Rammy Bananammy
@mattsaboe.bsky.social
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
I almost let this go without saying anything, but I can't. This issue of the non-value (to student test achievement) of the generic MA is such an old one (e.g.,
www.jstor.org/stable/20439...). Why aren't we learning from the evidence?
www.the74million.org/article/is-a...
www.jstor.org/stable/20439...). Why aren't we learning from the evidence?
www.the74million.org/article/is-a...
Is a Master’s in Education Really Worth It? Probably Not, Research Shows
Aldeman: Educators take on huge debt to earn advanced degrees, and taxpayers foot the bill for higher pay. But an M.A. doesn't make teachers better.
www.the74million.org
December 11, 2025 at 3:37 AM
I almost let this go without saying anything, but I can't. This issue of the non-value (to student test achievement) of the generic MA is such an old one (e.g.,
www.jstor.org/stable/20439...). Why aren't we learning from the evidence?
www.the74million.org/article/is-a...
www.jstor.org/stable/20439...). Why aren't we learning from the evidence?
www.the74million.org/article/is-a...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
You don’t say. It’s almost as if locking up immigrants with criminal records wasn’t the point.
December 4, 2025 at 9:49 PM
You don’t say. It’s almost as if locking up immigrants with criminal records wasn’t the point.
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
And, if you are a non-US citizen who did this work, you and your entire family will be banned from the United States. (I know this is incredible, but read the order—that’s what it says!)
If you were a tech company employee who moderated content overseas — say, trying to prevent a repeat of the Myanmar genocide! or maybe policing CSAM! Or hate speech illegal in your country! — you are a “censor” under the definitions of the Republicans in power.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Exclusive: Trump administration orders enhanced vetting for applicants of H-1B visa
An internal State Department memo said that anyone involved in "censorship" of free speech should be considered for rejection.
www.reuters.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
And, if you are a non-US citizen who did this work, you and your entire family will be banned from the United States. (I know this is incredible, but read the order—that’s what it says!)
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
I'm at the @nber.org Education meeting today, ready to learn from a fantastic lineup of papers (attached).
I'll try my best to live-post the discussion for those who'd like to follow along here.
The meeting is also being streamed on YouTube (link below).
www.nber.org/conferences/...
#EconSky
I'll try my best to live-post the discussion for those who'd like to follow along here.
The meeting is also being streamed on YouTube (link below).
www.nber.org/conferences/...
#EconSky
December 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I'm at the @nber.org Education meeting today, ready to learn from a fantastic lineup of papers (attached).
I'll try my best to live-post the discussion for those who'd like to follow along here.
The meeting is also being streamed on YouTube (link below).
www.nber.org/conferences/...
#EconSky
I'll try my best to live-post the discussion for those who'd like to follow along here.
The meeting is also being streamed on YouTube (link below).
www.nber.org/conferences/...
#EconSky
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Forthcoming in AEJ: Economic Policy: "The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State" by Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow, Benjamin Wittenbrink, et al. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State
(Forthcoming Article) - We estimate the effect of social media deactivation on users’ emotional state in
two large randomized experiments before the 2020 U.S. election. People who
deactivated Facebook...
www.aeaweb.org
November 20, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Forthcoming in AEJ: Economic Policy: "The Effect of Deactivating Facebook and Instagram on Users’ Emotional State" by Hunt Allcott, Matthew Gentzkow, Benjamin Wittenbrink, et al. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
This is far worse than anyone expected.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump Administration to Drastically Cut Housing Grants
www.nytimes.com
November 13, 2025 at 3:21 AM
This is far worse than anyone expected.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Trump's HUD plan would cut *two-thirds* of permanent housing and push as many as 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the street—redirecting funds to work mandates, forced treatment, and encampment sweeps.
All as mass internment camps are being built.
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
New evidence on how ICE is affecting student learning
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erU5Oe0vJYdVjuqQi4sfhUGxS0BGjWl8/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erU5Oe0vJYdVjuqQi4sfhUGxS0BGjWl8/view?usp=drivesdk
November 10, 2025 at 10:40 AM
New evidence on how ICE is affecting student learning
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erU5Oe0vJYdVjuqQi4sfhUGxS0BGjWl8/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1erU5Oe0vJYdVjuqQi4sfhUGxS0BGjWl8/view?usp=drivesdk
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
AI could end scarcity, end humanity - or boost trend growth by 0.2 percentage points
November 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM
AI could end scarcity, end humanity - or boost trend growth by 0.2 percentage points
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
🚨New publication alert🚨
I'm thrilled Economics of Education Review has just published my work w/ @abbyfrancis.bsky.social:
"School enrollment shifts five years after the pandemic"
Abstract below, but read the next few posts for the story told via a handful of graphs.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
I'm thrilled Economics of Education Review has just published my work w/ @abbyfrancis.bsky.social:
"School enrollment shifts five years after the pandemic"
Abstract below, but read the next few posts for the story told via a handful of graphs.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
October 24, 2025 at 12:33 PM
🚨New publication alert🚨
I'm thrilled Economics of Education Review has just published my work w/ @abbyfrancis.bsky.social:
"School enrollment shifts five years after the pandemic"
Abstract below, but read the next few posts for the story told via a handful of graphs.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
I'm thrilled Economics of Education Review has just published my work w/ @abbyfrancis.bsky.social:
"School enrollment shifts five years after the pandemic"
Abstract below, but read the next few posts for the story told via a handful of graphs.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ec...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
October 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM
SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
"in the largest sample of medical advances for which we have good data...we found extensive connections between medical advances and research that was funded by grants that would have been cut if the NIH budget was sharply reduced."
