The FT Editorial board says it’s time to stop indulging Serbia’s authoritarian president:

America seems to have left the Balkan pitch for now. But the UK and the EU have not. They should act and use their economic leverage. If they do not and Serbia heads further down the authoritarian path, it will be not just Vučić but also his gaze-averting western backers who are to blame.

“Economic leverage” sounds suspiciously like sanctions, which would be the exact wrong move to take and would only strengthen the president’s hand. Just ghost him — it would infuriate his small narcissistic mind.

Alex Tabarrok wrote a brief comment on why America always wins in the global superpower game:

Double down on immigration, entrepreneurship, innovation, building for tomorrow, free markets, free speech and individualism and America will take all new competitors as it has taken all comers in the past.

Funny how each and every of these reasons of America’s dominance is not only under threat — they always have been — but is being actively dismantled by the state itself. This time may truly be different.

Whatever you think of medicalization of moderate obesity, the GLP-1 inhibitors semaglutide and tirzeparide (aka Ozempic, Wegowy and Zepbound) are truly groundbreaking. It takes a lot for me to admit something approaches imatinib in innovation and importance, and they are there! Incredibly, the drug companies that developed them are considered losers in the upside-down world of American finance:

Since their peak last year, the decline is more pronounced. Novo Nordisk has lost $367bn in value since its peak in June 2024, a fall of more than two-thirds, while Lilly has fallen 29 per cent from a record valuation last year, wiping $250bn off its market capitalisation.

In a decision that was short-termist and reactionary to the extreme, Novo Nordisk even fired their longstanding CEO over it.

The kicker comes from a healthcare fund manager quoted near the end of the article:

“If you’re a generalist investor, why are you putting money here, versus buying an AI stock, [given] the headwinds of both tariffs and the most favoured nation policy?” he added.

What are we even doing here?

In the story of Spanish solar power, the FT finds a country with energy abundance and doesn’t like what it sees. A few choice quotes:

Pedro Sánchez calls his country a ‘global benchmark’ in the transition to greener energy, but prices — and profits — have plunged.

Spain has built so much solar capacity that at certain times of day it produces far more electricity than it needs. Prices have plunged as a result, dragging down owners’ profits with them.

Free power is gratifying for customers, but bad for generators.

Etc, etc. Good for Spain! The monetary matters will settle themselves out.

There is banger after banger in the most recent weekend edition of the FT, which is apparently Steve Bannon’s favorite newspaper:

• Sunday at the garden party for Curtis Yarvin and the new, new right, in which the FT columnist Jemima Kelley meets some interesting people.

Cave turns to me. “So what’s your skill then, spinning stuff into a story?”

“No,” I reply. “My skill is keeping a straight face when someone tells me something, and inside I’m thinking: fucking hell.”

• Don’t mourn the golden age of TV from Janan Ganesh, and I am in general agreement.
• The magic of childhood in the Netherlands from Simon Kuper, and as an uncle to a couple of mostly-Dutch children I tend to agree.
• Why England’s new towns should look to medieval France, which made me drool.

All gift links with limited activations, so enjoy while you can!

Well that was fast:

“At the FDA’s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said. “Neither the White House nor HHS will allow the fake news media to distract from the critical work the FDA is carrying out under the Trump administration.”

Maybe lobbying isn’t as effective as I thought? I am sure there are stories to be told about what happened during these two weeks.

Here are a few good comments on what recently happened at the FDA:

• Washington Post: What the ouster of a top FDA regulator shows about Trump world divisions
• The Atlantic: The Man Who Was Too MAHA for the Trump Administration
• Science: Vinay Prasad: That Was Fast

V(inay) P(rasad)’s ouster was clearly death by lobbyists, but then they had plenty of fodder. The current administration does seem to be going for a mid-to-late 19th century vibe in many ways, and this is one of them. Sure, Ulysses Grant probably didn’t coin the word, but isn’t that the peak period when those who had the president’s ear could get things done quickly and blatantly? Whether that excites you or scares you, well, that depends on what kind of person you are and what you do for a living.

Selfishly speaking, it will be good to see VP back publishing oncology papers. Here is a recent one about informative censoring in clinical trials, with a lay summary here. More of that, please.

The most recent issue of the FT Weekend Magazine is about games of all kinds, but the highlight is a massive article about the tragedy of Disco Elysium. It is depressing throughout, with a glimmer of hope buried near the end:

Kurvitz is making his next game at a new studio, Red Info, with Aleksander Rostov, Helen Hindpere and Chris Avellone, lead writer of the 1999 video game Planescape: Torment, a huge influence on Disco. “[Kurvitz] felt that Disco was the project in his head, and once he was cut off from the franchise, he was worried he didn’t have any other ideas in him,” Avellone told me. “I felt that was bullshit . . . Robert’s too creative to simply ‘not’ create something or rely on a single world idea in his head.”

Creators of Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium working together on a new game? Be still, my heart.

A version of Poisoning Pigeons in the Park was the first mp3 I downloaded and played — on Winamp, of course — some time in the mid 1990s, spurred by an episode of Chicago Hope of all things. R.I.P. Tom Lehrer.

Nick Maggiulli on why the upper middle class isn’t special anymore:

Picture it. You’re at one of the nicest resorts in one of the most prized vacation destinations in the world and there are literal millionaires scrambling to get pool chairs at 8AM. What the hell is going on?

I’ll tell you. The upper middle class is getting too big. There are too many people who are millionaires and multi-millionaires and there simply isn’t enough space to accommodate them. Why do you think the Amex lounge is a zoo? Why do you think house prices haven’t come down? Why do you think vacations evolved into cut throat competitions?

Because there are too many people with lots of money.

I think he is onto something, for here is Jennifer Bradley Franklin of the NYT writing about $9,000 jigsaw puzzles:

Christine Murphy thinks she has a problem.

The 42-year-old grant writer and novelist has more than 150 puzzles in her collection at home in Portland, Maine, approximately 50 of which are hand-cut hardwood. She has one in progress at all times, and works on it every day.

“If I don’t get to do it, I get a bit glum,” she said. “I would happily do nothing but massive, thousand-piece hand-cut puzzles.” But, she added, referring to their price: “My God, those are multiple mortgage payments. It’s like a couture puzzle.”

…

A Stave Puzzles 800-piece limited edition costs $8,495 (on sale from $8,995). Orders from the company, founded in 1974, go up from there. A recent order from a single customer was close to $40,000, said Paula Tardie, an owner of Stave. “We have done wedding favors, puzzles for opening night gifts for Broadway shows and some very large puzzles for family reunions.”

“We have a couple of customers who, in the last decade, have spent over $500,000 with us,” said Mr. Danner of Elms.

If $9K can’t even get you a decent resort holiday, blowing it all an puzzles is as good as anything.