EIC, In Development. Formerly horizon scanning @ Ren Phil, research fellow @ Open Phil. Mostly on Twitter.
Lauren Gilbert
Karma: 992
I think the most surprising thing is that Founder Mode is real? I am spending so much time sweating the tiny details and honestly it’s really fun.
It’s been definitely easier than I expected; particularly, I expected to have a hard time convincing people to contribute to a new magazine, but I’ve been amazed how willing people have been.
I have a giant list! Saloni Dattani and Jacob Trefethan are the top, but also I’d love to publish some of the writers that got me into global development in the first place—Paul Collier, Samantha Power, and (in my dreams) Amartya Sen.
In Development: Discussion Thread
In Development Magazine Launch
Updates From The Immigration Literature in 2025
Immigrant Cultural Assimilation In The United States
Call for Pitches: In Development Issue 1 [New Development Magazine]
Immigration and Innovation
2025-2026 Within-Country Migration Job Market Papers
Return Migration
Two (Meta)science Conferences I Think Should Exist
What happens when you send Ugandan students to Germany?
Agree on housing, disagree on NHS: https://www.laurenpolicy.com/p/uk-immigration-and-public-services
Are recent immigrants a “ticking time bomb” for British public finances?
It seems this pathway no longer exists?
I would say “having roughly similar migration as several other rich countries” does mean not “open borders”, as I think few people would claim that open borders is currently the state of entrance into most rich countries. (Certainly, as an immigrant in the UK, it has not been my experience.)
In answer to those points:
About one in four UK tourist visas is refused, which does not seem that easy. The UK has a relatively small number of migrants that arrive by sea, compared to other European countries with a long coastline. About half of asylum applications are denied. Most denied asylum seekers then leave the country.
So I stand by “open borders seems like quite the exaggeration”.
Update: I have edited, and added a footnote saying you corrected me, linking to this comment, and noting that I offered you a bug bounty.
You’re correct that I accidentally used the 2023 work visa total instead of 2024 work visa total.
I’ll edit. As per my bug bounty policy, I’ll also donate $10 to a charity of your choice: https://www.laurenpolicy.com/p/announcing-a-bug-bounty-for-this
That being said, I am relatively unconcerned about the fiscal effects of this given 1) dependents are allowed to work in the UK (unlike in the US), 2) cohort wages look decent through 2023, and 3) labor force participation for non-UK born remains higher than for the UK born (through 2025).
For the first two issues (as we get spun up): one per week for six weeks (so two more this issue) and then a six week break
After the first two issues, one per week every week of the year!