iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

"The Long-Term Effects of Cash Assistance" by David J. Price and Jae Song Just out in @aeajournals.bsky.social —> doi.org/10.1257/app....

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 23h

"How to Build a Policy School" Santi Ruiz of @ifp.bsky.social interviews our powerhouse dean, a nice summary of what we're building here at @jhu.edu —> www.statecraft.pub/p/how-to-bui...

How to Build a Policy School
“We’re not reading the IKEA instructions.”
Santi Ruiz
9 hours ago
My guest today is Will Howell.

Will is the inaugural dean of the School of Government & Policy at Johns Hopkins, which welcomes its first class in fall 2028. His argument is that the standard policy masters degree is no longer fit for purpose. I happen to agree.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 23/09/2026

The United States faces enormous productivity losses from its current policy of international student exclusion. These arise from the consequent loss of STEM workers and the innovation they catalyze. Thank you @iza.org for this nice summary of our research —> www.iza.org/en/news/brai...

BRAIN FREEZE: The economic costs of restricting international STEM students
IZA@LISER Network | September 22, 2026
Proposed policy restrictions on foreign STEM graduates could cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 23/09/2026

This coin is illegal. The laws of our Congress specifically ban coinage depicting a living president (31 U.S. Code § 5112). What better metaphor could there be for the numb shattering of our constitutional order, than a $1 coin being sold to the American people for $10?

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19/09/2026

Great to see @soumayakeynes.ft.com and @chadpbown.com ‘s brilliant and timely book in the wild 📚

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 16/09/2026

Cutting OPT access reduces int'l enrollment, as @kevinshih.bsky.social & Amuedo-Dorantes show, because the option to work in the US makes US degrees more attractive—> doi.org/10.1257/pand... So the OPT tax will cost universities billions in int'l tuition revenue, beyond the direct cost of the tax.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 16/09/2026

And what if universities seek reimbursement from OPT employers? I find that OPT usage will still collapse, falling 50–90% across the full range of plausible values for employer sensitivity to the tax.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 16/09/2026

What if universities seek reimbursement from students? Access to work permits for new grads (Optional Practical Training) will still collapse. I use new estimates of the price sensitivity of int'l students and find that the tax then causes OPT use to fall by more than 1/3 (lower bound).

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 16/09/2026

The proposed rule, to be published by the Administration very soon, will specify how the OPT tax is charged. I expect it be charged to the university. In my paper I use information on university revenues from int'l students to estimate that for >80% of students, universities can't/won't pay.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 15/09/2026

This morning in DC. Over a year later, my city is STILL occupied. by roving fireteams of military troops. At the personal order of the president. For no reason whatsoever. In the lead-up to a pivotal election.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 14/09/2026

Shattering our beloved American institutions is reckless, it is poison, it is the opposite of 'Conservative'. Destroying the most beautiful things is so damn easy. To the builders of great institutions will always go honor. To the sick destroyers, oblivion. www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/0...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 13/09/2026

White nationalist immigration policy is not just shameful & anti-American, and trashes the Republican tradition of Reagan+Bush who fought for the opposite. It is also illegal. Our bipartisan 1965 Immigration & Nationality Act explicitly banned race preferences—> www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 13/09/2026

By Rob Gonsalves (1959–2017)

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 12/09/2026

The US President's new proposal to tax international students has been approved by the White House for release this week. It's an unprecedented $100,000 tax on int'l grads who stay to work after graduation on Optional Practical Training (most grads do), a crucial bridge to remaining by any channel.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 11/09/2026

The gate at Boston Logan through which five bestial fanatics launched their massacre at the South Tower of the World Trade Center, 25 years ago today, is specially marked with our flag. A subtle, resolute stand against oblivion.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 11/09/2026

It is illegal, unconstitutional, anti-American, and nauseating for any Democratic or Republican president to be ordering sham prosecutions of enemies. Every minute this atrocity continues, our democracy is under greater threat.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 10/09/2026

Carl Sagan’s ‘Pale Blue Dot’ photo of the earth, from 3.6 billion miles out, remains one of the most moving images I’ve seen. “To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” –CS

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 04/09/2026

"Without explicit support for the cognitive demands of effective human-agent interaction, AI agent systems will continue to passively incentivize the degradation of the very human skills they rely on." This new paper by @mmitchell.bsky.social et al. is important. —> arxiv.org/pdf/2608.23642

AI agents pose significant risks as they are granted increasing autonomy. A commonly proposed solution is human oversight and keeping a “human in the loop”,but this is not a simple solution: Not only do current approaches to AI agent
design impede effective human oversight, but the cognitive capacities required
for it are also themselves degraded by extended use of AI systems. This position
paper argues that current approaches to the development and deployment of
AI agent systems do not support effective human oversight, they contribute
to its degradation. To address this, a top priority in the advancement of AI agents
should be supporting the situated goals and cognitive requirements of effective
human oversight, treating the human needs of overseers at the same level of importance as AI agent capability. To put this idea into practice, we connect work
on automation and human-computer interaction to AI agent processes, outlining
design-level affordances and organizational protocols that (1) support overseers in
exercising critical judgement and (2) counteract the skill atrophy that arises from
extended use of automation. We urge developers and deployers to adopt these or
similar approaches. Without explicit support for the cognitive demands of effective
human-agent interaction, AI agent systems will continue to passively incentivize
the degradation of the very human skills they rely on.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 03/09/2026

This fascist-style monstrosity will stand as a grotesque affront to the memories of our military heroes who died for our freedom, and who now rest behind it, every day until it is demolished.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 03/09/2026

www.yahoo.com/news/politic...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 01/09/2026

Goodbye to one of the greats, my advisor Jeff Williamson (1935–2026) Jeff your unstoppable intellect and excitement were contagious. You had faith in me when few did, and gave me everything I have. From the many like me: Our deepest and forever thanks. Your work & your self will be remembered.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 31/08/2026

New F-1 student visas to the United States fell by 34 percent in calendar year 2025. That is relative to the average cumulative issuance in each year 2018–2024 (omitting the Covid-related drop in 2020). Newly released data through Feb. 2026 here—> travel.state.gov/content/trav...

