Michael Clemens
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Michael Clemens
@mclem.org
21K followers 3.1K following 3.7K posts

Professor of economics at George Mason University, fellow at the Peterson Institute of International Economics, IZA, CReAM/UCL, CEPR, CGD. Associate Editor JEP. USAID 2021–2024. Personal views exclusively.

Web: http://mclem.org
ORCID: 0000-0003-1354-0965 .. more

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Michael Andrew Clemens is an American economist who studies international migration and global economic development.

Source: Wikipedia
Economics 40%
Sociology 24%
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · Feb 21
Migration does not have to be what it is now

Innovation can change what migration *is*—more orderly, skilled, integrated, & tangibly beneficial to everyone affected

In 2012 I proposed one way: Global Skill Partnerships

The World Bank just released a major GSP roadmap—> hdl.handle.net/10986/42780

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 22h
Our institutions are the taproot of America’s stability and prosperity.

The Congress’s decision to cease enforcement its constitutional oversight duties, and of its own laws, will come to harm *all* Americans, Conservative and Liberal.
profmsinha.bsky.social Manisha Sinha @profmsinha.bsky.social · 1d
Historian here: “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody."

— Thomas Paine

Reposted by Ashish Arora

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 1d
I’ve learned so much from Jake Vigdor’s pioneering work. And I am terribly sad to read his shattering, beautiful tribute to the daughter he just lost.
In Memory: Juliana Alene Vigdor
Celebrating a life that is only over in one sense.
jacobvigdor.substack.com

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Karin Wulf

profmsinha.bsky.social
Manisha Sinha @profmsinha.bsky.social · 1d
Historian here: “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody."

— Thomas Paine

Reposted by Richard E. Lenski, Michael A. Clemens, Nathan P. Kalmoe

mbkplus.bsky.social
Mike Boylan-Kolchin @mbkplus.bsky.social · 2d
This is what the most distant confirmed galaxy looks like. The light we're receiving was emitted when the Universe was ~15x smaller in linear size than today, and right now it's ~30 billion light-years away from us. The light was emitted when the Universe was <300 million years old. Pretty amazing!
coreyspowell.bsky.social Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 2d
News from the edge of the visible universe:

JWST has confirmed this galaxy, MoM-z14, as the most distant one yet studied. We're seeing it as it was 13.5 billion years ago, 98% of the way back to the beginning of time.

(MoM stands for "miracle or mirage.") 🧪🔭

science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
The galaxy designated MoM-z14 is currently the farthest galaxy ever detected, spotted by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) and confirmed spectroscopically with its NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument. Through Webb, we are seeing this galaxy as it appeared in the distant past, only 280 million years after the universe began in the big bang. Its light has traveled through space for more than 13 billion years to reach us. Like some other galaxies Webb has discovered in the early universe, MoM-z14 is brighter, more compact, and more chemically enriched than astronomers expected to find in this early era. While it may pass out of record books quickly as the farthest galaxy, MoM-z14 will still play a role in helping astronomers and theorists reach new understanding of the earliest chapters in the universe’s story.

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
💯

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
A long story but a major quibble is that capital tax revenue goes far beyond corporate tax. It’s also dividends, capital gains, corporate property tax (which is most prop tax paid in the US), sales taxes paid on items bought with capital income, and others. Immigrants cause *all* of that by working.

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
The United States is not a trashy dictatorship.

Our tax dollars, which we give both by force and sense of duty, are exclusively for wise stewardship of the public good. They are not the playthings of old men’s pathetic cravings.

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
Thank you. Yes I always thought it was odd, even bizarre that the National Academies report starts out with average cost pricing of all public goods. As if the US Embassy in Paris costs more to operate when a Honduran crosses into Texas! As you say, only marginal cost makes sense.

Reposted by Aaron Sojourner, Gerald Friedman

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
The United States is under the rule of law.

Prosecuting someone who has not broken a law is NOT AT ALL “up to the President”.

It is far past time for our flaccid Congress to act in defense of our Constitution. Its ongoing suspension harms *all* Americans, Conservative and Liberal.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d
WARREN: This should be an easy one. Can you commit that Trump's Fed nominee will not be sued or investigated by the DOJ if he does not cut interest rates like Trump wants?

