We just spent 6 months to add 1 figure to this paper. Some people said, "Couples aren't prioritizing men's careers. Men just have better earnings opportunities when moving." Earnings effects of moves for couples on the left, singles on the right. Negligible gap between single men and women.

Flu (and/or COVID) vaccines reduce *HEART FAILURE* (consider this your regular reminder to get yours) academic.oup.com/eurheartj/ar...

Tim Leunig is prolific in his policy proposals but this is the one that has most stuck in my head - governments should mandate that social media video feeds play the news. 1 min of news for every 1 hour of watching. open.substack.com/pub/timleuni...

New blog with @rorytodd98.bsky.social : The EU Should Ban Exports of Lead Chromate

LEEP are hiring for multiple program associate roles working on reducing lead exposure in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Application Deadline: Nov 16, 2025, salaries $35-50k depending on location (including remote). leadelimination.org/jobs/

"Current proposals in Britain are exceptional even in the longer-term development of repressive European migration policy." foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/05/b...

Good news that the UK Health Ministry has finally been shamed into thinking about child lead screening, great work @laurahughesft.bsky.social ! www.ft.com/content/e27f...

You may remember talk of "fractional dosing" during COVID. Its still relevant - we could save thousands of lives and millions of dollars by stretching vaccines for various diseases, giving lower doses to more people at less cost. New by Witold Więcek www.cgdev.org/publication/...

Could Katie Lam identify the London schools where "more than three-quarters of children don’t speak English to a serviceable school standard". Well done to @davehillonlondon.bsky.social for giving Lam + CPS the chance to substantiate this claim at the Tory fringe www.onlondon.co.uk/dave-hill-ka...

Despite evidence that letting pregnant girls stay in school doesn’t raise teen pregnancy rates, Catholic schools in the Congo have imposed a ban. @daveevansphd.bsky.social & @leecrawfurd.bsky.social warn of the costs: worse employment, wellbeing & more. Read on: https://bit.ly/3Kq77lm

As we round out Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, read @rorytodd98.bsky.social @leecrawfurd.bsky.social & @rachelbonnifield.bsky.social's research into lead chromate—finding that rich countries like the US & UK still export it to poorer nations, despite banning it at home: https://bit.ly/4jusvlJ

"malaria is associated with lower student performance. Female students are disproportionately affected, widening the gender gap in education. Abatement such as insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) help to moderate the effects of malaria on students’ performance." academic.oup.com/wber/advance...

It's depressing that a third of British voters are excited about Reform/Farage, but important to remember that two-thirds are opposed

Encouraging. Seems many Conservatives don’t actually want to be the BNP plus plus Idi Amin tribute party. Maybe because such a toxic stance is deeply unpopular. Maybe because it is deeply wrong and cuts against core British values.

Several Tory MPs are unhappy at language of Katie Lam, a junior whip, saying mass deportations of 2-3m+ needed to make Britain "more culturally coherent" (ie, fewer nonwhite migrants) but "not entirely" (ie,some of those she can't deport won't integrate: Muslims) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The Conservatives would not deport as many people as Idi Amin. They would deport *more*. www.ft.com/content/9a1d...

"If you wanted to design a policy that would cause human misery and be about as popular as typhoid in a jacuzzi, it is difficult to imagine how you could do better than this. This is a more extreme policy position than, say, the BNP’s 2005 manifesto"

"the median global markup on SMS for non-internet phones could be up to 9,000 percent" new @CGDev blog by @dbjork.bsky.social on a key challenge for universal access to AI www.cgdev.org/blog/sms-cha...

Do Investments in Early Grade Literacy and Numeracy Pay Off? Our best evidence says yes, in a big way! Last week, @cgdev.org highlighted new evidence on long-term earnings gains from improvements in early grade literacy & numeracy. Here's a quick summary: www.cgdev.org/blog/do-inve...

Should be a v simple choice for Badenoch’s LOTO - either withdraw this mad “Idi Amin x 20” mass deportation bill or they should be treated by everyone in politics as what they are - more extreme on immigration than the BNP or any democratic govt anywhere

Vietnam is a massive positive outlier on international school tests riseprogramme.org/node/141.html Striking that its also a large outlier in how valued teachers feel by both parents and policymakers (From the latest TALIS survey published earlier this month www.oecd.org/en/publicati...)

Draft Tory legislation on removing indefinite leave to remain is insane. Would chuck out those not earning over £38K - including many pensioners! + social protections seems to include child benefit, so load of people with (British!) kids! They'd remove my sis & mum who've been here 50 years.

