS Foundation Professorship at the Economics Department, University of Zurich, and serve as Scientific Director of the UBS Center for Economics in Society.

In 2022, I was elected to a Fellowship of the Econometric Society. In 2025, I served as President of the Association for Comparative Economic Studies (ACES). Until 2021, I served as one of the joint managing editors of the Economic Journal, and as an associate editor at the QJE.

My research has been published in four of the top 5 journals in economics, as well as in books and field journals. Principal areas of research include long-run economic growth, the history of sovereign debt, causes and consequences of the Nazi Party's rise to power, and the economic history of the Industrial Revolution. I have published three academic books with OUP and Princeton UP, five popular books, and over 50 articles in leading journals including the AER, QJE, JPE, RESTUD, the Journal of Finance, and others.

My research has been profiled in The Economist, the Financial Times, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other major international media outlets.