BESSENT: That's up to the president

W: You can't say he won't be criminally investigated? That's supposed to be the soft ball!

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Peter Bergman

laurenmeidasa.bsky.social
Lauren Ashley Davis @laurenmeidasa.bsky.social · 3d
BREAKING 🚨 🚨 🚨

Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him

The startling offer, which was described by two people familiar with the conversation, was swiftly rejected by Schumer.

www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/p...
Trump promises Schumer funding for NY tunnel project — if Penn Station and Dulles Airport are renamed after him | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last month that he was finally prepared to drop his freeze on billions of dollars in funding for a major New York infrastructure projec...
www.cnn.com

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 3d
Our independent, apolitical Department of Justice has massively benefited Americans for generations.

It is a cornerstone of the rule of law, requiring that criminal prosecution cannot & must not depend upon personal whims and connections.

Its evisceration harms all of us, on the Right and Left.

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens

newnarrative.bsky.social
Mike Walker @newnarrative.bsky.social · 3d
Trump Says It’s His Right to Use DOJ as His Personal Law Firm

newrepublic.com/post/206192/...
Trump Says It’s His Right to Use DOJ as His Personal Law Firm
But Donald Trump insists that he definitely isn’t doing that right now.
newrepublic.com

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Aaron Sojourner

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d
WARREN: This should be an easy one. Can you commit that Trump's Fed nominee will not be sued or investigated by the DOJ if he does not cut interest rates like Trump wants?

BESSENT: That's up to the president

W: You can't say he won't be criminally investigated? That's supposed to be the soft ball!

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens

filipecampante.bsky.social
Filipe Campante @filipecampante.bsky.social · 4d
I haven’t been in DC for that long, but long enough to have seen the Post be a great newspaper, which I would proudly refer to as “our local paper”. The speed with which US media is collapsing under authoritarian pressure is one of the most depressing aspects of the last couple of years.

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 4d
“Last month, my government issued a decree that makes up to half a million undocumented migrants living in Spain eligible for temporary residence permits … We have done this for two reasons.”
Opinion | I’m the Prime Minister of Spain. This Is Why the West Needs Migrants.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens, Arthur Charpentier

infobeautiful.bsky.social
Information is Beautiful @infobeautiful.bsky.social · 4d
Major languages spoken in Toronto (other than English) by neighbourhood

by Alex McPhee
pronghornmaps.com/toronto/
A detailed map illustrating the most spoken mother tongues (other than English) in Toronto. Different languages are represented by distinct colors overlaid on a geographical map of the city and surrounding areas like Mississauga, Etobicoke, York, North York, Scarborough, Vaughan, Markham, and Pickering. Large labels indicate areas where specific languages are prevalent, such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, Portuguese, Tamil, Urdu, Spanish, Persian (Farsi), Greek, Bengali, Serbo-Croatian, and Ukrainian. Smaller charts at the bottom provide statistics on the number of speakers for the top languages, including English. The map also shows the boundaries of residential areas and major roads. A legend indicates the language families represented by the colors, such as Sino-Tibetan (Mandarin, Cantonese), Indo-Aryan (Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Persian, Greek), Romance (Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French), Slavic (Serbo-Croatian, Ukrainian), and others like Tagalog.

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 4d
Less-educated labor is not broadly abundant anymore. In much of the world, the *native* working-age population will collapse over the next 20 years.

The new global divide is not 'developing' and 'developed', but people-poor vs. people-rich.

www.iza.org/publications...

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 4d
See also my new paper commissioned by the International Monetary Fund, which complements Lant's by discussing some topics he doesn't focus on, like specific policy options and the rise of A.I. —>
mclem.org Michael Clemens @mclem.org · Dec 18
The International Monetary Fund asked me to review the literature on migration economics to draw lessons for low-income countries.

In a new @iza.org paper, I argue that policy for the 21st century must discard four outdated ideas.

www.iza.org/publications...

🧵 thread—>
1. Less skilled labor is abundant. 2. Skilled emigration is a brain drain. 3. Development substitutes for migration. 4. Migration substitutes for failing development, but doesn't cause development.

Reposted by Valerie Mueller

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 4d
The native workforces of today's wealthiest countries are rapidly disappearing due to fertility that is low and very unlikely to rise—ever, and certainly not in time to make a difference.

