Nearly 6 billion people live in the 101 countries that a study has identified as confronting a net decline in water supply — signaling enormous challenges for food production and a heightening risk of conflict and instability. (Published July 2025)

V-Dem calls the period between 2005 & 2025 the "great reversal" in democracy, only 7% of the world population currently living in liberal democracies, the lowest in 50 years. Which communication technologies have dominated our public sphere over the past 20 years? Our misery machines.

Eradicating malaria could deliver much larger economic gains in sub-Saharan Africa than previously believed. The new generation of malaria vaccines provides a highly cost-effective way to realise these benefits. Read today's article to learn more:

I repeat ... 👇

Statistics of Kagawa as they say : "crushing capacity had risen to nearly 300,000 metric tonnes annually; that farmer incomes had risen significantly; and that shea butter exports had increased by 250 per cent within a single year"

The decline of slavery and forced labor is one of the biggest social and economic changes in history. In a new article, we provide a quantitative, bird’s-eye perspective. We show that almost all countries have ended large-scale forced labor, often surprisingly recently. ourworldindata.org/slavery

Important findings from today's article 1. The scope of global humanitarian need is larger than current estimates suggest. 2. The challenges of measuring food insecurity contribute to the systematic underestimation of food insecurity.

Article original: flipboard.com/@npr/world-n...

Can social mistrust be a permanent barrier to growth? Leonard Wantchekon discusses how the Atlantic slave trade created a culture of mistrust that still hampers economic cooperation & #GDP growth. Thanks to University of London & the Convocation Trust for their partnership. youtu.be/qvasGLLf7cA?...

📝New research by @billywoom.bsky.social and @doniakamel.bsky.social uncovers how skin tone shapes player recognition in professional #football — even when performance is identical⚽️ These biases translate into lower market valuations for darker-skinned players. Read more ▶️ wid.world/news-article...

🆕 Free school meals: The world’s biggest social programme In this episode of Economics Unpacked, Biniam Bedasso (@cgdev.org) and Fabio Sánchez (Universidad de los Andes) discuss the long-term impacts of school feeding programmes. 🔗 Link below ⤵️

Famine is spreading in Sudan’s western Darfur region and has now engulfed two more towns there, a global hunger monitoring group said.

Arsenal win the first ever FIFA Women’s Champions Cup 🏆 Renee Slegers' side achieved glory with a 3-2 victory over Corinthians — Caitlin Foord netted the winner in extra-time.

Well, thats interesting now, isn’t?

FT: The perfect away day. Elland Road is a tough place to go but we weathered the early storm and stamped our authority on the game. There was real pressure on Arsenal today but they dealt with it perfectly. Madueke impactful, goals for Gyokeres and Jesus, and our bouncers at the back very solid.

Vibe coding kills open source. Our most direct title yet. @koren.mk @julianhi.nz @aaron-lohmann.bsky.social Theory paper with numbers and policy recs. First at arxiv.org/abs/2601.15494 Comments welcome. @ceu-economics.bsky.social @kiel.institute

Presenting our paper with @nonsoobikili.com @chinemeluokafor.bsky.social and Ajuwon on Monday in the 10:15am session @assameeting.bsky.social, in case anyone wants to come listen to research on the effects of women's protests on gender gaps in political participation #ASSA2026 #Econsky

The Nigerian cement industry is a cartel operating in plain sight. Here's how to fix it open.substack.com/pub/1914read...

FG Needs Holistic Budget Reform www.thisdaylive.com/2025/12/28/f...

Cash doesn't accomplish everything, but it does help kids out of poverty, which is a pretty big thing. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t... Good listen

AI may finally force academic publishing to reform itself.

In addition to all of the other benefits already reported about NYC congestion pricing, "In the first six months of the program, air pollution – in the form of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers and smaller – dropped by 22% in the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ)" news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

A blast from my past - the Medieval Soldier database takes nearly 300,000 military service records from 1369-1453 and makes them available as a searchable database. An invaluable resource for understanding medieval warfare, society and the English medieval state. Learn more in the link. 🗃️

🆕 Rethinking food security in a risky globalised world Today on VoxDev, Tasso Adamopoulos and Fernando Leibovici show that when trade becomes riskier, some of the traditional gains of globalisation disappear: voxdev.org/topic/trade/...

1/ For six months, I've been traveling the world on Pulitzer Ctr & Fund For Investigative Journalism grants investigating Trump's effect on HIV & LGBTQ health. On World AIDS Day, @theintercept.com is publishing an overview essay of Afeef Nessouli & my findings. theintercept.com/2025/12/01/w...

Saved you a click: You need a head to live.

More details on the coup in Guinea-Bissau, mainly relying on the excellent reporting of AFP and Reuters reporters on the ground

Another coup in Guinea-Bissau (I couldn't find a complete list, but there've been several). This time, it looks like it was successful. AFP reports soldiers said they were taking "total control" of the country, suspending its electoral process and closing its borders, three days after elections

Nigeria’s problem is bigger than Trump thinks www.ft.com/content/e0f0... via @data.ft.com

Immigrants make up a significant proportion of all the country's doctors. New policies are making it harder and less appealing for foreign-born physicians to come to the U.S. n.pr/4pt2A0r

Article original: flipboard.com/@npr/morning...

🆕 How public education transforms opportunity: Evidence from the 1870 Education Act Today on VoxDev, Ben Milner explores lessons from British history showing how targeted public investment in education can help narrow the gap in opportunity between rich and poor children: voxdev.org/topic/educat...

Norway's wealth tax trades millionaires for equality reut.rs/4iid1BT

😝