Chris Ruhm
@chrisruhm.bsky.social
Economics from the head and the heart.
#healtheconomics #economics
1/ I’m trying to extract a variable in MEPS for self-assessed mental health (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent) but I can’t find it on IPUMs. According to AI the name should be MNHLTH. Is it there and I’m missing it, under some other name, or not there?
1/ I’m trying to extract a variable in MEPS for self-assessed mental health (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent) but I can’t find it on IPUMs. According to AI the name should be MNHLTH. Is it there and I’m missing it, under some other name, or not there?
June 24, 2025 at 5:23 PM
#healtheconomics #economics
1/ I’m trying to extract a variable in MEPS for self-assessed mental health (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent) but I can’t find it on IPUMs. According to AI the name should be MNHLTH. Is it there and I’m missing it, under some other name, or not there?
1/ I’m trying to extract a variable in MEPS for self-assessed mental health (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent) but I can’t find it on IPUMs. According to AI the name should be MNHLTH. Is it there and I’m missing it, under some other name, or not there?
1/ My article "Mental Health and Mortality Trends in the United States" has just been published by the Journal of Health Economics. You can access it for free (for a while) using the link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lCV0c7LGG...
This is a revised & renamed version of NBER Working paper no. 32978.
This is a revised & renamed version of NBER Working paper no. 32978.
authors.elsevier.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
1/ My article "Mental Health and Mortality Trends in the United States" has just been published by the Journal of Health Economics. You can access it for free (for a while) using the link: authors.elsevier.com/a/1lCV0c7LGG...
This is a revised & renamed version of NBER Working paper no. 32978.
This is a revised & renamed version of NBER Working paper no. 32978.
My expertise is broader than I realized!
"I believe you would serve as an excellent reviewer of the manuscript, "The Use of Metaphors in Paremiological Units of English, Russian, and Kazakh Languages: A Study Based on the Thematic Group "Labor-Idleness," submitted to Forum for Linguistic Studies."
"I believe you would serve as an excellent reviewer of the manuscript, "The Use of Metaphors in Paremiological Units of English, Russian, and Kazakh Languages: A Study Based on the Thematic Group "Labor-Idleness," submitted to Forum for Linguistic Studies."
April 24, 2025 at 12:37 PM
My expertise is broader than I realized!
"I believe you would serve as an excellent reviewer of the manuscript, "The Use of Metaphors in Paremiological Units of English, Russian, and Kazakh Languages: A Study Based on the Thematic Group "Labor-Idleness," submitted to Forum for Linguistic Studies."
"I believe you would serve as an excellent reviewer of the manuscript, "The Use of Metaphors in Paremiological Units of English, Russian, and Kazakh Languages: A Study Based on the Thematic Group "Labor-Idleness," submitted to Forum for Linguistic Studies."
Lots of great point here. I particularly agree with the idea of being upfront about the weaknesses in your approach/results. I think readers will be a lot more forgiving if you are. Also the point about revising, although it take me at least 10 drafts to get anything decent.
Just been reading this great blog post by @dingdingpeng.the100.ci on accessible technical writing. Lots of good advice (some of which I knew, some was new to me) clearly laid out in one handy place!
www.the100.ci/2024/12/01/w...
www.the100.ci/2024/12/01/w...
Writing about technical topics in an accessible manner
A wise man – I’m quite sure it was Brian Wansink – once pointed out that it is impossible to both read and write a lot. So, maybe reading a post about how to write just steals time from the more urgen...
www.the100.ci
April 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Lots of great point here. I particularly agree with the idea of being upfront about the weaknesses in your approach/results. I think readers will be a lot more forgiving if you are. Also the point about revising, although it take me at least 10 drafts to get anything decent.
It's good to know the extent of my economic expertise!
March 12, 2025 at 12:52 PM
It's good to know the extent of my economic expertise!
1/ There has been lots of talk about the ideas of (toxic) masculinity coming out of those currently in power. Here is some of what masculinity means to me:
1. Protecting and supporting those who are less powerful or in need.
1. Protecting and supporting those who are less powerful or in need.
March 1, 2025 at 3:12 PM
1/ There has been lots of talk about the ideas of (toxic) masculinity coming out of those currently in power. Here is some of what masculinity means to me:
1. Protecting and supporting those who are less powerful or in need.
1. Protecting and supporting those who are less powerful or in need.
I will not be buying anything today!
February 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I will not be buying anything today!
Today was the last straw. I just cancelled my subscription to the Washington Post.
February 26, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Today was the last straw. I just cancelled my subscription to the Washington Post.
Me too!
And I am an ally. If you are too, let the world know.
February 23, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Me too!
Can anyone explain the logic behind the idea that the Trump administration will treat VAT's in other countries as tariffs? These certainly are a tax but one that doesn't affect imports differently than domestic production. Am I missing something? Or is this just an excuse for raising US tariffs?
February 15, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Can anyone explain the logic behind the idea that the Trump administration will treat VAT's in other countries as tariffs? These certainly are a tax but one that doesn't affect imports differently than domestic production. Am I missing something? Or is this just an excuse for raising US tariffs?
I've just learned that the Census Bureau has taken all the (formerly) public food security files down from its website. What a world! I grew up hearing about how third world, authoritarian, and communist countries would censor, conceal, and modify data. I never thought I would live in such a place!
February 4, 2025 at 7:09 PM
I've just learned that the Census Bureau has taken all the (formerly) public food security files down from its website. What a world! I grew up hearing about how third world, authoritarian, and communist countries would censor, conceal, and modify data. I never thought I would live in such a place!
