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How we used a government-run visa lottery to measure the effect of foreign hiring on US firms and workers: Thank you to @aeajournals.bsky.social for highlighting my paper with @ethan-lewis.bsky.social —>
Michael Clemens
@mclem.org
Economist and professor at School of Government & Policy, Johns Hopkins University. Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics, IZA, CReAM, CGD. Assoc. Editor JEP. Personal views only. Web: http://mclem.org ORCID: 0000-0003-1354-0965
23.6K followers3.2K following4.7K posts
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How we used a government-run visa lottery to measure the effect of foreign hiring on US firms and workers: Thank you to @aeajournals.bsky.social for highlighting my paper with @ethan-lewis.bsky.social —>
Michael Clemens reposted
9th Circuit rules Trump illegally federalized National Guard in LA last year. Ruling has little immediate effect, but sets precedent on judicial review of executive invocation of emergency powers for domestic use of military, and on the meaning of “rebellion.” reason.com/volokh/2026/...
Michael Clemens reposted
Looking for clear, straight-ahead explanations of immigration data and policy? Check out our Migration Information Source, offering need-to-know information https://bit.ly/SourceSignUp
It turns out that an international system based on “deals”, instead of rules, endangers all of us personally and our democracies collectively.
Musk said he restricted Starlink in Ukraine- causing fast moving drones to lose connectivity - and that he had every right to do so because of some terms of service or contract that he didn't show us. (He didn't address suddenly doing this with no warning to Kyiv.) www.cnbc.com/2026/10/24/u...
Michael Clemens reposted
China's demographics look increasingly like Japan's • By 2060 people aged 60+ could make up nearly half of China's population, up from ~20% currently • Beijing is betting on robot workers, but poor demographic outlook makes catchup with US an increasingly remote prospect www.ft.com/content/512e...
Michael Clemens reposted
Michael Clemens reposted
Liberal democracy remains a towering achievement of humanity and it is worth fighting for.
The long-serving strongman leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has conceded defeat in an election that pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting his government.
When the US President first made this statement at a White House meeting in January 2018, many attendees told the public he didn’t. Now he confirms it. What is worth sacrificing your honor and integrity? Slobbering racist bigotry harms all Conservatives and all Liberals. It poisons America.
Trump: "Libya, Hemen, Haiti, Somalia -- remember what I called them? Shit house countries."
Michael Clemens reposted
Replying to @earlymodjustice.bsky.social
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This is literally the end of the rule of law. If a President can pardon people committing crimes on his behalf - and the Supreme Court says he himself can't be prosecuted for crimes committed as part of his job - then the government becomes a lawless entity able to violate our rights without limit.
Our rule of law is an extremely precious asset that underlies our prosperity and freedom. It requires that people who have committed serious federal crimes be prosecuted and punished, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. Destroying the rule of law doesn’t help anyone’s ‘side’.
Mrs. Miller complains that Dems want to [checks her highlighted passage] prosecute those who committed federal crimes
Michael Clemens reposted
International students who stay after graduation (OPT) cause large increases in innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity in the US. I talked with @insidehighered.com about the US Administration's new tax on those students—>
Michael Clemens reposted
A remarkable new resource to analyze up-to-the-minute econ data from my @piie.com colleague @jasonfurman.bsky.social —>
I'm thrilled to be launching Econvitals today. It's been the main way in which I have been tracking and understanding the economy over the last several months. And I decided I might as well share it with all of you--for free. Has a combo of website, email lists & social media.
Michael Clemens reposted
Enormous news. A melanoma vaccine, one of the most deadly cancers out there. Science is good and helpful and there should be more of it. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/...
International students who stay after graduation (OPT) cause large increases in innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity in the US. I talked with @insidehighered.com about the US Administration's new tax on those students—>
Michael Clemens reposted
I've been honored to present to more than 1,000 of you over the last couple of days, exchanging knowledge about the impacts of the US Administration's new $100,000 tax on international students who stay to work (OPT). Thank you @nafsa-official.bsky.social and @presalliance.bsky.social !
Some of my research—>
The US Administration's new proposed $100,000 tax on Optional Practical Training (int'l students who stay to work) was published this morning—> public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-20660.pdf I analyze the effects of this OPT tax in my new paper at @iza.org —> www.iza.org/publications...
Who is going to eat all the cats, Mr. Vice President?
Michael Clemens reposted
I spoke with @pbsnews.org about the likely economic ripple effects of the US Administration's policy of international student exclusion.
