Global development policy. Past: @YaleLawSch, 🇧🇯. Views mine. Subscribe to my Substack: https://xitter.gq/t.co/deUMR6V323
Washington D.C.
Joined July 2012
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Hmu if you're into this sort of thing
Aslı Ü. Bâli and Aziz Rana on the midterms, the US, and the world
go.nybooks.com/4kKnqt6
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Tim Hirschel-Burns retweeted
Alex Karp now says that Palantir is progressive, he’s always been a Democrat, Trump went too far on immigration and his primary commitment is to economic justice. LMAOOOOOO
Tim Hirschel-Burns retweeted
"A new Democratic administration would be succeeding a Trump administration dominated by nativist exclusion, international belligerence, and a unchecked commitment to the wealthy. Backlash to that could well land us in the direction we need to go."
And we need to make sure that opportunity is created for 2029 and Dems don't waste it.
If that which has not been possible will become possible, and if we are to build a future that enables yet more possibility, it will be in 2029.
Read full piece here timhirschelburns.substack.co…
The "Democrats should not bring back USAID" tweet that ruffled some feathers is, as I understand it upon further elaboration, an argument that *for the next two years* Congress should focus on funding multilateral financial institutions rather than a hollowed out USAID
Two days ago I said we should not bring back USAID. Here is what to do instead, at least in the short run, until we have a new system in place--go big on the multilaterals who have the capacity to implement effective programs, especially @worldbank's IDA.
cgdev.org/blog/quickest-path…
This all started with Abdul's response to a USAID question.
Abdul El-Sayed was never going to go on Morning Joe and say "given the state of staffing capacity in our bilateral agencies, upping contributions to IDA + PRGT would give more bang for the buck" xitter.gq/AbdulElSayed/status/21…
Someone told me that I should repost this for people like them who were too busy looking at memes last week and only now can get around to reading it.
So here you go! (And it's actually even more optimistic than you might be already, so read it!) timhirschelburns.substack.co…
Even for people who follow politics closely, I'm not sure it has fully sunk in how much everything revolves around 2029.
For any policy dream you have, if it's going to happen, it will be in 2029/30. We should all be planning accordingly.
I wrote about why:
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Lots of ppl have focused in on voters citing corruption as a top priority, but I do wonder how much it’s about corruption narrowly defined (Trump admin conflicts of interest, shady deals etc) vs “corruption” capturing a generalized sense that the government works for the powerful
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Tim Hirschel-Burns retweeted
Actual progressive and moderate politicians have shown they can work together so many times since at least the 2020 Bernie-Biden task force. The problem is that social media incentivizes influencers and media to dig into conflict and controversy to drive attention and engagement.
Tim Hirschel-Burns retweeted
Bro WHAT: "No. 3 seed Washington Spirit also cannot host a semifinal at Audi Field on Nov. 14 due to a Division III football game that is being played in the venue that day."
So the Spirit, should they get to the semifinals next week, could play at Northwest Stadium in Landover.
NEW: The #NWSL might have a semifinals venue crisis. None of top 3 seeds can host at usual venue on 11/14. Gotham at Icahn Stadium (5K seats) ~likely. 9 am PT semi still possible. NWSL working on it for months. ESPN obtained docs w/scenarios/principles.👇
espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/5…
Abdul hadn’t quite gotten to an affirmative vision for foreign policy yet. He did now and absolutely nailed it.
For those of us who want a foreign policy that lives up to our values and makes people safer everywhere, this is how you do it
This century, Dems have held a trifecta for just four years. Two of those were under Biden, when getting to 50 votes depended on Manchin and Sinema.
Well, everything suggests Dems will have a trifecta in 2029, and maybe even with 60 Senators. Get planning people
Last year, low and middle-income countries paid $425 billion just on the *interest* on their debts to foreign creditors.
To be clear, this isn't counting repayments of principal. This is saying they repaid what they borrowed AND nearly half a trillion dollars on top of that
NEW REPORT | External debt of developing countries jumped 5.5% to a record $9.4 trillion in 2025, the fastest pace since 2021, and about four times the 2022–24 average.
Access to international finance has improved, but the price of finance has not.
Read #IDR2026 ➡️ bit.ly/4A9y9BZ
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Tim Hirschel-Burns retweeted
new - House Dems are weighing changes to select China cmte next year. One option, per ppl familiar, is to broaden focus beyond China to explore issues related to other bad foreign actors. Jeffries has final decision over select committees
More in @semafor newsletter tomorrow am
Even for people who follow politics closely, I'm not sure it has fully sunk in how much everything revolves around 2029.
For any policy dream you have, if it's going to happen, it will be in 2029/30. We should all be planning accordingly.
I wrote about why:
What does it mean to live with that knowledge?
If there are policies it hasn't been possible to get adopted, make a plan *now* so that they can move fast in 2029.
If you work in policy, align your career for 2029-30. The two years could be frantic in the best way
And we need to make sure that opportunity is created for 2029 and Dems don't waste it.
If that which has not been possible will become possible, and if we are to build a future that enables yet more possibility, it will be in 2029.
Read full piece here timhirschelburns.substack.co…