New study reveals the greenwashing problem in food: over 65% of environmental claims at conventional supermarkets are misleading. We need regulation to protect both consumers and the planet. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306919226000977

My book Chasing Events out! It was officially brought to life during an engaging book launch (see pics). Find links to the free Intro and Conclusion in the post below.

New research from Pakistan reveals why women skip training opportunities—it's not about distance or cost, but safety. Women with village-based centers are 4x more likely to attend. Secure group transport boosts take-up. Security concerns, not logistics, are the real barrier. https://loom.ly/6PqxzzQ

Some news: Based on work out of the @wzb.bsky.social earlier this year Nourhan Elsayed, Hanno Hilbig, Sascha Riaz, & I published this on how communist era schooling in Germany affects attitudes today in the "British Journal of Political Science." A quick summary www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

From Canada to Chile, homosexuality is decriminalized across the Americas. Yet in parts of the Caribbean, old anti-sodomy laws still stand. On July 8, the Privy Council will adjudicate on Trinidad and Tobago’s laws—and the world is watching. Read more from Leo Varadkar: https://loom.ly/jiueJ2M

A large temporary cash incentive rapidly enrolled millions of informal workers into Thailand's voluntary social insurance programme, demonstrating that enrolment barriers can be overcome when incentives are strong enough.

Bottom-up citizen-oriented pressure campaigns—where citizens learn to call out underperforming service providers—doesn't achieve desired outcomes, acc. to a large-scale study of healthcare centers in Uganda by @piaraffler.bsky.social et al. There may be one small exception. https://loom.ly/ac5F8jE

America has become a gerontocracy—power, wealth, and policy captured by the old, while the young are blocked from starting out. But it doesn’t have to be this way, says Samuel Moyn. Read more: https://loom.ly/5CVs7zM

🆕 Do protests work? Why political alignment determines economic redistribution Today on VoxDev w/ Belinda Archibong (Johns Hopkins University), Chinemelu Okafor (Harvard University ), Evans Osabuohien (Covenant University) & Tom Moerenhout (Columbia University): https://ow.ly/Sf3Y50Zg99M

Can you deliver aid through digital payments in a fragile state like Afghanistan? An experiment says yes—and it's cheaper. High adoption rates, substantial improvements in food security, and lower delivery costs. New research from Michael Callen et al: https://loom.ly/uemuifE

What happens when Spanish silver dollars cross the Ottoman border? A 17th-century trial in Istanbul reveals: money wasn't just a state commodity or trade good—it was made through negotiation between competing empires. Read more from Ellen Nye: https://loom.ly/rkKXa3I

Very happy to see "Political polarization in low- and middle-income countries" with Ernesto Tiburcio in print! Free view-only version: rdcu.be/fpIKE

New scholarship (from declassified records) reveals the Vietnam War's architects harbored deep private doubts and acknowledged no path to victory—and they forged ahead anyway, in fear of losing face. https://loom.ly/9_OIroY

New scholarship reveals something US academics often miss: abortion politics isn't just about reproductive rights—it's about democracy itself. Latin American researchers show how elites weaponize anti-abortion positions to consolidate power and weaken judicial independence. https://loom.ly/tMl9g2Q

The 2008 crisis gave us rock-bottom interest rates, but Kenneth Rogoff argues they won't return. High debt, geopolitical conflict, and AI investments will keep rates elevated indefinitely. A sobering take from one of the world's leading economists. https://loom.ly/zwH-BQM

‘Ordinary men’ were at the heart of the Nazi Party as it grew, according to new research by two Weatherhead affiliates Luis Bosshart and Matthias Weigand. Read about their work in the Harvard Gazette: https://loom.ly/lE6BEQg

Geoeconomic tools like sanctions and tariffs can have favorable short term effects, argues @jafrieden.bsky.social, but the long-term costs to the issuer can outweigh the benefits. Read about the downsides. https://loom.ly/9qTmDHQ

NEW on Epicenter: Russian hybrid warfare on EU countries has increased since the invasion of Ukraine. And Poland is the top target. Read about the attacks in this compelling essay by Oksana Trefanenko. https://loom.ly/WvlMs0E

Thank you Chris Wellisz for this great profile article summarizing my research for Finance and Development latest issue! www.imf.org/en/publicati...

Happy to launch monkscale.com — the home for the Monk Skin Tone Scale. A quick hub for information about the MST, research using the MST, studies about the MST, clinical and tech deployments of the MST, news coverage, and standards adoption across the FDA, ISO, EU AI Act, etc. #MonkSkinToneScale

Swedish-Iranian physician Ahmadreza Djalali has spent a decade in Iran's Evin Prison on fabricated espionage charges. States must use all tools—legal, diplomatic, economic—to secure his release. Read more at the op-ed coauthored by Judith Abitan: https://loom.ly/CocDhu0

Congratulations to Andrew O’Donohue for presenting the annual graduate English address from memory at yesterday's commencement. @weatherheadcenter.bsky.social Watch his speech here: youtu.be/bU6bMDLwZIk?...

