I’d still go with this article by Ed Yong, which covers biology, epidemiology, medicine, and politics. Here’s one bit:Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science
A prominent Israeli mathematician, analyst and former general claims simple statistical analysis demonstrates that the spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days — no matter where it strikes, and no matter what measures governments impose to try to thwart it.
Top Israeli prof claims simple stats show virus plays itself out after 70 days https://t.co/8F4YINTjG0 via @timesofisrael— BuzzBox (@BuzzBoxSA) April 18, 2020
The Bank of Mexico on Thursday rejected a proposal by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was hoping for an advance on money...
Mexican President Seeks Early Money Transfer From Central Bank https://t.co/uGKvByGVtt— WSJ Central Banks (@WSJCentralBanks) April 17, 2020
Companies are doing their best to accelerate experimental drugs and vaccines for #COVID19 through the pipeline. Each faces its own set of challenges, but all agree on the need for a radical rethink of the clinical development process for pandemics https://t.co/8KUnbLzf22 pic.twitter.com/mOmfttYOQf— Nature Biotechnology (@NatureBiotech) March 22, 2020
In addition, John Rex argues that, since 2003, the ‘Tamiflu incident’ in the late 2000s set back efforts to construct the non-market mechanisms that might have helped address infectious disease outbreaks.
Fearing an overwhelming outbreak of avian influenza, health authorities in the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and elsewhere stockpiled Basel, Switzerland-based Hoffmann-La Roche’s approved antiviral Tamiflu (oseltamivir).
But when the pandemic failed to materialize and governments were left with warehouses full of unused antivirals, “there was a lot of hand-wringing,” says Rex. “Officials felt cheated, ‘ripped off’ by pharma rather than being happy the pandemic didn’t occur.”
Rex believes that governments should regard effective antivirals and vaccines not as a burdensome drain on limited resources, but rather much as householders regard insurance policies and fire extinguishers: as products we buy hoping never to have to use.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic will massively increase poverty worldwide, as the number of confirmed cases continues to grow....RT
The Trump administration quietly ordered the transfer of some $342 million in funds from a Venezuelan central bank account at Citibank to an account controlled by opposition leader and self-proclaimed Venezuelan ‘president’ Juan Guaido at the New York branch of the US Federal Reserve....Sputnik International
Will Marble writes:Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social ScienceI’m a Ph.D. student in political science at Stanford. Along with colleagues from the Stanford medical school, law school, and elsewhere, we recently completed a white paper evaluating the evidence for and tradeoffs involved with shelter-in-place policies. To our knowledge, our paper contains the widest review of the relevant covid-19 research. It summarizes research from a number of fields, including epidemiology, economics, and political science.I just have a few comments:
Senator calls for Justice Department to investigate IRS sending stimulus checks to dead people https://t.co/Ip6NYCUBlJ
— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) April 18, 2020
Our Santa Clara seroprevalence study: infection is 50-85 times more common than documented caseshttps://t.co/utCudWjUA7
— METRICStanford (@METRICStanford) April 17, 2020
The tragic situation in Italy depicts the insufficiency of the public health system to manage an extensive crisis. This is not an unexpected phenomenon. The capitalist system and its governments all over the world treat healthcare for the public as a cost that can only be provided at a basic level. The development of a high-level public health system needs a high percentage of funding from the government and bumps the profits of the capitalists. Furthermore, the example of Italy highlights the contradiction between the need for preserving the public health system alongside the profits of the big businesses. Social distancing is prescribed, but, at the same time, conventional working of the factories and overcrowded public transportation for the workers lead to a high possibility of the spread of the virus....Public purpose or — profits?
The International Monetary Fund wants policy makers to avoid repeating the Depression-era mistake of ratcheting back budget deficits. Instead, it’s urging them to ramp up fiscal stimulus when the coronavirus contagion starts to abate.…
This doesn’t sound all that different from the prescription of Modern Monetary Theory proponents -– a heterodox economic school that contends countries such as the U.S. can run bigger budget shortfalls without worrying about going broke because they print their own money....Yahoo Finance
