Michael Clemens
@mclem.org
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
Web: http://mclem.org
ORCID: 0000-0003-1354-0965
This bizarre and dangerous claim violates literally every section of our Constitution, which was built by geniuses explicitly to limit individual power.
Those entrusted with enforcing our Constitution have a duty to every Conservative and Liberal American. A duty to act. Now.
Those entrusted with enforcing our Constitution have a duty to every Conservative and Liberal American. A duty to act. Now.
January 9, 2026 at 2:04 PM
This bizarre and dangerous claim violates literally every section of our Constitution, which was built by geniuses explicitly to limit individual power.
Those entrusted with enforcing our Constitution have a duty to every Conservative and Liberal American. A duty to act. Now.
Those entrusted with enforcing our Constitution have a duty to every Conservative and Liberal American. A duty to act. Now.
An entire social science paper, synthesized from nothing in one hour.
I see academic researchers very excited about this.
It seems to me catastrophic. “Flooding the zone“ will break our strained systems to distinguish between good and bad research.
I hope you’ll explain why I’m wrong. (Really)
I see academic researchers very excited about this.
It seems to me catastrophic. “Flooding the zone“ will break our strained systems to distinguish between good and bad research.
I hope you’ll explain why I’m wrong. (Really)
January 8, 2026 at 10:34 PM
An entire social science paper, synthesized from nothing in one hour.
I see academic researchers very excited about this.
It seems to me catastrophic. “Flooding the zone“ will break our strained systems to distinguish between good and bad research.
I hope you’ll explain why I’m wrong. (Really)
I see academic researchers very excited about this.
It seems to me catastrophic. “Flooding the zone“ will break our strained systems to distinguish between good and bad research.
I hope you’ll explain why I’m wrong. (Really)
Renee Nicole Good's murder by federal agents is the only homicide in Minneapolis this year.
www.minneapolismn.gov/government/g...
www.minneapolismn.gov/government/g...
January 8, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Renee Nicole Good's murder by federal agents is the only homicide in Minneapolis this year.
www.minneapolismn.gov/government/g...
www.minneapolismn.gov/government/g...
Here he smears me as part of a cabal of "social engineers" churning out fake evidence that must be "verified" (presumably by 'real' academics like himself)
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
January 7, 2026 at 7:32 PM
Here he smears me as part of a cabal of "social engineers" churning out fake evidence that must be "verified" (presumably by 'real' academics like himself)
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Alan Kurdî would have been in eighth grade this year, delighted to be growing up Canadian, chatting with his classmates in fluent English, bringing nothing but benefits to his Vancouver community and the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_o...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_o...
January 7, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Alan Kurdî would have been in eighth grade this year, delighted to be growing up Canadian, chatting with his classmates in fluent English, bringing nothing but benefits to his Vancouver community and the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_o...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_o...
This letter from Samantha Power to the dying John McCain, in Mark Salter's book, is what America needs much more of now.
Leaders with the deep integrity to—despite the sharpest disagreement on policy—deserve each other's admiration.
www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Lu...
Leaders with the deep integrity to—despite the sharpest disagreement on policy—deserve each other's admiration.
www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Lu...
January 7, 2026 at 4:17 PM
This letter from Samantha Power to the dying John McCain, in Mark Salter's book, is what America needs much more of now.
Leaders with the deep integrity to—despite the sharpest disagreement on policy—deserve each other's admiration.
www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Lu...
Leaders with the deep integrity to—despite the sharpest disagreement on policy—deserve each other's admiration.
www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Lu...
Hi. The richest man in history, top advisor and 2025 official for the White House, invests his time & resources telling the world that whenever black people get political power they seek "white genocide".
I condemn this slobbering, dangerous, racist garbage. I hope that all stop subsidizing him.
I condemn this slobbering, dangerous, racist garbage. I hope that all stop subsidizing him.
January 7, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Hi. The richest man in history, top advisor and 2025 official for the White House, invests his time & resources telling the world that whenever black people get political power they seek "white genocide".
I condemn this slobbering, dangerous, racist garbage. I hope that all stop subsidizing him.
I condemn this slobbering, dangerous, racist garbage. I hope that all stop subsidizing him.
*Adversarial collaboration* is brilliant and it is the only way for us fallible human beings to advance the collective enterprise of science.
That is why it's so crucial for us to treat disagreeing colleagues with respect and professionalism.
Instead of this slanderous Scheiße —>
That is why it's so crucial for us to treat disagreeing colleagues with respect and professionalism.
Instead of this slanderous Scheiße —>
January 6, 2026 at 10:05 PM
*Adversarial collaboration* is brilliant and it is the only way for us fallible human beings to advance the collective enterprise of science.
