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Reposted by Justin Sandefur

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 15d

Every time I talk with @mclem.org about the economics of immigration, I come away a whole lot smarter.

You can enjoy the same experience: He's written a fantastic primer on what the data reveals about the effect of slashing H-1B visas.

It's a banger. Read it.
www.piie.com/blogs/realti...

New US curb on high-skill immigrant workers ignores evidence of its likely harms

President Donald Trump on Friday ordered an unprecedented new restriction on lawful immigration to the US by high-skill workers. Starting Sunday, new applications for H-1B visas required payment of an...

www.piie.com

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · 15d

America's offer to Africa:

Trade not aid! But also, no more trade preferences.

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Charlie Robertson @frontiercharlie.bsky.social · 23d

Botswana credit rating downgraded from BBB+ to BBB, still one notch above the lowest investment grade rating of BBB-.

Botswana started with a A rating in 2001 from S&P, cut to A- after the global financial crisis and to BBB+ during COVID

The external shock hitting Botswana now is very specific

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · Sep 8

Meanwhile, X is blocked but b-sky works. Make of that what you will.

Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · Sep 8

Tourists sun by the pool overlooking the high court next door, where Tanzania’s opposition leader — previously shot 16 times — is being tried for treason.

A metaphor perhaps for the international community’s response to Tanzania’s democratic backsliding.

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Christina Proenza-Coles @proenzacoles.bsky.social · Aug 31

“For all intents and purposes, Nkrumah paralleled Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. in his reach and influence. That little is known about him outside of Africa and African diasporic communities is a reflection of the continued marginalization of the continent in the Western imagination.”

Howard French @hofrench.bsky.social · Aug 29

What a lovely, sharp and deeply engaging review by @vivienlchang.bsky.social this is! Thank you. lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-hi...

A History That Needs to Be Retold | Los Angeles Review of Books

Vivien Chang reviews Howard W. French’s “The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide.”

lareviewofbooks.org

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Maia @maiamindel.bsky.social · Aug 26

Emergency 1:30 am blog post: Trump tried to fire a Federal Reserve governor. It’s really bad, not just for the United States, but for everyone else. To start Tuesday off on a positive, cheerful note!

open.substack.com/pub/someunpl...

Today Is Our Dependence Day

There's not going to be an independent Fed you stupid slut

open.substack.com

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Claudia Sahm @claudia-sahm.bsky.social · Aug 20

“I have no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet,” Cook said. www.bloomberg.com/news/article... Amen.

Fed’s Cook Says She Won’t Be Bullied Into Stepping Down

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook signaled her intention to remain at the central bank in defiance of calls for her resignation by President Donald Trump over allegations of mortgage fraud.

www.bloomberg.com

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · Aug 14

My experience is if you send Mauricio a half-baked idea, he might just code it up for you and send back a TeX file. Dunno if it’ll work with him as an editor, but worth trying at least…

Mauricio Romero @marome1.bsky.social · Aug 14

Some professional news: I'll be starting as a co-editor at the Journal of Development Economics. I'll do my best to be constructive, fair, and fast. Looking forward to reading what you are all up to... as I hope you are looking forward to my future referee requests #EconSky

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Todd Pugatch @toddpugatch.bsky.social · Aug 11

School feeding program in Rwanda yields 11x return on investment academic.oup.com/jae/article-...

School Feeding and Cognitive Performance in Rwanda

Abstract. Using unique administrative data on test scores from a high stake national exam for primary school students in Rwanda, we evaluate the impact of

academic.oup.com

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · Aug 9

Thank you. (This is the kind of buttering up I was promised when moving to philanthropy. :)

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · Aug 1

Lesotho was one of the biggest successes of AGOA -- which meant 'liberation day' hit particularly hard.

Little early to see this in the trade data, but doesn't look great.

NYT reporting factories shuttered. People going from $7/day factory jobs to $1/day hawking on the street.

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Centre for Economic Policy Research @cepr.org · Jul 9

@charlesjkenny.bsky.social & @justsand.bsky.social ‬focus on the impact that US foreign aid budget cuts & freezes will have on the field of public #health and find that approx 1/2 million lives will be lost each year mainly from a lack of HIV drugs & vaccinations.
cepr.org/publications...
#EconSky

World map of the lives saved by US foreign aid per year.

