Uncategorized

Rand Paul Wants to Bring European Medicine to the United States

by Alex Tabarrok on May 25, 2012 at 7:30 am in Economics, Law, Medicine, Uncategorized | Permalink

Today the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (S.3187), which included language inserted by Sen. Rand Paul. This language would force the FDA to accept data from clinical investigations conducted outside the United States, including the European Union, to speed the process of getting life-saving drugs on the market by the FDA.

“Innovation in clinical drug trials should not be confined to the data received from trials in the United States. Findings from countries that incorporate the same rigorous requirements as we do when developing life-saving drugs and devices should be accepted by the FDA as well,” Sen. Paul said.

I agree but I would go further: Any drug or medical device introduced into say the EU, Japan, Canada or Australia ought to be automatically approved in the United States within 90 days. Such a procedure would reduce delay, eliminate needless duplication and cut costs.

Think about it this way: Europeans don’t regard the FDA as the best or final arbiter of safety and efficacy so why should we?

See FDAReview.org, especially the section on reform options, for more.

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The culture that is Germany (Bavaria)

by Tyler Cowen on May 25, 2012 at 6:57 am in Law, Travel, Uncategorized | Permalink

A sex shop in Munich’s main railway station has got special permission to sell condoms, porn DVDs and sexy skin lotion on Sundays after three local judges ruled they were legitimate travel supplies.

The owner of Erotic World had appealed against the city council’s decision to stop him opening on Sundays – on the grounds that shops in the railway station were exempt from Bavaria’s strict Sunday trading laws.

But this only applies if they sell products that can be considered souvenirs or travel supplies such as food, disposable cameras, newspapers, magazines, books, DVDs, and CDs.

The shop argued in court that it also had such goods on its shelves, even if their content was rather more spicy than what the station’s newsagents had to offer.

“This is the decision of the court … since the above articles can be considered ‘travel supplies,’ regardless of their content,” a court statement issued Wednesday said.

Nonetheless the rule of law prevailed:

But the judges added that the shop could not sell other erotic items in its range, such as sex toys. In fact, especially sex toys.

Three administrative judges visited Erotic World ahead of the court hearing to inspect the shop’s goods, carefully assessing whether each item might come in handy on a long journey.

Condoms were considered useful enough, but the judges ruled that the old favourite sex game “Erotic Ludo” should still be taboo on the day God has designated the day of rest.

The full article is here, and for the pointer I thank CR.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 24, 2012 at 12:32 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Are used TVs being overpriced?

2. The science of love in the 1920s, from Hugo Gernsback.

3. The dark side of Irving Fisher.

4. New sensory organ discovered in whales.

5. Freakonomics interview on the economics of food, including also Michael Pollan and others.

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My personal tech ecosystem

by Tyler Cowen on May 24, 2012 at 6:38 am in Uncategorized, Web/Tech | Permalink

Rahul, a loyal MR reader, asks:

You seem a very productive person and travel quite a bit too. Are you very cell-phone savvy and does it impact your productivity? Any apps you love or use a lot? (Do you play chess on the move! )

Can you blog about your personal cellphone selection strategy. Curious what phone(s) you use.
Ditto for Laptops. What’s your selection strategy. Small versus large screen real estate. What’s your personal optimum.

Also, Mac / PC / or Linux? What’s your ecosystem and what do you love/hate about it.

Would love a blog post on these topics! It’s convenient to imitate the choices of a productive person!

No, I am not cell phone savvy, as I still do not know how to send a text (just this year I learned how to read one). In any case, here is my ecosystem:

1. Verizon cellphone. Very simple, I use it only for calls, the keys are very convenient and otherwise it has no features which I either understand or use.

2. iPhone, latest edition. I never use it for calls unless I am overseas, in which case it becomes my cellphone for receiving calls (no reason to make them in other countries). I use it for email, and not for apps, and occasionally for visiting websites such as this one. I have spent time with some apps to learn how they work, but for research purposes. Overall their closed systems do not appeal to me.

3. iPad 1.0. It’s beautiful, it was important, mine has a nice case on it, and I don’t want to part with it. Plus I have some windows kept open on it. By carrying around two iPads I can keep more windows open, without being confused.

4. iPad 3.0. Better than the original iPad (which as we’ve seen is already worth carrying around), and the web connection works internationally and very well. I now feel connected to the important information just about everywhere. It has changed my life.

5. I don’ t know what kind of laptop I have, although I guess I could look. It’s not optimized for anything, except perhaps my own ignorance. It’s not an Apple Mac, I know that, and I am glad I got rid of Vista.

6. Kindle. I still prefer real books, but for long plane rides, or sometimes even short plane rides, the carry costs of books are high. So it gets plenty of use.

Here is an article on why so many Nigerians own more than one cell phone.

Addendum: Tim Harford lays out his system.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 23, 2012 at 11:34 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Via Chris F. Masse, new solutions to Greek problems, using iPads, and this is coming soon to your Mac, maybe it can patch up Spain.

