Weight-loss drugs aren’t just slimming waists. They’re shifting the economy–The Washington Post
Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy may not be the lightbulb or the internet, but their impact is expected to be so significant it will shift GDP. People taking these medications are cutting their daily calorie counts in half or more. This is having interesting economic consequences. Goldman Sachs’ chief economist predicts that if 60 million Americans take the medications by 2028, GDP will increase by 1%—or several trillion dollars. Evidence shows that the demographic of people on the drugs overlaps with those more likely to spend (what analysts have dubbed “over-consumers”) and that what they’re buying is evolving fast: from hiring personal trainers to major shifts in food purchases.
Why we don’t trust doctors like we used to–The Wall Street Journal
Patients often feel ignored and complain about disjointed care and a lack of communication and rapport with time-pressed doctors. So, patients are looking elsewhere and there are big problems and costs that come with that trend.
Have modern “technologies of connection” made the world better, or worse?–Los Angeles Review of Books
Have the so-called modern “technologies of connection” (smartphones, personal computers, the internet, social media, AI) made the world better, or worse? The cost-benefit calculation is complicated and nuanced, requiring us to find a course between apocalyptic visions of civilizational decline and the naive utopianism of Silicon Valley. This is a review of Nicholas Carr’s Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart. Philip Ball finds Carr’s conclusion that these technologies are tearing us apart “disturbingly compelling.”
Vatican to host its first Summit on Longevity in March–Catholic News Agency
The Vatican’s Longevity Summit will bring together scientists, Nobel laureates, and world leaders to address one of the crucial challenges of our time: promoting healthy and sustainable aging. The summit will not be an isolated event, but the first step of an ambitious global project led by the Vatican in collaboration with international scientific and academic institutions. According to a statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life, this project aims to promote a model of longevity that does not simply increase lifespan but enriches it in terms of quality, dignity, and sustainability, integrating science, ethics and spirituality.
A Striking Stat:
TikTok’s annual carbon footprint is bigger than Greece’s. The average user generates greenhouse gases equal to driving an extra 123 miles in gas-powered car each year.
Source: Greenly, a Paris-based carbon accounting consultancy
