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Reposted by Max Gallien

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19d

An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’

Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Aug 11

Man I long for the day when I get to write opening paragraphs that aren't endless variations on "well, we know that the world is on fire".

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Alan Rusbridger @arusbridger.bsky.social · Aug 11

Letter of the day (in the Times)

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jul 3

An impromptu panel here at #FfD4...

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International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) @ictdtax.bsky.social · Jun 27

📝NEW POLICY BRIEF: With tax now the main source of dev't finance, countries are under pressure to raise tax revenue fast. But done poorly, these could have damaging effects. The key is to tax smarter - but how?

➡️ ow.ly/2VCf50Wg8NU

#FfD4 #Tax4Dev #TaxResearch

The Tax Era of Development: Taxing Smarter for Equity, Growth, and Resilience - ICTD

Tax is not only the primary source of financing in lower-income countries, but also the lynchpin of development finance.

ow.ly

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International Centre for Tax and Development (ICTD) @ictdtax.bsky.social · Jun 25

NEW RESEARCH: Are Pakistanis supportive of wealth taxes? Here is what we found⬇️

1️⃣Support for wealth taxes cuts across class, income and gender
2️⃣It increases when people feel that taxes are spent well and transparently
3️⃣Trust in the state drives support

Find out more: www.ictd.ac/publication/...

Public Support for Wealth and Progressive Taxes in Pakistan - ICTD

This brief explores public support for wealth taxation and the factors that shape those attitudes in Pakistan.

www.ictd.ac

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 24

If you're coming to #FfD4 in Seville next week and are interested in talking the future of tax & development, get in touch! I'll be there with a wonderful delegation of the @ictdtax.bsky.social - and we have a side event well worth checking out:

www.ictd.ac/event/ffd4-s...

FfD4 Side Event | From Insight to Impact: Harnessing Research Collaboration to Build Better Tax Systems - ICTD

On July 3rd, the ICTD will host a side event at the Fourth International Conference on...

www.ictd.ac

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 23

That's some of the graphs - more detail in the full policy brief below - and a lot more questions to be asked!

This is part of a larger project @ictdtax.bsky.social & LUMS project with Vanessa van den Boogaard and Umair Javed - looking forward to continuing this work!

www.ictd.ac/publication/...

Public Support for Wealth and Progressive Taxes in Pakistan - ICTD

This brief explores public support for wealth taxation and the factors that shape those attitudes in Pakistan.

www.ictd.ac

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 23

...perhaps the most important factor is trust in the state and the government - transparency and concerns about corruption are key drivers of support for new wealth taxes. There are key lessons in this: progressivity and transparency can both be a part of tax design and communication. (4/...)

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 23

Interestingly, if we dissect who supports new wealth taxes, people with a higher income are unexpectedly quite supportive! As are people who identify as supporters of the PMLN and the PPP. (3/...) However...

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 23

If we look at different tax proposals, we find that support is heterogeneous - with taxes that are structured more progressively being more popular. Notably, if we add more progressive structures to classical wealth taxes (like inheritance), they also become more popular! (2/...)

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 23

📰New data: Is there public support for new #progressive and #wealth_taxes in Pakistan?
Our policy brief dissects brand new public opinion data on a range of wealth and progressive tax proposals, based on a survey of 7500 voting-age Pakistanis.
What do we find? (1/...)
www.ictd.ac/publication/...

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 16

Really nice to see that the Journal of Borderland Studies considers 'Smugglers and States' a "must-read for scholars of political economy, border studies, and state formation". If that's you, the book is available here:

cup.columbia.edu/book/smuggle...

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Jun 11

Your email will not find me.

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Dr Melanie O'Brien @drmelob.bsky.social · May 28

Despite the expansion of border fences, these barriers 'shift criminal dynamics, destabilize border communities, and have far-reaching implications for regional trade relations.' #humanRights

Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · May 27

Since the end of the Cold War, the number of border walls and fences around the world has sextupled. But do they actually work?
In this piece for @foreignpolicy.com, Shalaka Thakur, @weigand.bsky.social and I draw on our research and share some scepticism
foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/b...

Do Good Fences Actually Make Good Neighbors?

The number of border walls worldwide has surged since the end of the Cold War.

foreignpolicy.com

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Centre on Armed Groups @armedgroups.bsky.social · May 28

For those working on border governance:

Centre Experts @maxgallien.bsky.social, Shalaka Thakur & Co-Director @weigand.bsky.social offer a valuable analysis in @foreignpolicy.com on what border walls actually achieve - and what they don’t 👇

Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · May 27

Since the end of the Cold War, the number of border walls and fences around the world has sextupled. But do they actually work?
In this piece for @foreignpolicy.com, Shalaka Thakur, @weigand.bsky.social and I draw on our research and share some scepticism
foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/b...

Do Good Fences Actually Make Good Neighbors?

The number of border walls worldwide has surged since the end of the Cold War.

foreignpolicy.com

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · May 27

Since the end of the Cold War, the number of border walls and fences around the world has sextupled. But do they actually work?
In this piece for @foreignpolicy.com, Shalaka Thakur, @weigand.bsky.social and I draw on our research and share some scepticism
foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/23/b...

Do Good Fences Actually Make Good Neighbors?

The number of border walls worldwide has surged since the end of the Cold War.

foreignpolicy.com

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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · May 27

UK must impose sanctions on Israel to meet legal obligations, say more than 800 lawyers www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

UK must impose sanctions on Israel to meet legal obligations, say more than 800 lawyers

Exclusive: Letter to PM signed by retired supreme court justices among others says lack of action will imperil international legal system

www.theguardian.com

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · May 14

This blithe attitude- oh we'll figure out if current migrants have to wait five more years or not, maybe they'll satisfy our nebulous economic contribution requirement and get fewer. It cannot hold. No-one high skilled will come to a country making it up as it goes along.

www.ft.com/content/7bad...

Migrants who arrived in UK after 2020 face five more years on settlement path

Government’s migration crackdown set to double default period for those pursuing potential pathway to citizenship

www.ft.com

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Marie Le Conte @youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · May 12

christ, what a day to be an immigrant cursed with the ability to read

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · May 10

Lazy weekend rexommendation: always a sucker for coming of age but really enjoyed this book, it's got a unique voice, poetry, wit and force that stays with you.

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Darin Self @darinself.com · May 8

Astronaut meme stating that it's all politics

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · May 8

This, so very much this. Having researched borders and their porosity for a decade - it is really stunning how resilient the myth of the 'complete border control' is, and how much chaos and and nonsense it has caused.
It has never existed historically, and is entirely unreasonable to aim for now.

Jon Worth @jonworth.eu · May 8

For the 328742390572th time: you CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AT ALL OF GERMANY'S BORDERS

Even pre- #Schengen you couldn't

You can bugger up a lot of people's lives, cause irreparable damage to business, exchange and friendship, and make a lot of excess costs though

👏 Dobrindt

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Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · Apr 15

Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.

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Max Gallien @maxgallien.bsky.social · Apr 25

"With #aid declining, FfD4 must include a concrete commitment to scale up investment in #tax systems" - as we are heading into the critical phase of #FfD4, a timely and insightful blog by @giuliamascagni.bsky.social @ictdtax.bsky.social
www.ictd.ac/blog/aid-dec...

With aid declining, FfD4 must include a concrete commitment to scale up investment in tax systems - ICTD

I recently took part in the third high-level symposium of the UNDP’s Finance, Integrity and Governance...

www.ictd.ac

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