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Michael Clemens

@mclem.org

20K followers 3K following 3K posts

Professor of economics at George Mason University, fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics, IZA, CReAM/UCL, CEPR, CGD. Associate Editor JEP. USAID 2021–2024. Personal views exclusively. Web: http://mclem.org ORCID: 0000-0003-1354-0965

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · Feb 21

Migration does not have to be what it is now

Innovation can change what migration *is*—more orderly, skilled, integrated, & tangibly beneficial to everyone affected

In 2012 I proposed one way: Global Skill Partnerships

The World Bank just released a major GSP roadmap—> hdl.handle.net/10986/42780

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

AFP News Agency @en.afp.com · 8h

"It is going to be disastrous if this continues"

Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research

u.afp.com/SmAy

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 11h

Military troops from Texas are poised to enter and forcibly occupy the state of Illinois, on orders from the US President.

We will not get the slightest bit accustomed to this wildly illegal extremism.

Conservative and Liberal Americans reject military rule. We are accelerating toward a cliff.

Live Updates: National Guard Troops Assemble in Chicago Area as Trump Officials Make Visits

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

AAUP chapter @UT Austin @utaustinaaup.bsky.social · 22h

“Any university leader who signs on to this compact would betray everything good and solid about the university and would do deep and permanent harm to the United States and the world.”https://newrepublic.com/article/201376/trump-compact-academic-excellence-university-virginia via @newrepublic.com

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

National Foundation for American Policy @nfapresearch.bsky.social · 16h

The Trump admin is not close to done restricting high-skilled immigration. New rules to make it harder for employers to use H-1B visas and sponsor employment-based immigrants are coming within months. @mclem.org @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social @justinwolfers.bsky.social‬
www.forbes.com/sites/stuart...

The Next Trump Immigration Rule Aiming To Restrict H-1B Visas

The Trump administration plans to publish a new H-1B rule expected to introduce new restrictions on how employers may use the visa.

www.forbes.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19h

I greatly appreciate the many American Conservatives who have the honor and integrity to speak basic truths at this crucial moment.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 19h

Grassley: “Using the power of government to go after people that are political people, you don't like. We're pointing this all out because we can't have this repeated in the United States. We want an end to it right now.”

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Mireya (Mia) Navarro @mireyawrites.bsky.social · 20h

Terrific resource. Potential dangers here: more federal government surveillance of voters, more voter information vulnerable to hacking, more federal government interference in elections. #elections

Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 24d

The Trump administration is pressuring states to hand over sensitive information about voters. The Brennan Center is tracking the DOJ’s requests and how states respond. bit.ly/3JFbKaB

Tracker of Justice Department Requests for Voter Information

The Trump administration is pressing state officials to provide sensitive information about voters.

www.brennancenter.org

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 21h

All of those antonyms mean "don't displace" as in "don't really affect". But "crowding in" means that more of one input causes there to be more of other inputs, not just the failure to cause less.

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 21h

Thank you. Yes it's not a great term. 'Crowd out' is often used as a synonym of 'displace'. So 'crowd in' is intended to convey the opposite of displace. None of the dictionary antonyms convey the right meaning (antonyms of 'displace': embed, secure, entrench, freeze, stabilize…).

Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 22h

Excluding each international student from the United States is, in this sense, throwing away a scholarship for a native student.

The US Administration's across-the-board policy of international student exclusion is working. It will hobble the resources *American* students rely on.

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August (Gift Article)

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 22h

How could int'l students 'crowd in' natives?

Because int'l student demand & finance strengthens institutions & educational resources. Benefits shared by *all* students.

@kevinshih.bsky.social of @ucriverside.bsky.social shows this in an important @jpube.bsky.social paper —> doi.org/10.1016/j.jp...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 22h

The positive relationship is largest, and most statistically precise, for STEM majors—a very common major for international students.

Research by @mzavodny.bsky.social @nfapresearch.bsky.social —> nfap.com/wp-content/u... @piie.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 22h

International students at US universities *give* opportunity to native students. They don't take it away.

