Development Economics X is research on global inequalities in the present and in history with the future of development economics. Featuring .@KwekuOA

"Develop" is a verb. @DevEconX.

A great homage to Ghana sports culture. Credit: Elorm Paul Senah H/T .@FOXSoccer

Great question. What's that accent, and why does it sound so different from how many Ghanaians sound today? Well, that's called a British-influenced Received Pronounciation (RP)-style accent, which was common among the early-generation colonial-era Gold Coast "intelligentsia" trained in British-style schools or the UK. Over time, there was a broader evolution of Ghanaian English over generations toward a more localized variety shaped by Akan, Ewe, Ga, Dagbani, Nzema and other indigenous phonologies (e.g. different vowel qualities like the "strut" vowel, stress patterns and rhythms.) (In Ghanaian English, the strut vowel (found in words like how Ghanaians pronounce words like "cut", "love", "come", and "strut") is characteristically pronounced as an open, central vowel, similar to the /a/ sound (or sometimes an /ɔ/ sound)). The expanded education, combined with the local teachers, and the reduced direct British influence all led to the natural emergence of distinct Ghanaian English varieties over time. The old accent was tied to a tiny, colonial-era elite in a time where formal education was extremely scarce; its "disappearance" reflects Ghana's success in educating far more people over time.

RT @KwekuOA: Yes. All that is also mostly why AI research had to be industrial in scope to get to this point, I think sometimes. Developm…

Development economics as science and engineering. Test. Measure. Learn. Improve. Scale. Jojo shows how randomized controlled trials help policymakers learn what truly works before scaling national programs. Better evidence for better decisions. Development for all.

Focus on the big picture.

🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭 Let's keep rising.

Today’s episode of ADVENTURES OF IMPACT explores something rarely shown in storytelling: How countries can learn what actually works before scaling policy nationwide. In “The Pilot,” Jojo witnesses a randomized controlled trial designed to test different industrial policy interventions - from finance to technical training - and discovers why evidence matters in development. Because serious progress is not built on guesswork. It’s built on learning. Brought to you by .@DevEconX.

Pretty good foresight.

RT @KwekuOA: The core of your point may well be correct. If economists made that mistake, we did it before electrical engineers—economics i…

The work begins. From design to delivery. ADVENTURES OF IMPACT: The Design Review.

Good point. ADVENTURES OF IMPACT is one such epic original series. developmenteconomicsx.com/ma…

If you want to see how we're turning that 2018 vision into actual impact, follow our journey here: 👉 @DevEconX 👉 @mlxdoing

Fun times.

In 2018, I stood on a stage in SF, flanked by the logos you see here, and made a bold prediction: "AI will someday do end-to-end economic research." The room was deeply skeptical. Some of the sharpest minds told me it was impossible. To be fair, it sounded like sci-fi back then. Unbeknownst to most of us, Google had just quietly dropped the Transformer paper. The world was about to change. Today, that "outlandish" vision is becoming reality. AI agents are beginning to formulate hypotheses, run regressions, and draft papers. Being early can feel lonely, but it’s incredible when the world catches up. Building on the independent research ideas I explored during my time there, I later founded Machine Learning X Doing and Development Economics X. We aren't waiting for the future: we're building it. 🚀

We use development economics to solve global challenges, yet university administrations supporting that and other departments are left using "intuition" to defend their own budgets. It’s time to bring this science home. This is our race against time against vibes-based resource allocation:

Vibes don't belong in resource allocation. Yet, millions are spent simply because someone "felt it would work", only for budgets to be cut based on speculation later. Get causal clarity. Confidently optimize programs for funding. Discover your potential outcomes. 👇 #Video

Well, the incentives had the outcomes being more reasonable once upon a time, so they can be better than they currently are again.