NYTimes: “In contrast to traditional, one-size-fits-all health care, personalized medicine uses molecular-genetic information about patients to deliver the right treatment, to the right patient, at the right time. Prominent medical geneticists, influential federal scientists, hospital system executives and even elected officials foresee cancer treatments as the leading edge of a genomic revolution, ushering in a new era of miracle cures and biomedical magic bullets, and fundamentally transforming the care of desperate patients. As health care costs skyrocket, some proponents of personalized medicine envision a more affordable alternative to traditional treatments, one that tailors interventions from the beginning of treatment rather than sending patients off on a trial-and-error odyssey. This approach, they say, could decrease waste while increasing the quality of care. Moreover, the claim is that personalized medicine research that prioritizes the participation of marginalized communities will ensure these breakthroughs extend to everyone, combating racial and sociodemographic health disparities.”
Econlib: “In Europe…far right parties are on the rise and are capturing the votes of blue collar workers that once voted socialist or communist. In Europe, both political extremes now favor statist policies, but the right gains votes through its more aggressive cultural conservatism. In the not too distant future, politics in the Western world will become almost unrecognizable to those of us who came of age in the 20th century.”
NYTimes: “So at the age of 54, when many people begin thinking more about retirement, Mr. [Morris] Chang instead put himself on a path to turn his insight into a reality. The engineer left his adopted country, the United States, and moved to Taiwan where he founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC. The company does not design chips, but it has become the world’s biggest manufacturer of cutting-edge microprocessors for customers including Apple and Nvidia. Today, the company that partially exists because of a textbook is a $500 billion juggernaut that has put the most advanced chips in iPhones, cars, supercomputers and fighter jets. So critical are its airplane-hangar-size chip factories, called fabs, that the United States, Japan and Europe have courted TSMC to build them in their neck of the woods. Over the past decade, China has also invested hundreds of billions of dollars to recreate what TSMC has done.”
Joyce Carol Oates: “So much of life is accidental…The best marriages that I know of are ones in which the people are actually friends. If you keep looking, you can usually find someone who will be a good friend.”
FT: “What are the secret principles, the deeper truths, the underrated ideas that might help us all get more done, with less anxiety, in less time? I suggest three ideas. None of them is heretical but each seems under-appreciated. First, look ahead. Look ahead further, and more frequently and more thoughtfully, than seems sane. Start by looking at tomorrow’s calendar at the end of each day before you draw up a list of things to do….Second, clarify. Far too many things linger in the inbox or on the desk because we fail to take the moment required to think about what they are…It is astonishing how much work, clutter or vague anxiety can accumulate simply because we hesitate to take this quick step of clarifying our thoughts…Third, be content. There is an endless temptation to believe that at some stage you’ll get on top of all the tasks, that you’ll clear the decks, and then at that point you’ll either be able to get on with the real work or rest. These goals are mirages. You’ll never clear the decks; there will always be more to scrub and tidy.”
