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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Mar 12

What do jobs look like for people who work in the international development and humanitarian sector? Obviously bleak in the short run, and dire for families with two earners in the sector. If you're a student or young person who hoped to enter this industry, some thoughts.

Little has changed about actual development. There will, sadly, still be wars and crises, and more than 2/3 of the world is still developing, whether USAID $ flows or not. When it comes to "development", aid was a source of jobs but it was never main engine of change.

One of Ethiopia's most successful and dynamic businessmen is a friend, and I still remember his complaint from 15 years ago. He was trying to buy up and reform and improve dozens of factories. His big shortage? "I need more accountants and merger specialists."

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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Mar 5

I was skeptical of the $200/mo price tag for ChatGPT DeepResearch, but man is it paying off. The ability to get a cogent, well-referenced, literature review or annotated bibliography in 7 minutes is incredible.

Short thread on how I've used it. Advice/feedback welcome.

Some examples:

I know the "behavioral conflict" literature well—how psychological biases, beliefs, and emotions lead us to bargaining failures. I wanted to apply these to civil courts for a prospective project in Mexico, and develop survey instrument to understand what biases disputants hold. I had spent months assembling copious notes on such studies when writing my book. DeepResearch found several important studies I had not seen, and helped me find ones had concrete information on survey questions and other measurement tools. So it complemented me even on a subject where I arguably know more than most scholars in the world.

In another example, faced with an opportunity to study the effect of getting a pre-trial defense lawyer in Mexico, in 7 minutes DeepResearch had pointed me to half a dozen high quality studies, so I was able to immediately see where the research frontier is, and to what extent my team and I should spend time investigating the project. I could have done this on my own, but it would have probably take a couple of hours on Google, and I may not have found the relevant studies.

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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Jul 30, 2024

On Venezuela, some semi-informed reflections from afar (and from other cases):

Obviously the previous regime (and to some extent this one) has endured large scale protests before with unexpected fortitude

At the same time…

…the handling of the election and the way Maduro announced victory this time seemed way more inept than in the past. Whereas before they were amazingly skillful this seems inept. Especially when they had so much time to prepare. It was a car crash in slow motion.

I don’t want to oversimplify literature on repression, but a rough pattern: moderate repression often backfires on regime, generating more anger than fear. Strong & certain repression often works. Unclear is whether Maduro has the support or state capacity to repress strongly

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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Nov 2, 2023

I checked in on a friend the other day to see how he was doing. He’s not Israeli, but like many Jewish Americans he has close friends & family who are near the attacks or being called up to fight. He’s worried & mourning & also a little demoralized. He said something powerful.

What’s so disconcerting, he said, is that here are a set of truly heinous acts by Hamas. Why isn’t there universal condemnation, without qualification?

When others are terrorized, the world seems quicker to sympathize. How can Jews like him not feel somewhat abandoned?

I too was surprised by the tone & vehemence of some reactions on the left. To me it’s like 2015, when I was surprised just how many Americans still held white nationalist views. We all knew those extreme & hateful opinions were there. We just didn’t realize how many there were.

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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Jul 14, 2023

Just hired a 21yo for their first job. What basic professional advice do they need? Here's what I tell all my new staff, but perhaps you can add. I'll start small.

1/ Use an online calendar. Have a foolproof system of reminders, so you never forget a deadline or obligation.

2/ Use the calendar to schedule intensive work time, not just meetings. Some kinds of work (like research or coding or writing) benefits from long, uninterrupted blocks of time. Most people schedule meetings only, and don't schedule these long blocks. Do both.

3/ Organize your contacts. Make a habit of saving everyone's names, emails and other contact info in a way that syncs across your devices. Keep notes of key info, like birthdays and the names of spouses and children.

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Chris Blattman

@cblatts

Jun 24, 2023

An unexpected joy of being at the ⁦@BeckerFriedman⁩ political economy conference in Paris is having ⁦@k_sonin⁩ give us a real-time paper presentation on events as they evolve in the previous 24h. Will try to capture some of the main points.

Forgive me in advance for all the ways I will misunderstand and misquote Kostyra

Prigozhin, he reminds us, is not autonomous but is essentially a branch of Russian military and intelligence

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