- How does the public feel about editing genes to improve the human condition? About 28% would not adopt at any benefit.
- Not everyone is leaving California. (The homeless like it there)
- The Kean/Young bill is a giveaway to higher income seniors on Medicare.
- Yglesias on The Odyssey: Historical accuracy is a modern idea.
Author: John C. Goodman
Monday Links – 27 July 2026
- Noah Smith on the American university. (recommended)
- The probability of retirement increases by 12 to 13 percent after a spouse’s new health condition diagnosis or hospitalization.
- “During the pandemic, many restrictions on telemedicine were lifted, making it far easier for physicians to treat patients across state lines. That window has largely closed.”
- You can now feed your EMR data into ChatGPT Health.
- Why do humans tend to blink approximately 12 times a minute?
Saturday Links – 25 July 2026
- Cato study: Economic liberalization leads to higher economic growth after a lag.
- Gallup: 24% of U.S. workers stay in unwanted jobs solely to keep health insurance coverage. (Statnews)
- Update on UK health care: Between September 2024 and August 2025, around 79,130 names were removed from NHS waiting lists across 127 acute trusts because patients had died before reaching the front of the queue. Of those, 28,908 had been waiting longer than the 18-week statutory standard, and 7,737 had waited more than a year.
- About 25% of the U.S. population is estranged from, or has cut ties with, a close relative at any given time—and 10% is estranged from a parent or child. Are therapists to blame?
- One thing Trump got right on trade:
“The administration is building what could become the foundation of a global trading system for the age of artificial intelligence.”
Friday Links – 24 July 2026
- The Treasury prevents $99 million in payments to dead people.
- This is only a fraction of the $186 billion in payment errors the federal government reported in FY 2025.
- Medicare’s share of the federal deficit will rise from 35 percent to 58 percent in just ten years. HT: David Henderson.
- No evidence of declining sperm count among American men.
- Can ChatGPT be sued for medical malpractice?