Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
Fellow at the Development Policy Centre. Aid, political economy, Melanesian politics. My writing at: https://devpolicy.org/author/terencewood/
Political science
40%
Sociology
28%
Update on Lives Lost from USAID Cuts
In this blog, we report on an update to our earlier estimates of the potential mortality impacts of the administration’s aid cuts. A similar approach to our original estimates using financial data to ...
www.cgdev.org
A grim update on the number of lives potentially lost thanks to US aid cuts from @cgdev.org: www.cgdev.org/blog/update-...
www.cgdev.org
This is spot on from @charlesjkenny.bsky.social. "Aid isn't fairy dust", what it should and shouldn't be focused on: www.cgdev.org/sites/defaul...
Does development matter?
What is development? Is it good? And where does aid fit in?
open.substack.com
In parts of academia international development is viewed as a mere construct -- a discourse of control. This is nonsense, as I explain in my most recent Substack post development is real and it matters. open.substack.com/pub/terencew...
A tale of two Chinas
Understanding China is essential if we want to give good aid in the Pacific
open.substack.com
Want to know what the real -- actually existing -- China wants? There were two great presentations on this at the Australasian Aid Conference. You can watch them via the links in my newsletter: open.substack.com/pub/terencew...
Also, at least as it was taught to me, it seemed like the median voter's views were fixed and clear, whereas in reality they're often fuzzy and subject to change.
China, the Global South and the post-American international order - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
Current shifts in Western aid are structural and, while China isn't simply filling the gap, it's actively seeking tactical advantage, says Eric Olander.
devpolicy.org
What if we dealt with the actually existing China in the Pacific rather than the phantom menace that haunts Wellington and Canberra? A barnstorming presentation from Eric Olander at the Australasian Aid Conference summarised neatly in this blog: devpolicy.org/china-the-gl...
Pacific democracy: global indices and lived realities | Devpolicy Talks
This episode explores the state of democracy in the Pacific, focusing on a joint report by International IDEA and the Australia National University's Department of Pacific Affairs. The report, release...
devpolicytalks.simplecast.com
What's the state of democracy like in the Pacific? Listen to this Devpol podcast to hear the answers: devpolicytalks.simplecast.com/episodes/pac...
Reposted by Libby Robin
File under "Late Capitalism Afterall". Via Gallup polling
Fifteen Years
xkcd.com
i’m not crying you’re crying
xkcd: Fifteen Years
xkcd: Fifteen Years
Reposted by Lawrence F. Katz, Dan Goldhaber, Will Jennings , and 13 more Lawrence F. Katz, Dan Goldhaber, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Scott L. Greer, Michael A. Clemens, Nathan Nunn, Jason N. Doctor, Joshua Goodman, Aaron Sojourner, Amy W. Ando, Juan Moreno‐Cruz, Terence Wood, Paul Nightingale, Evan Roberts, Peter Bergman
Republican Support and Economic Hardship: The Enduring Effects Of the Opioid Epidemic
Abstract. In this paper, we establish a causal connection between two of the most salient social developments in the United States over the past decades: t
doi.org
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Republican Support and Economic Hardship: The Enduring Effects of the Opioid Epidemic,” by Arteaga (@caroartc.bsky.social) and Barone (@vickybarone.bsky.social): doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Nov 23
Argument well made in this NY-Times op-ed that China, whilst not benevolent, is not an expansionary power. Link to interesting journal article too. It would be great if the Australia/NZ Fright Industry paid attention. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
Opinion | The Thucydides Trap Is Coming for America
www.nytimes.com
Might be of interest @robertwrighter.bsky.social
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Nov 23
Opinion | The Thucydides Trap Is Coming for America
www.nytimes.com
Argument well made in this NY-Times op-ed that China, whilst not benevolent, is not an expansionary power. Link to interesting journal article too. It would be great if the Australia/NZ Fright Industry paid attention. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
Reposted by Terence Wood
“Food, doctors, and everything else are desperately needed”
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Nov 18
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
An interesting new paper: would people be willing to trade off democracy against things such as affluence and security? journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Beyond aid part 3: rethinking the role of private finance from trillions to realism - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
The ”billions to trillions” narrative has faded and the focus has now shifted to global public finance, says Nicola Nixon et al.
devpolicy.org
File under: "well who could have seen that coming". The Billions to Trillions agenda of using aid to crowd in private finance for development hasn't worked: devpolicy.org/beyond-aid-p...