Graph showing monthly F-1 student visa issuance in 2025 relative to prior years

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 31/08/2026

“We, neutral journalists are not saying that {nauseating lie} is true. But many people are saying {nauseating lie}, which makes it news, so we truth-seekers must report it.” “And we wouldn’t be neutral if we pointed out that {nauseating lie} is a nauseating lie. So we’re just going to repeat it.”

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 31/08/2026

At first I was surprised by the new state names decreed this morning. But who could object? Only our enemies. Enemies of the True Patriots.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 28/08/2026

“The economic costs of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown” www.economist.com/finance-and-... The @economist.com discusses our work on the long term effects of the US Administration’s international student exclusion policy. Full paper here—> www.iza.org/publications...

Longer-lasting damage may come from a slowdown in high-skilled immigration. The administration has tightened rules on student visas—down by a third last year—H-1B visas for skilled workers and green cards. At the technological frontier, America relies heavily on foreigners: American-trained workers born abroad make up 35% of those with PhDs in science, technology, engineering and maths. Michael Clemens of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, another think-tank, and his co-authors estimate that such a sustained squeeze on student visas would shrink that top-notch workforce by 11.5% and could reduce annual real GDP by nearly $500bn (1.6% of last year’s figure) within a decade.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 28/08/2026

The human beings in chains shown in this photograph were living and working legally in the United States, contributing to US firms and communities and public coffers and churches, until the US Administration decided to *revoke* their legal status—due to no action of theirs.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 26/08/2026

The great Republican Teddy Roosevelt in 1918: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 24/08/2026

The world’s richest man calls for murdering immigrants. It is sickening and filthy and I ask everyone contributing to his disgusting financial power to reevaluate their actions.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 24/08/2026

Countless people will report the new H-1B tax as a “fee”. It is not. That word is used by advocates of the tax in order to avoid legal jeopardy for agencies with no authority to tax. Like the new OPT tax, it is a tax. I clarify in part of my new paper —> www.rfberlin.com/network-pape...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19/08/2026

"Tearing down statue of George III" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1859. digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/63ad25...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 09/08/2026

Hatred and exclusion of Americans due to their religion is illegal, anti-American, and disgusting. We will not be silent.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 07/08/2026

The NIH now plans to bar overseas talent from fellowships that have helped foreign scientists get established in the US. Another senseless, major blow to US innovation. I spoke with @aniloza.bsky.social of @statnews.com —> www.statnews.com/2026/08/07/n... cc @piie.com

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 05/08/2026

Conservative and Liberal Americans generally support free trade, and recognize that the extreme trade taxes imposed on them illegally by the president are—taxes on them. www.theargumentmag.com/p/who-suppor...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 02/08/2026

This scumbag just assaulted me in a store in the Washington DC area, to film it for “content”. If you see him call the police and let them know there are warrants for his arrest.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 28/07/2026

This afternoon. Yes, my city is STILL occupied by roving military fireteams, for no reason whatsoever, on the personal orders of the president. Perversion of our troops, deploying them indefinitely against other Americans, is the opposite of Conservative.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 25/07/2026

Yes he personally ordered and directly participated in these sickening, lethal acts, as he bragged at the moment he carried them out.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 25/07/2026

TIL many of the first-ever works of modern Western abstract art, before Mondrian or Kandinsky, were made by a Swedish woman named Hilma af Klint who willed them to be concealed from the world until 20 years after her death.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 24/07/2026

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.

Time for another note about the Trump administration’s approach to funding US science. But let me make something clear right up front. When I talk to people about this subject (and that includes some journalists as well) and say what I'm about to at the end of this paragaph I am sometimes met with disbelief. But I mean what I say and I am trying my best to say what I mean: The Trump administration hates academic science funding, full stop. They hate where that money goes, and they hate who it goes to. They want to keep all that money for themselves, to hand out to favored cronies who can help them get elected and to steer yet more money and more power back into their hands.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 21/07/2026

Walking through the halls of Congress this morning, everywhere I see worry about the poison of political violence.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 19/07/2026

⚽ Related to today's final match ⚽ Does anyone know: Were superstar Lamine Yamal's parents and grandparents granted immigration status by Spain in its 1991/1996 regularizations? The family reunification he describes would have occurred in the early/mid-1990s. www.hellomagazine.com/us/913650/la...

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 18/07/2026

Act 3: Three months later, in June, the @nber.org posted a new version of Borjas's PDF (without preserving the old March version), where the disclosure section has been updated. The grudging new statement remains pointedly vague. But I thank the @nber.org for enforcing its transparency rules.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 18/07/2026

Act 2: In March, my study found that Borjas's paper was filled with critical errors & undisclosed data imputation, generating the entire result. www.rfberlin.com/network-pape... I noted that Borjas's paper concealed his own involvement with creating the tax, working directly for the US President.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 18/07/2026

A story in three acts. Act 1: In February, George Borjas released a paper justifying the US President's $100,000 H-1B tax. www.nber.org/papers/w34793 Below is that version's mandatory @nber.org disclosure section, when it was released in February and revised in March.

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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 18/07/2026

More about the Administration's explicit, indisputable goals as it enacts these student-exclusion policies. This is the Director of USCIS, in his own words: www.breitbart.com/immigration/...

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