We mourn the loss of two longtime colleagues of the Weatherhead Center, Michael McElroy and Pierre Keller. We wish condolences to their families and friends. https://loom.ly/Vqf-ha8

We welcome the fourteen new Faculty Associates who joined the Weatherhead Center this year! Meet them here: https://loom.ly/w0mogu8

Read about the book talks given by @svenbeckert.bsky.social on his new book, 'Capitalism: A Global History,' in our latest Centerpiece newsletter: https://loom.ly/2fpmvkQ

Peruse the latest awards and accolades in our 'Of Note' column in our spring Centerpiece newsletter. Congratulations to all the recipients! https://loom.ly/Yr15YyE

As Harvard commencement wraps up, we're feeling sentimental. Thanks to everyone who made this semester great,—we couldn't have done it without you all! Be sure to flip through our photo album to see the highlights from the spring: https://loom.ly/sfsBPvQ

Our Weatherhead Scholars Program affiliates work closely with students all year, and this forged a connection with the Global Affairs Program (GAP), an undergraduate group at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Read more about the partnership in Centerpiece: https://loom.ly/vY41u9A

Students are an integral part of our research center. Kudos to everyone graduating today—we will miss you and are thrilled to see what you accomplish in the world! Thanks for making Weatherhead such a vibrant place. https://loom.ly/mdpTi9U

Harvard senior Kendall Carll '26 interviews his professor and mentor @erezmanela.bsky.social, acting director of the Weatherhead Center this year, on their academic journeys and overlapping scholarly interests. Read more in Centerpiece: https://loom.ly/ji8kaJ0

Your summer reading list is here! Check out all the new books written by Weatherhead faculty, visitors, and alums in our latest Centerpiece newsletter: https://loom.ly/YN4yypM

“John F. Kennedy saw that the soft power approach—rather than the hard power approach—was better for the United States militarily, politically, as well as morally.” Dr. Atul Gawande on the power of USAID, which was shuttered more than one year ago. Read more: https://loom.ly/_OfsQHg

It's been a busy semester! Read about our eventful spring in Executive Director Erin Goodman's new column: https://loom.ly/5uTrlik

Our Spring Centerpiece is out! Hear what we've been up to this semester—check out photos, brush up on new books and awards, read our interview with Acting Director Erez Manela, and more: https://loom.ly/BMPd1aM

We are thrilled to have David Battat on our advisory committee! https://loom.ly/7gcPm00

Excellent thread on the containment trap 👇

Check out our events for the week of May 17, 2026. https://loom.ly/Vx2WbzE

When do efforts to change one social norm help—or hurt—efforts to change another? A new working paper models how social norms interact through technology & conformity pressures in Sierra Leone and Nigeria. https://loom.ly/nTyfh7w

The old manufacturing playbook has changed. With 1.5 billion developing-world workers outside global trade, the real path to growth isn't factories—it's boosting productivity in services. @drodrik.bsky.social on rethinking manufacturing: https://loom.ly/gN1hqDM

Congratulations to @rochellesun.bsky.social & @juliosolis.bsky.social on receiving 2 competitive grants from J-PAL’s Crime and Violence Initiative & IPA’s Peace and Recovery Initiative to support new research on governance, violence, and political leadership in Haiti 👏 Read our Q&A: buff.ly/QwBFx5K

In case you missed our 2026 International Book Blitz last week, you can watch the full event video here. Big thanks to the authors who shared their new books, and to the attendees for joining us! https://loom.ly/_R3GDHg

The war in Iran has revealed a hard truth: energy dependence is political dependence. Countries reliant on fossil fuel imports are paralyzed, while those powered by renewables are speaking freely & brokering peace. Read the Foreign Affairs piece by Benjamin Bradlow: https://loom.ly/8x70CCI

🆕 Where international finance meets development: The role of currency risk Nicola Limodio (Bocconi), Tommaso Porzio (Columbia Business School), Awa Ambra Seck (Harvard), Emmanuel Yimfor & Anne Kersting (J-PAL) discuss currency volatility in African markets: https://ow.ly/6OSs50YXwHy

Congratulations, @evapayne.bsky.social!

Check out our events for the week of May 10, 2026. https://loom.ly/4IzKcwo

Great event summary of our 2026 International Book Blitz in the Harvard Gazette today! https://loom.ly/iMgUtns

If either South Korea or Japan takes “the nuclear leap, the other could soon follow,” write ‪@victordcha.bsky.social and @kristigovella.bsky.social. To prevent that outcome, the United States should “recommit to extended deterrence in Asia.”

🆕 How Chile's maternity leave extension boosted women's employment Today on VoxDev, Fernanda Rojas-Ampuero (UW–Madison) discusses how doubling of maternity leave increased mothers' formal employment in Chile: https://ow.ly/Q2UP50YVWrV

New article from 3 Weatherhead alums (Evren Balta, Oded Haklai, Andrew O'Donohue) reveals an interesting finding: the retrenchment of US democracy promotion has enabled autocratization in two US allies—Israel and Türkiye—but to varying degrees and through different pathways. https://loom.ly/Ba5EP5g

Congrats to Rochelle Sun (@rochellesun.bsky.social), who was awarded a competitive research grant from the JPAL Crime and Violence Initiative (@j-pal.bsky.social) to support her dissertation on #violence against #healthcare providers in contemporary civil conflicts. Read our Q&A ⬇️ buff.ly/iItYEIV