What I Read This Week...

The Fed keeps interest rates steady but Powell capitulates, the Supreme Court will decide on the use of a major abortion pill, and researchers leverage AI to test new cancer drugs

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Caught my eye…

• Jerome Powell announced that the Federal Reserve is willing to cut interest rates in 2024 even if the U.S. economy doesn’t fall into a recession after members voted unanimously to hold interest rates constant, signaling that one of the most aggressive hiking cycles in the history of the Fed may be over. Powell’s comments align with individual Fed Open Market Committee (FOMC) members’ expectations, which signal three potential 25bps cuts in 2024, and four more in 2025.

• The Supreme Court announced that it would decide on the availability of a commonly used abortion pill in its first abortion case since it overturned Roe v. Wade last year. The Supreme Court also rejected a separate appeal which challenged the FDA’s approval of the drug in 2000, citing safety concerns.

• Researchers at the Medical University of Vienna are testing a new drug matchmaking technology called Exscientia, which uses machine learning models to test the impacts of dozens of different treatments on cancer cells at the same time instead of multiple months-long courses of chemotherapy. In addition to selecting the right drug, Exscentia is leveraging machine learning to design new drugs to test on patient cells, yielding more options to sift through when searching for an effective therapy.

Other reading…

• MrBeast’s Analytics Platform ViewStats is Out in Beta (TechCrunch)

• College Presidents' Skewered Testimony Raises Question: What Do They Do? (Axios)

• Luxury Slowdown Prompts Fears of Inventory Pile-Up Over Key Holiday Season (Reuters)

• The Tide Turns for Renters as Asking Rents Post Biggest Decline in Over 3 Years (Business Wire)

• COP28 Ended With a Historic Deal on Fossil Fuels. Here’s What to Know (Washington Post)

• Senators Eye Border Deal Framework as Early as Sunday, Though Parole Policy Remains Sticking Point (CBS)

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