Nice summary of a WASH intervention in DRC by a bunch of my colleagues. Intervention improved access to clean water but didn't improve downstream health outcomes. voxdev.org/topic/health...

Heartbreaking to see announcements of major layoffs at most research organizations that have played a vital role in supporting federal statistics for education and developing high-quality evidence about what policies/practices actually work. Below are just a few examples from my LinkedIn feed.

Coney Barrett and Roberts side with the liberals... www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03...

An estimated 300,000 children globally are expected to lose access to a nutrient-dense peanut butter that’s specially formulated to treat severe acute malnutrition.

He was hired in 2022 so the aid agency could get 'more bang for our buck' with its projects. He tried to reach out to help in the rebuilding of the agency. On Tuesday he tendered his resignation.

Why Dean Karlan, Chief Economist of USAID resigned yesterday: "I was ready to rebuild from wherever we ended up to identify the most effective programs, figure out how to get them back in place, and to recommend new awards. But I received no response. Zero engagement." www.npr.org/sections/goa...

A tracker estimating deaths caused by the partial PEPFAR funding suspension: pepfar.impactcounter.com. Methodology here: pepfar.impactcounter.com/methodology.

As Elon demands justifications from all federal workers (including many who are not Executive Branch employees), remember that if he paid his taxes, it'd pay for 677K federal jobs.

At least 12 universities now have hiring freezes and nearly 30 have cut PhD admissions this year If you hear of other places you can add them to this google doc:

Trump administration appointees running USAID have in recent days fired hundreds of employees who help manage responses to urgent humanitarian crises around the world, according to officials and recent employees.

‘We Are Seeing Complete Destruction’: The Damage Done by the U.S.A.I.D. Freeze www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...

“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist” James Baldwin

A smaller and smaller share of the UK's aid is going to the poorest countries, @ianmitchell1.bsky.social and @samhugh3s.bsky.social find:

If you could use some amazing good news, here it is

Emergency Food, TB Tests and H.I.V. Drugs: Vital Health Aid Remains Frozen Despite Court Ruling www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/h...

History: “Eventually the incompetent fascists invariably lose power and then society recovers in a new and stronger way” Me: “Oh, cool, so what has to happen for the spell to be broken??” History: “mmmm…well, that part is less encouraging.”

Congress created several organizations in the 1980s to strengthen democratic institutions worldwide. Human rights activists say the freeze is a gift to authoritarians like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

holy hell this is smart

Christian groups like Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, & the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops are also laying off staff and shutting down aid programs due to the Trump-Musk dismantling of the federal gov: — www.nytimes.com/live/2025/02... — www.ncronline.org/news/exclusi...

I've written up a step-by-step for depositing data at datalumos.org - see aeadataeditor.github.io/aea-de-guida.... Before depositing, check what's there - lot of new deposits in the last few days!

‘You Can’t Let This Happen,’ Says Fundraising Email From Sitting U.S. Congressperson

Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s idea of efficiency is stopping research on curing cancer.

The Inter-American Development Bank is forming a poverty group, with multiple staff positions. Lead Specialist jobs.iadb.org/job/Economic... Specialist jobs.iadb.org/job/Economic... Great opportunity to help shape the organization's operational & analytical work around poverty reduction.

Foreign aid is under 1% of US budget but provides critical support in so many important areas. Killing usaid is a catastrophe. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Gift link. You should read this. It is wrong on so, SO many different levels. It violates basic principles of research ethics in so many different ways. Leaving devices IN PEOPLE'S BODIES. Stopping treatments halfway through, with no one to contact if they get sick. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/06/h...

The world's richest man is taking food and medicine from the world's poorest children www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o...

This: The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/o... @nickkristof.bsky.social

Under the banner of “government efficiency,” U.S.-grown food and lifesaving medicine meant to help the world’s most vulnerable is instead rotting on cargo ships and in warehouses across the globe. @suzykhimm.bsky.social has the details: www.nbcnews.com/news/politic...

Elon says 90% of US aid never reaches communities. He confuses USAID's 90% reliance on intermediaries -- US companies delivering HIV drugs, WFP delivering food aid -- with waste. Comical if not so dangerous. @rachelbonnifield.bsky.social & I break down where aid goes: www.cgdev.org/blog/no-90-p...

