Prof. Kai Gehring

Even at 72, Vladimir Putin retains a remarkable ability to speak and field questions for hours on end. Today, his speech and Q&A in Valdai lasted roughly four uninterrupted hours. I wonder how many secret organ transplants it's taken to achieve such endurance.

German Chancellor Merz clashed with Viktor Orban at the informal EU summit in Denmark, accusing him of sabotaging key discussions. The heated exchange broke out as leaders debated how to strengthen Europe’s defense against Russia and support Ukraine.

Why do you send so many drones to Denmark?

Putin: I won't do it anymore. I won't send anymore to Denmark, to France, to Copenhagen...

❗️Putin's logic:Poland has provoked Hitler who wanted to find a peaceful solution:

Poland made many mistakes.Germany offered to resolve the issue of Danzig&the Danzig Corridor peacefully.The Polish leadership at the time categorically refused&,in the end, became the first victim of Nazi aggression

Russian Telegram channels post about a total gas collapse at the M12 Moskva Kazan highway.

The woman filming says gas stations are spaced about 150 km apart, and there are hundreds of vehicles in line to each of them. She said about 130 cars are ahead of theirs in the line.

🇪🇺 EC President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will put €2 billion into Ukrainian drones, calling them key for both Ukraine’s defense and Europe’s own security. She added that if Ukraine is the first line of Europe’s defense, then support must not only continue but grow stronger.

This morning a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 “Ruslan,” the world’s heaviest cargo plane, landed at Ben Gurion Airport in israel. It loaded an unmarked 40-foot container before taking off back to Europe. Similar containers have reportedly previously been spotted at Israeli Patriot SAM sites.

This might, sadly, be the future. We will need Ukraine and their experience as much or more than they need us

Zelensky dismissed Lukashenko's peace pitch as out of touch, saying "Lukashenko lives in his own world; Putin sometimes visits and they chat, two old men."

I have. Seen. This. Movie before

Wow

Approval of Government Debt in Germany Rises When the Term “Kredite” Is Used Instead of “Schulden”

Press release on our new @cesifo.org WP w
@mathiasdolls.bsky.social @lisawindsteiger.bsky.social + Cevat & Justyna:
www.ifo.de/en/press-rel...

Kimmel came back but many others didn’t and nobody talks about them - journalists like @karenattiah.bsky.social, professors, many ordinary people who listen to their jobs. Trump’s biggest win is that the media still don’t treat his regime as a systematic attack on speech and the press.

This might, sadly, be the future. We will need Ukraine and their experience as much or more than they need us

Former Reform UK leader Nathan Gill has pleaded guilty to eight counts of taking payments from ex-MP Oleg Voloshyn in return for scripted pro-Russian statements in the European Parliament. Voloshyn is facing trial in Ukraine for treason and is under US and EU sanctions. Gill was released on bail.

Reconnaissance drones entered Ukrainian airspace from Hungary – Zelenskyy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has requested an investigation into reports that drones, possibly from Hungary, entered Ukrainian airspace, following a briefing from Oleksandr Syrskyi, Command...

‼️ Reconnaissance drones entered Ukrainian airspace from Hungary

Explicitly targeting opposition speech, the conspiratorial talk of NGOs and foreign agents, the use of tax authority... This is the Putin/Orban playbook, pretty much verbatim.

Over 14,000 physicians currently practicing in the United States, concentrated in underserved Midwestern+Southern states, are currently working on H-1B visas.

This is the high-skill visa program, lifeblood for critical sectors, that the US Administration is sledgehammering.

doi.org/10.1007/s116...

I understand why students don’t love spending a semester drawing supply and demand curves, but this is why we make people students spend a semester drawing supply and demand curves

Quite damming for US democrats. Even ignoring personal popularity (or the lack of) they are dominated on many less policy issues by a republican party that doesn't quite have any comprehensive concepts on its own

Depolarization is not "a scalable solution for reducing societal-level conflict.... achieving lasting depolarization will likely require....moving beyond individual-level treatments to address the elite behaviors and structural incentives that fuel partisan conflict" www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

The U.S. lifted sanctions on Belavia, raising fears spare parts could reach Russia’s airlines. Washington bans flights to Russia, but enforcement is doubtful due to Belarus-Russia’s open borders. The move risks a rift with the EU, which still blocks parts and services.

Come visit us in Singapore 🇸🇬
www.asiaone.com/singapore/ul...

Communicating economic research: How to summarise academic papers for a policy audience How can researchers write accessible summaries of academic research? In this blog, I reflect on some key takeaways from editing over 500 VoxDev articles that summarise policy-relevant research in deve...

How can you summarise your research for a wider audience?

I think it's a no-brainer to present your work in a way that's accessible to those outside academia.

Having edited over 500 @voxdev.bsky.social articles, I've put what I've learned into this blog: voxdev.org/topic/commun...

A more integrated capital market in #Europe could strengthen investment and boost GDP by 1.5% by reducing the cost of capital and encouraging the entry of investors more inclined to finance innovative projects.
F Venditti, M Caivano, P Cova, K Pallara, M Pisani
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

The first batch of military equipment under the PURL program, an agreement between the US and NATO, has arrived in Ukraine, with more shipments on the way. Funded by allies, the initiative revives U.S. arms transfers to Kyiv from NATO stockpiles. Incoming aid includes Patriot and HIMARS missiles.

My favorite conversations are when people invoke market failures and it turns out that it's true, except that the failure was created by government policy.

Russian Z-propagandist Maksim Kalashnikov publicly admits that Putin’s so-called "liberation" army has brought nothing but destruction to the residents of Donbas and other occupied territories of Ukraine.

"We came to 'liberate' Russian regions, but we’ve turned them into ruins.

Conservative and Liberal Americans demand a health policy driven by science, not loyalty to a cabal, because our lives depend on it.

King Charles III: “Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand united in support of Ukraine to deter aggression.” Meanwhile, Trump gives a token nod but keeps pressuring Zelensky to give up land instead of backing Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Russia Is Shrewdly Playing the Long Game in Africa What if Moscow’s most dangerous moves right now aren’t in Europe, but along the Gulf of Guinea? With its resources sunk deep into Ukraine, the Russian

After Ukraine, Moscow may turn its attention south. Africa Corps is already paving the way.