grehmke

economic education, speech and debate, economic history and development economics. Posting at

[John Cochrane @JohnHCochrane]

You must be kidding. AI might have big effects. It could have risks. So “policymakers,”  must "act now,” before they have any idea what they’re doing, to "build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society?” Boy I’m glad no self-appointed “policy maker” decided to “steer” the development of the steam engine. The ones who “steered” nuclear power destroyed it. Preemptive dirigisme is killing tech in Europe. If said “policy makers” could do something about the dumpster fires of US social programs, building restrictions, appalling costs of public infrastructure, broken tax code, failing schools, maybe I’d think about "calling" to unleash them on some vague AI crusade. (Previous essay on this here https://t.co/dHJDXU0cwM)

[Adrian Moore @reasonpolicy]

Wrong! Sure if two of the biggest 5 studios merge, they MIGHT “feel less pressure to make new films”. Or they might feel pressure to make more films to increase revenues. Or Netflix and Amazon and Apple might redouble their production of new movies. There’s plenty of new competition. Stopping a merger should not be based on feels, but only if there are real, measured, and significant harms to consumers.

[grehmke @grehmke]

@jameslynch32 @SteveDavies365 @lymanstoneky @nytopinion I run economic education programs for Christian homeschool debaters. Most of the students attending my programs 20 years ago are now married with four children.

[Health Almanac @Health_Almanac]

Dr. David Unwin reveals why his fellow doctors tried to sabotage the diet that is destroying Type 2 diabetes

"Why don't you have a go at this low-carb? She said, 'Why don't you and me go on this diet, see if some patients would volunteer and do it with us?' I mentioned it to the partners and they said no. At the time, low-carb was not respectable. They said, 'We don't want you to do this. Maybe you're not treating chest infections or other things. This is self-indulgent"

"I went back to my wife and said, 'The partners say no.' She said, 'I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're both going to work for free. Why don't we do this in our own time in an evening when the practice has no resources?' So that's exactly what we did"

"We found 18 volunteers who were interested amongst the patients. We started meeting every Monday night talking about low carb, learning how do you cook stuff? How do you do it? One of the nurses was so excited. She said, 'I'll work for free. I want to believe in what I do.' And then the magic begins"

[Martin Picard @MitoPsychoBio]

What we eat can impact our mental health. Results of the first randomized controlled trial of ketogenic therapy in schizophrenia-spectrum and bipolar I disorders was recently published, and this is a big milestone for the field of metabolic psychiatry.

They found that participants assigned to the ketogenic therapy for one month had improved metabolic health markers and a trend towards psychiatric symptom improvement, compared to participants who continued their usual diet. Some participants chose to continue the ketogenic therapy for a 4-month extension, and this group had significant reductions in psychological and schizophrenia symptoms, as well as improved cognition.

How does it work? When a person avoids eating carbohydrates, their body shifts from using glucose to using fat for fuel (a state called "ketosis"). Ketones are made from the fat we eat by mitochondria (in the liver), and fuel other mitochondria (in the brain). Being in a state of nutritional ketosis may support our mitochondria, appears to change our neurobiology, and normalize disorders of energy transformation that may contribute to mental health conditions.

This short video with @bschermd from @Metabolic_Mind gives a nice overview of the study and the results: https://t.co/GRVugsvfrY

Kudos to Judith Ford and colleagues for completing this important study. And to @BaszuckiGroup and @NIH for funding this work.

[Patrick Fitzsimmons @PatRubenFitz]

Why did some parts of medieval Europe consolidate into big states, while others were fragmented into hundreds of small polities for centuries? Our (@desireedesierto, @MarkKoyama, and I) new paper argues part of the answer is salt, and specifically how it was extracted.

[grehmke @grehmke]

@johnarnold @reasonpolicy National healthcare is the coming years national debate topic for nsda and UIL Texas. Thousands of students will have a chance to research standard of care policies as well as overregulation of healthcare and health insurance.

[grehmke @grehmke]

@lifeext These drugs assist in losing weight. Losing weight reduces cancer. People losing weight without without these drugs, cutting carbohydrates for example, also see reduced cancer as well as resolving various metabolic diseases.

