Attention to information plays a key role in recent macroeconomic analysis, yet measuring it is a challenging endeavor, most notably in terms of covering varying geographical levels and time frequencies. We propose a novel, unconventional measure of public attention, which addresses these limitations, based on individuals’ reports of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). We document a surprising link between UAP sightings and macroeconomic conditions at the U.S.-county, state, and national levels. Controlling for weather conditions, and external influences, UAP sightings are more common in wealthier regions, but within regions the pattern is counter-cyclical. Thus, variations in attention to exceptional phenomena in the skies implicitly point at more general patterns of variations in the public attention. We further support this interpretation by a quasi-experimental design that utilizes plausibly exogenous regional variations in COVID-19 restrictions and find evidence for a causal effect on public attention. We further show that the UAP sightings measure is highly correlated with conventional measures of attention that are based on expectations data. We then apply our measure in the context of monetary policy transmission. We find that it can account for sizable regional heterogeneity in the response to monetary shocks. Higher levels of attention across U.S. regions, as well as within regions over the business cycle, substantially mitigate the effect of monetary policy.

This paper examines the decline in food expenditure after retirement by quantiles of the consumption distribution, by gender, and by pre-retirement employment status. The decline in food expenditure after retirement is smaller among those who were employees than among those who were self-employed, but only for females. Males who did not work did not experience a decline in food expenditure when they crossed the official retirement age, while females who did not work decreased their food expenditure in parts of the consumption distribution. These results are consistent with the two common explanations of the decline in consumption after retirement: inadequate savings and substitution of time for money. Public policy should target the inadequate savings phenomenon in order to make food consumption more sustainable during retirement.

This article analyzes Israel’s food security in comparison to other developed countries, using multiple indicators divided into four sections: food availability, food affordability, food quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience. Overall, the state of food security in Israel is better than in most countries, but the threats to food security arising from the triple risk of climate change, international conflicts, and disruptions in global supply chains, require better preparation for the future. Israel’s population growth and the slowdown in the growth rate of its agricultural production, as well as the short-term political desire to reduce prices, are leading the country to increasingly rely on food imports. Such imports expose Israel to even greater global risks, and require the formulation of a risk-management strategy that will balance local production and imports. The global triple risk to food security is currently exacerbated for Israel by the risk of shortage of labor due to the security situation, making this risk-management strategy even more necessary. This calls for the establishment of a governmental authority to oversee the formulation of a long-term food-security strategy, to break it down into feasible objectives and policy measures, and to supervise their implementation. Most importantly, in order to maintain and perhaps even enhance the productive capacity of the agricultural sector, the government must reinstall trust between farmers and the state by establishing a stable long-term policy environment.

Does the discovery and operation of a nearby giant oil field carry long-term health consequences? Capitalizing on the 2011Ð2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we find that a giant oil discovery occurring within a 60-km radius significantly decreases the relative average long-term health conditions of individuals born after it. Specifically, the average share of individuals diagnosed with a chronic disease in these areas increases, in relative terms, by 22%. This effect is observed most notably in diseases related to the respiratory, digestive, and urinary systems and may be driven by changes in the consumption habits of alcohol and tobacco.