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Charles Kenny @charlesjkenny.bsky.social · Jun 10

Blog by @justsand.bsky.social and me: A Million Lives at Risk?

White House proposing a two-thirds cut to global health and humanitarian funding. Using estimates of costs per life saved for US global health and humanitarian assistance suggests the cuts could lead to one million deaths.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · May 21

They're terminating OPT.

Today the nominee to head USCIS stated directly: he will end Optional Practical Training, the single largest channel for high-skill immigrants to work in the US.

6 weeks ago I warned about this & summarized the research on impacts of this drastic action—> @piie.com

Skilled immigration on the chopping block? Effects of eliminating "Optional Practical Training" in the US

The White House has taken numerous steps to sharply reduce the number of immigrant workers, with or without legal status, in the US economy. These policies, so far, typically target immigrants with le...

www.piie.com

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · May 22

Thanks, Michael — far too kind

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · May 18

Thank you, in particular, to my brilliant CGD colleagues, who created such a supportive and intellectually vibrant place to work. CGD's mission of influencing rich-world policy to the benefit of the global poor remains unqiue and vital.

Proud to have been a small part of it.

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Justin Sandefur @justsand.bsky.social · May 18

Some personal/professional news...

After 14 (!) years, this was my last week at @cgdev.org

Posted a longer thread on the other site, and will share more later on what's next. For now, just want to say thank you.

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Center for Global Development @cgdev.org · May 8

The Trump admin’s FY2026 budget proposes deep cuts to US dev. & humanitarian aid, reflecting a shift in global engagement.

@ecollinson.bsky.social & @justinrhurley.bsky.social highlight a key choice for Congress: endorse this retreat or pursue a more balanced approach ⬇️
bit.ly/3Z8LIRU

Redefining America’s Interests? Trump’s FY2026 Budget Proposes Sweeping Cuts to US Foreign Aid

The Trump administration unveiled an overview of its FY2026 budget request on Friday. While short on details, the document offers a grim forecast for US development and humanitarian spending. In seeki...

bit.ly

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · May 8

This is accurate. As @charlesjkenny.bsky.social of @cgdev.org has noted, the data we have support the conclusion that the reckless and illegal obliteration of USAID will cause deaths worldwide, particularly of children.

—> www.marketplace.org/story/2025/0...

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · May 8

BILL GATES: “The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.”

@financialtimes.com
www.ft.com/content/bdd9...

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Charles Kenny @charlesjkenny.bsky.social · May 2

I think a hugely effective form of altruism at the moment is ensuring all potential legal challenges to aid cuts are fully funded and staffed with great lawyers. www.afge.org/local/l1444/...

MCC Defense Fund

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) is the largest federal employee union representing 820,000 federal and D.C. government workers nationwide and overseas.

www.afge.org

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Paddy Carter @paddycarter.bsky.social · Apr 30

a very interesting write-up of the world's largest poverty alleviation programme, implemented in China starting 2014. Blog version: www.voxchina.org/show-3-391.h...

In contrast to other "multifaceted" anti-poverty interventions (i.e. voxdev.org/topic/social... ) it included industrial promotion

The Effects of a Multifaceted Poverty-Alleviation Program on Rural Income and Household Behavior in China

This study examines the effects of a government-led, large-scale, multifaceted poverty-alleviation program on rural income in China. We find that the program has a positive impact on national key poor...

www.voxchina.org

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Sam Eyler-Driscoll 🍉🌻🍁 @sameyler.bsky.social · Apr 29

TIL Argentina gets **one-third** of all IMF loans

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · Mar 31

The illegal obliteration of USAID, an independent agency established and funded by Congress, will cause hundreds of thousands of deaths per year.

That is a conservative reading of expert analysis by @charlesjkenny.bsky.social & @justsand.bsky.social of @cgdev.org —> www.cgdev.org/blog/how-man...

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · Mar 31

Are all government accounts on X just troll accounts now?

This is from the official House Foreign Affairs Committee—the same committee responsible for foreign aid, global HIV/AIDS policy, security assistance, and national security. This is how they choose to represent themselves.

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · Mar 29

Was speaking with a USAID person yesterday explaining how at any other time countless phone lines wld be buzzing, working groups stood up, go-teams and aid being dispatched to after the Myanmar quake. Now ... nothing.

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