Friday Links – 25 September 2026

The Hauser Curve: Revenues as a share of GDP have been fairly steady, in the range of 16% to 20% of GDP for 100 years, whether the top tax rate was 90% or 28%.

“Nearly 70% of cancer deaths come from cancers for which there is no recommended screening test at all. Pancreatic, ovarian, liver, stomach, esophageal and blood cancers often reveal themselves only after symptoms appear, when the disease has progressed and treatment options have narrowed.”

Democratic Part D reform: “Medicare spending on prescription drugs grew roughly 50 percent faster than spending by private insurance from 2021 to 2025—even though Medicare did not cover GLP-1 drugs for weight loss until 2026. The rise in Medicare prescription drug costs similarly outstripped that in Medicaid and Medicare Part B (which pays for physician administered drugs).

Blue states are increasingly babyless. The latest data show Vermont is at 1.27 births per adult woman, followed by Rhode Island (1.33), New Hampshire (1.35), Oregon (1.36), Massachusetts (1.38).

No, you are not on indigenous land.