Economist at @JohnsHopkins & Fellow @PIIE. Also IZA, @RF_Berlin, & @CGDev. Assoc. Editor JEP. Personal views only.
Washington, DC
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In my keynote at the @DallasFed / @SMU last month, I explored the root causes of the policy crisis at the Southwest Border
Video of my slides, audio of me—> piped.video/watch?v=G8rPhGaQ… (starts at 9:42, with gracious introduction by Pia Orrenius)
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Goodbye to one of the greats, my advisor Jeff Williamson (1935–2026)
Jeff your unstoppable intellect & excitement were contagious. I owe everything I have to your rare faith in me.
From the many like me: Our deepest and forever thanks. Your work & your self will be remembered.
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Michael Clemens retweeted
This is bad news for the US universities, bad for long term interests of US economy, labor markets, and for the overall competitiveness of the US in the world.
If the top performing minds in the world prefer your country, that’s an asset to work with. Not smt to chase away.
The White House is poised to announce a large new tax on international students who stay to work in the US after graduation.
In a new paper out today at @rfberlin.bsky.social, I analyze the sweeping impacts of this tax on students, US universities, and US firms—>
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Michael Clemens retweeted
Yes. And the difference matters for legal reasons, as taxation is a congressional power that hasn’t been delegated to the executive here.
Countless people will report the new H-1B tax as a “fee”.
It is not. That word is used by advocates of the tax trying 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 —>
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The owner of this network calls for murdering immigrants.
The ongoing control of this once-great network by such a filthy, poisonous supremacist makes my stomach churn and it is the reason that many of us who built this network have stayed away.
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Countless people will report the new H-1B tax as a “fee”.
It is not. That word is used by advocates of the tax trying 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 —>
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A fee is a payment to directly offset the cost of a private benefit provided by the government, like the fee you pay to get a passport.
They-1B tax is not a fee, it is a tax. Please report it accurately.
rfberlin.com/network-paper/t…
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The new H-1B tax gets announced tomorrow.
The original $100K tax was ruled illegal. The White House made its successor: a $103K tax on *all* private sector H-1Bs.
Much more drastic than the original: NO EXCEPTION for people already in the US (like grads of US universities) —>
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The White House is poised to announce a large new tax on international students who stay to work in the US after graduation.
In a new paper out today at @rfberlin.bsky.social, I analyze the sweeping impacts of this tax on students, US universities, and US firms—>
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In my paper released today at the @RF_Berlin Institute for the Economy & the Future of Work, I estimate selected impacts of this major new tax on international students, on US universities, and on US firms —>
rfberlin.com/network-paper/t…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
"...there is no such thing as a fixed amount of discoveries to be made or a certain amount of new pharmaceuticals that will be discovered, or new medical treatments that will be discovered, & either natives make them or foreigners make them. That is not how innovation happens." - @m_clem.
statnews.com/2026/08/07/nih-…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
A one-third reduction in US STEM graduates from abroad, sustained over ten years, would result in a smaller US economy than otherwise—equivalent to losing an economy the size of Wisconsin or Utah annually. By @m_clem, @AmyMNice, & @JeremyLNeufeld:
piie.com/blogs/realtime-econ…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
In this post, I summarize why Trump's new restrictions on foreign students are harmful and unjust, relying in large part on excellent analyses by @David_J_Bier and @m_clem: reason.com/volokh/2026/07/18…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
A very valuable analysis of the damage that the new duration of status rule will do to science and to the economy. Many thanks to Dan Berger, Michael Clemens @m_clem, Stephen Yale-Loehr, Taylor Joseph, and Ezra Brown for producing this comprehensive analysis.
These types of restriction are the opposite of meritocracy.
My new piece at @BrookingsInst with an expert team—>
brookings.edu/articles/what-…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
US visas issued to international students fell by roughly a third in 2025. Today, DHS finalized changes to a rule known as "Duration of Status" — a move that will help lock that decline in place. The fallout for the STEM workforce, innovation, and economic growth could be severe.
A sustained one-third decline in foreign STEM graduates entering the US labor force would shrink the high-skill STEM workforce by 6.2% overall and by 11.5% at the PhD level. Over a decade, that would cut annual US GDP by $240 billion to $481 billion, comparable to losing an entire state's economy.
That's the estimate from @AmyMNice, in a guest research brief for Hoover's Immigration Initiative, drawing on research she co-authored with @m_clem and @JeremyLNeufeld.
Read the full brief: hoover.org/research/breaking…
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One third of all PhD STEM workers in the US are immigrants who studied at a US university.
Today the US Administration extended its efforts to slash high-skill immigration, undermining foreign students' trust that they can complete their degrees & work afterwards.
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My new piece at @BrookingsInst with an expert team—>
brookings.edu/articles/what-…
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Michael Clemens retweeted
A one-third reduction in US STEM graduates from abroad, sustained over ten years, would result in a smaller US economy than otherwise—equivalent to losing an economy the size of Wisconsin or Utah annually. By @m_clem, @AmyMNice, & @JeremyLNeufeld:
piie.com/blogs/realtime-econ…
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