That is why it's so crucial for us to treat disagreeing colleagues with respect and professionalism.
Instead of this slanderous Scheiße —>
That is why it's so crucial for us to treat disagreeing colleagues with respect and professionalism.
Instead of this slanderous Scheiße —>
I don't know but I want to be clear I don't impugn any editor or the journal.
I do strongly question Borjas's many years of declaring himself to be the sole unbiased arbiter of truth, while slandering leading colleagues *by name* as tantamount to wild-eyed "Marxist-Leninist" ideologues.
I do strongly question Borjas's many years of declaring himself to be the sole unbiased arbiter of truth, while slandering leading colleagues *by name* as tantamount to wild-eyed "Marxist-Leninist" ideologues.
January 6, 2026 at 9:58 PM
I don't know but I want to be clear I don't impugn any editor or the journal.
I do strongly question Borjas's many years of declaring himself to be the sole unbiased arbiter of truth, while slandering leading colleagues *by name* as tantamount to wild-eyed "Marxist-Leninist" ideologues.
I do strongly question Borjas's many years of declaring himself to be the sole unbiased arbiter of truth, while slandering leading colleagues *by name* as tantamount to wild-eyed "Marxist-Leninist" ideologues.
This is a major episode.
The towering labor economist Larry Katz calls Borjas nothing less than the founder of the immigration economics discipline.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
Card & Peri call him "the leading economic scholar on immigration". His book, based on the error, is the leading textbook.
The towering labor economist Larry Katz calls Borjas nothing less than the founder of the immigration economics discipline.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
Card & Peri call him "the leading economic scholar on immigration". His book, based on the error, is the leading textbook.
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
This is a major episode.
The towering labor economist Larry Katz calls Borjas nothing less than the founder of the immigration economics discipline.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
Card & Peri call him "the leading economic scholar on immigration". His book, based on the error, is the leading textbook.
The towering labor economist Larry Katz calls Borjas nothing less than the founder of the immigration economics discipline.
doi.org/10.1177/0019...
Card & Peri call him "the leading economic scholar on immigration". His book, based on the error, is the leading textbook.
Remarkably, four years after that researcher-driven bias was revealed, Borjas published a book that ignored and repeated the mistake.
Giovanni Peri and the Nobel laureate David Card then showed that essentially the same biased choice *flipped the sign* of Borjas's results.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
Giovanni Peri and the Nobel laureate David Card then showed that essentially the same biased choice *flipped the sign* of Borjas's results.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Remarkably, four years after that researcher-driven bias was revealed, Borjas published a book that ignored and repeated the mistake.
Giovanni Peri and the Nobel laureate David Card then showed that essentially the same biased choice *flipped the sign* of Borjas's results.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
Giovanni Peri and the Nobel laureate David Card then showed that essentially the same biased choice *flipped the sign* of Borjas's results.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
Third, it's true: some immigration researchers' choices do bias their results.
A key example is Borjas (2006).
Peri & Sparber (2011) show that Borjas chose a regression specification that generated spurious negative correlation between immigration & native employment.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
A key example is Borjas (2006).
Peri & Sparber (2011) show that Borjas chose a regression specification that generated spurious negative correlation between immigration & native employment.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Third, it's true: some immigration researchers' choices do bias their results.
A key example is Borjas (2006).
Peri & Sparber (2011) show that Borjas chose a regression specification that generated spurious negative correlation between immigration & native employment.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
A key example is Borjas (2006).
Peri & Sparber (2011) show that Borjas chose a regression specification that generated spurious negative correlation between immigration & native employment.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ju...
Second, the fact that researchers' prior beliefs correlate in some measure with research findings is a universal phenomenon across the sciences, including social sciences.
There's no conspiracy. It's a ubiquitous trait of human scientists.
A classic reference is Nickerson.
doi.org/10.1037/1089...
There's no conspiracy. It's a ubiquitous trait of human scientists.
A classic reference is Nickerson.
doi.org/10.1037/1089...
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Second, the fact that researchers' prior beliefs correlate in some measure with research findings is a universal phenomenon across the sciences, including social sciences.
There's no conspiracy. It's a ubiquitous trait of human scientists.
A classic reference is Nickerson.
doi.org/10.1037/1089...
There's no conspiracy. It's a ubiquitous trait of human scientists.
A classic reference is Nickerson.
doi.org/10.1037/1089...
That's false. It is not what the paper shows.
First of all, the "bias" is minuscule.
Quoting Borjas's co-author's analysis of the same dataset:
"Researchers' expertise, prior beliefs, and expectations barely predict the wide variation in research outcomes."
