In today's VATT Seminar, @mstryjan.bsky.social (@aalto.fi, @helsinkigse.bsky.social) discusses their research Local Institutions and Leader Incentives: The Political Economy of Rwanda’s Fertility Transition 🕙10:30-11:30 at Economicum. Welcome! All VATT seminars: vatt.fi/en/vatt-semi...

Any conversation about a ceasefire proposal must start with this: Palestinians in Gaza and hostages in captivity deserve to be free and safe from bombing, starvation, and suffering immediately. Any deal that brings us closer to a cessation of this intolerable reality is welcome. (1/3)

“We call on Israel to urgently review its rules of engagement to ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law, notably the protection of civilians, including children, and to conduct a thorough and independent investigation of this incident and all allegations of violations.”

This new war is a gift to Netanhayu. Suddenly nobody is talking about things like the war in Gaza, hostages, war crimes, coalition collapses, democracy, peace summits, international sanctions. You think that’s an accident? Or maybe that was the whole point… open.substack.com/pub/elanaszt...

Jerusalem Day: as settlers go on their annual day of terror against Palestinians, we’re on the ground doing protective presence. (1/3)

81 days

Virtually all human rights organizations in Israel call the government to halt its attacks and open the crossings for aid. This is from 19th May. Signed by B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, Gisha, Mizrahi Civic Collective, Mothers Against Violence, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Yesh Din, etc.

🚨 REPLICATION REPORT UPDATE: One year ago, a tweet by John Holbein alerted me, @ollefolke.bsky.social, and @jopieboy.bsky.social to a paper with a shocking result about Sweden’s law criminalizing the purchase of sex.🧵

61 days of total siege on 2 million people in the Gaza strip, with no food entering

Are you an urban economist located in the Nordics or working with Nordic data? You're in luck! We are organizing the Second Nordic Meeting in Urban Economics in Helsinki, Sept 8-9, 2025. You can find the call for papers here: sites.google.com/view/second-...

🚨Development Economists!🚨Do you use Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS Program) data, which had been supported by USAID? IPUMS ( @ipums.bsky.social ) and the UN Statistics Division have a survey for you. I just filled it out. You can too. #econsky

I am a professor at Columbia University. All of the student NIH training grants have been canceled and now there are reports that ALL funding will be frozen. Why are Universities not banding together and speaking out publicly and forcibly about governmental attacks on biomedical research?

“…Americans are witnessing deletion weaponized on a large scale as a political tool. These deletions undermine basic good government — and the historical record. Elon Musk: “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it is easy for the weed to grow back.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/o...

So many more books are being digitally burned by Musk and Trump than the Nazis could have ever dreamed of. The Republicans’ war on civilisation continues. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Exactly why the Israeli government has best-friended antisemitic far-right politicians across Europe: they give Israel cover, all the way, and in return get image rehabilitation along the lines of: 'We can't be antisemitic! Look, we love Israel!' www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

Largest protest against Hamas erupted in northern Gaza since the war started, and after the death toll surpassed 50,000, with no end in sight. www.cnn.com/2025/03/25/m...

When will political and other leaders in Europe understand that when they are ”supporting Israel” they are not supporting the people?

It's going to be high stakes drama in Israel for the next two weeks. Either the government is able to consolidate power - and transform Israel's constitution - or it is forced into retreat and early elections. There are compromise middle paths but they seem less likely. 1/

”Man får inte missförstå oss och tro att vi är ett slags mellangrupp som inte väljer sida, vi är väldigt ideologiska och vi väljer sida. Den sida vi väljer är frihet för palestinier och judiska israeler, fred för båda folken. Samtidigt måste vi erkänna den ojämlika maktbalansen.”

🧵6/6 Arab-Jewish partnership movement Standing Together said: "Halting the entry of food and medicine does not hurt Hamas, but rather the civilian populations, and as we heard from the hostages that came back alive – it hurts them too"

”I recognized that we were likely witnessing a blueprint for how to dismantle an agency — and USAID was the first to go. Why USAID? One argument is that the advantages of USAID aren't seen by most of America.”

"Water is essential for human life, yet for over a year the Israeli government has deliberately denied Palestinians in Gaza the bare minimum they need to survive" A new report from HRW www.hrw.org/news/2024/12...

We have put together some of our favourite sources of research, newsletters, articles, blogs, podcasts & videos on development economics, including economists who have written for VoxDev, in this starter pack. VoxDev has had ~2000 authors so let us know if we missed you! go.bsky.app/4rsxm7G

“Sorry to see you go #GoodBye”

1939 Hitler-Stalin pact 'gave' Finland to Stalin; USSR invaded FI to claim its prize; Winter War = devastasting; FI then made the mistake of joining Hitler's invasion of USSR; in 1944, FI forced to pay reparations to USSR But this irony gave us an exogenous shock for an industrial policy paper ;-)

We are looking to hire a tenure-track assistant professor in any field in economics. We strive to be an exceptionally supportive place for people to kick off their research careers.* Plus, you'll live in beautiful Sweden ☀️☃️ Please apply before the 15th of November.

I’ve made a Women in Econ starter pack (s/o @vinisingh.bsky.social for sparking the idea!). Share, follow, and comment below if you’d like to be added! go.bsky.app/LqBPkQZ

Oslo Met is hiring an associate prof in econ! What a nice department. Deadline 26 Nov. If you want to know more about life in a Nordic utopia feel free to dm me www.oslomet.no/en/work/job-...

Are invite codes still required to join this platform?