The world’s richest man, a vast recipient of our tax dollars, is personally intervening in a war on behalf of Russia’s murderous dictatorship. Every public contract with firms he controls should be severed on national security grounds. This is legal & easy to do—> www.congress.gov/crs_external...
A slowdown in Ukraine’s military version of Starlink ordered by Elon Musk is hurting Kyiv’s ability to stop Russian attacks. on.wsj.com/4k8mazM
Yes, he is personally and directly responsible for the mass death he unleashed.
It didn't need to be this way. They could have seriously reformed USAID, which would have been right and justified. Instead they illegally empowered this person to eviscerate the entire agency. The person who complained, as he was carrying it out, that it kept him away from "great parties".
The world’s richest man, a vast recipient of our tax dollars, is personally intervening in a war on behalf of Russia’s murderous dictatorship. Every public contract with firms he controls should be severed on national security grounds. This is legal & easy to do—> www.congress.gov/crs_external...
A slowdown in Ukraine’s military version of Starlink ordered by Elon Musk is hurting Kyiv’s ability to stop Russian attacks. on.wsj.com/4k8mazM
The same man is already directly responsible for roughly one MILLION additional deaths per year, due to the personal hands-on role he took in obliterating our entire development assistance program.
I spoke with @pbsnews.org about the likely economic ripple effects of the US Administration's policy of international student exclusion.
Poisoning our American institutions does not help anyone’s ‘side’. It hurts all Conservative Americans and all Liberal Americans. And it will continue to hurt us for a long time after those guilty are gone.
My brain cannot process this level of corruption. She was being paid $50 million to engineer a pardon from Trump *while working at the Justice Department* as a "Special Government Employee." And it worked. He got the pardon, and she got the money. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/20/u...
This is a simply astonishing video. Americans should watch it for decades as they try to understand this historical period.
😳 Trump loses it and SNAPS at a string of reporters, says Ilhan Omar might "go to jail," calls Somalia "a shit house," and boasts that thanks to a new program he announced today Americans "will make millions of dollars by turning others in" during absolutely deranged Oval Office event Supercut:
Michael Clemens reposted
“Europe needs a better offer, grounded in its own capabilities rather than those of its mercurial ally.” In Foreign Affairs, Dean Ngaire Woods and Research Fellow Claas Mertens argue that Europe must reduce its dependence on the US and strengthen global partnerships.👇 https://ow.ly/liCF50ZZf5f
I've worked with Judge Reyes in the past. No one is smarter. Her closing sentence here is an epigraph for our era.
OK, I'm trying to write now, but I do want to note that today's hearing ended with Judge Reyes acknowledging death threats she has received "over a golf course:," adding, "I don't think that's what the founders intended." She then ended the hearing.
Michael Clemens reposted
Michael Clemens reposted
Shattering our relationships with generational allies puts America last. It dims the future of every Conservative and every Liberal.
Two brief excerpts from Deep Connections on Starlink - The US has become aggressive about weaponizing entrenched dependencies to serve its coercive foreign policy - but is also undermining this dominance in the process. It’s a single use weapon. The world is watching and *will* diversify away.
Michael Clemens reposted
This week a white nationalist tried to assassinate a member of Congress and you probably didn’t even hear about it—and a reminder that being an elementary school student in the US is more deadly than being an ICE officer: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/three-shoo...
Michael Clemens reposted
Meanwhile the Engineers are just lighting themselves on fire to see what happens. COMIC ◆ www.smbc-comics.com/comic/reacti... PATREON ◆ www.patreon.com/ZachWeinersm... STORE ◆ smbc-store.myshopify.com
Michael Clemens reposted
Michael Clemens reposted
Immigrants have been awarded 40% of the Nobel Prizes won by Americans in chemistry, medicine and physics since 2000 nfap.com/research/new...
The US Administration’s project of smearing @drlisadcook.bsky.social would be filthy and illegal even if the President had not done what he falsely accuses her of doing. Poisoning our rule of law, that precious American institution, harms all Conservatives and all Liberals.
In 1993, Trump signed a mortgage for a Florida home, pledging it would be his principal residence. Seven weeks later, he attested a neighboring property would also be his principal residence. In reality, he does not seem to have lived in either home. (Published Dec. 2025)
A useful discussion of efforts to foster a greater range of values in academia, including at @jhu.edu —>
I'm starting to have this strange feeling that maybe Barack Obama was born in the United States.
Exclusive: A 2019 review of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s immigration records looked at many of the same issues being investigated now. That review found no issue with her naturalization, an official familiar with the earlier effort said.
Michael Clemens reposted
Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, international immigration to the DMV region fell by 44%, contributing to a slowdown in the region’s overall growth.