Nancy Birdsall
@nbirdsall.bsky.social
development economist, president emerita Center for Global Development (@cgdev.org), hoping some of my Twitter followers move over to BlueSky
My fellow Americans: Take heart. Resistance is everywhere, all the time. Thanks @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social www.meditationsinanemergency.com/in-2025-we-s...
In 2025 We Showed Up: Notes on Resistance to the Regime
A young white woman in yoga clothes berating masked ICE agents in a parking lot this spring. A pope speaking up again and again for immigrants. Furious judges dressing down the Trump administration an...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
My fellow Americans: Take heart. Resistance is everywhere, all the time. Thanks @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social www.meditationsinanemergency.com/in-2025-we-s...
Reposted by Nancy Birdsall
I took inventory. It looked good.
In 2025 We Showed Up: Notes on Resistance to the Regime
Ayoung white woman in yoga clothes berating masked ICE agents in a parking lot this spring. A pope speaking up again and again for immigrants. Furious judges dressing down the Trump administration and...
www.meditationsinanemergency.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I took inventory. It looked good.
Mamdani's appeal to me (!) (via @davidwallace.bsky.social): "..in his real-life suit and smile, he looks the part of an eager-beaver student council president." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/o...
Opinion | This Is What Democrats Must Learn From Mamdani’s Victory
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Mamdani's appeal to me (!) (via @davidwallace.bsky.social): "..in his real-life suit and smile, he looks the part of an eager-beaver student council president." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/o...
Wonderful: "Mamdani on election night thanked Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas. Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties. Thanks @hcrichardson.bsky.social @mclem.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Wonderful: "Mamdani on election night thanked Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas. Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses. Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties. Thanks @hcrichardson.bsky.social @mclem.org
Accessible to all! ...my paper in Journal of Econ Perspectives on World Bank's 1993 East Asian "Miracle" report ("Too Much A Product of Its TIme?") (www.aeaweb.org/full_issue.p...). @cgdev.org @mclem.org @arvind2011.bsky.social @justsand.bsky.social
www.aeaweb.org
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Accessible to all! ...my paper in Journal of Econ Perspectives on World Bank's 1993 East Asian "Miracle" report ("Too Much A Product of Its TIme?") (www.aeaweb.org/full_issue.p...). @cgdev.org @mclem.org @arvind2011.bsky.social @justsand.bsky.social
On the long "pregnancy" and the imminent birth of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility: www.cgdev.org/blog/birth-a... @cgdev.org. I never lost hope....Thank you @lulaoficialbluesky.bsky.social
Birth Announcement: A Sovereign Wealth Fund to Protect Tropical Forests
Luckily, good ideas have long half-lives. An idea developed here at CGD in 2018 to protect tropical forests forever (literally forever) will be born officially at COP30 in Belém. At a side meeting dur...
www.cgdev.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:53 PM
On the long "pregnancy" and the imminent birth of the Tropical Forest Forever Facility: www.cgdev.org/blog/birth-a... @cgdev.org. I never lost hope....Thank you @lulaoficialbluesky.bsky.social
Photo tells a story: Women were the driving force behind Abigail Spanberger's win in Virginia www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/u...
The Backlash Has Arrived: 6 Takeaways From a Good Night for Democrats
www.nytimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Photo tells a story: Women were the driving force behind Abigail Spanberger's win in Virginia www.nytimes.com/2025/11/05/u...
Reposted by Nancy Birdsall
Indeed. Jen, the Post misses your thoughtful and well-written commentaries dearly. Your departure was the tip of the 'democracy dies on darkness' iceberg.
October 29, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Indeed. Jen, the Post misses your thoughtful and well-written commentaries dearly. Your departure was the tip of the 'democracy dies on darkness' iceberg.
Long-run employment effects of Bush-era tariffs: When will they ever learn?
The large increase in steel tariffs under GW Bush did not cause an increase in steel-industry employment.
But it did hurt the US industries that use steel to make things, reducing employment there long after the tariffs were gone.
New in @aeajournals.bsky.social —> doi.org/10.1257/pol....
But it did hurt the US industries that use steel to make things, reducing employment there long after the tariffs were gone.
New in @aeajournals.bsky.social —> doi.org/10.1257/pol....
October 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Long-run employment effects of Bush-era tariffs: When will they ever learn?
