Addition and Subtraction

On April 11:

1689 William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.

1814 The Treaty of Fontainebleau ended the War of the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon Bonaparte and forced him to abdicate unconditionally for the first time.

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More than 655,000 African Americans are living abroad.

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Russia’s economic growth depends on the Ukraine war and the vast military spending that has come with it, making a peace deal economically risky.

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Arnold Haro’s descent into the world of crypto scams ended when he shot himself on a livestream after telling his followers: “If I die, I hope you guys turn this into a meme coin.” The 23-year-old’s wish came true when dozens of crypto tokens tried to profit from the suicide, reports Kevin T. Dugan. Meme coins, which have grown into a multibillion-dollar slice of the crypto market, are a hotbed of scams.

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Addition and Subtraction

A City Journal article pointed out a single example of replacement of an energy source: whaling. After the invention, circa 1840, of coal-to-kerosene synthesis, one ton of coal could yield as much oil as harvesting three tons of whales. The value of harvesting whales simply collapsed.

The notion is interesting that progress moves by addition, not subtraction and replacement. One wonders if there might be an application to medicine. In my experience--and this is conjecture-- there is about a 15-to 20-year evolution in significant medical technology, changes that can be learned by reimagining diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms. Interestingly, the evolutions rarely displace the old algorithm; they graft onto it. The old way is still viable, just not universally applicable.

So, the innovation adds to cost?

Doesn't that violate some basic economic law? Probably, but health care has become a right in the West; there is no free market in medicine