Melissa K Spencer
@melissakspencer.bsky.social
Assistant Professor of Economics at University of Richmond. Gender, Health, and Crime Economics.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59
September 22, 2025 at 9:24 PM
ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
EJ Antoni has never worked in statistics collection. He is 5 years out of his PhD. He's only ever written one economics paper. His explicit, only qualifications are that he works in ultra-conservative think tanks & believes Trump's conspiracies about the BLS. Grim stuff.
Donald Trump named EJ Antoni, chief economist of the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Trump Names Heritage’s EJ Antoni to Lead Bureau of Labor Statistics
President Donald Trump named EJ Antoni, chief economist of the conservative Heritage Foundation, to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after firing the former head of the agency earlier this month.
bloom.bg
August 11, 2025 at 11:35 PM
EJ Antoni has never worked in statistics collection. He is 5 years out of his PhD. He's only ever written one economics paper. His explicit, only qualifications are that he works in ultra-conservative think tanks & believes Trump's conspiracies about the BLS. Grim stuff.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
3/ complacency, which will reduce motivation to vaccinate.
Btw, there were 770,000 US flu hospitalizations last year (3/4 of a million!), & 56,000 of those were of kids. Flu can also cause post-viral syndrome & other health complications (eg, actor Harry Anderson died of post-flu stroke in 2018.)
Btw, there were 770,000 US flu hospitalizations last year (3/4 of a million!), & 56,000 of those were of kids. Flu can also cause post-viral syndrome & other health complications (eg, actor Harry Anderson died of post-flu stroke in 2018.)
July 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
3/ complacency, which will reduce motivation to vaccinate.
Btw, there were 770,000 US flu hospitalizations last year (3/4 of a million!), & 56,000 of those were of kids. Flu can also cause post-viral syndrome & other health complications (eg, actor Harry Anderson died of post-flu stroke in 2018.)
Btw, there were 770,000 US flu hospitalizations last year (3/4 of a million!), & 56,000 of those were of kids. Flu can also cause post-viral syndrome & other health complications (eg, actor Harry Anderson died of post-flu stroke in 2018.)
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
Psych 🧵: To shift behavior, you start by shifting perceptions.
From Paul Offit: last year, 250 kids died of flu in the US (80% of whom were unvaxxed), which represents the most annual pediatric flu deaths since the 2009 swine flu. (In an avg. year,...
1/3
pauloffit.substack.com/p/a-modest-n...
From Paul Offit: last year, 250 kids died of flu in the US (80% of whom were unvaxxed), which represents the most annual pediatric flu deaths since the 2009 swine flu. (In an avg. year,...
1/3
pauloffit.substack.com/p/a-modest-n...
A “Modest” Number of Deaths
One member of the CDC’s “new” vaccine advisory committee made a surprising comment during a recent meeting.
pauloffit.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Psych 🧵: To shift behavior, you start by shifting perceptions.
From Paul Offit: last year, 250 kids died of flu in the US (80% of whom were unvaxxed), which represents the most annual pediatric flu deaths since the 2009 swine flu. (In an avg. year,...
1/3
pauloffit.substack.com/p/a-modest-n...
From Paul Offit: last year, 250 kids died of flu in the US (80% of whom were unvaxxed), which represents the most annual pediatric flu deaths since the 2009 swine flu. (In an avg. year,...
1/3
pauloffit.substack.com/p/a-modest-n...
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
I get to be the proud alum who explains to everybody in the group chat how the governor pushed people onto the board and those new members began working with DOJ to threaten the president so he would resign so they could do a coup and replace him with someone that would destroy the university
June 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
I get to be the proud alum who explains to everybody in the group chat how the governor pushed people onto the board and those new members began working with DOJ to threaten the president so he would resign so they could do a coup and replace him with someone that would destroy the university
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
I will have so much to say later, but a HUGE thank you to so many people. I am incredibly grateful that my hard work paid off, and it is so satisfying to see that a pro-housing campaign can get these results. I am so excited to serve our community in this way!!! 🥳🥳🥳
June 18, 2025 at 1:31 AM
I will have so much to say later, but a HUGE thank you to so many people. I am incredibly grateful that my hard work paid off, and it is so satisfying to see that a pro-housing campaign can get these results. I am so excited to serve our community in this way!!! 🥳🥳🥳
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline www.propublica.org/article/whoo...
