· Dean Karlan now has a substack. He discusses his responses to some of the repeated debate about the role of RCTs and micro vs macro approaches in development. “A microeconomist can’t tell you how to make Kenya rich. But she can tell you which of several candidate strategies, based on prior theory and evidence, is most likely to get more kids into school, keep them healthy, move them into the workforce, or help girls delay marriage to a healthier age. These things matter, a lot of money rides on them, and (critically) the right answer is often less than obvious. If we can do each of those even 10% better, I count those as wins” Here is the Todd Moss post that Dean is responding to.
· The Review of Economic Studies is launching a new Insights journal. It will publish both Insights papers that follow the same model (6,000 words, 5 exhibits) as AER Insights, ReStat, and JDE short papers; as well as a second type of paper called Communications, which it describes as “Timely contributions addressing important economic or policy questions, of up to 2,000 words and two exhibits.”. I’m particularly intrigued to see what gets published in this second category. They promise a fast, up-or-out editorial process.
· For those in DC, the 2026 Conference on Field Experiments in Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Productivity (CFXS) will be held July 29-30, with registration closing today. This conference brings together researchers and practitioners working on field experiments in strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, productivity, and related areas for two days of paper presentations, idea pitches, and interactive discussions. Here is the program and registration link.
· An inspirational farewell note for George Akelof’s retirement from Jishnu Das.
· On VoxDev, Miriam Bruhn and co-authors discuss the long-term impacts of high-school financial education in Brazil. “…revisiting a large randomised controlled trial conducted with approximately 25,000 students in 892 public high schools in Brazil. … during the last two years of high school. It integrated financial education into existing classroom curricula such as mathematics and science… We now draw on administrative data housed at the Central Bank of Brazil to track outcomes for up to nine years after the programme ended and students graduated high school… The most striking finding is that financial education leads to more prudent borrowing decisions in the long run. Students exposed to the programme were less likely to use credit overall, and especially less likely to rely on the most expensive forms, such as credit card debt and overdrafts, which carry very high interest rates in Brazil… Eight to nine years after graduation, participants are 10.2% more likely to own a microenterprise and 4.8% less likely to hold a formal salaried job. This shift likely reflects the programme’s broader curriculum which included modules on work and entrepreneurship.”
· Two on Tuvalu: 1) On the Devpolicy blog, Charlotte Bedford summarizes the changes in migration opportunities in Tuvalu over the last decade. “The small central Pacific archipelagic state — with an estimated population of 9,420 in 2026 — is at the forefront of the climate change crisis”. She discusses the move away from seafaring, and into temporary and permanent migration to NZ and Australia. “Temporary and permanent migration pathways are seen as important components of the country’s overall strategy to build climate resilience and enable people to circulate within the region or remain in their island homes.” 2) on the Global Dev blog, Michelle DeFreese and Benjamin May describe how it is not just rising sea levels, but other climatic events that affect fish stocks that are having impacts “Due to their unique geography, fishing is a primary source of food and household income. On average, people in Kiribati and Tuvalu consume 72 kg and 56 kg of fish per year, respectively—among the highest consumption rates in the world. In Tuvalu, selling fish is the main source of income from primary activities of 25% of households (37% in rural areas). In Kiribati, 47% of households rely on fisheries as their primary activity (67% in rural areas).”
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