Karen Benjamin Guzzo

@karenguzzo.bsky.social

Demographer and Sociologist. Director of the Carolina Population Center. LEGO Karen

Always a hoot seeing the IFS folks twist themselves in knots trying to selectively argue the instances in which correlation doesn't equal causation since most of their arguments about family structure and outcomes are largely based on correlational evidence.

There is a misguided school of thought arguing that any disparity in a broad demographic category must be due to discrimination within that category. This is a causal fallacy—mistaking correlation for causation. For example, some believe that racial disparities in student outcomes must be caused solely by racism, as opposed to other factors such as differences in family structure across race. These reductionist conclusions, particularly regarding race, have led to the embrace of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives focusing on race and ethnicity as the key drivers of student performance. But by overlooking important factors like family structure that shape student achievement, approaches focusing on race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic disadvantages may miss understanding and addressing family dynamics that are more consequential for students than their race and ethnicity or economic status.

Blanche’s remarks “go far beyond the actions on abortion he promised during his confirmation hearing. They also conflict with promises President Donald Trump made on the campaign trail to keep the federal government from enforcing restrictions on the pills.”

Blanche assures anti-abortion supporters that Dobbs will be ‘permanent in every single state’

The acting attorney general made the remarks during a private call with faith leaders.

politico.com

Research on immigration flows can point to complex, heterogeneous effects. But in research on increased immigration _enforcement_, negative social consequences are pretty much the rule. Arrests, detentions, and deportations make everyone worse off.

Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 3d ago

This paper shows that immigration enforcement can _increase_ crime. Undocumented immigrants already have the lowest crime rate, but tough-on-immigration policy makes immigrants less likely to report crime. So immigration enforcement worsens the problem it was ostensibly meant to solve

Community Engagement and Public Safety: Evidence from
Crime Enforcement Targeting Immigrantst
By FELIPE GONÇALVES, ELISA JÁCOME, AND EMILY WEISBURST*
We study the role of victim reporting in the production of public safety.
We examine the Secure Communities program, a crime-reduction policy that involved police in detecting unauthorized immigrants and increased deportation fears in immigrant communities. We find that the policy reduced the likelihood that Hispanic victims report crimes to police and increased offending against Hispanics. The number of reported crimes is unchanged, masking these opposing effects. We show that reduced reporting drives the offending increase and provide the first elasticity of offending to victim reporting in the liter-ature, calculating that a 10 percent decline in reporting increases offending by 7.9 percent. (JEL J15, K37, K42)

An Atlanta-area police chief accessed Flock cameras 500 times to track the movements of his ex-girlfriend and her teenage daughter. At least 50 cops have been similarly charged with misusing Flock "including to stalk women without their knowledge or consent"

How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking

Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.

wapo.st

NIH is hosting a webinar on August 14th to "clarify the [Unified Funding Strategy's] rationale, goals, and implementation across NIH; address misconceptions; and help foster communication between NIH staff and applicants, recipients, researchers, and the wider research community."

NOT-OD-26-099: NIH Webinar: You're Invited: A Conversation on NIH's Unified Funding Strategy

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: NIH Webinar: You're Invited: A Conversation on NIH's Unified Funding Strategy NOT-OD-26-099. NIH

grants.nih.gov

I wrote last year about the US Administration's plans to eviscerate Optional Practical Training, America's largest single source of global STEM talent: www.piie.com/blogs/realti... That came to pass. The White House is sharpening its tools to shatter OPT, and thus kneecap many US universities.

Exclusive | U.S. Weighs $100,000 Fee for Foreign Students Wanting to Work After Graduation

The proposed policy would particularly affect Silicon Valley, Wall Street and universities.

wsj.com

“[The] historical logic of workplace feminization…goes something like this: A job gets worse in some way — say, it pays less or becomes more grueling or monotonous or generally less prestigious — at which point men become less interested in doing it. Employers then turn to women to fill the ranks.”

In Trump’s Economy, Job Gains Go to Women. That’s Not an Entirely Good Thing. (Gift Article)

Despite the administration’s best attempts, the diminishing status of many American jobs is driving a spike in women’s employment.

nytimes.com