The brilliant Lant Pritchett spells out the implications for migration policy:

www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Global Labor Mobility between Shrinking and Growing Labor Forces
(Winter 2026) - Falling fertility and improved mortality create a powerful and inexorable demographic arithmetic of ageing in the coming decades around the world, with three patterns. The richest coun...
www.aeaweb.org

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 4d
“If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
factpostnews.bsky.social FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 5d
American citizen shot by ICE talks about being called a domestic terrorist:

"On Friday I was teaching the young children at the Montessori school... And on Saturday, my own government was calling me a domestic terrorist, and I was in federal detention centers with the bullet holes all over my body"

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens

shobitap.org
Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 4d
Here's how you can put your iPhone in lockdown mode: support.apple.com/guide/iphone...

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 5d
This highly influential White House advisor now states openly: use paramilitary forces to intervene directly in our elections.

This is what the conspiracy theories have been for. This moment.

Conservative and Liberal Americans reject fascism. We know it won't help any 'side'. It is time to act.
iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 5d
Steve Bannon,
"We're gonna have ICE surround the polls...We'll never again allow an election to be stolen."

Reposted by Michael E. Mann, Michael A. Clemens, David R. Miller

iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social
Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 5d
Steve Bannon,
"We're gonna have ICE surround the polls...We'll never again allow an election to be stolen."

Reposted by Michael A. Clemens

factpostnews.bsky.social
FactPost @factpostnews.bsky.social · 5d
American citizen shot by ICE talks about being called a domestic terrorist:

"On Friday I was teaching the young children at the Montessori school... And on Saturday, my own government was calling me a domestic terrorist, and I was in federal detention centers with the bullet holes all over my body"

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers, Michael A. Clemens , and 1 more

reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 5d
Again, this is FALSE. Administrative warrants are NOT signed by an immigration judge (or any judge at all). They are generated and signed by ICE officers themselves with no external oversight whatsoever.

Here is a blank sample warrant. Note who signs off on it; an "immigration officer."
A copy of a blank administrative warrant. The only person who signs it at the end is an "immigration officer."

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 5d
Congratulations to one of the greats.

François is great intellect who devoted his life to rigorous learning about how to open more opportunities for everyone, everywhere.
pse.bsky.social Paris School of Economics @pse.bsky.social · 5d
🏆 François Bourguignon, former Director of PSE and Director of Studies at @ehess.fr, has been awarded the 2026 Revue économique Prize for his major contributions to research on inequality, poverty, and economic development.
shorturl.at/LT8F8
François Bourguignon receives the 2026 Revue économique Prize - Paris School of Economics
The Revue économique has awarded its 2026 Prize to François Bourguignon in recognition of his major contributions to economic research.
shorturl.at

Reposted by Diane Coyle, Stephen P. Jenkins, Michael A. Clemens , and 1 more

pse.bsky.social
Paris School of Economics @pse.bsky.social · 5d
🏆 François Bourguignon, former Director of PSE and Director of Studies at @ehess.fr, has been awarded the 2026 Revue économique Prize for his major contributions to research on inequality, poverty, and economic development.
shorturl.at/LT8F8
François Bourguignon receives the 2026 Revue économique Prize - Paris School of Economics
The Revue économique has awarded its 2026 Prize to François Bourguignon in recognition of his major contributions to economic research.
shorturl.at

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 5d
“It ​h​as the hallmarks of brazen disinformation from the top level of government: smearing and humiliating one citizen in order to influence public opinion, while sending a warning to other critics to beware of crossing the administration.”

Democracy and dissent are under attack in America.
‘They Couldn’t Break Me’: A Protester, the White House and a Doctored Photo
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Michael Kevane

mclem.org
Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 5d
Insanity. The suspension of rule-by-law in the United States will rip apart or institutions and our society. No ‘side’ wins.
maxboot.bsky.social Max Boot @maxboot.bsky.social · 5d
Shortly before midnight, six hours after The Times reported that Mr. Trump had backtracked, he claimed the story was wrong and attacked The Times and Harvard. He said he was now seeking $1 billion “in damages” from Harvard. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...
Trump Is Said to Have Dropped Demand for Cash From Harvard
www.nytimes.com