Shocking news. The CDC cuts its estimate of deaths caused by obesity in the USA by a factor of 14. And just below I was getting all obsequious in genuflecting before the superior scientific status of biology compared to economics.

I guess part of the lesson is that things people care about (people) are hard to study compared to bacteria and fruit flys. I'm not really amazed by the new estimate. The explanation seems to be that over weight (but not severely obese) people can protect themselves from the risks of obesity by controlling blood preassure, cholesterol and blood glucose with pills.

To me the most interesting thing about the article (and the reason I am blogging it) is that it covers a controversy on a very important scientific issue, and all four of the scientists named in the article are women. That's news too.