Author: Lance Garrison

I, too, know that flash of resentment when grocery store prices feel like they don’t make sense. I hate the fact that a small treat now feels less like an earned indulgence and more like financial folly. And I’m concerned about my kids now that house prices look like telephone numbers.But I breathe through it. And I remind myself of the useful perspective that my training as an economist should bring. Sometimes it helps, so I want to share it with you.Simple economic logic suggests that neither your well-being nor mine depends on the absolute magnitude of the numbers on…

A long discredited, arcane 150-year-old law is back in the news in 2024, and that should terrify anyone who supports reproductive freedom. Last week at the Supreme Court, the Comstock Act of 1873 was referenced on three separate occasions during oral arguments in a case dealing with access to mifepristone, one of two drugs typically used in medication abortions.Anti-abortion activists like to bring up the Comstock Act because one of its clauses prohibits sending through the mail “every article, instrument, substance, drug, medicine or thing” that could possibly lead to an abortion. Even if the Supreme Court doesn’t take the…

Produced by ‘The Ezra Klein Show’There’s something of a paradox that has defined my experience with artificial intelligence in this particular moment. It’s clear we’re witnessing the advent of a wildly powerful technology, one that could transform the economy and the way we think about art and creativity and the value of human work itself. At the same time, I can’t for the life of me figure out how to use it in my own day-to-day job.So I wanted to understand what I’m missing and get some tips for how I could incorporate A.I. better into my life right now.…

Soon after a huge container ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, bringing it down, President Biden pledged that the federal government would “pay the entire cost of reconstructing” the bridge. This would clearly be the right thing to do, not just to help the state of Maryland but also to limit the economic damage from a disaster that has blocked both a major road artery and a major port. Among other things, the Port of Baltimore plays a key role in both exports of coal and trade in farm and construction equipment, so the bridge disaster will have direct…

 There was a time, not very long ago, when a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis guaranteed a life of pain and disability. While there still isn’t a cure, the outlook is much brighter.“[Things] have definitely changed for the better,” says Beth Jonas, MD, a rheumatologist with the University of North Carolina’s Thurston Arthritis Research Center.Medications called biologic response modifiers — or biologics — have turned the tables. The use and ongoing development of these drugs have given people with RA — and their doctors — hope.“It is very unusual now, in the year 2017, for me to have [someone] that I…

Overactive bladder (OAB) is an umbrella term for several urinary symptoms. The most common symptom is a sudden urge to urinate that you can’t control. Other symptoms include leaking urine, frequent urination, and waking up at night to urinate.  If you think something might be going on, keeping a bladder diary could be really helpful just to see how often you’re really going to the bathroom and when you leak urine. Margaret Mueller, MD OAB is a common condition, affecting as many as 40% of women and 30% of men in the United States. It can usually be managed with…

There’s progress on all three fronts. Cassava, for example, is a staple food in much of Africa and is hardy against drought. New varieties, called Baba 70 and Game Changer, can more than quadruple yields per hectare on small farms in Nigeria when cultivated with good agronomic practices and weed control, Chikava said. As for extension, countries are informing farmers digitally because they can’t afford to put enough extension officers in the field. On market incentives, sub-Saharan nations are using a mixture of price supports and subsidies for inputs such as fertilizer. That may offend pure free-marketers, and isn’t the…

To the Editor:Re “It’s Not Easy to Tell People You Have Cancer,” by Daniela J. Lamas (Opinion guest essay, March 27):As a cancer survivor myself, I understand the reluctance of Catherine, Princess of Wales, to speak out about her own diagnosis. However, she has the unique opportunity to alert and educate many people regarding symptoms and treatments. And by speaking calmly and frankly, she has the additional opportunity to help remove the fear and stigma of a cancer diagnosis.Of course, she has no obligation to do this, but perhaps as time passes and she is no longer in the first…

IgA nephropathy is hard to predict. But there’s one thing experts know. People with strong emotional and social support systems tend do better in the long run. And it’s best to live your life to the fullest no matter how kidney disease affects you. “Whether it’s skiing or knitting or going to football games as a group, it’s important to maintain as much of your regular life as you can,” says Susan Rubman, PhD, a medical psychologist with Yale Medicine. “That’s what allows us to feel like we’re whole people rather than a person with an illness.” Keep your doctor in the…

Americans used to think of China as a place to do business, and Latin America as a place to vacation. More recently, our neighbors to the south are seen as the source of desperate migrants. That mind-set led us to the mess that we are in now. Today, the American economy is far too dependent on China for critical supplies, while imports from countries in our own hemisphere, aside from Canada and Mexico, are lagging behind, experts say. Our influence in our own neighborhood is waning.It doesn’t have to be this way. I saw evidence of that in Costa Rica,…