Independent research at risk at the World Bank?!??!? Ouch/No! On why that's a bad idea: www.cgdev.org/blog/world-b... @eeshani.bsky.social @cgdev.org
The World Bank Group Reorganization: A Retreat from Research Quality?
A recent PowerPoint presentation presents the outline for the institutional structure of “The WBG Knowledge Bank.” But a knowledge bank owes it to its stakeholders impartial and transparent considerat...
www.cgdev.org
October 29, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Independent research at risk at the World Bank?!??!? Ouch/No! On why that's a bad idea: www.cgdev.org/blog/world-b... @eeshani.bsky.social @cgdev.org
"Tackiness and tyranny go hand in hand": open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Trump’s Gilded Ballroom and the Fall of the American Republic
Tackiness and tyranny go hand in hand
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"Tackiness and tyranny go hand in hand": open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Bring a frog to No Kings protest and have some fun; (Trump hates being laughed at): wIsdom from Bill McKibben: mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?sh...
Gmail
Gmail is email that’s intuitive, efficient, and useful. 15 GB of storage, less spam, and mobile access.
mail.google.com
October 16, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Bring a frog to No Kings protest and have some fun; (Trump hates being laughed at): wIsdom from Bill McKibben: mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?sh...
The charts are terrifying. I hope someone is showing them to Rubio.
To provide real-world evidence of aid cuts, CGD experts are using data on reported cholera deaths and US spending responses.
They find elevated cholera mortality across Africa in 2025, but no corresponding aid response from the US:
https://bit.ly/4hmWV9L
They find elevated cholera mortality across Africa in 2025, but no corresponding aid response from the US:
https://bit.ly/4hmWV9L
Cholera in Africa: Rising Deaths, Shrinking US Aid
The United States—long the world’s largest provider of lifesaving assistance and the largest humanitarian donor to many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa—saw a sharp reversal in early 2025. ...
www.cgdev.org
October 10, 2025 at 5:58 PM
The charts are terrifying. I hope someone is showing them to Rubio.
"No other country has true lifetime tenure for its justices, and for good reason". Too bad we do as the Roberts Court is "out of control". contrarian.substack.com/p/even-feder...
Even Federal Court Judges Know the MAGA Justices are Out of Control
The Roberts Court makes obvious the need for serious reform
contrarian.substack.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:54 PM
"No other country has true lifetime tenure for its justices, and for good reason". Too bad we do as the Roberts Court is "out of control". contrarian.substack.com/p/even-feder...
See what countries are most affected (negatively) by recent US policy changes. Impressive analysis with depressing result -- poorer countries lose out most. www.cgdev.org/blog/who-bea...
Who Bears the Burden? Tracking the Global Impact of Recent US Foreign Policy Shifts
Since January, the United States has adopted a range of foreign economic policies with negative impacts on the rest of the world, including higher tariffs on exports, taxes on remittances, and reducti...
www.cgdev.org
October 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
See what countries are most affected (negatively) by recent US policy changes. Impressive analysis with depressing result -- poorer countries lose out most. www.cgdev.org/blog/who-bea...
Better go see coral reefs soon. Take photos for your children Oceans are failing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
World’s oceans fail key health check as acidity crosses critical threshold for marine life
Scientists call for renewed global effort to curb fossil fuels as seven of nine planetary boundaries now transgressed
www.theguardian.com
September 25, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Better go see coral reefs soon. Take photos for your children Oceans are failing. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
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
Almost everywhere, girls who get pregnant in school are allowed to finish their education. Only five countries still have explicit bans or restrictions: Afghanistan, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, a...
www.cgdev.org
September 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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...
Bill McKibben on Trump at the UN manages to be funny, sort of:https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/the-stupidest-speech-in-un-history?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=438146&post_id=174385635&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=jub32&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
September 24, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Bill McKibben on Trump at the UN manages to be funny, sort of:https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/the-stupidest-speech-in-un-history?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=438146&post_id=174385635&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=jub32&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
I like this representation of headwinds!
The Kuznets Curve assumed falling inequality once structural transformation has peaked. But today, unforeseen headwinds—populism, climate damage, and more—complicate that path, especially for developing economies.
