James Astill (@JamesMAstill) header
James Astill (@JamesMAstill) profile picture

Deputy director at @IMFNews, working on comms, strategy, climate. Formerly at @TheEconomist in DC, Delhi, Nairobi, elsewhere. Writer on India and cricket

jamesastill@economist.com
Joined October 2014
Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)Photo by James Astill (@JamesMAstill)
Some personal news. After two wonderful decades at @TheEconomist, I am off to help run external relations at the IMF. I am grateful for many wonderful friends and experiences in journalism - and excited to be joining one of the last bastions of global problem-solving. @IMFNews
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James Astill retweeted
LIVE: Sunset Fire in Hollywood Hills, California xitter.cf/i/broadcasts/1OdKrXzeW…
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He was good at this stuff.
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A good corrective to the over optimistic view that extreme poverty will somehow vanish by itself because “everything is better than we think”…430 m live in extreme poverty in Africa today compared to 170m in 1980
Your reminder that the global South is *not* catching up with the global North. In fact, with the exception of China, the income gap between the South and the North keeps growing.
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A fascinating thread that shows what happens when you skimp on infrastructure investment
We have a new report out today. Because we’ve found one weird fact that unites all four constituencies that swung Reform for the first time at the election.🧵
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Thanks @Premkayan. I suspect I was right about the IPL’s impact on Test cricket… but hope I was wrong.
Replying to @JamesMAstill
@JamesMAstill A small note on " The Great Tamasha" :)
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James Astill retweeted
Our #COP29 event on the long-term role of the Bretton Woods Institutions in climate action focused on the need for system-wide change, a climate-centric updating of economic models, and the power of public-private collaboration. Watch the full video here: youtube.com/watch?v=g9rPjMGX…
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A great conversation at #COP29Baku on the ideal, long-term role of ⁦@WorldBank⁩ and ⁦@IMFNews⁩ in climate action. Thank you ⁦@HMountford4⁩, ⁦@DrAndrewSteer⁩, ⁦@AmaleeAmin⁩
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We've all seen enough
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It is incredibly gutsy to release this poll. It won't put Harris ahead in our forecast because there was also another Iowa poll out today that was good for Trump. But wouldn't want to play poker against Ann Selzer.
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The Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows Kamala Harris picking up support from women to surpass Donald Trump in Iowa, a ruby-red state he has won twice. Details: desmoinesregister.com/story/…
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New from IEA: "A single journey by a large container ship filled with solar PV modules can provide the means to generate the same amount of electricity as the natural gas from more than 50 large LNG tankers or the coal from more than 100 large bulk ships." iea.org/reports/energy-techn…
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How did the US invent solar power and dominate it for 60 years, before giving it up to China over the past decade? The answer is, IMO, quite different to the stories we have told ourselves in recent years. And it has important lessons for the future.🧵 bloomberg.com/graphics/2024-…
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Britain's last remaining coal-fired power station closes today. The last British coal mine closed 9 years ago. Here's an old column of mine on the last gasp of an industry that changed the world. economist.com/britain/2015/0…
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“The most practically useful guide to politics I have ever read” - George Osborne likes Tony Blair’s new book on.ft.com/3MxRAgS
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Old column of mine on @KamalaHarris's unconvincing effort in 2020 to pretend to be a leftie. "She is a natural centrist. Why not say so?" economist.com/united-states/…
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