My research interests include: economic history, the measurement of living standards in historical perspective and political economy.
Originally from Quebec, Canada, I am an Assistant Professor of Economics at George Mason University and earned my Ph.D. in economic history from the London School of Economics. I was previously postdoctoral fellow at Texas Tech University and assistant professor of economics at King's University College and Bates College. I have an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Montreal.
I specialize in the measurement of living standards today and in the distant past and in economic history. I combine this specialization in economic history with a specialization in political economy in order to explain differences in living standards over time and space. My articles have been published in Economic Journal, European Economic Review, Public Choice, Economic Inquiry, Canadian Journal of Economics Explorations in Economic History, European Review of Economic History, Contemporary Economic Policy and Southern Economic Journal. I have also authored some 250 opinion articles in the Wall Street Journal, Journal de Montréal, Journal de Québec, National Post, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Sun, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Gazette, Le Devoir, La Presse, Le Soleil, and Huffington Post Québec. I also frequently collaborate with L'Express (France) and Le Point (France).
Articles in Consideration or Articles with Revise and Resubmit Decisions (as of 02/2023)
Globalization and Empire: Market Integration and International Trade Between Canada, the United States and Britain from 1750 to 1870 (conditional acceptance at Social Science History with Maja Pedersen and Paul Sharp)
Monetary Famine, Paper Money and International Constraints on Economic Growth: The Case of Colonial Quebec (with Gabriel Mathy)
The Lesser Shades of Labor Coercion: The Impact of Seigneurial Tenure in Nineteenth Century Quebec (with Vadim Kufenko and Alex Arsenault Morin, revise and resubmit at Journal of Development Economics)
Dynamics of Interventionism and Economic Development in Quebec before 1854 (revise and resubmit at Essays in Economic and Business History).
Ethnogenesis and Stateless (with Louis Rouanet, revise and resubmit at European Journal of Law and Economics).
Can Geography Explain Quebec's Historical Poverty (with Louis Rouanet, revise and resubmit at Southern Economic Journal).
Presidents in Deficit: Are There Historical Rewards to Deficits? (with Marcus Shera, revise and resubmit at Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice).
Praise the Lard: Resolving the Judaic Pig Puzzle (with Nicholas Snow and Peter Leeson).
Does The Conquest Explain Quebec's Historical Poverty: The Economic Consequences of 1760.
The Myth of Wartime Prosperity: Canadian Evidence (with Casey Pender).
Did The Quiet Revolution Really Change Anything? (with Chandler Reilly).
Commons and Weak States: The Case of Gaspesian Fisheries Circa 1830 (with Felix Foucher-Paquin).
Was There a Crisis? A Human Development Index for Lower Canada, 1760 to 1848 (with Matthew Curtis).
Callais, J.T., & Geloso, V. (2023). The Political Economy of Lighthouses in Antebellum America. European Economic Review
Gagnon, J., Geloso, V., & Isabelle, M. (2023). The Incubated Revolution: Education, Cohort Effects and Linguistic Wage Gap in Quebec During the 20th Century. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization.
Geloso, V., Plemmons A.M., & Thomas, A. (2023). No Wheat Crisis: Agricultural Trade Liberalization in Quebec during the 1830s and 1840s. European Review of Economic History.
Callais, J.T., & Geloso, V. (2022). Intergenerational Income Mobility and Economic Freedom. Southern Economic Journal.
Geloso, V., Magness, P., Moore, J., & Schlosser, P. (2022). How Pronounced is the U-Curve? Revisiting Income Inequality in the United States, 1917-1960. Economic Journal.
Geloso, V. (2022). Unenlightened Peasants? Farming Techniques Among French-Canadians, circa 1851. Cliometrica.
Kufenko, V., Khaustova, E., & Geloso, V. Escape underway: Malthusian pressures in late imperial Moscow. Explorations in Economic History.
Candela, R.C. & Geloso, V. (2022). Regulatory Capture and the Dynamics of Interventionism: The Case of Power Utilities in Quebec and Ontario to 1944. Public Choice.
Geloso, V., & Makovi, M. (2022). State Capacity and the Post Office: Evidence from 19th Century Quebec. Journal of Government and Economics.