This may be the most important paper ever published about NIH funded research.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
What if NIH had been 40% smaller?
Replaying history with less NIH funding shows widespread impacts on drug-linked research
www.science.org
September 26, 2025 at 1:26 AM
"in the largest sample of medical advances for which we have good data...we found extensive connections between medical advances and research that was funded by grants that would have been cut if the NIH budget was sharply reduced."
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
RFK Jr. went on Fox News today to claim that HHS has had “no successes” in the past 40 years.
I beg to differ.
Figure from Lei et al., NEJM 2020. Link below.
I beg to differ.
Figure from Lei et al., NEJM 2020. Link below.
September 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
RFK Jr. went on Fox News today to claim that HHS has had “no successes” in the past 40 years.
I beg to differ.
Figure from Lei et al., NEJM 2020. Link below.
I beg to differ.
Figure from Lei et al., NEJM 2020. Link below.
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Angola prison used to be a plantation owned by one of the most notorious slave traders in US history.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
ICE Opens Immigrant Detention Center in Notorious Louisiana Prison
www.nytimes.com
September 4, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Angola prison used to be a plantation owned by one of the most notorious slave traders in US history.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/03/u...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Yes, it was carefully hidden in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )
1/2
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )
1/2
September 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Yes, it was carefully hidden in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )
1/2
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )
1/2
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
#Resource: For the first time, you can look up serious use of force and police misconduct incidents in California.
Search the new database housing thousands of once-confidential records gathered from the state’s nearly 700 law enforcement and oversight agencies.
laist.com/news/crimina...
Search the new database housing thousands of once-confidential records gathered from the state’s nearly 700 law enforcement and oversight agencies.
laist.com/news/crimina...
Thousands of once-secret police records are now public. Here’s how you can use them
For the first time, you can look up serious use of force and police misconduct incidents in California.
laist.com
August 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
#Resource: For the first time, you can look up serious use of force and police misconduct incidents in California.
Search the new database housing thousands of once-confidential records gathered from the state’s nearly 700 law enforcement and oversight agencies.
laist.com/news/crimina...
Search the new database housing thousands of once-confidential records gathered from the state’s nearly 700 law enforcement and oversight agencies.
laist.com/news/crimina...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Litter is definitely a massive emergency that warrants mobilizing units from several states’ National Guard, arming them heavily and sending them into the streets of the capital.
National Guard troops to pick up trash in DC, work on ‘beautification' projects
Members of the National Guard deployed to D.C. will pick up trash and work on dozens of “beautification and restoration” projects, the military task force overseeing all troops in the District said Mo...
www.nbcwashington.com
August 26, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Litter is definitely a massive emergency that warrants mobilizing units from several states’ National Guard, arming them heavily and sending them into the streets of the capital.
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
The 2025 @washingtonmonthly.com College Guide rankings are out!
We rank colleges based on their contribution to society (research, service, social mobility), not “prestige.”
Our #1 might be a surprise - check it out:
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/24/a...
We rank colleges based on their contribution to society (research, service, social mobility), not “prestige.”
Our #1 might be a surprise - check it out:
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/24/a...
A Different Kind of College Ranking
A degree is costly, to both students and taxpayers. Here’s the only college ranking that shows which institutions provide good value to both.
washingtonmonthly.com
August 25, 2025 at 11:21 AM
The 2025 @washingtonmonthly.com College Guide rankings are out!
We rank colleges based on their contribution to society (research, service, social mobility), not “prestige.”
Our #1 might be a surprise - check it out:
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/24/a...
We rank colleges based on their contribution to society (research, service, social mobility), not “prestige.”
Our #1 might be a surprise - check it out:
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/08/24/a...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
New NBER research finds that billionaires pay an effective tax rate of 24 percent - compared to 30 percent for the rest of us and 45 percent for top labor income earners (eg small business owners, doctors, etc.)
www.nber.org/papers/w3417...
www.nber.org/papers/w3417...
How Much Tax Do US Billionaires Pay? Evidence from Administrative Data
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...
www.nber.org
August 25, 2025 at 11:18 AM
New NBER research finds that billionaires pay an effective tax rate of 24 percent - compared to 30 percent for the rest of us and 45 percent for top labor income earners (eg small business owners, doctors, etc.)
www.nber.org/papers/w3417...
www.nber.org/papers/w3417...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
I wrote an unusually strongly worded thing about the transit crisis in Pennsylvania, which is coming soon to Oregon and Illinois. humantransit.org/2025/08/the-...
