Matt Collin
@mattcollin.bsky.social
Development economist working at the @taxobservatory.bsky.social in Paris. Illicit finance, tax evasion, and foreign aid. Techno DJ when no one is looking.
https://sites.google.com/view/mattcollin/home
https://datadarkly.substack.com/
https://sites.google.com/view/mattcollin/home
https://datadarkly.substack.com/
What is never very clear from @chainalysis estimates is whether they are measuring a true intensive margin, or just a measurement extensive margin: in the past year they just got better at detecting human trafficking www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-...
Crypto and Human Trafficking: 2026 Crypto Crime Report
Cryptocurrency flows to suspected human trafficking services surged 85% between 2024 and 2025, reaching a scale of hundreds of millions.
www.chainalysis.com
February 13, 2026 at 8:47 AM
What is never very clear from @chainalysis estimates is whether they are measuring a true intensive margin, or just a measurement extensive margin: in the past year they just got better at detecting human trafficking www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-...
Reposted by Matt Collin
Grumpy opinion:
Too many young development economists are working on behavioral econ questions that are unimportant for development. The topics are amenable to small experiments that can nail mechanisms and demonstrate smarts via a clever design. The profession over-rewards those attributes.
Too many young development economists are working on behavioral econ questions that are unimportant for development. The topics are amenable to small experiments that can nail mechanisms and demonstrate smarts via a clever design. The profession over-rewards those attributes.
December 7, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Grumpy opinion:
Too many young development economists are working on behavioral econ questions that are unimportant for development. The topics are amenable to small experiments that can nail mechanisms and demonstrate smarts via a clever design. The profession over-rewards those attributes.
Too many young development economists are working on behavioral econ questions that are unimportant for development. The topics are amenable to small experiments that can nail mechanisms and demonstrate smarts via a clever design. The profession over-rewards those attributes.
We are now the International Tax Observatory!
1/ Big news! Today, we officially launch the International Tax Observatory (#ITO)🚀
Building on the foundation of the EUTO, we are expanding our mission to address global tax evasion, wealth concentration, illicit financial flows & the intersection of taxation & the environment.
Building on the foundation of the EUTO, we are expanding our mission to address global tax evasion, wealth concentration, illicit financial flows & the intersection of taxation & the environment.
February 5, 2026 at 1:54 PM
We are now the International Tax Observatory!
Reposted by Matt Collin
This is actually real: marchforbillionaires.org
March for Billionaires — San Francisco, Feb 7
Stand up for the entrepreneurs, innovators, and risk-takers who build our economy. February 7, 2026.
marchforbillionaires.org
February 2, 2026 at 12:37 PM
This is actually real: marchforbillionaires.org
Reposted by Matt Collin
How effective are transparency innovations in curbing offshore tax evasion? We’re spending the next two days examining the latest evidence on illicit financial flows.
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
February 3, 2026 at 9:36 AM
How effective are transparency innovations in curbing offshore tax evasion? We’re spending the next two days examining the latest evidence on illicit financial flows.
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
Reposted by Matt Collin
Very happy to have had the chance to present our work (w. @mattcollin.bsky.social & @szakonyi.bsky.social) on the effects of the Economic Crime Bill and its beneficial ownership transparency on secretive real estate ownership in the UK.
How effective are transparency innovations in curbing offshore tax evasion? We’re spending the next two days examining the latest evidence on illicit financial flows.
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
🎙️ Opening remarks by @gabrielzucman.bsky.social.
Can’t make it? Catch the full recording on our YouTube later this week!
February 3, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Very happy to have had the chance to present our work (w. @mattcollin.bsky.social & @szakonyi.bsky.social) on the effects of the Economic Crime Bill and its beneficial ownership transparency on secretive real estate ownership in the UK.
Reposted by Matt Collin
"The ultimate owners of almost 45,000 UK properties worth an estimated £190 billion are hidden from public view via offshore companies"
New investigation by @thetimes.com / @danneidle.bsky.social uses beneficial ownership data from UK Register of Overseas Entities
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
New investigation by @thetimes.com / @danneidle.bsky.social uses beneficial ownership data from UK Register of Overseas Entities
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
Revealed: the foreign owners ‘hiding’ £190bn worth of UK property
A new investigation uncovers what is likely to be a mass breach of the government’s anti-corruption rules, involving almost 45,000 properties
www.thetimes.com
January 29, 2026 at 12:13 PM
"The ultimate owners of almost 45,000 UK properties worth an estimated £190 billion are hidden from public view via offshore companies"
New investigation by @thetimes.com / @danneidle.bsky.social uses beneficial ownership data from UK Register of Overseas Entities
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
New investigation by @thetimes.com / @danneidle.bsky.social uses beneficial ownership data from UK Register of Overseas Entities
www.thetimes.com/life-style/p...
Some next level stuff from Fox News
January 26, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Some next level stuff from Fox News
Reposted by Matt Collin
On 5 February join @szakonyi.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social & Tom Mayne for a deep dive into the potential for leaked data to underpin illicit finance research.
David will present a new ACDC study into the effectiveness of de-risking as an AML tool, based on data from the #CongoHoldUp.
David will present a new ACDC study into the effectiveness of de-risking as an AML tool, based on data from the #CongoHoldUp.
January 21, 2026 at 9:16 AM
On 5 February join @szakonyi.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social & Tom Mayne for a deep dive into the potential for leaked data to underpin illicit finance research.
David will present a new ACDC study into the effectiveness of de-risking as an AML tool, based on data from the #CongoHoldUp.
David will present a new ACDC study into the effectiveness of de-risking as an AML tool, based on data from the #CongoHoldUp.