“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline
While much of the country is focused on the spiraling measles outbreak, experts warn that whooping cough and other preventable diseases could get much worse with falling vaccination rates and Trump’s ...
www.propublica.org
April 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“Not Just Measles”: Whooping Cough Cases Are Soaring as Vaccine Rates Decline www.propublica.org/article/whoo...
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
What is stagflation?
A period of where economic growth slows to the point the unemployment rate rises, usually amidst a shock - tariffs count - and inflation also rises. It is unusual & requires different policies from the Fed than most are accustomed to.
A period of where economic growth slows to the point the unemployment rate rises, usually amidst a shock - tariffs count - and inflation also rises. It is unusual & requires different policies from the Fed than most are accustomed to.
April 9, 2025 at 12:02 PM
What is stagflation?
A period of where economic growth slows to the point the unemployment rate rises, usually amidst a shock - tariffs count - and inflation also rises. It is unusual & requires different policies from the Fed than most are accustomed to.
A period of where economic growth slows to the point the unemployment rate rises, usually amidst a shock - tariffs count - and inflation also rises. It is unusual & requires different policies from the Fed than most are accustomed to.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
April 7, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
First they came for the 🐧🐧🐧, and I did not speak out.
April 3, 2025 at 10:22 PM
First they came for the 🐧🐧🐧, and I did not speak out.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
The richest man in the world spent more money than most of us will see in our lifetimes to lose a state Supreme Court race by 10 points.
And the fact his $25 million was a drop in the bucket compared to what he's spent on other elections is exactly why we must overturn Citizens United.
And the fact his $25 million was a drop in the bucket compared to what he's spent on other elections is exactly why we must overturn Citizens United.
April 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
The richest man in the world spent more money than most of us will see in our lifetimes to lose a state Supreme Court race by 10 points.
And the fact his $25 million was a drop in the bucket compared to what he's spent on other elections is exactly why we must overturn Citizens United.
And the fact his $25 million was a drop in the bucket compared to what he's spent on other elections is exactly why we must overturn Citizens United.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
This is, unfortunately, correct. We’ve mostly grown up in a world where medical care just kept getting better, from obesity drugs to injections against macular degeneration to cancer treatment to prosthetics to epi-pens.The Trump administration has decided to end that world.
It's getting a lot of attn today. But even before today most of the country had very little idea of what has happened at NIH or through it the entire ecosystem of biomedical research in the US. Simply put, Musk, Kennedy & Trump exploded a bomb right in the middle of cancer cure research in the US.
April 2, 2025 at 1:36 AM
This is, unfortunately, correct. We’ve mostly grown up in a world where medical care just kept getting better, from obesity drugs to injections against macular degeneration to cancer treatment to prosthetics to epi-pens.The Trump administration has decided to end that world.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
Everyone who works for PRAMS (the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) at CDC was terminated today. That appears to be the end of a critical program which monitored infant and maternal health nationwide across pregnancy, childbirth & postpartum. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/prams...
PRAMS Shuttered for Good
In the first weeks of the administration I wrote a number of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
April 1, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Everyone who works for PRAMS (the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) at CDC was terminated today. That appears to be the end of a critical program which monitored infant and maternal health nationwide across pregnancy, childbirth & postpartum. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/prams...
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
Can't wait to combine this with the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood high-dimension fixed effects. I would call it PLRDPPMLHDFE.
Interesting new paper: arxiv.org/pdf/2503.09907
improves on both rdrobust and rdhonest!
Quite compelling... 1/n
improves on both rdrobust and rdhonest!
Quite compelling... 1/n
March 20, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Can't wait to combine this with the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood high-dimension fixed effects. I would call it PLRDPPMLHDFE.
AI is so great it can help your students turn a 2 sentence email into lengthy Victorian Era prose.
March 16, 2025 at 8:11 PM
AI is so great it can help your students turn a 2 sentence email into lengthy Victorian Era prose.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
No, academic economics is not, and never has been, discriminating against men.
"Huge gender penalties in promotion to both associate and full not explained by productivity continue in economics departments."
"Huge gender penalties in promotion to both associate and full not explained by productivity continue in economics departments."
