That’s the caption to this graph:
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Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship in International Economics
The International Affairs Fellowship (IAF) in International Economics, sponsored by Kimberly Querrey, offers business economists as well as university-based economics scholars hands-on experience in the U.S. government to expand their range of thinking and work on international economic policy. Possible host placements for the fellowship appointment include but are not limited to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve Bank, and relevant parts of the U.S. Department of State and the White House [so the Fed, the IMF, the World Bank, the Treasury or any other policy institution are also possibilities]. The IAF in International Economics aims to enrich the teaching, scholarship, and research of academics, inform the practice of business economists, and expose policymakers to cutting edge scholarly research and academic debates.
For more information, see here.
Why Is Mr. Trump Saying 70% Power Outage on Eve of Hurricane Maria Strike?
Following up on yesterday’s tweets on estimates of excess mortality, official statement on twitter:
Official White House Statement on Post-Hurricane Mortality in Puerto Rico
“When Trump visited the island territory last October, OFFICIALS told him in a briefing 16 PEOPLE had died from Maria.” The Washington Post. This was long AFTER the hurricane took place. Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, “3000 PEOPLE KILLED.” They hired……..GWU Research to tell them how many people had died in Puerto Rico (how would they not know this?). This method was never done with previous hurricanes because other jurisdictions know how many people were killed. FIFTY TIMES LAST ORIGINAL NUMBER – NO WAY!
Excess Casualties in Puerto Rico, According to Mr. Trump
From Mr. Trump, this morning:
3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000……..This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!
“Unsung Success” in Puerto Rico
Following up on examples of the incredible and unsung success of the recovery effort in Puerto Rico described by Mr. Trump, from Begnaud/CBSNews:
What may be millions of water bottles. meant for victims of Hurricane Maria, have been sitting on a runway in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, since last year, according to @FEMA, which confirmed the news to me, late tonight, after pictures, posted today on social media, went viral.
If 2975 dead is a success, what does a failure look like?
But Mr. Trump did pass out some paper towel rolls.
Puerto Rico Austerity-Induced Excess Mortality Exceeds That of Hurricane Maria?
A commentator [1] has recently concluded that excess mortality due to austerity in Puerto Rico exceeds that attributable to Hurricane Maria and its aftermath. I take issue with that conclusion.
Chinn-Ito Financial Openness Index Updated to 2016
Trade Policy Uncertainty
My guess [1] is it’s gonna rise again (not that it’s particularly low right now)

Figure 1: Categorical Economic Policy Uncertainty — (blue), Trade Policy Uncertainty (red), 2005-2010=100. Source: PolicyUncertainty, accessed 9/3/2018.
An American Apocalypse in Puerto Rico: 2975 (95%CI, 2,658-3,290)
From Ascertainment of Estimated Excess Mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, commissioned by the government of Puerto Rico, released today:
Total excess mortality post-hurricane using the migration displacement scenario is estimated to be 2,975 (95% CI: 2,658-3,290) for the total study period of September 2017 through February 2018.