That's the average % change in international student enrollment, by university, on the horizontal axis. The vertical axis is the % change in native enrollment.

Not 'us' or 'them'. Us and them.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 23h

"Forty-five percent" of US construction firms "report experiencing project delays due to shortages of their own, or subcontractors' workers."

A growing economic debacle. It does not have to be this way. Wise and visionary public policy can channel migration into lawful, orderly pathways.

Construction Workforce Shortages Are Leading Cause Of Project Delays As Immigration Enforcement Affects Nearly 1/3 Of Firms

92 Percent of Construction Firms Report Having a Hard Time Finding Workers to Hire, As 45 Percent of Firms Say Labor Shortages are Causing Project Delays, New Nationwide Industry Survey Finds

www.agc.org

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

Not happening somewhere else. Here. In America. Right now.

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 1d

CHICAGO (AP) — Storming an apartment complex by helicopter as families slept. Deploying chemical agents near a public school. Handcuffing a Chicago City Council member at a hospital.

apnews.com/article/chic...

Using helicopters and chemical agents, immigration agents become increasingly aggressive in Chicago

Activists, residents and elected leaders say increasingly combative tactics used by federal immigration agents are sparking violence and fueling neighborhood tensions in the nation’s third-largest cit...

apnews.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 1d

My new op-ed with @lkfazio.bsky.social:

Trump sent a 'compact' to our universities. They should reject this devil's bargain.
Any institution that yields to these broad and intrusive demands would forever be subservient to the whims of the government.
www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 1d

For folks looking for some of the studies on high-skill immigration that I referenced, you can't go past this review by @mclem.org: www.piie.com/blogs/realti...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

The White House plans to further debase and pervert our military troops to occupy yet another US city.

It justifies that plan by claiming to know more and care more about crime, in that city, than the city’s literal Chief of Police.

Conservative and Liberal Americans reject military rule.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

COLLINS: The police chief of Portland says the president's claims don't match up with what's happening on the ground

LEAVITT: You're probably talking to partisan Democrat officials who are opposed to everything this president does

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Kathleen Bush-Joseph @kathleenbush.bsky.social · 1d

The number of international students arriving in the US in Augugst fell 19% this year compared with last year, the largest decline on record outside the pandemic

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

Georg Weizsäcker @georgweizsaecker.bsky.social · 1d

Especially large drops in the numbers of 🇺🇸 students arriving from Asia and Africa.

Plus many more pieces of info. 👇🏼

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Nearly 20 Percent Fewer International Students Traveled to the U.S. in August (Gift Article)

The data shows the steepest decline in August international student arrivals since the pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 1d

"The hundreds of billions of dollars companies are investing in AI now account for an astonishing 40 per cent share of US GDP growth this year... In a way, then, America has become one big bet on AI."

America is now one big bet on AI

It’s seen as the magic fix for every threat to the US economy

www.ft.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

Policymaking that suspends our Constitution, and the laws derived from it, is not in the interest of any American.

Conservative and Liberal Americans know the value of our laws and our Constitution. Lawless, mafia-style coercion will harm all of us in the end. Thus we reject it.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

There are many legal paths for the people controlling the White House to pursue reform of universities.

We have legislation. We have agency rule-making. That is how a government that honors its duty to our Constitution makes policy legally.

Then there is sick coercion via illegal impoundment.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

The US Administration delivers a new instrument of extralegal extortion against several universities.

Journalists continue to call it a "compact", parroting the White House's Orwellian marketing term.

Please, please read this explanation of these Statements of Extortion—by @jackbalkin.bsky.social

The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

This week, the Trump Administration attempted to make universities an offer we can’t refuse. With great fanfare, the administration announce...

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Michael Clemens

John Fabian Witt @johnfabianwitt.bsky.social · 2d

Political violence, post-pandemic one-party rule, vast economic inequality, and immigration backlash? The 2020s are the 1920s all over again--and that may show us a way out. Adapted from my book, to be published next week. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/o...

Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment

www.nytimes.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d

Every day, every hour that this lawless rampage continues is a historic stain on those who had the power and duty to stop it, but cowered in silence.

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