WHO chief welcomes China COVID data: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-01-14/who-says-its-chief-spoke-with-chinese-officials-welcomes-covid-19-data . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-welcomes-chinas-accounting-of-60-000-covid-deaths-11673799737 .
WSJ: IMF warns global supply chain disruption could shrink global output: https://www.wsj.com/articles/imf-warns-unraveling-economic-ties-could-shrink-global-output-11673830160 . Duh! We have long predicted transition to a “two axes” supply chain, with the US and its Western allies representing one chain, and China, Russia and the countries in between as the other. This transition is well underway, and of course it is disruptive to current arrangements.
WSJ: As usual, economists have no idea about the economy: https://www.wsj.com/articles/despite-easing-price-pressures-economists-in-wsj-survey-still-see-recession-this-year-11673723571 . The Journal fails to mention that whenever this survey showed 50% or more of economists expected a recession, a recession has occurred. Note that economists are 50-50 on whether the Fed will cut rates in 2023. That will only happen in the event of a severe recession. More about the survey: https://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-forecasting-survey-archive-11617814998 .
Behavior changes reduce cancer mortality more than medical advances: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/the-surprising-reason-for-the-decline-in-cancer-mortality/ar-AA16mxZf?cvid=1ee58be834af4f05b0127f91cdd80fc6 . On the one hand, drug companies can take credit for only a minority of the cancer death reduction. On the other hand, those of us who manage our behavior for better health should take heart that we are making a difference.
Britain’s excess death rate: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/15/britain-excess-death-rate-covid-nhs-cost-of-living . Note that as our modern medical systems have little excess capacity, the flood of COVID patients has created delays which kill vulnerable patients with other emergencies. The author also noted that all excess deaths could be considered as caused by COVID. Again, I believe excess deaths are in most cases the best measure of COVID mortality, as the COVID reporting is skewed by political considerations.
Avatar 2 leads box office for fifth straight week: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-james-cameron-movies-048f434b2b05628d660e65c49a3ac402 . After its first week, we noted that the film needed to gross $2 billion globally to break even. It looks to cross that mark in the next week. I saw the movie tonight. Avatar 2 reminds me of seeing “Stars Wars” on its release in 1977, and thinking that film forever upgraded and changed film animation. The same is true of “Avatar 2”.