How can the study of economic history benefit people today and generations to come? #econhist A new docushort with @tedmiguel, @ClioChris, @mushfiq_econ, @lwantchekon, @HjortJ, Dave Donaldson, Bronwen Everill and recent Nobel laureate James Robinson. https://t.co/ffQd28hQNW

Today's podcast episode is with Chicago sociologist Jenny Trinitapoli. We discuss uncertainty, infidelity, bean counting, making food in old pots, and why the world is becoming more African... https://t.co/9KLeGYF09Q

Here's why ($):

Extreme poverty will soon be an exclusively African phenomenon and, frustratingly, remain so for long. (New data from @WorldBank, and research by @MartinRavallion, @FergJoel, @MarshallBBurke and more...)

Some reasons for the thin pipeline in US African PhDs in the economics domain. There are several complex reasons why there are relatively few sub-Saharan African PhD students in U.S. economics programs, contributing to a "thin pipeline" as highlighted in recent discussions.

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Not a single tech hub in South Africa falls within the top 100 innovation clusters globally. Here's what South Africa can learn from @ProfJoelMokyr's @NobelPrize.

📢 Join us for the 10th Annual LEAP Lecture! 🗓 4 Nov 2025 | 🕔 17:00 📍 225 Schumann Building, Stellenbosch 🎙 Meredith Paker — “Understanding the Past with Machine Learning” RSVP: lemonkelsey23@gmail.com #LEAPLecture #EconomicHistory #MachineLearning #Stellenbosch

In what is still my most read post, I showed how sports betting is skyrocketing in South Africa. I then made a prediction that, if trends were to continue, South Africa might reach R1 trillion of spending on sports gambling annually in 2025. This week South Africa's National

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Why are there so few African students in economics PhD programmes in the US? (Graph below shows number of students in top 50 US econ departments.)

One of the most underappreciated secrets to Silicon Valley's success is cost advantage. It was fun to unpack this with @jaltma on @uncapped_pod.

And we have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup!!!! Yeeeeeeessssssss!!!! Let that sink in!!!!! South Africa 🇿🇦 ♥️!!! @SABC_Sport

In November 2019, I spent a month at the @BeckerFriedman Institute for Economics, visiting James Robinson. On a crisp but clear day I took the train up to Evanston to attend an economic history seminar, organised by Joel Mokyr. Afterwards, he invited me for a quick chat in his

BREAKING NEWS The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 2025 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth” with one half to Mokyr

Interested in doing world-class economics research on Africa's past, present and future? #econhist Join us as a postdoc at @LEAP_SU @StellenboschUni in 2026!

Jonathan and I interview Cátia Batista about her research on mobile money’s unintended consequences, rethinking 'brain drain', the power of diasporas and much, much more… https://t.co/dk7lPppdH9

🎓 5 Postdoc Fellowships at @StellenboschUni (3 years) 📍 LEAP & Impumelelo Economic Growth Lab 🔬 Economic History | Growth | Political Economy 🌍 Africa-focused research preferred 💼 Apply by 5 Jan 2026 via EconJobMarket Info: johanf@sun.ac.za #LEAP #PostDoc

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At their best, universities are not just places where students learn but learning organisations themselves. With imagination, AI can indeed become a bicycle for the mind, helping us travel further and faster in the pursuit of knowledge, and perhaps, in doing so, restoring some of