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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

RFK Jr’s fixation on environmental causes of a so called “epidemic” in regards to ASD is uninformed and dangerous.

Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

There is some caution that a society that diagnoses at higher rates might be more prone to overdiagnosis.

But we also might just be doing a better job at meeting the needs of more neurodivergent people.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

What’s important is RFK Jr is essentially trying to explain a phenomena that doesn’t exist.

There is no “epidemic”. Changes in modern society have altered our awareness and the standards we use in defining neurodivergence.

And I do not believe this necessarily a bad thing!

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

For ASD, I know less but from what I am aware (2) and (3) are also big factors.

Especially as ASD was when redefined as a spectrum, this lowered the threshold of how severe symptoms need to be in order to be diagnosable.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

Some possible reasons ADHD diagnoses have increased:
- Higher performance schooling standards raise the benefits of receiving a diagnosis vs going untreated
- Raised awareness and lower stigma have lowered the costs of being diagnosed
- The “diagnosable” threshold has been lowered

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

Essentially thinking of neurodivergence as an “epidemic” is deeply flawed because:

higher diagnosis rates =\= higher true prevalence of the condition

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Sep 6

While about ADHD and not ASD:

“‘the rise of ADHD is a consequence of what might otherwisebe considered a good thing: that the world we live in increasingly values intellectual consideration and rationality ... Modernity didn’t create ADHD It revealed it.’” - Malcolm Gladwell, 1999

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · Sep 6

There is a lot of focus on Tylenol and autism spectrum disorder today, but RFK Jr. is also suggesting that low folate levels contribute.

First, a reminder that genetics are the overwhelming contributor to ASD—up to 90%.

Anything else he pulls out is likely to have minimal impact on ASD rates.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · May 20

I think it has to also be contextualized that voter turnout was lower in 2024.

Swing doesn’t necessarily just come from people changing parties, but higher retention of 2020 red voters vs 2020 blue voters.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · May 15

If anyone has any leads in the area (or remote) or knows of anyone looking for an Applied Microeconomist, I’d be happy to have the connection!

I also have a strong public health background (JAMA Pub), and my JMP was labor / health focused.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · May 15

Hi #EconSky! I was on the market this past cycle, specifically focused on the DC-Maryland-Virginia area because my fiancé is at the Fed Board (we get married this May).

I had a few government offers, all of which ended up being affected by the current civil service cuts.

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Reposted by Travis Whitacre

Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science @skytteprize.bsky.social · Apr 23

Herbert P. Kitschelt is the winner of the 2025 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. 🏆

He is awarded the prize for " having increased knowledge of the functioning of democratic party systems with exquisite theoretical acuity and impressive empirical breadth and depth."

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Apr 23

Congratulations to my soon to be father in law for winning the “Nobel” prize in Political Science!

👏 👏 👏

Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science @skytteprize.bsky.social · Apr 23

Herbert P. Kitschelt is the winner of the 2025 Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science. 🏆

He is awarded the prize for " having increased knowledge of the functioning of democratic party systems with exquisite theoretical acuity and impressive empirical breadth and depth."

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Apr 21

It’s a genre bend, and more comedy / thriller (and even musical) than it is horror imo. Probably could count on one hand the number of jump scares in the movie.

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Reposted by Travis Whitacre

Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · Apr 16

Senator Chris Van Hollen is on his way to El Salvador to discuss bringing Kilmar Abrgeo Garcia back home.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Apr 8

Also important in response to these takes: slower growth from a recession does not necessarily mean lower prices if the economy is stagflationary. (Ahem, tariffs)

Guy Berger @econberger.bsky.social · Apr 8

1/ I'm seeing a bad take floating around: "even a bad recession boosts the unemployment rate only to 10%; for the other 90% the recession is an opportunity to buy cheap houses."

But recessions and their aftermath are bad for more than 50% of households.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Apr 7

I’ve seen lots of cope that crashing the markets is part of some demented strategy to show the administration means business.

But no. The simplest answer is just that they’re not rational, and whatever strategy there may be is irrational as well.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Apr 7

The actions of our country’s leaders makes a lot more sense when you accept that they are not rational actors.

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Feb 21

First time I’ve watched an international sports game the US was playing in and rooted against the US.

Go Canada, they deserved this win! 🇨🇦

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Feb 17

I’ve pretty much made it a daily routine to send one letter or call in the morning. Always about a new topic… 😮‍💨

Reposted by Travis Whitacre

WIRED @wired.com · Feb 4

EXCLUSIVE: The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It’s also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls Social Security payments, tax returns, and more.

A 25-Year-Old With Elon Musk Ties Has Direct Access to the Federal Payment System

The Bureau of the Fiscal Service is a sleepy part of the Treasury Department. It’s also where, sources say, a 25-year-old engineer tied to Elon Musk has admin privileges over the code that controls So...

www.wired.com

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Reposted by Travis Whitacre

Lauren Bauer @laurenhlb.bsky.social · Feb 3

New and important: we built a federal expenditure tracker. All expenditure line items that are available on the Daily Treasury Statement.

USAID was zeroed out on 1/28 and has been at zero ever since.

www.hamiltonproject.org/data/trackin...

#EconSky

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Feb 4

RIP all of us applied economists, econometricians, and IO folks working on anything to do with barriers to entry

Darby Saxbe @darbysaxbe.bsky.social · Feb 4

🚨BREAKING. From a program officer at the National Science Foundation, a list of keywords that can cause a grant to be pulled. I will be sharing screenshots of these keywords along with a decision tree. Please share widely. This is a crisis for academic freedom & science.

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Reposted by Travis Whitacre

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · Feb 2

(NYT) - More than 8,000 web pages across more than a dozen U.S. government websites have been taken down since Friday afternoon, a New York Times analysis has found ..

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/u...

Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday

Federal agencies moved to satisfy Trump’s orders to remove topics like diversity initiatives and “gender ideology.”

www.nytimes.com

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Jan 26

If you see this, quote with flowers from your gallery

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Travis Whitacre @traviswhitacre.bsky.social · Jan 26

Even if he thought she was “God’s enemy”, isn’t it Christ who also said “Love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you”?

Sounds a lot different than commanding people to “properly hate in response”

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