Barely.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
First of all, the "bias" is minuscule.
Quoting Borjas's co-author's analysis of the same dataset:
"Researchers' expertise, prior beliefs, and expectations barely predict the wide variation in research outcomes."
Barely.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
January 6, 2026 at 7:59 PM
That's false. It is not what the paper shows.
First of all, the "bias" is minuscule.
Quoting Borjas's co-author's analysis of the same dataset:
"Researchers' expertise, prior beliefs, and expectations barely predict the wide variation in research outcomes."
Barely.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
First of all, the "bias" is minuscule.
Quoting Borjas's co-author's analysis of the same dataset:
"Researchers' expertise, prior beliefs, and expectations barely predict the wide variation in research outcomes."
Barely.
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
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—>
I just passed in front of this actual building in Washington DC.
As the US president prepares a military invasion and occupation of EU territory that would shatter NATO.
As the US president prepares a military invasion and occupation of EU territory that would shatter NATO.
January 6, 2026 at 2:54 PM
I just passed in front of this actual building in Washington DC.
As the US president prepares a military invasion and occupation of EU territory that would shatter NATO.
As the US president prepares a military invasion and occupation of EU territory that would shatter NATO.
I’ll never forget the blackshirts who attacked our Capitol and its honorable police officers, five years ago.
Their mass pardon, as friends and collaborators, is the opposite of Conservative and will endure as a historic atrocity against American ideals.
Their mass pardon, as friends and collaborators, is the opposite of Conservative and will endure as a historic atrocity against American ideals.
January 6, 2026 at 3:01 AM
I’ll never forget the blackshirts who attacked our Capitol and its honorable police officers, five years ago.
Their mass pardon, as friends and collaborators, is the opposite of Conservative and will endure as a historic atrocity against American ideals.
Their mass pardon, as friends and collaborators, is the opposite of Conservative and will endure as a historic atrocity against American ideals.
Fixing US high-skill immigration requires profound reform.
Leading expert Jeremy Neufeld at @ifp.bsky.social makes a comprehensive, promising proposal —>
"Aligning High-Skilled Immigration Policy with National Strategy" at @aspenecon.bsky.social
www.economicstrategygroup.org/publication/...
Leading expert Jeremy Neufeld at @ifp.bsky.social makes a comprehensive, promising proposal —>
"Aligning High-Skilled Immigration Policy with National Strategy" at @aspenecon.bsky.social
www.economicstrategygroup.org/publication/...
January 5, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Fixing US high-skill immigration requires profound reform.
Leading expert Jeremy Neufeld at @ifp.bsky.social makes a comprehensive, promising proposal —>
"Aligning High-Skilled Immigration Policy with National Strategy" at @aspenecon.bsky.social
www.economicstrategygroup.org/publication/...
Leading expert Jeremy Neufeld at @ifp.bsky.social makes a comprehensive, promising proposal —>
"Aligning High-Skilled Immigration Policy with National Strategy" at @aspenecon.bsky.social
www.economicstrategygroup.org/publication/...
The US Administration has been claiming that mass deportation has opened up jobs for US workers.
But that’s an incompetent misreading of the data.
@stanveuger.bsky.social of AEI explains their freshman mistake.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
But that’s an incompetent misreading of the data.
@stanveuger.bsky.social of AEI explains their freshman mistake.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
January 3, 2026 at 4:10 AM
The US Administration has been claiming that mass deportation has opened up jobs for US workers.
But that’s an incompetent misreading of the data.
@stanveuger.bsky.social of AEI explains their freshman mistake.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
But that’s an incompetent misreading of the data.
@stanveuger.bsky.social of AEI explains their freshman mistake.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
There are only about 14 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States.
There are 53.3 million *total* foreign-born, including permanent residents & naturalized citizens.
But 100 million is close to the exact number of people in the US who identify as nonwhite (95 million).
There are 53.3 million *total* foreign-born, including permanent residents & naturalized citizens.
But 100 million is close to the exact number of people in the US who identify as nonwhite (95 million).
January 2, 2026 at 6:00 AM
There are only about 14 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States.
There are 53.3 million *total* foreign-born, including permanent residents & naturalized citizens.
But 100 million is close to the exact number of people in the US who identify as nonwhite (95 million).
There are 53.3 million *total* foreign-born, including permanent residents & naturalized citizens.
But 100 million is close to the exact number of people in the US who identify as nonwhite (95 million).
January 1, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Moonlight Coast of Tuscany, by James Wright @tate.bsky.social
January 1, 2026 at 5:04 AM
Moonlight Coast of Tuscany, by James Wright @tate.bsky.social