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
I wrote last year about the US Administration's plans to eviscerate Optional Practical Training, America's largest single source of global STEM talent: www.piie.com/blogs/realti... That came to pass. The White House is sharpening its tools to shatter OPT, and thus kneecap many US universities.
Exclusive | U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After GraduationThe proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities.www.wsj.comWhen I heard about this it was hard to believe, but now it's public. The US Administration is planning the full destruction of Optional Practical Training, the US's largest single source of global talent. I wrote about the effects of eviscerating OPT earlier this week: www.piie.com/blogs/realti...
Exclusive | U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After GraduationThe proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities.www.wsj.comThe US Administration just cut the duration of student visas. Many have worried that visa extension backlogs will risk some students' graduation. At @piie.com I highlight a deeper problem. The rule gives political appointees discretion to do what they've promised: block most students from staying.
A new US rule to restrict student visas will hurt the US economyThe Trump administration issued a final rule in July that gives it discretion to cut short the course of study of most international students at US universities. It will likely use this new power to b...www.piie.comStop this insanity. We have to live together in this country. Just “screwing the other side” is the policy of poison. It will come to harm all Conservatives and all Liberals because we will ultimately need each other. Many great Conservative leaders in the past had the wisdom to see that.
Murshed Zaheed“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Anthony Fauci is a physician. Peter Navarro has zero health expertise. Not a tough one to sort out.
Aaron RuparPeter Navarro: "I had a million doses of hydroxychloroquine in warehouses as the defense policy coordinator that I was trying to distribute to hospitals. And Fauci got the FDA stop me from doing that."
Another month has gone by, and the US State Department continues to conceal our monthly visa issuance data, which went dark last fall. Someone in Washington really, really does not want accountability for the actions they are taking to dismantle our legal immigration system.
Michael ClemensThe US State Department's data on monthly visa issuances have gone dark. They used to be updated every month, now frozen *9 months ago*. Someone in the Administration does not want the public to know how its policies are affecting immigration. travel.state.gov/content/trav...
The Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) has saved over a million children from being killed by terrible diseases: www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=... Its value does not just lie in stopping bad stuff from "reaching U.S. borders". Working as humanity's partner, not enemy, has incalculable value to Americans.
Dan DiamondNews in global health: Sen. Susan Collins announces that GAVI, the vaccine alliance, will get hundreds of millions of dollars in funding after all. Trump officials last year said they would halt funding.
The US Administration just restricted the duration of student visas. What's the problem? Now political appointees have full discretion to block most international students from staying after graduation. They've promised to use their new power to do just that. My new @piie.com post explains—>
A new US rule to restrict student visas will hurt the US economyThe Trump administration issued a final rule in July that gives it discretion to cut short the course of study of most international students at US universities. It will likely use this new power to b...www.piie.comThe US President’s attempt to suspend Article I Section 4 of our Constitution was illegal from the first moment he disgorged it. We control our elections, through our state legislatures and our Congress period. The President is impotent to touch them. constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...
Kyle GriffinA federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's attempt to implement an executive order restricting mail-in voting ahead of the midterms.
Welcome to the post-expertise era, where defiant quackery will kill our children.
Amy Maxmen, PhD🧵The US no longer meets criteria for measles elimination. Utah's outbreak has lasted for more than a yr. And cases this yr are at a 35-yr high. I talked w/pediatricians treating measles & talking w/parents who don't vaccinate. My latest @wired.com @kffhealthnews.org www.wired.com/story/the-ch...
Not an accusation. Not a taking point. A self-described policy of illegal perversion of our public funds.
Duncan Lawrence"DOE accepts that the inclusion of grants in the October notice tranche was based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state, i.e., whether the recipient’s location and/or place of performance was in a Blue State or a non-Blue State."
It is sickening and illegal and poisonously anti-American to steal OUR tax dollars, mandated by our Congress for the public good, and pervert them into a plaything of authoritarian patronage. Flaying our public institutions is the opposite of Conservative and it harms all Americans.
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.www.nytimes.comHere is the individual who personally destroyed USAID, who personally froze its global life-saving operations and caused mass death across the world, lying about it through his clenched teeth—and chuckling at how smart he is.
Jonathan HarrisHe's quite possibly one of the worst people to have ever lived.
In times of emergency it is essential for people who understand what is happening to speak about it in the clearest possible terms. I appreciate the rare courage of Derek Lowe at @science.org to do that. www.science.org/content/blog... Disemboweling our universities will harm all Americans.
Important new textbook is open-access at @mitpress.bsky.social —> "The Microeconomics of Artificial Intelligence" by Joshua Gans Review by @maxkasy.bsky.social —> www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=... #EconSky
The Microeconomics of Artificial IntelligenceA comprehensive treatment of the microeconomics associated with the adoption and use of artificial intelligence.It is well recognized that recent advancesdirect.mit.eduThe man who proclaimed to the world that “white solidarity is the only way to survive” is incapable of grasping his own pathetic supremacism because, he insists, he got a half-Indian person pregnant. I’m sick of hearing how “smart” this dull, self-adoring, half-wit bigot is.
Matt NovakThe Economist: "People say that you're a racist. What is the motivation for doing that?" Elon Musk: "My partner is... she's half-Indian and... I have four children with her. One of them was named after a famous Indian physicist. So I would say I'm not racist."
The US Administration’s science advisor, a Peter Thiel protege who has a bachelor’s degree in politics and no experience in science, explains the Administration’s plan for the sudden and reckless shattering of our university research system.
Trump’s Plan for Science: More Money for A.I., Less for Universities (Gift Article)Michael Kratsios, President Trump’s science adviser, proposed overhauling how the government funds research. Democrats said Mr. Trump’s actions had weakened science.www.nytimes.com