Fortune

Cholesterol skeptics have their day (Fortune)

"There's a mountain of evidence that shows that people who have financial relationships with industry produce biased research and come up with biased recommendations for treatment," notes Shannon Brownlee, author of "Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine is Making Us Sicker and Poorer". Brownlee points out, as has been widely reported, that of the nine medical experts who devised the national cholesterol guidelines, six had received research grants, speaking honoraria,… more

In the corporate world, there's a short list of obvious suspects who may face tougher times under a Democratic Congress, including Big Pharma and Big Oil. Then there are the not-so-obvious suspects -- like what might be called Big Education.

In fact, the stocks of companies that make their money educating America's college students have had a turbulent year. Look no further than the granddaddy of student lenders, SLM Corp. (Charts) -- more commonly known as Sallie Mae -- which fell… more

Social Security is a mess. With the oldest babyboomers now four years away from qualifying for benefits, the program faces a shortfall of $12.7 trillion. To close the deficit, the program would need to cut benefits by 27% by the time today's 25-year-olds retire. And yet in this silly season, neither presidential candidate is offering a viable solution: Kerry says he won't touch Social Security; Bush promises an expensive privatization plan that would leave individuals with huge market risks.… more

When asked how long it will take for the world's population to double, nearly half of all Americans say 20 years or less. That's hardly surprising, given the crowding many of us encounter in everyday life and the reports we hear of teeming Third World megacities. Yet forecasts by the United Nations and others show that world population, currently at a little over six billion, is unlikely to double--ever. Indeed, demographers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, a… more