Gerry Connolly: "It is a matter for Congress to deal with, not an unelected billionaire oligarchy named Elon Musk. And Elon, if you want to run USAID, get nominated by Trump and go to the Senate and good luck in getting confirmed."

I’m amazed: On the foreign assistance freeze, I’m astonished not to see major State Dept and USAID recipients challenge the disruption in court. An injunction? Where is World Vision, SAVE, Red Cross, etc on this? Or the Beltway bandits (Chemonics etc) Is there activity happening?

If U.S.A.I.D.’s operations are scaled back indefinitely, it will enable China, Russia, Iran and other U.S. adversaries to gain strategic footholds overseas that would damage U.S. security in the long term. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...

How the World Is Reeling From Trump’s Aid Freeze www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...

Being a person with deadly, incurable cancer who is nonetheless still alive for an indefinite timeframe gives me an interesting metaphor that helps me deal with things like large-scale corruption in government or commerce. Bear with me for a second while I try to explain.

New: Trump officials have paused all external communications at health agencies like CDC, FDA, NIH. No health alerts and the famed MMWRs; no updates to key websites or social media posts. And no indication how long the pause will last. With @rachelroubein.bsky.social + Lena Sun.

Really exciting new research showing large impacts of GenAI based after school tutoring in Nigerian pilot program. blogs.worldbank.org/en/education...

Ten insights you might have missed from development economics research in 2024 In his recent blog post, Managing Editor @olihanney.bsky.social outlines ten standout takeaways from the broad range of research in low- and middle-income countries we have featured on VoxDev: voxdev.org/topic/ten-ke...

Nice overview of opportunities and entry points for AI to be used to improve impacts of anti-poverty programs. Important to keep in mind, especially given all of the enormous hype around how transformational many expect AI to be. ssir.org/articles/ent...

Looking to hire an ETC in DIME to help me work on a range of Digital topics including digital ID, connectivity, social protection systems, and financial inclusion. Please apply here and/or pass along to people you think would be interested! #econsky #econra worldbankgroup.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

In economics, editors, referees, and authors often behave as if a published paper should reflect some kind of authoritative consensus. As a result, valuable debate happens in secret, and the resulting paper is an opaque compromise with anonymous co-authors called referees. 1/

Seems worth the reminder that science and vaccines save lives: Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About, Thanks to Vaccines www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/h...

5th person to be cured of HIV “Today, researchers announced the Dusseldorf patient still has no detectable virus in his body, even after stopping his HIV medication four years ago.”

Do coordination failures constrain financial technology adoption? In my paper last month's @aeajournals.bsky.social American Economic Review, I explore this using the Mexican gov's rollout of debit cards to low-income households and look at effects on retailers and other consumers 🧵 1/N

Expenditure On Education Per Student Per Year: Africa (Where Data Is Available) Vs Selected Other Parts Of The World •AFRICA South Africa: $1,700 per student per year Egypt: $300 Rwanda: $57 Zambia: $31 Nigeria: $28 Cameroon: $25.30 Senegal: $21.40 Ethiopia: $17 Tanzania: $16.60 1/3

Some politicians and pundits are pushing the idea that immigrants are more likely to commit crimes. Not only is that claim false, the opposite is true.

Worthy of my first post here is this thoughtfully designed explainer on the disastrous situation in Sudan by @graphics.reuters.com www.reuters.com/graphics/FAM...

🆕 Do entrepreneurial skills unlock opportunities for online freelancing? Today on VoxDev, Maria Victoria Fazio @IDB, @richardfreund.bsky.social @Uni. Cape Town & Rafael Novella @uclofficial.bsky.social outline their latest research from El Salvador: voxdev.org/topic/labour...

The directory of Black African Economists of Influence has been updated. #AfricanEconomics #BlackEconomy #EconSky newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/contemporary...

🦋IFPRI is excited to join @bsky.app! Colleagues, partners, friends @cgiar.org and beyond - who's there? 👋 Welcome to our cloud!