[grehmke @grehmke]

Only one community feast a week, but meat with every meal in the Blue Zones...

[Judy Cho | Nutrition with Judy @NutritionwJudy]

The most repeated "fact" about meat and longevity was never actually true.

🍖 Anthropologist Bill Schindler lived among the people from the original blue zone documentary to see their diet firsthand

🥘 Every meal he was served, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, centered on meat, bone broth, and preserved cheeses

🐄 When he asked about eating meat "only once a week," they confirmed it, but meant their Sunday community barbecue

🔥 That one shared slaughter and feast became the soundbite, while daily meat eating got left out of the story

🧠 The "blue zone" diet myth was built on a mistranslation, not a real pattern of eating

#nutritionwithjudy #carnivorediet #bluezonesmyth #meatmyths #ancestraleating

[Ultras Clips @ultras_clips]

🇦🇷🥩 Argentina squad have been doing barbecues all World Cup! They shipped over 500 kg of premium beef to their training camp for the World Cup, reports in Argentina claim. The shipment includes a range of traditional cuts, including lomo, vacío, entraña, matambre, peceto and asado de tira.

The meat was sent from Argentina after months of planning and had to meet strict sanitary and customs requirements before entering the United States. ✈️📦

[grehmke @grehmke]

@jeffreytucker National health insurance is the policy debate topic for public schools for the coming school year

[MTS @MTSlive]

SITUATION EXPLAINED: Model fusion, or combining several frontier models into one system, may be better than any single model, sometimes at a lower price.

@iamtrask, senior researcher at @GoogleDeepMind:

 "Model fusion is basically this idea that, when you combine models, they can give you higher accuracy than any of the individual models that you're using."

"Some recent studies are actually showing they're able to deliver such a significant jump in accuracy that it's actually a lower cost option than buying some of the premium models."

"So for example, there's a few different companies, showing the higher accuracy claims. So Sakana, OpenRouter are all releasing results in the last year/couple months, and we replicated some of it internally at OpenMined."

"Some of the most surprising stuff, though, is that they're reaching past Fable level quality with non-Fable models, and in the case of OpenRouter, at half the price."

[grehmke @grehmke]

Experts often work in the industry where they have expertise. Journalists should ask and/or report any potential conflicts of interest.

[Sharyl Attkisson 🕵️‍♂️💼🥋 @SharylAttkisson]

When the dermatologist was just on Fox News debunking the idea that some chemicals in sunscreen aren't good for us, it sounded illogically dismissive of the studies and research.

I took a quick look.

I didn’t hear her disclose her paid relationships with big sunscreen makers. ☀️

This is part of a trend that I discovered decades ago. It permeates our news media landscape.

I learned that nearly every member of the national board of experts that lowered cholesterol guidelines and basically recommended that people should take more statins, worked for the statin makers.

I learned that many members of the board set up during Covid that restricted hydroxychloroquine... were paid by the companies that made other controversial treatments for Covid like remdesivir that were then prioritized over hydroxychloroquine.

It doesn’t stop there.

When the government and the cosmetics industry tried to falsely debunk the scientific studies linking antiperspirants and breast cancer, they referred me to the American Cancer Society for an interview. I learned that the expert at the American Cancer Society hadn’t even read the relevant studies, and yet was claiming the link was a myth. I asked and found out that the American Cancer Society takes money from the antiperspirant industry and other allegedly cancer, causing industries. However, they wouldn’t tell me how much.

When the nonprofit “every child by" was illogically denying the proven vaccine autism link, I dug in and found out the nonprofit was actually started by a vaccine maker in order to defend vaccine companies, and to controversialist those of us exposing the risks.

I was the first journalist to ask and report that the expert the government kept referring us to in order to debunk the vaccine autism link, Dr. Paul Offit, was not an independent expert at all, but was a vaccine inventor and vaccine industry insider… though that was never disclosed in the media at the time. He was always presented falsely as if he were an independent expert.

When I saw a lead dietary group giving questionable advice about nutrition, I learned that the group takes money from the sugar, cola, fast food, and preservative snack industry.

