- Did you know that commercial airlines have to obey a speed limit?
- Digital therapies that sought FDA approval are expensive and in a regulatory morass. Is there a non-FDA approach that is possible?
- How worried should we be over a drug resistant fungus?
- Views on AI’s risk to humanity.
- Scott Sumner’s take: the worry is not that an intelligent AI will destroy the world. It’s that a depressed person will use AI to destroy the world.
- A different view of the Waco tragedy – one more sympathetic to the Branch Davidians.
Category: Saturday Links
Saturday Links
- Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates and school closures.
- The 42% of adults who are obese costs the US health system 173 billion dollars a year, including cardiovascular disease, cancers, depression, breathing issues, and skeletal issues. Despite this, 98 percent of Americans do not receive treatment for their obesity.
- Greg Mankiw: “The Biden administration faces a trilemma: They would like to (1) increase spending on programs they consider important, (2) not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year, and (3) put fiscal policy on a sustainable path. But the stark reality is that they can have only 2 out of the 3.”
- A defense of Vinyl chloride. (despite the dead fish)
- IRS: 42K federal workers are cheating on their taxes.
Saturday Links
- Study: GoodRx often beats Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs on low prices.
- In the past century, human heights have skyrocketed. Globally, humans grew an average of about 3 inches. In South Korea, women grew an astounding 8 inches and men grew 6 inches on average.
- Near 100% marginal tax rates for the wealthy and a return to the 35% corporate income tax would not be enough to save Social Security and Medicare. (NYT)
- Democratic senators want the Biden administration to close down short-term insurance plans by reinstating Obama’s executive order. (gated)
- Study: Because of burnout, workload, and other stresses, 20 percent of physicians and 40 percent of nurses say they plan to leave their practice within two years.
- There are actually such things as lazy ants – but they serve a purpose.
Saturday Links
- The (health ) case against homelessness.
- Lead poisoning is a worldwide problem.
- The negative relationship between obesity and income is almost entirely driven by women. The relationship between income and weight is flat for men.
- Finally the press gets its comeuppance in the Columbia Journalism Review for promoting the Trump-Russia hoax.
- JAMA study: Medicare Advantage plans have higher quality and lower cost than traditional Medicare.