Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Melissa Thomasson

@mthomasson.bsky.social

2.4K followers 890 following 120 posts

Professor of Economics @Miami University. Research Associate @NBER. Passionate about economic history, health economics and policy, business for a better world. Dog person, cat person, horse person. All opinions my own.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 3d

Mmmm. Bundt cake.

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 11d

😿

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 12d

It’s always great to see that the world supply of soy (or virtually any other commodity) is indeed perfectly elastic. Gotta say that this tariff brought in a heap of revenue. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/b...

China Bought $12.6 Billion in U.S. Soybeans Last Year. Now, It’s $0.

www.nytimes.com

2 5 13

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 21d

Great write-up of new research by @riacton.bsky.social !

Riley Acton @riacton.bsky.social · 21d

Thanks @j-alonso.bsky.social @insidehighered.com for the thoughtful coverage of our new work on how politics are affecting college choices

1 2

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 26d

Whoops I responded to my own comment. It suffers from typoglycemia

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 26d

I think I have heard it called “typoglycemia”

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · 26d

Whoa- unrelated- is the second half of the article all gibberish for everyone else?

3 3

Reposted by Melissa Thomasson

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · Sep 8

Very happy to see my review of the racial residential segregation literature with John Parman in the latest issue of Journal of Economic Literature @aeajournals.bsky.social www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

Racial Residential Segregation in the United States

(September 2025) - Residential segregation is a central factor in explaining socioeconomic gaps across race and ethnicity in the United States. Place of residence directly impacts access to schools, j...

www.aeaweb.org

2 23 60

Reposted by Melissa Thomasson

Alex Goldmark @alexgoldmark.bsky.social · Aug 26

Now’s a good time to share one of several recent @planetmoney.bsky.social episodes about the importance of Federal Reserve independence from partisan electoral politics.
www.npr.org/2025/04/23/1...

A primer on the Federal Reserve's independence : Planet Money

President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing politics by keeping interest rates high. T...

www.npr.org

1 10 13

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 21

I just gave! Alums, employers and friends: please consider donating - every dollar counts these days and helps give our students amazing experiences and top skills!

Miami University Economics @miamiecon.bsky.social · Aug 21

One way donations from #MoveInMiami help is for student research. This can vary in many ways: departmental honors, MA thesis, brown bag seminar, etc. Please consider helping students gain more knowledge with research.

www.givetomiamioh.org/s/916/22/lan...

1 2 3

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 13

😂

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 8

When the uber home (hard to find) comes late and the seat looks like this:

Black car seat made gray with animal hair

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 7

It really is Ground Hog Day. My garden is… a little less big than it was yesterday…

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 6

This is sad. We had many thoughtful conversations on health econ and health insurance- a great thinker.

Reposted by Melissa Thomasson

Sebastian Tello Trillo @sebastiantt.bsky.social · Aug 5

This week we ‪(with @ajhollingsworth.bsky.social talk with @talgross.bsky.social on The Hidden Curriculum on productivity and how to improve our teaching and some ideas for new exercises for your class!

2 4 14

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Aug 5

A monarch today!

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 31

Such a great project! Congrats to this amazing team and to MU alum Margaret Layding for helping us develop it!

Miami University Economics @miamiecon.bsky.social · Jul 31

We're thrilled to announce that Peter Nencka (
@peternka.bsky.social ), Riley Acton (riacton.bsky.social) and Carla Nietfeld have received an NSF award to expand their work integrating social context into principles of eco courses.

See below for more info

1 5

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 30

Seems like it is an LCL sprain and not a bone fracture: sports.yahoo.com/article/inju...

Injury update for Bills rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston reveals good news

Latest update on Bills CB Maxwell Hairston and his injury he recently sustained.

sports.yahoo.com

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 26

TGIC! Grimmy on his fave chair

Smoke colored Maine Coon sitting on a living room chair with front legs hanging over the armrest

2 31

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 26

Wow fellow Ohioans- this will have a major impact.

KFF @kff.org · Jul 25

CBO’s new estimates of the new tax and spending law includes federal Medicaid spending cuts of $911 billion over 10 years.

The spending cuts vary by state. Louisiana, Illinois, Nevada, and Oregon could see the largest cuts of 19% or more: on.kff.org/46VjNK4

Map of the United States showing federal Medicaid cuts in the budget reconciliation package, by state as a percent of baseline federal Medicaid spending over a 10-year period (from 2025 to 2034). States are color-coded: green represents cuts less than 7%, teal indicates cuts between 7% and 10%, blue indicates cuts between 10% and 13% and dark blue denotes cuts equal to or greater than 13%. Source: KFF analysis of CBO estimates.

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 19

Caturday on the coffee table. Just missing the coffee.

Maine coin laying on a glass coffee table

1 11

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 14

I am totally requesting this awesomeness for my next birthday dinner!

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 14

When my kids were younger, they asked why we call it “rolling up the windows” in the car….

Diane Coyle @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social · Jul 14

When your family finally got a phone, sharing the line with the next door neighbours so only one of you could make a call at a time. (The phone had a special table in the hall.)

Tiffany⸆⸉ @tiffanyclay.dev · Jul 13

What’s a real thing from your childhood that kids these days would find completely foreign?

Like, how we used to be able to walk right up to the gate to meet our family coming off a flight.

Or how we had to pick a spot to meet at the theater BEFORE we went.

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 12

Happy Caturday!

2 4

Melissa Thomasson @mthomasson.bsky.social · Jul 11

I think you could, at this point, just say “the next big thing” and the sentence works just as well. :)