Teaching economics

Argues against neoliberal ideology

Substantially on the grounds that orthodox macroeconomics is simply incorrect on its face 

To some, neoclassical economics “is dead”, as is the opinion of Steven Klees, at the University of Maryland. A quick look at almost every journal and university departments will confirm, however, that neoclassical economics is not dead, and far from it. It is thriving in university departments and still is considered ‘the only game in town’, despite the rise of alternative views, such as Modern Money Theory, or heterodox ideas slowly creeping into mainstream approaches.

The global “ system “ is a pandemic factory

Next one will be soon

It’s often said a pandemic happens once every one hundred years.

Covid seemed to fit the timeline almost perfectly. The 1918 flu followed by 2019.

Many probably think this means humanity is in the clear for another century.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In an effort to test this 100-year construct, researchers ran 150,000 simulations modelling various pathogens and outbreak scenarios. They found a near 30% chance of another covid-like global outbreak happening not in some distant decade, but before 2033.

Mearsheimer on Gaza

For the record

What Israel is doing in Gaza to the Palestinian civilian population – with the support of the Biden administration – is a crime against humanity that serves no meaningful military purpose.

Professional prompting

Advice for writers

Nasal vaccine for COVID

Current state of nasal vaccines

And good discussion of the fact that it’s a respiratory virus 

SarS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus.

“The natural way people get infected with COVID is through the nose,” explains Johanna Kaufmann, Ph.D., executive vice president of oncology and immunology at Codagenix, a biotech company that is currently working to develop a COVID intranasal vaccine, in Farmingdale, NY. “It first infects the nasal cavity and then spreads throughout the body—or not—depending on the immune status of a particular individual. But there is a specific set of immune cells in the nose that contribute to the initial immune reaction.”

However, typical vaccinations (including the newer mRNA vaccines) use a needle to deposit the vaccine, either right under the skin (subcutaneous) or deep into a muscle (intramuscular), where they stimulate a process called circulatory immunity. The vaccine’s antigen (a.k.a., weakened or inactive parts of a pathogen) quickly enters the bloodstream, where it generates an immune response that in turn produces antibodies, marking that particular pathogen for destruction. The next time the same pathogen shows up in the body, an arsenal of antibodies goes on the attack. This is called immunological memory—and it’s why vaccines can be so effective.