Dean, J., & Geloso, V. (2022). Economic freedom improves income mobility: evidence from Canadian provinces, 1982–2018. Journal of Institutional Economics.
Geloso, V., & Hyde, K., & Murtazashvili. (2021). Pandemics, Economic Freedom, and Institutional Trade-Offs. European Journal of Law and Economics.
Candela, R. A., & Geloso, V. (2021). Economic freedom, pandemics, and robust political economy. Southern Economic Journal.
Cutsinger, B., Geloso, V., & Bédard, M. (2021). The Wild Card: Colonial Paper Money in French North America, 1685 to 1719. European Review of Economic History
Geloso, V. J., & Grier, K. B. (2021). Love on the rocks: The causal effects of separatist governments in Quebec. European Journal of Political Economy.
Geloso, V., & Pavlik, J. B. (2021). The Cuban revolution and infant mortality: A synthetic control approach. Explorations in Economic History, 80.
Geloso, V., & Bologna Pavlik, J.B. (2021). Economic freedom and the economic consequences of the 1918 pandemic. Contemporary Economic Policy.
Dean, J., & Geloso, V. (2021). The linguistic wage gap in Quebec, 1901 to 1951. Cliometrica.
Geloso, V. J., & Salter, A. W. (2020). State capacity and economic development: Causal mechanism or correlative filter?. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
Candela, R. A., & Geloso, V. J. (2020). Trade or raid: Acadian settlers and native Americans before 1755. Public Choice.
Candela, R. A., & Geloso, V. (2019). Why consider the lighthouse a public good?. International Review of Law and Economics.
Candela, R. A., & Geloso, V. J. (2018). The lightship in economics. Public Choice.
Geloso, V. J. (2019). Distinct within North America: living standards in French Canada, 1688–1775. Cliometrica.
ECON 365: Topics in Economic History
ECON 612: Microeconomic Theory II
B.sc (2009) Université de Montréal
M.sc (2010) London School of Economics and Political Science
Ph.D (2016) London School of Economics and Political Science
Economic History: Humility & Optimism in the Past -- The Knowledge Archives (March 2020)
Myths and Facts of Cuban Health Care - Human Rights Foundation (October 2021)
Who Gets the Short End: The Nuances of Subsidized Daycare in Canada - Fraser Institute Forum (August 2021)
Fighting Pandemics with Economic Freedom -- The Human Progress Podcast (January 2022)
Connecting Economic Freedom and Economic Mobility -- The Archbridge Institute Podcast (March 2022)
What You Need to Know About Income Inequality -- American Institute for Economic Research (April 2022)
Human Development & Dictatorships: Cuban Healthcare and Other Myths -- Human Rights Foundation (June 2022)
Recent media appearances (English items included)
Reforming Montreal's Transit System (op-ed in Montreal Gazette, Canada with Francesco Amodio of McGill University)
Inequality and The Piketty Accounting Error (op-ed in the Wall Street Journal with Phillip W. Magness)
Canada Needs School Choice (op-ed in Financial Post, Canada)
Blaming foreigners will not resolve the housing shortage (op-ed in Toronto Star, Canada)
Make French Safer by Making Quebec Richer (op-ed in Financial Post, Canada)
Regulations disproportionately hurt low-income workers trying to climb income ladder (Yahoo Finance)
Facing a 'she-cession,' federal child care funding needed to support women in the workforce, says expert (CBC, Canada)
Rogers-Shaw deal raises questions on pricing power, political will (Toronto Star, Canada)
Recent media appearances (French items)
Mobilité Sociale: Privilégions la Liberté Économique à la Redistribution (Op-Ed in L'Express, France)
La 'courbe en U' des inégalités de Piketty ressemble bien plus à une soucoupe à thé (Op-Ed in L'Express, France)
L’électricité avant l’étatisation (Op-Ed in Le Devoir, Canada)
Rigueur Budgétaire dans l'Histoire: Parizeau Devant Couillard (La Presse, Canada)
Interview with Atlantico (France) regarding my research on income inequality published in Economic Journal and the many errors of Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez
Interview with Le Point (France) regarding my research on state capacity and economic growth published in Public Choice and Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.
Recent media appearances (Other Languages)
Interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany) regarding my research on income inequality published in Economic Journal and the many errors of Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez