Distinguished Professor of Economics, Oxfam Professor in Environmental and Resource Economics, & Faculty co-Director of the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
From seasonal hunger to sustainable hope: how Berkeley’s Edward Miguel transforms field experiments in Africa into data-driven solutions for poverty, conflict and climate resilience.
Preaching humility, he inspired new levels of transparency in economics and other fields
Students, faculty and community members gathered in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus to support international students and protest threats by the Trump administration to cut federal funding to a growing number of elite universities.
Over a thousand people gathered at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on March 7 to protest cuts to federal research funding in a nationwide “Stand Up for Science” movement. Speakers criticized the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts, which threaten funding for institutions like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as mass firings and the elimination of USAID research programs.
Professor Edward Miguel, who was part of the rally organizers, emphasized that these cuts undermine both science and democracy, contradicting the U.S. founding fathers’ vision of supporting scientific research. “This dual assault on science and democracy is not aligned with our country’s founding vision,” said Miguel. “The founding fathers created scientific societies to promote scientific research and they saw it as essential to our democracy. … And their vision has paid off handsomely. The U.S. has been the world’s unrivaled scientific and technological leader for the last 80 years.”
The event highlighted concerns that reduced funding would stifle curiosity-driven research and limit opportunities for aspiring scientists, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many protesters held signs emphasizing the vital role of science in public health and environmental protection, with messages like “Science Saves Lives” and “Fund Science Like Your Life Depended on It.” The protest concluded with a march through campus, reaffirming the commitment of researchers, students, and faculty to defending scientific research and its societal impact,
At rallies across the United States, including Berkeley, San Francisco, and Palo Alto, communities gathered to defend scientific research against proposed federal funding cuts by the Trump administration.
Speaking to ABC7 News, Professor Ted Miguel emphasized the fundamental role of science in daily life, stating, “Science isn’t just some abstract thing. It’s what makes us healthy, it’s what makes us rich, it’s what gives us technology – it gives us our iPhone. So, if we attack it, we’re really not going to live the same kind of lives we want to live and I think it’s really dangerous.”
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) faces substantial budget reductions, jeopardizing research into critical diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease. Since January, grant funding has been threatened, and thousands of scientific employees have lost their jobs, raising concerns about the long-term consequences.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked the NIH budget reductions, but the battle over funding continues.
The Stand Up For Science protest took place at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza on Friday 7th March, with hundreds rallying before marching through campus. Part of a nationwide movement, the protest aimed to prevent political censorship in science, reinstate terminated federal employees, and restore research funding and DEI initiatives.
Ted Miguel joined the protest, standing in solidarity together with other students and faculty members from UC Berkeley. Speaking to The Daily Californian, Ted remarked, “First of all, we want to inform people. There have been such radical changes: firing government scientists, cutting government research grants — it’s been really devastating for scientific research and threatens the fact that our universities and scientific institutions are the best in the world.”
Other UC Berkeley speakers included Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, Bryan Méndez and Rena Dorph who warned that funding cuts threaten their work and science education programs.
Co-sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), the protest featured chants like “save democracy, protect science.” Protesters argued that Trump’s policies undermine progress and economic growth, contradicting his promises of a “golden age of America.”
A recent study published in The Economic Journal investigates the direct impact of temperature on economic decision-making and destructive behavior by Ingvild Almås, Maximilian Auffhammer, Tessa Bold, Ian Bolliger, Aluma Dembo, Solomon M Hsiang, Shuhei Kitamura, Edward Miguel, Robert Pickmans.
The World Bank blog post explores the indirect effects of cash transfer programs, focusing on how benefits extend beyond direct recipients. It examines new research findings that challenge previous assumptions, revealing that spillover effects are often more significant for non-recipients in treated areas. The discussion highlights the complexity of measuring these impacts and the importance of considering heterogeneous outcomes when evaluating such programs.
Robinson helped to transform the study of development in low-income countries, and built a network of influential former students. His win is now one of four 2024 Nobel Prizes awarded to scholars with UC Berkeley connections.
The US presidential race can be seen as a tussle between ‘universal’ and ‘situational’ views of the law
This article discusses some of the highlights from the 2024 Africa Evidence Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
BERKELEY, CA (20 June 2024) – To commemorate World Refugee Day, the Syrian Refugee Life Study (S-RLS) today provided open access to four years of comprehensive panel data from its longitudinal study of Syrian refugee households. Seeking to address a critical gap in evidence about displaced communities, the researchers behind the study hope to encourage more research into the refugee crisis and inform better policy and practice.