The Fall of Philadelphia — Human Transit
The Pennsylvania State Senate has decided that the transit system of America’s fifth largest city should be substantially destroyed. Similar dramas are playing out in Illinois, Oregon, and Rhode Isla...
humantransit.org
August 22, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I wrote an unusually strongly worded thing about the transit crisis in Pennsylvania, which is coming soon to Oregon and Illinois. humantransit.org/2025/08/the-...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
The new Trump administration is making an unprecedented effort to PREVENT science from informing policy.
Environmental causes of autism that might cost $$$ to the billionaire bosses of kids' parents?
Not THOSE environmental causes!
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Environmental causes of autism that might cost $$$ to the billionaire bosses of kids' parents?
Not THOSE environmental causes!
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
August 20, 2025 at 3:42 PM
The new Trump administration is making an unprecedented effort to PREVENT science from informing policy.
Environmental causes of autism that might cost $$$ to the billionaire bosses of kids' parents?
Not THOSE environmental causes!
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Environmental causes of autism that might cost $$$ to the billionaire bosses of kids' parents?
Not THOSE environmental causes!
www.propublica.org/article/rfk-...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
It's been 2 years (+ 1 month) since I left academia. In case anyone is wondering, I have zero regrets. Indeed, I'm living my best life and am so happy I made the leap.
If you're considering leaving too, here are some thoughts on how to explore your options/find a job you'll love...
If you're considering leaving too, here are some thoughts on how to explore your options/find a job you'll love...
August 15, 2025 at 2:55 PM
It's been 2 years (+ 1 month) since I left academia. In case anyone is wondering, I have zero regrets. Indeed, I'm living my best life and am so happy I made the leap.
If you're considering leaving too, here are some thoughts on how to explore your options/find a job you'll love...
If you're considering leaving too, here are some thoughts on how to explore your options/find a job you'll love...
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Good post on where the federal officers are in DC. Not where the crime is but:
where there are homeless people Trump might see;
where there are day laborers waiting for work;
and where homeless people are getting food.
Not remotely about crime.
Entirely about cruelty to the vulnerable.
where there are homeless people Trump might see;
where there are day laborers waiting for work;
and where homeless people are getting food.
Not remotely about crime.
Entirely about cruelty to the vulnerable.
🧵 THE OCCUPATION OF DC 🤨
👉 A Local's Perspective 👀
The WaPo has an article detailing the location of Federal forces across the city. While much of this is ridiculous & performative, here's three places I noted with interest, as a DC resident ⤵️
(Gift Link: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...)
👉 A Local's Perspective 👀
The WaPo has an article detailing the location of Federal forces across the city. While much of this is ridiculous & performative, here's three places I noted with interest, as a DC resident ⤵️
(Gift Link: www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...)
August 16, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Good post on where the federal officers are in DC. Not where the crime is but:
where there are homeless people Trump might see;
where there are day laborers waiting for work;
and where homeless people are getting food.
Not remotely about crime.
Entirely about cruelty to the vulnerable.
where there are homeless people Trump might see;
where there are day laborers waiting for work;
and where homeless people are getting food.
Not remotely about crime.
Entirely about cruelty to the vulnerable.
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
The greatest business story podcast series ever wasn't about corporate successes, it was about a vaporware boy band that popped up and disappeared in the 1991 video for B2M's Motownphilly.
Because it is entirely, if unintentionally, abt selecting on the dependent variable.
I'm 💯 serious:
Because it is entirely, if unintentionally, abt selecting on the dependent variable.
I'm 💯 serious:
(1) methodologically, if you try to derive the “secret formula” by only studying iconic successes, then you’re doing social science wrong.
It’s called selecting on the dependent variable. You have to also examine the failures if you want to identify differences.
It’s called selecting on the dependent variable. You have to also examine the failures if you want to identify differences.
August 16, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The greatest business story podcast series ever wasn't about corporate successes, it was about a vaporware boy band that popped up and disappeared in the 1991 video for B2M's Motownphilly.
Because it is entirely, if unintentionally, abt selecting on the dependent variable.
I'm 💯 serious:
Because it is entirely, if unintentionally, abt selecting on the dependent variable.
I'm 💯 serious:
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
Just published in @jpube.bsky.social:
"The impact of economic opportunity on criminal behavior: Evidence from the fracking boom"
By @brittanystreet.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#econsky #publiceconomics
"The impact of economic opportunity on criminal behavior: Evidence from the fracking boom"
By @brittanystreet.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#econsky #publiceconomics
August 6, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Just published in @jpube.bsky.social:
"The impact of economic opportunity on criminal behavior: Evidence from the fracking boom"
By @brittanystreet.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#econsky #publiceconomics
"The impact of economic opportunity on criminal behavior: Evidence from the fracking boom"
By @brittanystreet.bsky.social
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#econsky #publiceconomics
Reposted by Rammy Bananammy
BREAKING: new study just dropped that shows compelling evidence that cell phone bans cause student grades to modestly increase.
Grade increases are largest among low performing students.
Grade increases are largest among low performing students.
August 5, 2025 at 12:39 AM
BREAKING: new study just dropped that shows compelling evidence that cell phone bans cause student grades to modestly increase.
Grade increases are largest among low performing students.
Grade increases are largest among low performing students.