In short, whenever I’ve looked for a tie between experts defending a chemical or risk that could impact an industry's bottom line... I’ve always found one. Food for thought.

"Dr. Jody Levine has financial and professional relationships with several prominent consumer product companies that manufacture and market sunscreens.
Because sunscreen is legally regulated as an over-the-counter drug and is a core component of commercial skincare lines, her consulting roles inherently create potential conflicts of interest when she recommends sun protection or reviews skincare products in the media. 

Her specific ties to major corporate sunscreen manufacturers include:

1. Johnson & Johnson / Kenvue

Dr. Levine has served on the Medical Advisory Board for Johnson & Johnson. Johnson & Johnson’s consumer health spin-off, Kenvue, owns Neutrogena and Aveeno, two of the largest and most widely distributed sunscreen brands in the United States. In her media and print features, she has regularly recommended product categories or specific options overlapping with these brands, such as recommending Neutrogena Sport Face in broad consumer media interviews. 

2. Galderma (Cetaphil)

She has acted as a consultant and advisor for Cetaphil, a brand owned by Galderma. Cetaphil produces a substantial line of daily facial moisturizers with SPF, mineral sunscreens, and broad-spectrum sun protection lotions marketed heavily toward sensitive skin and pediatric care. 

3. Beiersdorf (Eucerin)

Dr. Levine has maintained consulting arrangements with Eucerin, a brand under the Beiersdorf corporate umbrella. Eucerin manufactures a wide range of daily anti-aging lotions with SPF, sensitive skin sunscreens, and body sun protection products. 

Impact on Media Appearances

When Dr. Levine appears on networks like Fox News or in print publications to deliver general public health messages—such as advising viewers to apply sunscreen 15 minutes before going outside or warning against the dangers of tanning beds—she is providing standard medical advice aligned with the American Academy of Dermatology. However, because she does not routinely issue on-screen financial disclosures listing her corporate partners during short news segments, viewers are generally unaware that she is paid by the parent companies of the very products sitting on drugstore shelves."

[grehmke @grehmke]

@jeffreytucker @uTobian One of two relatively young people profiled in new York Times dying of glioblastoma

[Lawson Mansell @lawsonhmansell]

Voted out of committee 7-2!

Excited to see AB 2386 advance, despite opposition from the medical board.

These licensing pathways are working across the country and this bill would similarly create opportunities for the many qualified docs currently sidelined from practice in CA.

[LowCarbMD Podcast @LCMDPodcast]

“If you actually look at long-term outcomes, people on meds do far worse than people not on meds. And there I was on long-term polypharmacy with my life falling apart…”

Thanks, @LauraDelano, for coming on the show!

[A Midwestern Doctor @MidwesternDoc]

Full interview by @RebeccaTig with Jackson's mother Erica, who reveals for the first time exactly what she did and why the side of his body where she could apply more DMSO recovered faster
Jackson's journey has been seen by millions online and followed by over 22,000 people here: https://t.co/v8RHdvaSWZ

[A Midwestern Doctor @MidwesternDoc]

Jackson's spinal recovery stunned news stations & millions online. Doctors said he'd never walk, breathe, or move again.

His mom's secret? DMSO—a simple compound vets use on spine injuries the FDA won't approve

But that's not the only "incurable" neurological disorder it helps.

Approximately 2000 studies support DMSO's use for conditions ranging from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to strokes, MS, ALS, chronic pain, neuropathy, depression, epilepsy, and Down syndrome, and a physician who began treating his patients with it estimates roughly 80% of what people see neurologists for goes away with DMSO.🧵

[Damon Root @damonroot]

Shout-out to the Barnes & Noble staffer responsible for this delightful placement of my book right next to the great man himself.

[Dr Zoe Harcombe, PhD @zoeharcombe]

This is a brilliant article.
- What really counts? (deaths from any cause)
- How survival time looks like it has increased (but it hasn't) thanks to screening.
- The many ways (that you may wish to avoid) of becoming a patient...
https://t.co/BIrcUFJm9Y