Nice R Studio feature that Stata should copy -> automatically flagging any packages that need to be installed when you open a new code script

👀 "individual staffers influence the number, scope, and content of IMF conditions according to their personal ideological biases." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

This Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, we're revisiting @cgdev.org's First Annual Research Conference on Global Lead Exposure, where researchers gathered to build understanding & drive action on lead. Highlights from @leecrawfurd.bsky.social & Caroline Mallory: www.cgdev.org/blog/what-we...

New study on student cellphone bans finds short-term increases in discipline issues but ultimately improvements in both attendance and student achievement. www.nber.org/papers/w3438...

@hernandesraph.bsky.social @edg.foo nice work on the manosphere piece

Timely post from Biniam Bedasso - as UK aid pivots “from grants to expertise”, here's what 900 African civil servants had to say about all those experts www.cgdev.org/blog/rethink...

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵) www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

👀 this new meta-analysis on edutainment by @bardiarahmani.bsky.social, Montano, @dylanwgroves.bsky.social, and Green doi.org/10.1017/bpp.... 377 ests in 77 exps: edutainment moves attitudes, norms, beliefs 📊 Effects persist ⏳ Many reasonable theories about effect heterogeneity are not supported 😇

Evidence shows allowing pregnant girls to stay in school doesn’t raise teen pregnancy rates. Yet Catholic schools in the Congo have imposed a ban—threatening girls’ education & futures, warn @daveevansphd.bsky.social & @leecrawfurd.bsky.social: https://bit.ly/3Kq77lm

"Every American child is tested for this, so why isn't every British child tested too" Excited for the new @laurahughesft.bsky.social @financialtimes.com podcast on lead exposure in the UK open.spotify.com/episode/6M4H...

📆Oct. 15: Join CGD & the University of Chicago for a #AnnualMeetings event on lessons from research-policy collaborations that improved millions of lives. Ft: @rglenner.bsky.social#AnnualMeetings Michael Kremer, Muhamad Chatib Basri, Rema Hanna, Sasha Gallant, & Amanda Glassman. RSVP: https://bit.ly/4gUdUzO

The Times finds it "unacceptable" that people who came here legally in 2021 and have been living and working here since should allowed to stay. The sad decline of a once great newspaper into ignorant xenophobia and casual racism archive.ph/TFZY9

It's crazy that egg donation is illegal in Germany www.kickstarter.com/projects/163...

"75% of children aged 2 to 4 worldwide are regularly subjected to violent discipline across the globe." openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/pub...

New estimates of the global cost of lead exposure due to reduced IQ range from $780 billion to $4.9 trillion www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Despite evidence that letting pregnant girls stay in school doesn’t raise teen pregnancy rates, Catholic schools in the Congo have imposed a ban. @daveevansphd.bsky.social & @leecrawfurd.bsky.social warn of the costs: worse employment, wellbeing & more. Read on: https://bit.ly/3Kq77lm

This is inexcusable incompetence

imagine being a consultant doctor here and having to go out litter picking to be given your citizenship lol www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Migrants already "earn the right to settlement" through extortionate visa costs, which can run into tens of thousands of pounds. They prop up key services, including through the Immigration Health Surcharge. Pushing the hostile environment on steroids helps no-one. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Another call for better aid reporting. Axel Dreher says we should distinguish & report separately on: 1. Humanitarian aid 2. Global public goods 3. Development aid www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Great to see that the UK Development Minister is reading @cgdev.org NRF @kopalo.bsky.social & Stefan Dercon fabians.org.uk/publication/...

In which @adamserwer.bsky.social makes a useful distinction between "chickenshit" and "cowardice." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

The York park my kids play in was built with profits from Rowntree chocolate, that came in part from slave labour. @jrf-uk.bsky.social today works on poverty in the UK. It should do more to address the legacy of slavery in Africa from which it benefitted. leecrawfurd.substack.com/p/why-the-jo...

Please Pope Leo: speak to this foolish meanness. Sometimes it's embarrassing (and maddening) to be even a "fallen-away" Catholic: www.cgdev.org/blog/catholi...

Catholic schools in the Congo ban pregnant girls despite evidence that pregnancy rates don't rise when those bans are lifted. www.cgdev.org/blog/catholi... by @leecrawfurd.bsky.social and me

"The Big Returns to Early Investments in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy" Join us in DC (or online) Oct 17 2025 to discuss the latest evidence with Jishnu Das, Jo Bourne, Jennifer Swift-Morgan, @daveevansphd.bsky.social www.cgdev.org/event/big-re...

Gordon Brown is right - health taxes are a great way to finance UHC reforms www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/w...

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...