Ted Miguel
@tedmiguel.bsky.social
Economics Professor and Director Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), University of California Berkeley (USA) http://emiguel.econ.berkeley.edu
We're thrilled to announce Ana María Ibáñez (IDB), Satu Santala (NDF), and @apvjustino.bsky.social (UNU-WIDER) will join @tedmiguel.bsky.social after his lecture on climate, conflict & poverty. WIDER Annual Lecture 30 📅 30 Sept 2026 📍 Helsinki + online 🔗 go.unu.edu/zErJA
🆕 Air pollution clouds the mind: Evidence from real-time monitoring in Kenya Today on VoxDev w/ Xuqian Ma (@publichealth.berkeley.edu), Michelle Layvant, @tedmiguel.bsky.social, Eric Ochieng, Ajay Pillarisetti & Michael Walker (@cega-uc.bsky.social): voxdev.org/topic/health...
Air pollution clouds the mind: Evidence from real-time monitoring in Kenya
Exposure to fine particulate matter during cognitive assessments lowered adult cognitive performance in Kenya, and coarser pollution measures missed much of this short-run variation.
voxdev.org
An astounding accomplishment in the London marathon today! www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/a...
Sabastian Sawe breaks two-hour barrier to make history in London Marathon
Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe has made history at the London Marathon, winning the men’s race in a historic time of 1hr 59mins 30secs
theguardian.com
Article in NYT on diabetes in Central Africa: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/23/h...
Diabetes, Overlooked and Unchecked, Poses New Risks in Africa
nytimes.com
Great story with background on Alysa Liu’s father and his escape from China after the June 4 1989 Tiananmen Massacre of students and workers: www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | China doesn’t want you to know about Operation Yellowbird
Behind Alysa Liu’s Olympic glory lies a deeper drama — one that China does not want told.
washingtonpost.com
How a $1 intervention is transforming millions of lives worldwide. A new podcast from @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social News features CEGA Faculty Co-Director @tedmiguel.bsky.social’s work on childhood deworming & its lasting impact on health and education. Listen here: go.cega.org/deworming-podcast
What do parasitic worms and wages have in common? More than you think - Berkeley News
Nearly 30 years of data from a landmark UC Berkeley project in Kenya show that treating children's intestinal parasites does more than improve health — it boosts adult earnings and secures the lives…
go.cega.org
💡 A look back at this year’s PacDev. Last weekend, the Pacific Development Conference (PacDev) at @ucdavis.bsky.social gathered researchers and practitioners to share innovative research from across disciplines, including a keynote address from CEGA Faculty Co-Director @tedmiguel.bsky.social.
Alysa Liu, daughter of a Chinese refugee and pro-democracy activist, brings glory to the USA. 🇺🇸 🥇
Alysa Liu became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic figure skating gold medal in nearly a quarter of a century when she held off Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai on Thursday night. https://wapo.st/3OhVBuj
Oakland proud. Congratulations to Alysa Liu on bringing home the gold!
NBC News@nbcnews.com · 8mo agoBREAKING: Alysa Liu wins the gold medal in women's figure skating.
Congrats to BART rider and Oakland legend Alysa Liu on winning a gold medal at the Olympics and making the Bay Area proud!
🔍 Does economic hardship increase cheating? In a new #CEGAWorkingPaper, CEGA Faculty Co-Director @tedmiguel.bsky.social and colleagues find that people are more likely to cheat when facing economic hardship or large financial incentives to cheat. 📖 Learn more: go.cega.org/WPS256
go.cega.org
We have a super easy letter campaign to save NCAR. Takes 30 seconds to yell at your Congress Critters and you’ll can do it every day! @standupforscience.bsky.social fight2win.standupforscience.net/campaign/152...
CNN@cnn.com · 8mo agoA leading American research lab is slated to lose its critical supercomputing facility, according to a letter released by the National Science Foundation.https://cnn.it/3MoF7zU
A study of middle-aged Kenyan adults finds that monthly earnings increase by 1.07 percent per centimeter of increased height, from Wilson King, Edward Miguel, and Michael W. Walker www.nber.org/papers/w34769
New Working Paper! 🚨 Taller people earn more, especially in low & middle-income countries @tedmiguel.bsky.social, Michael Walker, & I study why — using rich longitudinal microdata on 4,000+ Kenyan adults 🧵: 1/5
NBER@nber.org · 8mo agoA study of middle-aged Kenyan adults finds that monthly earnings increase by 1.07 percent per centimeter of increased height, from Wilson King, Edward Miguel, and Michael W. Walker www.nber.org/papers/w34769
“Uruguay did what most nations still call impossible: it built a power grid that runs almost entirely on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. The physicist who led that transformation says the same playbook could work anywhere—if governments have the courage to change the rules.”
Uruguay’s Renewable Charge: A Small Nation, A Big Lesson For The World
Uruguay built a power grid that runs 99% on renewables—at half the cost of fossil fuels. Here’s how its bold energy overhaul became a global model.
forbes.com
A glimmer of hope for US scientific research: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/s...
Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science
nytimes.com
Working in open science or meta-research? Present at the BITSS Annual Meeting in Berkeley! One of the leading conferences in this space.
BITSS@ucbitss.bsky.social · 10mo ago📣 Our call for speakers is open! Please submit presentations for the BITSS Annual Meeting on April 16 in Berkeley. We are looking for submissions on open science tools and practices, academic publishing, and the impact of AI on research. Apply by Jan 18: cega.submittable.com/submit/34250...
If you are a resident of California, the state now has a portal where you can demand deletion of your personal data from 500+ registered data brokers with a single request form, for free. consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
consumer.drop.privacy.ca.gov
Earlier this year, we hosted the 2025 WIDER Development Conference in Helsinki, celebrating #WIDER40! Themes on growth, equity, and innovative solutions, the conference united leading minds to tackle global challenges. Looking forward to 2026 in New Delhi! #2025recap
We found that Wisconsinites that grew up around smelt mines during the 1940s had steeper rates of cognitive decline in later life. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35146115/
Effect of childhood proximity to lead mining on late life cognition - PubMed
Proximity to lead mining in childhood had long-term effects on late life memory/attention decline and language/executive function, reflecting a possible latent influence of lead exposure. More research is needed to understand behavioral and biological pathways underlying this relationship.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Maxine Joselow@maxinejoselow.bsky.social · 10mo agoA copper smelter in Arizona is one of the country's largest sources of lead pollution. Trump exempted it from complying with clean-air rules for the next two years. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/c...
At the summit of Mount Fuji, hot bowls of udon soup await climbers. Many swear that the exhaustion makes the food taste better at 12,400 feet. Could a bowl of noodles and an unforgettable sunset justify the climb?
On Mount Fuji, summit udon is a lifesaver
Climbing Mount Fuji is a test of strength and stamina. Steaming bowls of curry udon await climbers who make the overnight hike.
washingtonpost.com
What would it cost to end extreme poverty? "We estimate that reducing the poverty rate to 1% ... would cost $170B nominal per year." "The results correspond to a cost of (approximately) ending extreme poverty of roughly 0.3% of global GDP."
The networks of economists who frequently show up in the Economic Report of the President. What stands out to you?
Pierre-Louis Vezina, Cevat Giray Aksoy, and Piotr Lewandowski show that, far from displacing local businesses, Ukrainian refugees in Poland sparked an entrepreneurial boom as they inspired Polish entrepreneurs and created new supply chain opportunities. cepr.org/voxeu/column... #EconSky
