
“Why Is All COVID-19 News Bad News?” is a working paper by Bruce Sacerdote, Ranjan Sehgal, and Molly Cook recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The authors found that media coverage of COVID-19 has been much more negative in the U.S. than in international media. They found, “Ninety one percent of
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One of the more interesting picks on Joe Biden’s team of health officials is California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra has little to no professional experience with health care or infectious diseases. A lawyer long-entrenched in politics and public administration, his background suggests the role of
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A group of breakaway Methodists announced the formation of the Liberation Methodist Connexion (LMX) on Sunday, November 29, further fracturing what was once the United Methodist Church, as the farthest left portion of believers take their leave. The LMX website declares that the denomination seeks to build God’s “kin-dom”—I guess the word “Kingdom,” despite being
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The Biden-Harris administration will confront “a pandemic, an economic crisis, calls for racial justice and climate change. The team being assembled will meet these challenges on Day One.” So declares the transition team of Joe Biden, to echo what he’s defined as the lead items on his presidential agenda. And if this is his agenda,
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I’ve been watching The Mandalorian lately. It’s not my favorite Western and I am not a Star Wars fanboy, but I admit that it is entertaining. The best character is Baby Yoda, an infant of an alien species with big ears, which, I am told, has no name. The interesting factoid, for the purposes of
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When the Civil War interrupts the Christmas plans of the March sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women, the four lament their reduced prospects for a happy holiday. “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” Jo says. Many of us likely feel similarly to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as we reach the end of
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