Since last July, when the OBBBA was signed, more than 4 million people, including 1.5M children, have lost coverage. SNAP coverage is declining everywhere, and despite what the Trump administration tells you, this is happening mostly to eligible claimants. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/when-the-o...

I’m so happy this one is out in the world. Farmworkers have very high rates of food insecurity but aren’t well connected to the US’s biggest food assistance program (SNAP), even if they’re eligible. doi.org/10.1016/j.fo... Lead author is super advisee @casemcnich.bsky.social!

I’m behind on posting, so... Excited to share two things that were published last year!

NEW: Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes stricter food stamp work requirements and shifts a larger share of the costs to states. Arizona’s swift implementation has made it more difficult to apply and caused nearly half of recipients to lose benefits.

“The Alarm Bell”: Arizona’s Drop in SNAP Participation Signals Potential Nationwide Impact of Trump Legislation

Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes stricter food stamp work requirements and shifts a larger share of the costs to states. Arizona’s swift implementation has made it more difficult to apply an...

propublica.org

Chatted with Jenny Ifft this week about the food assistance landscape, overviewing our public and private programs and where they're going open.spotify.com/episode/26lX...

The Food Assistance Landscape | Charlotte Ambrozek

open.spotify.com

SNAP work requirements reduce participation by increasing procedural denials—a direct marker of administrative burden. Exploiting age-based exemptions for able-bodied adults without dependents, from Jason B. Cook, Elizabeth Cox, and Chloe N. East www.nber.org/papers/w34698

Wait, it gets worse. The team of economists and researchers responsible for the USDA survey that measures food insecurity and hunger were put on indefinite paid leave today. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Exclusive | USDA Puts Food Researchers on Leave

The move comes days after the Trump administration abruptly canceled an annual Agriculture Department report that measures hunger in America.

wsj.com

🧵 of my favorite new papers that I saw at #ASHEcon2025 First up is “Stigmas and Social Safety Net Participation” from @kpukelis.bsky.social and Michael Holcomb which finds interesting stigma difference along political lines

Coming soon to Zoom rooms near you! We're excited to announce a reboot of the Chamberlain Seminar, five years after its 2020 debut We'll kick things off on 3/21 with a tribute to Gary. More info and future seminars here: chamberlainseminar.org Register here: stanford.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

I am hearing that PEPFAR programs are still being stalled, and medication appointments cancelled, despite a waiver in place to allow life-saving programs to continue. Thus, @belindaarch.bsky.social and I are sharing the letter we wrote, signed by 110 economists, urging its continuation. 1/4

We are now on Bluesky! Follow us for the latest news and updates from JPAM. #EconSky #PolicySky

@belindaarch.bsky.social and I have written a letter from economists regarding PEPFAR. Please sign and share with your network. Only economist signatures right now (for more focused impact). Once signed, we will share with the administration, congress, + the media. #econsky forms.gle/C5roVX5sFF14...

PEPFAR letter

January 28th, 2025 With news that Trump’s foreign aid executive order has halted distribution of life-saving HIV medications through PEPFAR, we write as concerned economists to express how crucial it ...

forms.gle

Broader agreement that it to applies to discretionary spending payments (Head Start, WIC, etc).

📈📉 New Census Working Paper: "Food Security Status Across the Rural-Urban Continuum Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic" by Patrick J. Brady, Melissa N. Laska, Rachel Widome, and Sruthi Valluri www.census.gov/library/work...

Hello World! The Editorial Board of Health Economics is pleased to announce that we are now live on the happier, friendlier, and all-together Blue-er place. Please follow us (and repost) for updates on articles and journal issues as they come out.

PSA to job market candidates: if you didn't get a particular flyout, it may have had nothing to do with the quality of your interview. Departments have a myriad of internal constraints and goals that are unobservable to you, and the process is a lot more complex than you think.

Excited to start the year off sharing some memes made by my students in Intro Econometrics for extra credit on their final. The prompt is to make a meme about an econometrics concept, and then explain to me, as if I am your less econometrically savvy relative, why the meme works.

Judith Liu presenting research with our Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Norbert Wilson, on disparities in food insecurities between foreign-born and U.S.-born-headed households. #ASSA2025

🚨Closing out 2024 with a new paper with @hristakeva.bsky.social and @leofeler.com: How GLP-1 medications like Ozempic are reshaping food demand and changing the rules of the game for the food industry.

New statement from Ty Jones Cox on the continuation of #SNAP benefit theft protections in a proposed farm bill extension: www.cbpp.org/press/statem...

Congress Set to Extend Vital Protections for Victims of SNAP Benefit Theft | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Legislation to temporarily extend food and agriculture programs authorized by the farm bill, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), will also extend protections for victims of...

cbpp.org

The technical term for this move is “some BS” … the only tax program that scored higher in reviews from users was the pre-populated tax return pilot in California … also targeted by massive for-profit tax preparer lobbying …

🚨 New @apsrjournal.bsky.social Paper! 🚨 In “When Migrants Mobilize against Labor Exploitation: Evidence from the Italian Farmlands,” I study how empowering undocumented migrants can reduce labor exploitation and even weaken organized crime. Thread : 🧵

American Political Science Review@apsrjournal.bsky.social · 2y ago

Just published on APSR First View: "When Migrants Mobilize against Labor Exploitation: Evidence from the Italian Farmlands" by Gemma Dipoppa. @gemmadipoppa.bsky.social. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

🚨 new policy brief 🧵 poverty.ucdavis.edu/post/snap-pa... Farmworkers have high food insecurity AND low SNAP participation (even if eligible). We show big correlations between harvest timing and farmworkers leaving then re-entering SNAP. This pattern hurts both households and state budgets. 1/3

Mandatory interviews with a fixed interview time are a critical administrative checkpoint for SNAP applicants. Giving them flexibility in scheduling interviews helps them get past this checkpoint. We ran experiments to increase interview flexibility with Code for America in LA and Boulder, CO.

Sometimes the combination of arrogance and ignorance is breathtaking. Yes, US health care has high admin costs; that's because it relies so much on private insurers. Govt-run health insurance has much lower overhead

Fun fact: “The average American eats about 20 pounds of fresh tomatoes per year, two-thirds of which now come from Mexico.” asmith.ucdavis.edu/news/mexican...

Mexican Tomatoes are Winning the American Market

This article was written by UC Davis ARE PhD students Yuhan Wang and Wenjie Zhan.  It is the fifth in a series of excellent articles written by students in my ARE 231 class this fall.

asmith.ucdavis.edu

@ #SEA2024 tomorrow and Monday. Tomorrow I’m presenting new work on the effect of SNAP retailer disqualifications on participation in “Food Insecurity and Food Assistance” from 4-5:45p in Georgetown East Looking forward to meeting/reconnecting with folks Come say hi!

UMN APEC is hiring in ag business! Come work with us, one of the best ag econ depts in the US, excellent colleagues and students. Twin Cities amenities - great for food + 🎸🎹🎻 + 🚲 + 🛶 Apply by December 15 aaea.execinc.com/edibo/JobBoa...

Hello, hello! I'm officially back on here. Who should I be following? Where are the food/agriculture policy nerds? Help me out!

For #FarmBill & #EconSky followers gearing up: @chloeneast.bsky.social & I wrote a comprehensive explainer on SNAP work requirements: the rules, the research, and our recommendations. www.hamiltonproject.org/publication/...

A primer on SNAP work requirements - The Hamilton Project

An explainer on work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP; formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) summarizes the research on work requirements and their efficacy.

hamiltonproject.org