Author: Lance Garrison

In 2023, the U.S. economy vastly outperformed expectations. A widely predicted recession never happened. Many economists (though not me) argued that getting inflation down would require years of high unemployment; instead, we’ve experienced immaculate disinflation, rapidly falling inflation at no visible cost.But the story has been very different in the world’s biggest economy (or second biggest — it depends on the measure). Some analysts expected the Chinese economy to boom after it lifted the draconian “zero Covid” measures it had adopted to contain the pandemic. Instead, China has underperformed by just about every economic indicator other than official G.D.P., which…

It happens more often than you might think. Almost half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned.“If you’re a woman and haven’t gone through menopause yet, then it’s possible for you to get pregnant,” says Siobhan Dolan, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.You can take steps to improve your chances of conceiving only when you’d like to.As the saying goes, the only form of birth control that’s 100% effective is abstinence. “Most of the time, birth controldoes work, but ‘accidents’ can happen,” Dolan says.Condoms, birth control pills, intrauterine devices…

Bullying is boldness. Spite is strength.

No matter where you are on the gender spectrum, you might choose to use birth control if there’s a chance you could get pregnant and you don’t want to.Not all people who are transgender, nonbinary, or gender expansive choose to get gender-affirming care. But some people do take hormone therapy as part of their medical care to help align their sex characteristics with their gender identity. If you do, keep in mind that gender-affirming hormone therapy isn’t made for birth control, so you shouldn’t rely on it for that purpose. Some people might also consider certain types of hormonal birth control…

One of the most difficult things to ask a judge to do is issue a ruling that he or she believes is actually dangerous. Even if you can make a strong case that the letter of the law is on your side, judges are tempted to narrow the reach of disfavored laws or sometimes virtually rewrite them in order to avoid outcomes that are deemed too radical or disruptive.Thus, it’s incumbent on good lawyers to argue not merely in favor of the letter of the law but also for the underlying merit of the law itself. My newsletter two weeks…

Jan. 18, 2024 – We’ve been through this before. A new COVID-19 variant emerges somewhere in the world, grows in strength, and comes to dominate, bringing with it an increase in hospitalizations and deaths. It’s happening now. But so far, the JN.1 variant, while causing a spike in cases and worse outcomes, isn’t expected to be the sky-is-falling-variant many have worried about. But what if the next one is? Will we be prepared?What keeps experts up at night is the possibility of something we haven’t seen yet. A variant that emerges with little notice, one that gets around all our immune defenses, could…

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Wednesday in two cases inviting the justices to drastically restrict the authority of federal agencies, upend decades of precedent and take more power for themselves.At least four members of the court seem prepared to do so. The question is whether Chief Justice John Roberts or Justice Amy Coney Barrett will go along with them to provide a majority.Out of respect for precedent and judicial humility, they should not.On the surface the cases concern fishing regulation, but the real question before the court is this: Who fills in the gaps and resolves ambiguities Congress leaves…

“Put on your masks!”My son and I were cycling during the pandemic when a passerby furiously screamed that in our direction. I shouted back something too long about updated recommendations on masking outdoors and was left yelling into the wind, my kid giving me the “Calm down, mom” look.We all had our uncalm moments during the pandemic. What rankled me during this one was that the science was on my side. Yet here was someone in my community operating within a completely different framework.In his new book, “Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time,” Sandro Galea, the…

Most abortion opponents did not expect the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the passage of state abortion bans to lead to the expansion of legal abortion in much of the United States.But this in fact is what happened: While 16 states ban most or virtually all abortions a year and a half after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in June 2022, abortion numbers went up in states where it is legal. As anti-abortion groups prepare for their annual March for Life on Friday, they face the reality that the past year brought a string of defeats…

Netflix is in the midst of a correction, and released about 130 fewer originals in 2023 than it did the previous year. Its one show in contention for outstanding drama series at this year’s Emmys, “The Crown,” has already ended. Although the miniseries “Beef” cleaned up, we can expect even fewer original scripted shows in Netflix’s future, as the streamer shifts toward reality-based material such as documentaries, stand-up, talk-shows and sports.HBO is having its own issues. Back at the dawn of the prestige era, “The Sopranos” battled NBC’s “The West Wing” every year for the title of outstanding drama series.…