Tying New Zealand aid is an awful idea
Some people want New Zealand to tie its aid. Here's why that would be a bad idea
open.substack.com
New Zealand businesses are lobbying the government to tie more of its aid to the Pacific. In this post I explain why this would be a terrible idea: open.substack.com/pub/terencew...?
Reposted by Terence Wood
Dr Sharon Bell
@sharonbell.bsky.social
· Oct 29
Pacific faces major aid shortfall as NZ and Western donors scale back - Lowy Institute report
Lowy Institute report says New Zealand is expected to reduce its overseas aid funding by about 35 percent in the next two years.
www.rnz.co.nz
Dr @terencewoodnz.bsky.social “said that New Zealand's aid approach, amid an ever-increasing scarcity, is becoming more transactional rather than being based on a larger vision for long-term outcomes”. 😬
www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/internationa...
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Oct 22
MrBeast is Aid's Biggest Spokesperson
If you're surprised, it's because you're living in yesterday's media environment
timhirschelburns.substack.com
Welcome to the new world of aid influencing. This from @timhirschelburns.bsky.social makes me think I need to get out more often, or actually stay in more often and watch YouTube: timhirschelburns.substack.com/p/mrbeast-is...
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Oct 22
electiondataarchive.org
Note to self THEA (used to be CLEA) has election data on a lot of Pacific countries: electiondataarchive.org/wp-content/u...
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Oct 21
The Social and Individual Effects of Homeless Shelter: Evidence from Temporary Shelter Provision
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
More interesting research on NBER: homeless shelters help www.nber.org/papers/w34376
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Oct 21
The Impact of Cellphone Bans in Schools on Student Outcomes: Evidence from Florida
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
Interesting research: cellphone bans are not unproblematic, but they do seem to lead to better education outcomes: www.nber.org/papers/w34388
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Oct 14
Other Official Flows: Why More Than ODA Matters
In this blog I highlight that by ignoring Other Official Flows (roughly, official finance not concessional enough to be counted as ODA), analysts are significantly misinterpreting trends in developmen...
www.cgdev.org
Prediction: this is all going to end in tears - www.cgdev.org/blog/other-o...
jamelle
@jamellebouie.net
· Oct 8
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...
Reposted by Terence Wood
Palestine and the Pacific • Nic Maclellan
Why have island nations been so prominent among supporters of Israel?
insidestory.org.au
Last month, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka opened Fiji’s new embassy in Jerusalem. My Inside Story report looks at recent Pacific diplomatic support for Israel - a sharp contrast to international condemnation of Israeli policy in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
insidestory.org.au/palestine-an...
insidestory.org.au/palestine-an...
Australians are becoming more supportive of aid – slowly - Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre
Australians on the right and the left of the political spectrum are now more supportive of aid than they once were, says Terence Wood.
devpolicy.org
Australians are becoming more supportive of aid spending over time. My latest blog post from our public opinion survey data. Very surprised by trends among conservative voters: devpolicy.org/australians-... @amitam.bsky.social
Mythbusters: Development economics edition
Economic research plays a very useful role in testing our priors and establishing when widely held beliefs turn out to be false.
voxdev.org
Very useful discussion of some key development economics myths: voxdev.org/topic/mythbu...
Fossil Fuels and Fossilized Minds
What’s driving the doomed attempt to revive coal?
open.substack.com
Of windmills and windbags, @pkrugman.bsky.social debunks nonsense from the usual suspects on the rise of renewable energy and the decline of coal: open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Sep 25
A New and Unfamiliar Sea: Politics, Geopolitics and the 2024 General Elections in Solomon Islands
The 2024 elections in Solomon Islands received an unusual amount of international attention, much of it focused on China. The elections were unusual in a range of ways: parties appeared to become m...
www.tandfonline.com
Thanks to the New Cold War the 2024 Solomon Islands elections ended up on the international stage. How did things work out? A lot better than the pundits predicted. My new open access journal article on what happened: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Sep 24
Proposed war authorization could allow Trump to target 60+ countries
An 'insanely broad' draft AUMF could provide the president with wide latitude to go after supposed 'narco-terrorists'
responsiblestatecraft.org
NZ and Australia on this list. Overreach. responsiblestatecraft.org/drug-war-aumf/
Terence Wood
@terencewoodnz.bsky.social
· Sep 23
Globally, an increasing share of people say they feel safer walking at home at night, though it varies from country to country obviously, and is gendered too.
www.gallup.com/analytics/35...
www.gallup.com/analytics/35...