# Nicholas Forster-Benson Doctoral Student in Sociology & Social Policy ![Nicholas Forster-Benson](/sites/g/files/omnuum1481/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2025-09/Forster-Benson_Nicholas.jpg?itok=0YgsP6Vn) email laptop\_windows [Nicholas Forster-Benson's website](https://nfb77.github.io/) **Research interests**: Political economy, markets and inequality, finance and financialization, quantitative methods **Nicholas (Nicc) Forster-Benson** is a doctoral student in Sociology and Social Policy. Broadly, his research investigates how various market structures and interventions affect economic inequalities at both the local and global scale. Currently, Nicc’s research focuses on U.S. housing markets, examining the intersection of local politics, financialization, liquidity, and inequality. Another strand of his work focuses on underdevelopment, utilizing nation-level heterogeneity in trade flows and macro-economic indicators to better understand post-colonial commodity dependence and natural resource exploitation. **Previous Degrees**: BA, Economics and Quantitative Social Science, Vanderbilt University - ## Geographic Areas [Africa](/geographic-areas/africa) [North America](/geographic-areas/north-america) [Global](/geographic-areas/global) - ## Research Clusters (Grad) [Economic Sociology & Organizations](/graduate-student-research-clusters/economic-sociology-organizations) [Inequality](/graduate-student-research-clusters/inequality) [Political & Historical Sociology](/graduate-student-research-clusters/political-historical-sociology) [Urban Poverty & the City](/graduate-student-research-clusters/urban-poverty-city) - ## Graduate Students by Academic Advisor [Deirdre Bloome](/graduate-students-academic-advisor/deirdre-bloome) - ## Graduate Students by Cohort [2025 (G1)](/graduate-students-cohort/2025-g1) - ## Graduate Students by Last Name [D - G](/graduate-students-last-name/d-g) - ## Current People [Graduate Students](/grad-students)