The Perception Gap @perceptiongap

@RealVision @USComptroller Useful baseline for that debate: the dollar is 56.7% of the world's FX reserves (IMF, Q2 2026), down from 71% in 1999. The euro is next at 20.6%. The yuan, the rival people usually name, holds 2.11%. Still dominant, just less than it used to be.

The US cancer death rate (age-adjusted) fell 34% from its 1991 peak through 2023: about 4.8 million fewer cancer deaths. Five-year survival for all cancers is now 70%, up from 49% for people diagnosed in the mid-1970s. Source: American Cancer Society, Cancer Statistics 2026

@Rainmaker1973 "More valuable than gold" is a high bar, but gold is rarer than it looks: all of it humans have ever mined would fit in one cube about 74 feet on a side (World Gold Council). Two-thirds of that pile came out of the ground after 1950.

@thisisinsider For scale on what a family plan costs: the average job-based family plan is now $28,303 a year (KFF 2026). Workers pay $7,471 of it, up 9% in one year, while wages rose 3.7%. The share people feel in their paycheck is growing faster than the paycheck.

@FOS That's job-linked coverage doing its quiet work. The average employer family plan now costs $28,303 a year (KFF 2026). The worker's share is $7,471; the employer picks up the other $20,832, a cost most people never see until they think about leaving.

@steve_hanke Reserves tell the same story with one twist: the dollar is 56.7% of the world's FX reserves (IMF, Q2 2026), almost three times the euro's 20.6%. Still king. But it was 71% in 1999, so the crown has been slipping slowly for 25+ years, not collapsing.

@StockMKTNewz That's a bit more than every ounce of gold ever mined: about 222,600 tonnes, valued at roughly $29.0T at end-June prices (World Gold Council). Ten stocks now outweigh all the gold humans have dug up in all of history.

The average worker now pays $7,471 a year for employer family health coverage, up 9% from 2025. The full premium is $28,303, up 5%, and employers pay the other $20,832. Wages rose 3.7%. Source: KFF 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey

@FOS Low-budget is relative in this sport. The Dodgers' luxury-tax bill by itself was $169.4M in 2025 (AP), bigger than the full payroll of 12 MLB clubs, topping out with the Cardinals at $153.5M. That gap is the backdrop to these labor fights.

@zerohedge Whatever China's real gold tally, the world isn't piling into its currency: the yuan is 2.11% of global FX reserves, 7th place, behind the Canadian dollar (2.47%) and the Australian dollar (2.25%), per the IMF's Q2 2026 data. Those shares leave gold out.

In 2020, 53% of Native Hawaiians in the US lived outside Hawaiʻi: 362,945, vs 317,497 in the islands. That share was 40% in 2000 and 45% in 2010. 2020 was the first census to count more off the islands than on them. Sources: Census Bureau; Hawaiʻi DBEDT

@WDWNT A lightning scar on Tower of Terror is a good reminder: lightning killed 20 people in the US in 2025 (NWS, preliminary). Unprovoked shark bites killed 1 (Florida Museum's shark attack file).

@StockMKTNewz The habit behind Lilly's climb is now bigger than smoking: about 1 in 8 US adults (12%) say they take a GLP-1 (KFF poll, late 2025), vs 9.1% who smoke cigarettes (CDC, 2025). Back in 1965, 42% of adults smoked.

54% of Americans say they fear sharks a great deal or a moderate amount. In 2025, sharks killed 1 person in the US. Lightning killed 20. Drowning kills about 4,000 a year. Lightning killed 20x more Americans than sharks did. Sources: YouGov; Florida Museum; NWS; CDC

@Kalshi For scale on what they're stacking: every ounce of gold ever mined, about 222,600 tonnes worth roughly $29T (World Gold Council), would fit in one cube about 74 feet on each side. Central banks are bidding for pieces of that single block.

@FOS Passan's point shows up in one number. The Dodgers paid $169.4M in luxury tax alone in 2025 (AP). Twelve clubs had entire payrolls smaller than that tax bill, with the Cardinals ($153.5M) the highest of them and the Marlins ($86.9M) the lowest.

@0utchea_ @EricTopol No, the 12% is from KFF's national poll of US adults (late 2025): everyone who said they currently take a GLP-1, for any reason. It isn't tied to one pharmacy. The recall only matters for people whose tirzepatide came from that compounder.

All the gold ever mined, about 222,600 tonnes worth $29T, would fit in one cube 22.6 m (74 ft) on each side. Every ring, bar and central-bank vault on Earth, in one block. Two-thirds of it was dug up since 1950. Source: World Gold Council, Aug 2026

@EricTopol @NEJM Sleep apnea would be one more reason to take a drug class that's already mainstream. In KFF's late-2025 poll, 12% of US adults said they currently take a GLP-1. The CDC puts cigarette smoking at 9.1%. Two different surveys, but the shot now outpaces the smoke.

@business @markgongloff @opinion One difference between those two bills: the premium goes to one insurer, but a property tax bill is often split among several governments. The US has 91,438 local governments (Census, 2025), and 40,199 of them are special districts for things like fire, water and parks.