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This educational note provides an example of how to teach students about the economic way of thinking with invisible-hand stories. By making use of the well-known narrative of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier, we encourage students to consider how capitalism and free markets worked with Robinson in bringing about this outcome. This curriculum builds upon Robinson's courageous actions, and the note illustrates the exceptionally high costs borne by those unwilling to employ the most productive workers. Teaching suggestions are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical trials are needed to determine whether estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) is safe and appropriate for postmenopausal breast cancer survivors. ERT is used to relieve the symptoms of menopause and may be important in maintaining a woman's quality of life. ERT has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease in menopausal women. ERT is also effective in reducing the risk of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Breast cancer survivors who do not receive ERT may be at an increased risk of developing these complications of menopause and their quality of life may deteriorate. The link between ERT and an increased risk of a second breast cancer has not been conclusively demonstrated. There is little research to support the concern that ERT may activate dormant tumor cells in a breast cancer survivor. Tamoxifen is used more frequently as adjuvant treatment for breast cancer. Studies of women simultaneously receiving tamoxifen and ERT have shown no adverse effects.

This paper examines the loss of value incurred when a consumer takes retail delivery of a car. Statistical tests of percentage and absolute losses from taking retail delivery show the loss of value is not unique to new cars and is actually more pronounced for older used cars. Analysis of this loss shows the effect is not as great as is commonly believed and is more due to transaction costs of the deal than to any underlying loss of asset value of the car. The implication is that consumers wishing to avoid a large percentage loss of value on a transaction cannot easily do so by avoiding the new car market. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.), Personal experience and the literature on automobile pricing agree on at least one point: It is very costly to take retail delivery of a new car ('drive a new car [...]

Overexpression of the c-erbB-2 oncogene in women with early node-positive breast cancer may be an indication that these women are likely to benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Oncogenes are genes with potential cancer-inducing properties. Once these genes are identified, they provide scientists with new strategies for fighting cancer and ways of identifying people at high risk for cancer. Tissue blocks from 442 breast cancer patients who had been treated with a combination of cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and fluorouracil were analyzed for DNA content, S-phase fraction (a measurement of the DNA synthesis process), c-erbB-2 expression and the accumulation of p53 (a tumor suppressor gene often used as a molecular marker). Of the 397 patients for whom c-erbB-2 expression could be analysed, the tumors of 29% of the patients had a 50% or more c-erbB-2 overexpression. These patients showed a higher survival rate after undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy than did patients with low or no c-erbB-2 expression, especially if they received high dosages.

Moderate or high doses of adjuvant chemotherapy may benefit women with breast cancer more than lower dosages. Adjuvant chemotherapy, the use of one or more drugs to heighten the cancer-fighting effects of the initial treatment, has been recognized as successful for increasing survival in breast cancer patients. A total of 1,529 breast cancer patients were placed on one of three chemotherapy regimens. The moderate group received a 400 milligram per square meter of body-surface area (mg/m sq) of cyclophosphamide and 40 mg/m sq of doxorubicin once every 28 days and 400 mg/m sq of fluorouracil twice every 28 days, all for six cycles. Another group received doses that were 50% higher for only four cycles, and a third received doses 50% lower than the moderate group, also for only four cycles. The first, or moderate, group showed a 74% disease-free survival rate and 92% overall survival rate after about three years. The high-dose, high-intensity group showed 70% disease-free and 90% overall survival rates over the same period of time. The third, or low-dose and low-intensity, group showed a 63% disease-free and 84% overall survival rates.

Debates over how to promote a healthy economy are pervasive once more, after decades when it seemed such debates had been put to rest. The market meltdown of 2008 ended [...]

When highly visible lapses in ethics occur, education gets some of the blame. Principals in the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and the Enron scandal had been educated at Harvard and [...]

Background: Black race is associated with worse outcomes in early breast cancer. We evaluated clinicopathologic characteristics, the 21-gene recurrence score (RS), treatment delivered, and clinical outcomes by race and ethnicity among women who participated in the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment.Methods: The association between clinical outcomes and race (White, Black, Asian, other or unknown) and ethnicity (Hispanic vs non-Hispanic) was examined using proportional hazards models. All P values are 2-sided.Results: Of 9719 eligible women with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative, node-negative breast cancer, there were 8189 (84.3%) Whites, 693 (7.1%) Blacks, 405 (4.2%) Asians, and 432 (4.4%) with other or unknown race. Regarding ethnicity, 889 (9.1%) were Hispanic. There were no substantial differences in RS or ESR1, PGR, or HER2 RNA expression by race or ethnicity. After adjustment for other covariates, compared with White race, Black race was associated with higher distant recurrence rates (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.60, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 1.07 to 2.41) and worse overall survival in the RS 11-25 cohort (HR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.06 to 2.15) and entire population (HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.90). Hispanic ethnicity and Asian race were associated with better outcomes. There was no evidence of chemotherapy benefit for any racial or ethnic group in those with a RS of 11-25.Conclusions: Black women had worse clinical outcomes despite similar 21-gene assay RS results and comparable systemic therapy in the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment. Similar to Whites, Black women did not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy if the 21-gene RS was 11-25. Further research is required to elucidate the basis for this racial disparity in prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ordinary citizens, politicians, and economists alike regularly ask the question, 'How is the economy doing?' With a highly polarized electorate and media to match, it has become harder to get [...]