Prof. Simon Wigley

Philosophy Prof. political philosophy, political science & global health. lse grad. kiwi by origin.

[Foreign Affairs @ForeignAffairs]

Washington’s retreat on global health will make everyone less safe in the long run, argue @TomBollyky and @YanzhongHuang. “Better health in the world’s poorest places means better health for other countries, too, including the United States.”
https://t.co/lhKtwr0Cr1

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

“In science, there is no shame in being wrong. Scientists are wrong all the time. Aristotle was a pioneer in that he started not with a prior scheme, but sought, as dispassionately as he could, to explain what he saw.”https://t.co/NI6b0tQosg

[Tom Bollyky @TomBollyky]

"The 2024 campaign has been unusual both in its intense focus on the health of the candidates and in its relative inattention to the health of the people"

Great article on relationship btwn health and democracy from @DhruvKhullar in @NewYorker

https://t.co/mPGnIl6SOg

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

3/3 🌍 Implications: Data manipulation hinders effective public health responses, obstructs international aid efforts, and skews cross-national studies. For accurate insights, alternative data estimation is recommended for autocracies. #HealthData #Governance

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

2/3 📊 The study assessed manipulation through excess vs. reported death ratios and statistical patterns in reported deaths, finding that lack of independent opposition and fair elections were strong predictors of deliberate underreporting during the pandemic.

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

1/3 🧵 In my latest study in @JHPPL I find that autocracies were more likely to underreport COVID-19 deaths than democracies. In democracies, opposition and free media pressure frustrate attempts to hide bad news. Read more: https://t.co/EVCzmOYlao

[Daron Acemoglu @DAcemogluMIT]

Herkese sonsuz teşekkürler

Hem arkadaşlarım hem de aynı zamanda meslektaşlarım olan Simon Johnson ve James Robinson ile beraber, 2024 Nobel Ekonomi Ödülü’ne layık görülmüş olmaktan son derece mutlu ve gururluyum.

Aynı zamanda bu ödülün, ekonomik büyümenin anlaşılmasında kurumların rolünün önemini ve demokrasi ile siyasi değişim meselelerini vurgulamasıyla, sadece Simon, Jim ve benim çalışmalarımı değil, aynı zamanda bu konuda emek sarf eden bir çok harika genç ekonomist ve sosyal bilim insanının da çalışmalarını takdir etmiş olmasından dolayı da çok mutluyum.

Demokrasi olgusunun saldırı altında olduğu zamanlardan geçiyoruz. Yapay zeka ile ilgili bir çok konu, ekonomik eşitsizlikler, çalışma hayatının geleceği, yaşlanan dünya ve iklim değişimi gibi hepsi birbirinden önemli konularla baş edebilmek için gerekli olan toplumsal mutabakatı sağlamanın yolu her zamankinden daha güçlü kurumlara sahip olmaktan geçiyor. Temennim, bu ödülün vurgusunun dünyada kurumları ve demokrasiyi güçlendirmenin ne kadar zorlu bir mücadele gerektirdiğine ışık tutacak olması.

Beni gerek kişisel olarak gerekse mesajlarla ve sosyal medya üzerinden tebrik eden ve iyi dileklerini gönderen herkese minnettarım.

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

In this new @LancetGH podcast @sdwigley and I unpack our recent paper

📻

Listen free here: https://t.co/p8oI0OZMuX

[Tom Bollyky @TomBollyky]

The US struggled against COVID, but not all US states struggled equally

A 4-fold (!) difference exists btwn US states on deaths, even adjusted for age, key health conditions

New @TheLancet study explores differences & how we can do better in next crisis
https://t.co/vRCQGzeuHY

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

Huge thanks to my amazing co-authors @sdwigley @pepitabarlow @hampusholmer

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

And look out for an upcoming Lancet podcast episode where Simon and I unpack the paper

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

Take-home messages:

- Implementation should have increased following #covid (NCDs, tobacco, alcohol, junk foods etc are all risk factors)

- But NCD policy implementation has stagnated

- These policies are extremely cost effective and save lives

- Urgent action is required

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

5) 23.7% of all variance in policy implementation is explained by #CorporateFinancialInfluence

i.e. countries with the weakest protections against corporate financial influence were the least likely to implement NCD policies

🤑⚖️📉

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

4) Changes in #consumption patterns diverged almost perfectly between High vs Lower income countries

🚬🍺🍔

Broadly - changes in sales were not associated with policy implementation

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

3) The static global mean hides individual policy changes:

👍🏾 Many #tobacco policies
👍🏾 Child #junkfood marketing policies
👍🏾 Clinical guideline use

👎🏾 #PhysicalActivity campaigns
👎🏾 #Alcohol policies
👎🏾 Plans, surveys and targets

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

2) There is marked inter-regional variation, and some groups are making faster progress than others

[Luke Allen @drlukeallen]

🔥 Major new @LancetGH paper out today!

#NCD policy implementation from 2014-21

Examining implementation of 19 NCD policies endorsed by all WHO member states

Open access here: https://t.co/2qr40tMVeR

Top 5 messages 🧵...

1) Implementation progress stalled in 2021 at 47·8%

[Noah Blaser @nblaser18]

Fellow foreigners, please consider supporting relief efforts following the devastating quake in Turkey - or giving again. The needs are overwhelming.

One great aid group is Support to Life, a local, trusted organization focused on underserved Hatay: https://t.co/ySZGRgABGO

[In Our Time @BBCInOurTime]

Coming up just after 9am: liberty, equality, the original position and the veil of ignorance. It's A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls https://t.co/valobQn3zC @BBCRadio4

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

Regime type and Data Manipulation: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic https://t.co/hcTZ7PiLFb

[Prof. Simon Wigley @sdwigley]

New Zealand passes world-first tobacco law to ban smoking for next generation https://t.co/jpDIneOJ8F