Money Archives - Pittsburgh Quarterly

DEFCON 3

We are examining the nuclear threats propounded by Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine conflict through the lens of the nuclear threats propounded by his predecessor, Nikita Khrushchev, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Previously in this series: Ukraine through the Lens of Cuba, Pt I Last week we looked at the events that led …

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Ukraine through the Lens of Cuba

by Greg Curtis

“I’m looking forward to being an old man. I have to, you can’t look back on it.” — Jerry Seinfeld One of the good things about being an Old Coot – maybe the only good thing about being an Old Coot – is that you can vividly remember events other people only know about if they’ve studied …

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Beating Long COVID

by Greg Curtis

Vitamins. Okay, I know you are disappointed, you were expecting more. Maybe the rediscovery of a century-old drug everyone had forgotten about but that had magical properties when it came to over-active immune systems. Maybe a new concoction made up of equal parts lithium and kryptonite. Previously in this series: Poor, poor Pitiful Me, Beating …

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Poor, Poor Pitiful Me

by Greg Curtis

On December 28, 2021, despite being double vaxxed and boosted, I tested positive for COVID. So much for the vaccine’s 96 percent success rate. Over the following week my symptoms got worse and worse – basically, the flu-from-hell – and eventually I called my doctor. Previously in this series: Beating Long COVID, Part I He …

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Beating Long COVID

by Greg Curtis

Among the many things medical science didn’t anticipate about the pandemic was the phenomenon of so-called “long COVID.” People, many of whom who were double vaxxed and boosted, got sick and never got completely better. Symptoms vary, but may include serious fatigue, fever, cough, “brain fog,” vertigo, digestive troubles, loss of smell and/or taste, depression, …

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Innovation Money

A Letter from Philadelphia

by Robert Dickey IV

When I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1960s and ‘70s, for a time it had the third-largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the U.S. with US Steel, Mellon Bank, Alcoa, H.J. Heinz, Koppers, Rockwell, Dravo, Westinghouse, and others. Since then, Pittsburgh has seen many changes, some anticipated, others completely new and unexpected. But I …

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The Conclusion: Lessons to Remember for Next Time

by Greg Curtis

Norwegians, including those serving on the Koronakommisjonen, are so polite and self-effacing that one has to read between the lines to understand just how remarkable the country’s pandemic response was. It turns out it was that very modesty, that national humility, that was at the core of what made them successful. Previously in this series: …

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The Lessons of Norway

by Greg Curtis

I want to bring this series to a close by comparing what happened in the U.S. with what happened in – Norway. Previously in this series: The Problem with Overselling Vaccines Why, you may be thinking, Norway? It is, after all, a tiny, homogenous country about the size of Phoenix, but far less diverse. The …

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The Problem with Overselling the Vaccines

by Greg Curtis

I’m claiming that the final group of vaccine-hesitant people – anti-vaxxers, if you prefer – was “nearly all of us.” The reason is that the vaccines, which were actually a wonderful advance, were oversold to us, and as we gradually found that out, our faith in the vaccines – and in medical science itself – …

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The Real Numbers Behind the Vaccines

by PQ Staff

Let’s look at two more vaccine-hesitant groups of people: People who live in rural areas Previously in this series: Panic is a Virus Part VIII: Looking at Vaccine-hesitant People I live within walking distance of two of the best hospitals in the world, but many people are not as lucky. Almost three-quarters of the counties …

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Looking at Vaccine-hesitant People

by Greg Curtis

I want to bring this series to an end with a couple of essays on a delicate subject. Vaccine hesitancy, or what some prefer to call the “anti-vaxxers,” has been a seriously divisive issue during the pandemic. I can’t tell you how many times people said to me (Blue people, that is), “It’s those stupid …

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Listing the CDC’s Failures

by Greg Curtis

Last week we discussed the bad science at the WHO and CDC, which ignored asymptomatic spread of COVID – the primary transmission mechanism. The CDC should have recommended that all Americans get tested regularly, whether we had symptoms or not, but they didn’t. So we didn’t – we were following the science. Previously in this series: Panic …

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Asymptomatic Spread

by Greg Curtis

We’re going over examples that demonstrate how difficult it is to “follow the science,” especially in the early months and years of something as novel and complex as COVID. Let’s take a look at the phenomenon of: Asymptomatic spread Previously in this series: Panic is a Virus Part V: Bad COVID Science When we say …

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Bad COVID Science

by Greg Curtis

Last week I reported on the World Health Organization’s pigheaded approach to how COVID is transmitted – by droplets, they said, so we all needed to wash our hands constantly and sanitize all surfaces. Handwashing and sanitizing didn’t kill us – it was hygiene theater – but the panic engendered by WHO’s bad science did kill us. Previously in …

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Follow the Science?

by Greg Curtis

I said, ‘Mr. Purple people eater what’s your line?’/He said, ‘Eating Purple people and it sure is fine!’ Sheb Wooley, 1958 Thanks to Sheb Wooley, we know why there are no Purple people in America. Unfortunately, that leaves only Blue people and Red people, and among the (many) things we all got wrong during the pandemic …

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The Mask Fiasco

by Greg Curtis

The mask controversy got off to a bad start when, early in the pandemic, the nation’s highest-ranking health officials flip-flopped on the issue. Here is Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams in February 2020: “Seriously people – STOP BUYING MASKS! They are NOT effective in preventing the general public from catching #Coronavirus!” Previously in this series:The …

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The Lesson of Japan

by Greg Curtis

“Call it the Zen art of lockdowns.” — Alistair Gale and Miho Inada While we’re on the subject of lockdowns, let’s briefly take a look at the experience of the “Zen art of lockdowns” in: Japan Previously in this series: Panic is a Virus: Part I When the pandemic hit Japan, the country had fewer …

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Panic Is a Virus

by Greg Curtis

“We are certainly right now in this country out of the pandemic phase.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, April 26, 2022 Whether or not the pandemic is really over, the acute phase of the disease is, I hope, largely behind us, and we can now, at last, enjoy a brief bit of perspective on COVID and our …

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Stefan Lorant, The Conclusion

by Greg Curtis

Although disaster had been briefly averted, the key word was “briefly,” as we’ll see in the final episode of this series, which I’ll call: More Trouble in Lenox Previously in this series: Stefan Lorant Part VI, Of Charm and Disaster Lorant and I were passing through the kitchen on our way out the back door …

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Charm and Disaster

by Greg Curtis

Following the fiasco of the “crystal palace,” I decided to take sterner measures with Lorant. I called him up and told him that unless we could resolve the problem of the purloined photographs, it was unlikely the fifth edition of the Pittsburgh book would ever see the light of day. I also told him I …

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Of Crypts and Art Thieves

by Greg Curtis

My next story about Lorant is a short one, but memorable, at least to my wife and me. We’ll call it: Tale from the Crypt Previously in this series: Stefan Lorant Part IV, Read All Over the World My wife, Simin, is half-Czech, and Stefan seemed to be deeply infatuated with her. Or maybe he …

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Read All Over the World

by Greg Curtis

Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City was ubiquitous in Pittsburgh. It seemed as though everybody who was anybody had a copy, and some people had copies of every edition. Previously in this series: Stefan Lorant Part III, Charming and Impossible But what was remarkable was how well the book was known outside Pittsburgh. The first edition …

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