A persistent and large gender difference in academic promotion for female economists is found. However, no significant differences in promotion by race is found, from Donna K. Ginther, Shulamit Kahn, and Daria Milakhina https://www.nber.org/papers/w33538
March 10, 2025 at 9:26 PM
No, academic economics is not, and never has been, discriminating against men.
"Huge gender penalties in promotion to both associate and full not explained by productivity continue in economics departments."
"Huge gender penalties in promotion to both associate and full not explained by productivity continue in economics departments."
The phone number for Warner’s DC office if you’d like to let him know your opinion this morning:
202-224-2023
He is up for re-election in 2026.
202-224-2023
He is up for re-election in 2026.
Mark Warner on Fox: "I may disagree with the president, but I respect the office of the president. I'm probably not gonna be jumping up applauding a lot, but I owe him his due as president. The president has made great, great progress on border crossings. That's something we ought to celebrate."
March 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM
The phone number for Warner’s DC office if you’d like to let him know your opinion this morning:
202-224-2023
He is up for re-election in 2026.
202-224-2023
He is up for re-election in 2026.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
As a measure of how quickly standards are declining here, Trump was impeached for secretly pausing transfer of weapons to his Ukraine in his first term.
Breaking news: President Donald Trump has decided to pause all future deliveries of U.S. military assistance to Ukraine in an extraordinary move aimed at pressuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the negotiating table with Russia.
Live updates: Trump administration to pause deliveries of military assistance to Ukraine, officials say
The latest news on President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the new Congress.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 4, 2025 at 2:23 AM
As a measure of how quickly standards are declining here, Trump was impeached for secretly pausing transfer of weapons to his Ukraine in his first term.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
I don't even know what to say. So much vital, lifesaving research has come from this data.
CDC Shutters PRAMS Program on Maternal and Infant Health talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cdc-s...
CDC Shutters PRAMS Program on Maternal and Infant Health
The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a federal data collection...
talkingpointsmemo.com
February 23, 2025 at 3:55 AM
I don't even know what to say. So much vital, lifesaving research has come from this data.
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
The Federal Reserve is not as independent from the executive branch as we’d like to think. The NY Fed just cancelled this Thursday’s @aeacswep.bsky.social reception at #EEA2025 and withdrew from our summer fellowship program. Both support women and underrepresented groups in economics. #EconSky
February 17, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The Federal Reserve is not as independent from the executive branch as we’d like to think. The NY Fed just cancelled this Thursday’s @aeacswep.bsky.social reception at #EEA2025 and withdrew from our summer fellowship program. Both support women and underrepresented groups in economics. #EconSky
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
On Friday night, HHS ordered CDC to take down all flu vaccine campaign materials from its website. Materials are starting to come down.
For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now
Meanwhile...
For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now
Meanwhile...
February 16, 2025 at 5:30 PM
On Friday night, HHS ordered CDC to take down all flu vaccine campaign materials from its website. Materials are starting to come down.
For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now
Meanwhile...
For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now
Meanwhile...
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
There is really only one thing standing between your community and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, and that thing is childhood vaccine requirements for school entry. The Texas outbreak clearly shows what happens when exemptions to vaccine requirements are handed out like candy.
February 14, 2025 at 9:46 PM
There is really only one thing standing between your community and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, and that thing is childhood vaccine requirements for school entry. The Texas outbreak clearly shows what happens when exemptions to vaccine requirements are handed out like candy.
February 14, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Reposted by Melissa K Spencer
Our two papers on abortion bans and fertility/infant mortality are now out.
In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%.
Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages.
Links below.
In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%.
Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages.
Links below.
🧵 US states that implemented abortion bans saw higher than expected infant mortality rates, with larger increases among Black infants and those in southern states, according to this analysis of US national vital statistics data from 2012–2023.
ja.ma/4aVchPn
#MedSky
ja.ma/4aVchPn
#MedSky
February 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Our two papers on abortion bans and fertility/infant mortality are now out.
In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%.
Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages.
Links below.
In 14 states w/ abortion bans, fertility increased 1.7% and infant mortality increased 6%.
Key takeaway is that these impacts were disproportionately felt among those w/ greatest structural disadvantages.
Links below.