Reposted by Chris Ruhm
"Borrow $338 million to pay themselves a dividend" is a really hallucinatory concept, like how do you diagram that out to distinguish it from plain old embezzlement
"In 2012, Thomas H. Lee Partners bought the company for $584 million down in a $2.69 billion deal, investing only 22% in equity. The following year, the owners had Party City borrow $338 million to pay themselves a dividend." nypost.com/2023/01/25/p...
December 20, 2024 at 7:33 PM
"Borrow $338 million to pay themselves a dividend" is a really hallucinatory concept, like how do you diagram that out to distinguish it from plain old embezzlement
A good article on how the government could actually reduce the debt.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Here’s trillions in federal waste the DOGE bros could actually target
Because what's more wasteful than giant tax breaks for people who don't need them?
www.motherjones.com
December 10, 2024 at 1:54 PM
A good article on how the government could actually reduce the debt.
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
OK, I just deactivated the X-tweetie🐦 account. Slightly traumatic, but I feel good to have done it.
November 18, 2024 at 7:06 PM
OK, I just deactivated the X-tweetie🐦 account. Slightly traumatic, but I feel good to have done it.
In 2016 and 2020, economists organized to oppose Donald Trump's candidacy for president. It is now time for the economics profession to make the case against Trump once again.
If you would like to become a signatory, please complete the form at the following location: forms.gle/DUoLUkZdMQUW....
If you would like to become a signatory, please complete the form at the following location: forms.gle/DUoLUkZdMQUW....
Economists Letter 2024
Instructions:
Fill in your full name, exactly as you would like it to appear in the letter. Use the following order: first middle (optional) last.
Add an institutional affiliation (e.g. University of ...
forms.gle
October 26, 2024 at 4:31 PM
In 2016 and 2020, economists organized to oppose Donald Trump's candidacy for president. It is now time for the economics profession to make the case against Trump once again.
If you would like to become a signatory, please complete the form at the following location: forms.gle/DUoLUkZdMQUW....
If you would like to become a signatory, please complete the form at the following location: forms.gle/DUoLUkZdMQUW....
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,138,081!
September 19, 2024 at 8:12 PM
Bluesky now has over 10 million users, and I was #1,138,081!
1/ I thought I’d summarize results of my new study “US State Restrictions and Excess COVID-19 Pandemic Deaths” published today in JAMA Health Forum (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.2006).
The study looks at excess deaths from 7/20-6/22. The first months of the pandemic are not included because
The study looks at excess deaths from 7/20-6/22. The first months of the pandemic are not included because
July 26, 2024 at 3:48 PM
1/ I thought I’d summarize results of my new study “US State Restrictions and Excess COVID-19 Pandemic Deaths” published today in JAMA Health Forum (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.2006).
The study looks at excess deaths from 7/20-6/22. The first months of the pandemic are not included because
The study looks at excess deaths from 7/20-6/22. The first months of the pandemic are not included because
The police actions shown here are outrageous. Who authorized this?
At minute 1:04 watch a police officer arrest a professor of economics. Not the best look for the police. I hope the President of Emory University is fired for green lighting this police riot. www.cnn.com/videos/us/20...
See police detain members of crowd at Emory University during pro-Palestinian protest | CNN
Video shows pro-Palestinian protesters forcefully arrested on the Emory University campus in Atlanta after an encampment was formed in the campus quad area. Emory University, in a statement from the c...
www.cnn.com
April 26, 2024 at 1:46 PM
The police actions shown here are outrageous. Who authorized this?
For prior research, I have used SEER race-age-sex-specific population data as the denominator for calculating mortality rates. However, these data have not been updated past 2020 and it appears that there is no plan to do so. Ideas for alternative sources for recent years? (State level only is OK).
January 10, 2024 at 10:54 PM
For prior research, I have used SEER race-age-sex-specific population data as the denominator for calculating mortality rates. However, these data have not been updated past 2020 and it appears that there is no plan to do so. Ideas for alternative sources for recent years? (State level only is OK).
Whatever your views on the Israeli-Gaza situation, can someone explain to me the rationale for the US giving massive amounts of aid to Israel given that they have the 11th highest GDP per capita in the world?
December 3, 2023 at 1:17 PM
Whatever your views on the Israeli-Gaza situation, can someone explain to me the rationale for the US giving massive amounts of aid to Israel given that they have the 11th highest GDP per capita in the world?
If you are interested in understanding how excess deaths in the US evolved during the first two-years of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can get that information (for free) here:
academic.oup.com/aje/article/...
academic.oup.com/aje/article/...
The Evolution of Excess Deaths in the United States During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemi...
Abstract. Understanding consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic requires information on the excess mortality resulting from it. Multiple studies have examined exc
academic.oup.com
December 2, 2023 at 3:51 PM
If you are interested in understanding how excess deaths in the US evolved during the first two-years of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can get that information (for free) here:
academic.oup.com/aje/article/...
academic.oup.com/aje/article/...
1/ In my view Biden has been a good, albeit imperfect, President, with some tangible achievements. (His initial embrace of the invasion of Gaza by Israel is not one of them.)
However, he should not run again for President in 2024. Why not?
1. Whether true or not, he is perceived as being
However, he should not run again for President in 2024. Why not?
1. Whether true or not, he is perceived as being
November 8, 2023 at 5:32 PM
1/ In my view Biden has been a good, albeit imperfect, President, with some tangible achievements. (His initial embrace of the invasion of Gaza by Israel is not one of them.)
However, he should not run again for President in 2024. Why not?
1. Whether true or not, he is perceived as being
However, he should not run again for President in 2024. Why not?
1. Whether true or not, he is perceived as being