@troytassier
Public health, health equity, economic inequality, complex systems, social networks Economist at Fordham Author: The Rich Flee and the Poor Take the Bus: How Our Unequal Society Fails Us during Outbreaks (JHU Press) Book webpage: troytassier.com
Three years ago we set out to visualize and quantitatively examine the movement of SARS-CoV-2 leading up to the first two major COVID-19 waves in the US. Today all that hard work "hit the shelves" at PLOSCompBio. 🛟 Watch the spread (we have movies) and read more here: dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...
It’s a great paper!
I put $50 in my gas tank this morning at $3.59/ gallon and then I see the job loss report. Seems there’s no doubt that those consumer sentiment numbers that journalists claimed were “at odds w/ Econ data” represented something more than “feelings.” They represented real economic hardship.
Yowza! At a time when we need journalists the most, we’re looking at this.
a graph of the year-on-year % change in Newspaper jobs
Total newspaper employment growth rates fell to the lowest levels since early COVID in data released this morning—and this data does not cover the February layoffs at the Washington Post.
Fewer than 80k people now work at newspapers in the United States.
When people say "The economy is doing great!" The correct response is always "for whom?"
a graph of year-on-year change in US manufacturing employment
The US continues to lose manufacturing jobs—payrolls are down 100k over the last year, & another 12k jobs were lost in February
Transportation (especially auto manufacturing), chemicals, & wood are the biggest losers, but few subsectors are doing well
Anyone want to remind us abt the stock market again? Even when you look at the overall macro variables in the labor mkt things don’t look too bad. But when you start breaking out core sectors like this you see why people are dissatisfied and frustrated. It isn’t “feelings,” it’s people’s lives.
That had to be eerie. I remember the first time I drove home to Michigan from NY in summer 2021. We hit western PA and Ohio and it felt like I was in the twilight zone. Rest stops, gas stations with not a mask in sight. Have to imagine Sturgis was a millions times worse.
So @troytassier.bsky.social has written up the results from my @yalesph.bsky.social colleague @rafalpx.bsky.social's brand new paper in PLoS Comp Bio. Read it. With a guest appearance by #KristiNoem. troytassier.substack.com/p/screw-covi...
Cool acct. thanks!
I don’t think I’d put this all on her, but like now, she was on the wrong side of history.
👇A comment on our recently published work in @plos.org Computational Biology!
I’ll have to read up on it. I know abt the biogen event in Boston and the Albany Georgia funerals in late February but I have heard about the book fair.
Didn’t know about the book fair. Thx. 🙏
Agree.
"Screw Covid, I'm going to Sturgis!" The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, held in August 2020, was the epitome of the individual choice mindset. Of course it spread cases outward and caused infections, illness, and death. A new research paper allows us to watch the Sturgis Covid wave spread across the US.
I think Peter Baker is off here. While his explanation may be a portion of it, I think there is much more simple explanation - "follow the money." Removing Iran's leadership and making it more US and Israel friendly makes Gaza more safe and lucrative for Jared.
Yep, social Darwinism in free market healthcare. If you’re not healthy it was your choices that caused it and if you can’t afford healthcare now that you’re sick, tough. Should have worked harder or got a better job. 🙄
Every public health professional could have predicted this 👇🏾
Measles outbreaks are costing the U.S. millions of dollars. The true losses can't be counted.
www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-...
Something to watch from Your Local Epidemiologist, NY edition. New measles cases in Rockland County. Like Spartanburg County SC and Gaines County TX before it, this is a BAD place to seed a measles outbreak. Many pockets of low low vax rates.
Full link in first comment.
The lies make it clear that they know what they are doing is wrong. If they believed in their actions, they’d tell the truth.
I’m frequently asked abt the section in my book abt the Sturgis motorcycle rally. There is a new paper out showing how covid spread outward from SD shortly after the rally. The column on the left (labeled 1st wave) corresponds to the Sturgis timeframe. Open access link to the article below. 1/2
If you’re planning to attend in NYC on Saturday, please note the new location of City Hall Park. And, if you have followers from NYC, please repost.
In SC only about 20% of schools are private. Yet, twice as many private schools as public schools have fewer than 80% of students fully vaccinated. In fact, 22% of private schools in SC have fewer than 80% of kids fully vaccinated. The corresponding number of public schools is 2%. 2/2
Appreciate this article calling out the role of religious exemptions in the SC measles outbreak. My only quibble is that the article understates the role of private schools, relative to public schools, for the uptick in religious exemptions. A couple quick data points below. 1/2
@nytimes.com
You know the look of glee a meteorologist has on their face when talking about a big storm on the nightly news? Pete Hegseth seems to have the same look when talking abt war. It’s creepy as hell that he seems to relish “death and destruction all day long.”
If you’re planning to attend in NYC on Saturday, please note the new location of City Hall Park. And, if you have followers from NYC, please repost.