I am about 25% of the way into "Chokepoints," and while I find it to be an interesting history of "why did this happen when it happened" with a little bit of insight into the rooms where everything happened, I feel like I am wanting more actual analysis rather than recounting, maybe this improves?
January 19, 2026 at 8:42 AM
I am about 25% of the way into "Chokepoints," and while I find it to be an interesting history of "why did this happen when it happened" with a little bit of insight into the rooms where everything happened, I feel like I am wanting more actual analysis rather than recounting, maybe this improves?
Everything old is new again
January 18, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Everything old is new again
Reposted by Matt Collin
I realise I'm just a freak, but living in a multicultural city is the best thing of all time, it's just the best possible human experience and i can not understand why anyone on earth would be like "weve got to destroy this"
January 17, 2026 at 4:28 AM
I realise I'm just a freak, but living in a multicultural city is the best thing of all time, it's just the best possible human experience and i can not understand why anyone on earth would be like "weve got to destroy this"
Reposted by Matt Collin
Recently published in @itaxjournal.bsky.social "Safely opening Pandora’s box: a guide for researchers working with leaked data" by Annette Alstadsæter, Matthew Collin ( @mattcollin.bsky.social ) & Andreas Økland (@andokl.bsky.social)
Available at: rdcu.be/eZfQl
Available at: rdcu.be/eZfQl
Safely opening Pandora’s box: a guide for researchers working with leaked data
rdcu.be
January 15, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Recently published in @itaxjournal.bsky.social "Safely opening Pandora’s box: a guide for researchers working with leaked data" by Annette Alstadsæter, Matthew Collin ( @mattcollin.bsky.social ) & Andreas Økland (@andokl.bsky.social)
Available at: rdcu.be/eZfQl
Available at: rdcu.be/eZfQl
For those applied economists that have experience with both, any sense of how Claude Code performs compares to OpenAI's Codex via VS Code?
January 12, 2026 at 10:38 PM
For those applied economists that have experience with both, any sense of how Claude Code performs compares to OpenAI's Codex via VS Code?
Reposted by Matt Collin
Reposted by Matt Collin
Stephen Colbert on the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good: “The message from this administration is clear. Only they determine the truth. And when their forces come to your city: obey or die. And if you die, you clearly didn’t obey. This should be an alarm bell for the entire country.”
January 9, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Stephen Colbert on the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good: “The message from this administration is clear. Only they determine the truth. And when their forces come to your city: obey or die. And if you die, you clearly didn’t obey. This should be an alarm bell for the entire country.”
After Machado Offers Her Nobel, Trump Says It Would Be an ‘Honor’ to Accept It
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Matt Collin
I hope this isn't what it looks like. The mother of one of Musk's kids, who was being degraded by nonconsensual nudified images (incl of her while underage) -- and who had the audacity to speak up about it -- just posted a screenshot showing her account being demonetized.
January 8, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I hope this isn't what it looks like. The mother of one of Musk's kids, who was being degraded by nonconsensual nudified images (incl of her while underage) -- and who had the audacity to speak up about it -- just posted a screenshot showing her account being demonetized.
Reposted by Matt Collin
The idea that London has become less safe in recent years is quite strange - just look at how once "dangerous" areas have been transformed in recent years. Gentrification comes with its own issues but streets are packed with visitors and city far more welcoming than when I moved here a decade ago.
January 7, 2026 at 10:29 AM
The idea that London has become less safe in recent years is quite strange - just look at how once "dangerous" areas have been transformed in recent years. Gentrification comes with its own issues but streets are packed with visitors and city far more welcoming than when I moved here a decade ago.
Reposted by Matt Collin
A new paper by George Borjas—who served this past year in the Trump White House designing some of its anti-immigration policies—claims to display evidence of ideological bias among researchers who study immigration.
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵 Thread—>
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵 Thread—>
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
A new paper by George Borjas—who served this past year in the Trump White House designing some of its anti-immigration policies—claims to display evidence of ideological bias among researchers who study immigration.
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵 Thread—>
doi.org/10.1126/scia...
🧵 Thread—>
Reposted by Matt Collin
Two minor updates, friends:
- As of 1 January 2026, I'm an Associate Professor.
- As of today, the first paper I started writing on palm oil, about a decade ago, is in print in the Journal of International Economics.
Read, share, cite. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- As of 1 January 2026, I'm an Associate Professor.
- As of today, the first paper I started writing on palm oil, about a decade ago, is in print in the Journal of International Economics.
Read, share, cite. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Export agriculture and rural poverty: Evidence from Indonesian palm oil
This paper measures the impacts of Indonesia’s palm oil export expansion on district poverty and household expenditure from 2002 to 2015. Identificati…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 5, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Two minor updates, friends:
- As of 1 January 2026, I'm an Associate Professor.
- As of today, the first paper I started writing on palm oil, about a decade ago, is in print in the Journal of International Economics.
Read, share, cite. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
- As of 1 January 2026, I'm an Associate Professor.
- As of today, the first paper I started writing on palm oil, about a decade ago, is in print in the Journal of International Economics.
Read, share, cite. Open access: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Matt Collin
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
January 5, 2026 at 3:02 AM
WH sources say Venezuela's opposition leader committed the "ultimate sin": She accepted the Nobel Peace prize.
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one said.
www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
We should listen to this man, as he has very relevant and quite recent experience in killing lots of people
Elon Musk warns ‘people will die’ after Mamdani taps Lillian Bonsignore as FDNY commissioner
Elon Musk warns ‘people will die’ after Mamdani taps Lillian Bonsignore as FDNY commissioner
Elon Musk threw cold water on Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s pick of Lillian Bonsignore as the city’s FDNY commissioner, warning it would have dire consequences because she lacks firefigh…
buff.ly
December 29, 2025 at 7:36 PM
We should listen to this man, as he has very relevant and quite recent experience in killing lots of people