How to be a social scientist.

1) Find some regional difference (Eastern Europe lower covid death rate)
2) Think of something else associated with that region (high WWII death count)
3) Make up a story about how 2 causes 1
nber.org/papers/w28291#… ImageImage
Despite the lesson of WWII lasting 75 years, and being transferred from wartime to pandemic response, the advantage gained from WWII deaths is forgotten in the few months between the first and second wave.

You probably could've done this study with case inflection in languages. Image
Makes your job easier when you can "control" for random things in the world. Includes something called "voice and accountability." What about Ottoman Rule and history of fighting wars against Muslims? Maybe that creates solidarity? WWI deaths? Image
I should correct myself. You can't just "make up a story." You also have to draw a bunch of mathematical equations. That's the secret sauce that makes it into "science." Now you're doing the same thing as Issac Newton. ImageImage

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More from @RichardHanania

6 Jan
The Tea Party dressed like founding fathers, had symbols like Gadsden flag, country music. Things that indicate ideology or background, like every movement, right or left. These people have nothing but plastering Trump's name on themselves. Just so soulless and ugly. ImageImage
SJW women have short dyed hair, revealing rejection of traditional standards of beauty and sexual modesty. Antifa symbol represents an idea, same with white nationalism, they have the confederacy, swastikas.

MAGA literally has no symbol or aesthetics beyond the cult.
There was the Blue Lives Matter flag for a while. That represented something real beyond the cult. But I don't see it much anymore. The cult doesn't have room for any idea, it doesn't have the attention span to care. They could be anti-cop tomorrow depending on what Trump says.
Read 4 tweets
6 Jan
Trump admin to eliminate disparate impact? Perhaps the most important anti-wokeness initiative is coming now, two weeks before he leaves! What a waste

If anyone has any influence with Josh Hawley, tell him to stop talking about NBA jerseys and run on this nytimes.com/2021/01/05/us/… Image
This actually might not be a complete waste. Setting a new standard may make it easier for conservative judges to toss it out.
If govt accuses a business or other entity of discrimination, it would need actual evidence, instead of inferring it because the govt doesn't like the results of a neutral process. This is what "civil rights" looks like in 2021. Image
Read 4 tweets
26 Dec 20
"Within hours, scientists in Thailand used the instructions to deploy a new test.

The CDC would not roll out one that worked for 46 more days."

Read every word of this on American institutional failure. washingtonpost.com/investigations…
Nice story of American decline. The CDC has a history of training govt officials in Thailand. When COVID hit, the Thais were much more competent. And look at the date for when China posted the genetic sequence online, compared to what US gov was doing, for the "China lied" idiots
Thailand was nice enough to share what it was doing in a conference call with the CDC on January 13. CDC took its time, expecting "that the strain emanating from Wuhan, while worrisome, would be no worse than two earlier coronaviruses" for no good reason.
Read 6 tweets
21 Dec 20
Some highlights from the stimulus bill. First, not less than $10 million for gender programs in Pakistan. $50 million for "women's leadership abroad." 1/n
Support for democratization in the former Soviet Union, and $20 million to "strengthen democracy and civil society in Central Europe, including for transparency, independent media, rule of law, minority rights, and programs to combat anti-Semitism." 2/n
No Chinese poultry in the school lunch program. Pork and beef ok? Which lobbyist got this in there? 3/n
Read 24 tweets
21 Dec 20
People are taking the wrong lesson here. It's not that immigrants don't care about immigration. Trump made the issue the center of his campaign in 2016, and didn't talk about it at all in 2020 (putting aside actual policy). Confirms conventional wisdom. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
This article BTW is why you shouldn't feel guilty about subscribing to the NYT even if you're a conservative. It's great analysis.
Nice visualizations here.
Read 4 tweets
30 Nov 20
Our first report is up @CSPICenterOrg. George Hawley and I take on many of the myths of the Trump era, and take issue with national populism, an ideology that seeks to reorient Republican politics towards working-class concerns. 1/n cspicenter.org/the-national-p…
This view holds that economic concerns explain the rise of Trump, and Republicans moving away from dogmatic free market positions can help them build a working-class coalition and achieve electoral success. We show why data do not support this story. 2/n
The economic explanation of Trumpism is not only popular with national populists, but thinkers outside that circle, such as @charlesmurray and @sullydish. Also, Republican politicians. Here's Ted Cruz from a few days ago, and Rubio from earlier this month. 3/n
Read 12 tweets

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