Akee Highlights Disproportionate Impact of COVID on Indigenous Populations

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee wrote an article for EconoFact about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on indigenous populations and other disadvantaged communities. He explained that historical inequities in public funding have made indigenous peoples and African American and Latinx households more likely than white households to lack access to complete plumbing. New research indicates that “COVID-19 cases are more likely to occur in tribal communities with a higher proportion of homes lacking indoor plumbing.” He also noted that “COVID-19 cases were less likely to occur in tribal communities where households spoke English only,” suggesting that “access to relevant public health information in indigenous languages may play a key role in the spread of COVID-19 in some tribal communities.” Akee recommended developing better-targeted, context-specific policies for indigenous communities, including effective communication of public health warnings and provision of water supplies.

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Akee Finds High Rate of COVID-19 Infection in Indigenous Populations

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee was featured in an article on Turtle Talk about his research on the infection rates of COVID-19 on American Indian reservations. Akee joined a team of researchers to investigate the relationship between community and household characteristics and the rate of COVID-19 spread on tribal lands. They found that the rate of COVID-19 cases per 1,000 people was more than four times higher for populations residing on reservations than for the U.S. as a whole. Furthermore, they discovered that COVID-19 cases were more likely to occur in tribal communities with a higher proportion of homes lacking indoor plumbing and less likely to occur in tribal communities where households spoke English only. Akee’s team recommended government action to “strengthen tribal public health and household infrastructure and provide potable water and culturally relevant information” to protect American Indian communities from COVID-19 and future pandemics.

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Eight Ways to Advance Societal Equity in Battling Coronavirus

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Akee on Stimulus Checks to Help Weather Coronavirus Impact

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee spoke to CNN about a proposal to send economic stimulus checks to Americans to help them weather the financial impact of COVID-19. As part of a broader economic stabilization plan, the direct government payments to millions of people are seen as a move that could provide quick relief, if not full insulation from the economic shock of the coronavirus. Akee said the payments are especially urgent in households struggling to buy groceries, pay rent and cover car payments, to provide stability until the crisis is over and Americans can return to work. “There are household expenses that people are very concerned about,” he said. “That’s why this cash payment is crucial.”

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Akee Links Universal Basic Income Experiment and Family Stress

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee was featured in a New Republic article on the impact that universal basic income has on families. The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) project is providing $500 a month to a group of Stockton residents for 18 months to better understand the effectiveness of universal basic income. Preliminary data show that recipients spend a majority of the money on daily expenses. Many also report having more breathing room and more free time to spend with their children. A similar experiment that gave a portion of casino revenue to every tribal citizen in the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina found improvements in relationships between parents and children. Akee explained that “extra money allows for more consistency and covering of basic living expenses, and people aren’t perhaps nearly as stressed with each other.” He said reducing a family’s stress “may have an intergenerational impact on the kids.”

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Akee on Potential for Privacy Loss Among Native Populations

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee spoke to Digital Trends about the impact that “differential privacy” protections used by the U.S. Census Bureau could have on small Native populations. Increased concerns about compromising anonymity in its datasets have prompted the bureau to implement greater privacy measures. These include differential privacy, a data science method that involves introducing error, or “noise,” to protect individual records. The bureau hopes that its commitment to increased security will make people more willing to participate in the 2020 Census. However, some researchers worry that it is putting a higher value on privacy than access to reliable data. Akee spoke about the impact of privacy loss for smaller populations, like Alaska Natives. Tribal governments will have to decide their own level of comfort with potential release of information about their populations, he said. 

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Census Change Could Reduce Indigenous Population Count, Akee Finds

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The New York Times featured a study conducted by Randall Akee, associate professor of public policy and American Indian studies, in an opinion piece about the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau is testing an algorithm that scrambles the final population count to preserve the confidentiality of individual data records. A test run using records from the last census showed that the algorithm may produce wildly inaccurate numbers for rural areas and minority populations. Akee’s study found this to be true for Native American reservations. On reservations where the population fell below 5,000 people, the algorithm reduced the count of indigenous people by an average of 34%, the study found.

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Akee Addresses Lack of Diversity in Economics

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Associate Professor of Public Policy Randall Akee’s views on the lack of diversity in the economics profession were featured in the Economist after the annual American Economic Association conference in San Diego. Conference attendees expressed concern that the lack of racial and gender diversity within the profession has limited the field by excluding certain perspectives. At the conference, Akee joined a panel on “How Can Economics Save Its Race Problem?” to speak about the pressures to be taken seriously as a scholar, not merely a race scholar. He explained his decision to postpone the research he wanted to do on indigenous people and work instead on other subjects, in order to be taken seriously as an economist. Akee argues that race should occupy a more central space within the portfolio of economic research. Despite efforts to increase diversity within the profession, many economists worry that this movement will stall before achieving long-term change.

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Akee on Indigenous-Led Protests to Protect Mauna Kea

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Associate professor of public policy Randall Akee spoke to Business Insider about the development of a telescope on Mauna Kea, a sacred site of prayer and worship for Native Hawaiians. Valued at over $1 billion, the Thirty Meter Telescope project has faced contentious protests led by indigenous groups in Hawaii. For years, the protests have delayed progress on building the telescope at the site nearly 14,000 feet above sea level. Akee said that indigenous people are often expected to accept development projects for the “greater good.” “Often these development projects and these activities are forced on indigenous people, and it creates this false narrative that these native people are just against development,” Akee said. “And that is not the case. We are just tired of bearing the cost.”

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Akee on Protests Over Giant Telescope on Mauna Kea

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Randall Akee, associate professor of public policy, weighed in on protests sparked by the construction of a giant telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s highest mountain. Native Hawaiians are attempting to stop construction of the $1.4-billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on the site, which is considered sacred ground. “The sight of some of the most revered and esteemed Native Hawaiian elders being hauled off the mountain in plastic tie bands was appalling to Native Hawaiians everywhere,” Akee wrote in a piece for Real Clear Markets. These images threaten Hawaii’s $16-billion tourism industry, and the cultural and environmental costs of building the telescope would be great, he wrote. Akee was also cited in a Vox report on the protests. “The opposition to the TMT construction is like the straw that broke the camel’s back,” he said. “It represents decades of poor management of Hawaii’s natural resources and prioritizing of economic interests ahead of community interests.”

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