Max Gallien
@maxgallien.bsky.social
Political Economy, Development, Informality, Tax, North Africa. Author, "Smugglers and States" (Columbia 2024). Research Fellow IDS and ICTD. 💚🐧
The decision of so many people to keep using X in its race-war phase has made me a bit more cynical overall about the ability to draw moral red lines. It’s beyond disappointing.
It's funny how no-one ever asks where the money is coming from when you announce a cut in immigration.
every time you write overly defensively you should remember that you are pursuing a strategy of writing careful sentences specifically for people who demonstrably either won't or can't read them
BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2mo agothere is literally no amount of caveats or careful wording that will protect you from stupidity or bad faith, so you might as well say things straightforwardly and strongly to begin with.
Glad to have been able to contribute a chapter on 'Informal Authoritarian Bargains' to this excellent handbook - it's all open acess, so perfect for next term's reading lists!
Dana El Kurd@danaelkurd.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt's out! The full "Handbook on Authoritarianism in the Arab World" is available open access here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia...
It's out! The full "Handbook on Authoritarianism in the Arab World" is available open access here: www.bloomsburycollections.com/encyclopedia...
To all my colleagues still using X: is this not enough evidence that you must stop using it?
Sunder Katwala (sundersays)@sundersays.bsky.social · 3mo agoX owner Elon Musk has reposted his Sept 2025 call that pre-emptive inter-ethnic violence (civil war) is necessary for 'self-defence "Elon Musk was always right "You either fight back, or you die."
One of the most frustrating effects of AI in academia must be that it tinges the absolute joy of reading a set of great student essays with doubt and suspicion
This is an unforgivably stupid situation. It is an astonishing own goal to try and drive student numbers down to move an immigration number that in turn is totally ignored by the anti-immigrant head bangers.
Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 3mo agoUK universities cut jobs, research and teaching amid squeeze in overseas students - www.ft.com/content/ded7... I don't really understand why any administration would not try to reverse the fall in overseas student numbers, but I guess I'm a naive liberal
One of David Attenborough's best speeches. Today we're celebrating the 100th Birthday of the humanist and naturalist David Attenborough! Thank you for a lifetime of inspirational broadcasting and devotion to science and the natural world.
FWIW, I don’t think the major problem in my field, or related ones, is that people need to move faster & produce more. I read a lot of papers as part of the job, and I’m increasingly convinced we’d benefit from fewer papers and better ones, not more mediocre work produced ever more “efficiently.”
I want a "conference" where every academic cooks a dish for everyone and we all talk about our work casually while cooking. People can sous chef for each other. We eat and talk about our work in progress. You submit an abstract and a recipe.
books: the rectangle that can’t send you push notifications. Try: books.
👏 Congratulations, Max! In his new article with the ILR, Max revisits how we define and measure the informal sector, and the implications for research and policy. 🔔 Out now and #OA via @openlibhums.org with an early view from our Issue 2 for 2026 @ids.ac.uk
Max Gallien@maxgallien.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew article: why a lot of #informality research has been broken by poor measurements and inappropriate modelling - and what we can do about it. Completely open access in @ilr-rit.bsky.social: en.ilr-rit.org/article/pubi...
New article: why a lot of #informality research has been broken by poor measurements and inappropriate modelling - and what we can do about it. Completely open access in @ilr-rit.bsky.social: en.ilr-rit.org/article/pubi...
Measurement and mirage: The informal sector revisited
Recent years have seen rapidly expanding scholarship and policy advice on the causes and consequences of informality, relying on the increasing availability of comparative measurements of informal sec...
en.ilr-rit.org
If you're at #ISA2026 (or even if you're not), the good people at Columbia University Presa got you 20% off my book with the code below! (And for a couple of much more interesting books as well..)
Columbia University Press@columbiaup.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe’re proud of our award-winning authors. #ISA2026 attendees can stop by booth 300 to browse titles that have received awards from the Australian Political Studies Association, the American Political Science Association, and more. buff.ly/hwkllZ8 @isanet.bsky.social
It is completely mad that the government is expelling high flying Sudanese students from British universities - from a scheme that is explicitly aimed at the future leaders of countries.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6mo ago39 Sudanese Chevening Scholarship finalists ejected this week from consideration for the scheme, for being Sudanese.
The government's immigration proposals are an obscenity: They needlessly punish refugees, make integration basically impossible, and introduce a sliding system of administrative abuse depending on how wealthy you are iandunt.substack.com/p/can-we-ext...
Can we extract the Reform nonsense from Labour?
These immigration proposals are obscene, but the government can be forced to think again.
iandunt.substack.com
Every #Ramadan, the people of #Pakistan give over 600 billion rupees in #zakat - more than any state social welfare program. And, as our recent study found, the majority of that goes to women - a good reminder in these days of what people can do. Full working paper here: www.ictd.ac/publication/...
🌙As Ramadan begins, attention turns to zakat — one of the five pillars of Islam. As many Muslims choose to pay zakat during Ramadan, this month represents a key period for wealth redistribution. But how much is actually paid? And to whom? Find out➡️ https://ow.ly/C9rk50YhJMN Max Gallien Umair Javed
Zakat as Non-State Social Welfare Provision: Distributional Dynamics and Gender Equity in Pakistan - ICTD
We examine the distributional dynamics of zakat in Pakistan to help understand non-state welfare provision in a Muslim-majority country.
ow.ly
An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’ Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'
Man I long for the day when I get to write opening paragraphs that aren't endless variations on "well, we know that the world is on fire".
📝NEW POLICY BRIEF: With tax now the main source of dev't finance, countries are under pressure to raise tax revenue fast. But done poorly, these could have damaging effects. The key is to tax smarter - but how? ➡️ ow.ly/2VCf50Wg8NU #FfD4 #Tax4Dev #TaxResearch
The Tax Era of Development: Taxing Smarter for Equity, Growth, and Resilience - ICTD
Tax is not only the primary source of financing in lower-income countries, but also the lynchpin of development finance.
ow.ly
NEW RESEARCH: Are Pakistanis supportive of wealth taxes? Here is what we found⬇️ 1️⃣Support for wealth taxes cuts across class, income and gender 2️⃣It increases when people feel that taxes are spent well and transparently 3️⃣Trust in the state drives support Find out more: www.ictd.ac/publication/...
Public Support for Wealth and Progressive Taxes in Pakistan - ICTD
This brief explores public support for wealth taxation and the factors that shape those attitudes in Pakistan.
ictd.ac
If you're coming to #FfD4 in Seville next week and are interested in talking the future of tax & development, get in touch! I'll be there with a wonderful delegation of the @ictdtax.bsky.social - and we have a side event well worth checking out: www.ictd.ac/event/ffd4-s...
FfD4 Side Event | From Insight to Impact: Harnessing Research Collaboration to Build Better Tax Systems - ICTD
On July 3rd, the ICTD will host a side event at the Fourth International Conference on...
ictd.ac
📰New data: Is there public support for new #progressive and #wealth_taxes in Pakistan? Our policy brief dissects brand new public opinion data on a range of wealth and progressive tax proposals, based on a survey of 7500 voting-age Pakistanis. What do we find? (1/...) www.ictd.ac/publication/...
