Money and Computing
Kaiser Health News: Paying Billions for Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug? How About Funding This Instead?
Aduhelm, a new Alzheimer’s drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration last month, could be prescribed to 1 million to 2 million patients a year, even if conservative criteria were used, according to Biogen and Eisai, the companies behind the drug. The total annual price tag would come to $56 billion if the average list price, $56,000, is applied to the lower end of the companies’ estimate. That’s a huge sum by any measure — more than the annual budget for the National Institutes of Health (almost $43 billion this year). Yet there’s considerable uncertainty about Aduhelm’s clinical benefits, fueling controversy over its approval. The FDA has acknowledged it’s not clear whether the medication will actually slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease or by how much. more »
UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ: ‘I always felt like a pioneer’
Carol Christ: When I joined the faculty, only 3% of the faculty were women. When I joined the English department, there were 84 faculty in the English department — it was much bigger then than it is now — and there were four women. I was the fourth woman. And I remember whenever I went to an office, people didn’t believe I was a faculty member. Carol Clover: Or, when I went to Harvard, people always thought that I was a secretary in my office. They would just walk in and say, “Would you please type this for me and have it for tomorrow?” Anne Brice: What would you say? Carol Clover: It would be a nice conversation. They were usually apologetic. It was just the way things were." more »
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: US Economic Activity Contracted Sharply During 2020 As Covid-19 Spread and Government Introduced Policies Aimed At Curbing the Virus
US economic activity contracted sharply during 2020 as COVID-19 spread and government introduced policies aimed at curbing the virus. Understanding the impact of the pandemic on economic activity as well as the effectiveness and economic impact of health and containment policies has been a major challenge faced by policymakers. The fundamental issue is that economic activity, COVID-19's spread, and health and containment policies are interconnected — they simultaneously influence each other. In a recent working paper, we develop a methodology to investigate the causal linkages among COVID-19's spread, health and containment policies, and economic activity.1 In this two-part essay, we present a nontechnical summary of our approach and main findings. In particular, Part I explains our methods and summarizes how COVID-19 has affected economic activity and government policies. Part II describes the effects of government policies on COVID-19's spread and economic activity. more »
Congressional Legislative Update, Bills Introduced: June 28 - July 2, 2021: Increase Federal Funding for Tribal Child Welfare Program; Task Force on Maternal Mental Health; Accomodating Breastfeeding in the Workplace
H. Con. Res. 39 — Rep. Karen Bass: A bill to remove administrative barriers to participation of Indian tribes in federal child welfare programs, and increase federal funding for tribal child welfare programs; Rep. Jackie Speier: A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 applies to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) should work to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex in its programs and activities; Rep. Brad Wenstrup: — A bill to improve the employer-provided child care tax credit; Rep. Julia Brownley: A bill to increase the frequency that the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans shall submit a report to the secretary of Veterans Affairs; Rep. Ann Kuster: — A bill to reauthorize grants for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. more »