2. Does self-deception inhibit laughter?

3. Are chimp personalities similar to those of humans?

4. Review of the new Google car.

5. Do people like spoiled stories more?

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 22, 2012 at 11:55 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Credit guarantee risk in China.

2. The world’s largest swimming pool.

3. ELA and now “de-euroisation” are the words which should be attracting your attention these days.

4. How will self-driving cars reshape our cities?

5. Truly disgusting markets in everything, calling Jonathan Haidt, you are needed in Tokyo. I still wonder if it is some kind of joke.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 21, 2012 at 6:28 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Marc Gunther’s blog on food, sustainability, economics, and related matters. It is analytical, not just the usual rhetoric on these topics.

2. Does Hayek’s welfare state lead to serfdom? And how to unfold a rhino (short video).

3. Summary of the No-sterity debate.

4. Have we been underestimating the extent of the growth of the middle class in developing nations?

5. More on genes and economics.

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It would be premature to use the words “free fall”

by Tyler Cowen on May 21, 2012 at 6:11 am in Current Affairs, Economics, Uncategorized | Permalink

Nonetheless those are the words which come to mind, to me, in my safe Fairfax home, far from China and European bank jogs:

Chinese consumers of thermal coal and iron ore are asking traders to defer cargos and – in some cases – defaulting on their contracts, in the clearest sign yet of the impact of the country’s economic slowdown on the global raw materials markets.

The deferrals and defaults have only emerged in the last few days, traders said, and have contributed to a drop in iron ore and coal prices.

“We have some clients in China asking us this week to defer volumes,” said a senior executive with a global commodities trading house, who warned that consumers were cautious. “China is hand to mouth at the moment.”

A senior executive at another large trading house also confirmed there had been defaults and deferrals in both thermal coal and iron ore.

Here is more, and here is a bit more detail.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 19, 2012 at 1:15 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Edible stop signs in food.

2. Will smartphones alter psychology?

3. Ask Cowen Anything (on food), and Jerry Weinberger reviews An Economist Gets Lunch.

4. How do science fiction futures change over time?

5. Why is American mobility declining?

6. Saez and Diamond on taxes.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 18, 2012 at 5:52 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Is Sweden or England the paragon of “austerity”? Scott Sumner comments.

2. Has Australia been avoiding economic stagnation?

3. Criticisms of Aishwarya Rai.

4. Giant turtle dined on crocodiles.

5. 4-D, edible movies.

6. Via Chris F. Masse, Peter Thiel in New Zealand.

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Four underrated European masterworks

by Tyler Cowen on May 16, 2012 at 2:52 pm in The Arts, Uncategorized | Permalink

1. The Ravenna mosaics, most of all at St. Vitale.

2. Monreale, the Norman church outside of Palermo, Sicily.

3. Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim altar, in Colmar, France.

4. Tiepolo’s paintings in the Residenz, in Wurzburg.

I much prefer any of those to the Mona Lisa, and to my prejudiced taste they are all among the very greatest of artistic masterpieces. They are all worthy of pilgrimages.

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Assorted links

by Tyler Cowen on May 16, 2012 at 12:25 pm in Uncategorized | Permalink

1. Romanian uh-oh.

2. The beloved FT Alphaville launches a Tumblr.

3. The new Brian Doherty book on Ron Paul.

4. James Crabtree worries about India and India facing stagflation. This whole matter is already looking worse.

5. The bank jog, a deadly picture.

6. How much will global aging slow economic growth?

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Words of wisdom, from men of wisdom

by Tyler Cowen on May 16, 2012 at 10:47 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

From Arnold Kling:

Mauldin’s claim is that we are in what he calls the “endgame,” meaning that the Keynesian option of increasing government borrowing is no longer available to European countries. The only willing lenders are banks, which in turn need to be propped up, and ultimately they can only be propped up by printing money.

My take-away from Mauldin is that, contra the mainstream media narrative, the real dilemma in Europe is not fiscal–deciding whether to maintain government spending or not. The real dilemma is financial–whether to recognize losses and absorb defaults (by both governments and banks) or turn loose the monetary printing presses.

Creo que si. It is increasingly clear that Spain’s recent “austerity” has been forced, rather than a voluntarist mistake. Here is yet more wisdom from Scott Sumner:

… if I thought higher demand was needed, I’d recommend that the fiscal authorities raise their inflation target from 2% to 4%. Oddly, I’ve never seen a fiscal proponent make that recommendation. Why not? My hunch is that deep down they know that fiscal authorities can’t really control inflation. But in that case, how can they control aggregate demand?

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Dollars, dollars, everywhere, and not a dollar to drink?

by Tyler Cowen on May 16, 2012 at 10:08 am in Uncategorized | Permalink

Is the shortage [sic] of dollars in China the real global financial ticking time bomb? This post, from Isabella at FT Alphaville, is essential reading. The world will not be safe again until FT Alphaville is neutered into irrelevance, unfortunately that won’t be anytime soon.

19 comments