The technologies are new. The questions--about power, meaning, knowledge, work, who gets counted, and who is at the table--are not. Social science has been asking them all along. The essay is an argument for showing up fully to a reckoning we're already in. www.amacad.org/publication/...

Trump Promised the ‘World’s Lowest’ Drug Prices. We Checked the Numbers. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/18/w...

"It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than under the Republicans" — Donald J. Trump, 2004 I guess even Trump is right about some things. https://youtu.be/oEMn40L5UN4?si=jma0yrFyeb-kdHZq

That's about half of what it cost for USAID for a whole year www.nytimes.com/live/2026/03...

This guy thought he’d never have to answer for his actions. There’s a lot of that going around. We have to hold ALL of them accountable.

Seems like a thing more people should be mad about

The latest piece in the Science Politics #USAID anniversary series is out now! Susan Erikson discusses the private #finance approach to #globalhealth, noting the dystopian dangers of leaving #humanitarian aid up to wealthy #investors. sciencepolitics.org/2026/01/22/t...

Case and I disagree on many things. But his NYTimes piece today is a great primer for understanding why the financialization of health and its supportive services is so absolutely dangerous for humans

“Financialization [is] the term for making financial markets and transactions ends unto themselves, disconnected from — and often at the expense of — the societal benefits that support human flourishing and are capitalism’s proper purpose.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...

On Jan 24, it will be a year since USAID was axed. Science Politics hosts a series of commentaries, including mine on what USAID's demise makes room FOR in US foreign policy. Hint: Speculative finance. sciencepolitics.org/2026/01/22/t...

@adamconover.net I just watched a presentation and panel discussion with Susan Erikson, author of *Investable! When Pandemic Risk Meets Speculative Finance – A Cautionary Tale*. PLEASE consider inviting her to be a guest on Factually!

Good grief, his profound arrogance and displacement of what truly matters for humans to thrive and live lives of meaning and care!

"What happens when capital-market enthusiasm collides with real world economic priorities?" The Risky Science Podcast does a deep dive on the volatility of risk finance and global health crises with FHS professor @slerikson.bsky.social, author of Investible! pod.link/1825669405/e... #SFU #SFUFHS

Can innovative finance really can save global health? Risky Science pod host, Chris Westfall, gave me the opportunity to argue otherwise! Listen to the podcast! www.riskmarketnews.com/models-prior...

We must not give up on publicly funding health and wellness at home and the world. Do not relinquish care to only profit-making and ROI schemes! My latest: www.statnews.com/2025/11/05/f...

World Bank pandemic bonds only paid out after death tolls passed a threshold. They’re part of a booming market where investors turn calamity into capital. Susan Erikson explores the murky, ever-growing world of betting on catastrophe:

Framed as humanitarian innovation, insurance-linked securities allow investors to bet on everything from hurricanes to pandemics. Our essay of the week unpacks how speculative finance turns catastrophe into a tradable asset. By Susan Erikson in @mitpress.bsky.social buff.ly/EXs3DZK

Jacobin has a fiery issue on SPECULATION, which includes a review of my book, Investable! When Pandemic Risk Meets Speculative Finance jacobin.com/issue/specul... jacobin.com/2025/06/maki... @sfu-fhs.bsky.social @sfufass.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social

Life-saving drugs going to waste in Sierra Leone because the US stopped distribution for treatment. Just. Stopped. Cruel. www.nytimes.com/2025/06/21/o...

My friend @slerikson.bsky.social‬ amazing book, a multi-sited ethnography of so-called pandemic bonds --from international investor meetings to Sierra Leonean health centers -- is finally out!

"Investable!" is a critical and sobering look at how international bankers and investors turn pandemics into investment opportunities and what we stand to lose when we rely on "innovative finance": mitpress.mit.edu/978026254935...

Investable! is out today! Thrilled and grateful! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757475...

Trump’s nominee to run the DFC, wants to redirect USAID’s budget to Wall Street. What will this mean for global health? In the most recent blog post, first published by the McLeod Group, Susan Erikson (@slerikson.bsky.social) reflects on the financialization of aid. www.sum.uio.no/english/rese...

DOGE has so much to learn about government! on.ft.com/3R8b3ai

Wall Street likely to benefit from USAID shuttering. More about it in my McLeod piece www.mcleodgroup.ca/2025/03/shif...

Can't wait for this amazing work by my friend Susan Erikson to be out in the world! mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780262...