More from <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:epahg7qaiww4hby5eu3pmm2p" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky-mention">@nbirdsall.bsky.social:
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
More from <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:epahg7qaiww4hby5eu3pmm2p" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400 no-card-link" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link="bsky-mention">@nbirdsall.bsky.social:
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
Global Headwinds to Kuznets’ Low-Inequality Transformation: Plutocrats, Populism, and More
Kuznets’s prediction that inequality would fall after structural transformation faces major obstacles in today’s globalized economy, including tax evasion by elites, restrictions on labor migration, a...
www.cgdev.org
September 24, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I like this representation of headwinds!
Reposted by Nancy Birdsall
Can developing countries expect inequality to fall post-structural transformation, as predicted by the Kuznets Curve?
@nbirdsall.bsky.social highlights unforeseen headwinds—populism, climate damage, and more—that pose new challenges ⬇️
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
@nbirdsall.bsky.social highlights unforeseen headwinds—populism, climate damage, and more—that pose new challenges ⬇️
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
t.co
September 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Can developing countries expect inequality to fall post-structural transformation, as predicted by the Kuznets Curve?
@nbirdsall.bsky.social highlights unforeseen headwinds—populism, climate damage, and more—that pose new challenges ⬇️
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
@nbirdsall.bsky.social highlights unforeseen headwinds—populism, climate damage, and more—that pose new challenges ⬇️
https://bit.ly/45DsCr4
This Admin fears experts. I have think of colleagues/friends, now US citizens with US-born children, who are here thanks to those H1B visas.
The White House has chosen a truly extremist step that will kneecap American research and innovation.
It is an additional bomb dropped on the US higher education system, illegally and recklessly, that will end up harming every Conservative and Liberal American.
It is an additional bomb dropped on the US higher education system, illegally and recklessly, that will end up harming every Conservative and Liberal American.
Why is this horrible for Universities?
Just about everyone who isn't a citizen or green card holder already who's hired for a tenure track faculty position is hired through an H1B and then, after 3-5 years, applies for a green card.
This is literally "No more foreign professors can be hired"
Just about everyone who isn't a citizen or green card holder already who's hired for a tenure track faculty position is hired through an H1B and then, after 3-5 years, applies for a green card.
This is literally "No more foreign professors can be hired"
September 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
This Admin fears experts. I have think of colleagues/friends, now US citizens with US-born children, who are here thanks to those H1B visas.
Reposted by Nancy Birdsall
WGA WRITERS protest abc & disney : “Writers against fascism — this isn’t just about Kimmel, it’s about our ability to say what we want and not be punished by the state… a chilling effect… you don’t capitulate to bullies…”
(from @moreperfectunion.bsky.social )
(from @moreperfectunion.bsky.social )
September 20, 2025 at 2:42 PM
WGA WRITERS protest abc & disney : “Writers against fascism — this isn’t just about Kimmel, it’s about our ability to say what we want and not be punished by the state… a chilling effect… you don’t capitulate to bullies…”
(from @moreperfectunion.bsky.social )
(from @moreperfectunion.bsky.social )
Thank you to Bill Burns for his letter to US public servants in The Atlantic. Compelling on US best interests and full of the understanding and empathy the victims of Trump Admin/DOGE deserve. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
A Letter to America’s Discarded Public Servants
You all deserved better.
www.theatlantic.com
September 20, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Thank you to Bill Burns for his letter to US public servants in The Atlantic. Compelling on US best interests and full of the understanding and empathy the victims of Trump Admin/DOGE deserve. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
below, so well said: the government's "pitiful response to its own mistakes, which vary from simple ineptitude to willful noncompliance". Thank you to the "handful of federal judges"
Awful as things are under Trump 2.0, they’d be far worse still without the courage of a handful of federal judges willing to rule against him.
Paula Xinis of Maryland has been a key leader in defending the law from the administration's abuses. trib.al/OAhL2CT
Paula Xinis of Maryland has been a key leader in defending the law from the administration's abuses. trib.al/OAhL2CT
September 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
below, so well said: the government's "pitiful response to its own mistakes, which vary from simple ineptitude to willful noncompliance". Thank you to the "handful of federal judges"
Yes you wouldn't know Kirk's extremist views. . . .
Too many journalists seem to find it impossible to acknowledge that Kirks’s extremist views, conspiratorial rhetoric, overt racism, and election denial undermined democracy and that his assassination is abhorrent.
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...
We Cannot Excuse Political Violence
And we must not whitewash abhorrent views
open.substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Yes you wouldn't know Kirk's extremist views. . . .