| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a bankruptcy filing of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. Today's AgendaHousing Fever: The BreakeningIn "The Sun Also Rises," Mike Campbell famously says he went bankrupt "Two ways: Gradually, then suddenly." The housing market's mania might end similarly. We're getting evidence of the "gradually" part, anyway. Last month Conor Sen pointed out homebuilders were responding to exorbitant lumber costs by just dropping their toolbelts and grabbing a sandwich. This isn't what you do if you think you're about to sell a lot of houses at high prices. Now Gary Shilling has found a few more hints of a slowdown, from the rising number of homes on the market to a drop in permits for new construction to consumers balking at ludicrous prices:  Gary also notes the pandemic trends driving the market recently — stimulus money, plunging interest rates, New York City being dead forever — are stalling or reversing. There may soon be a better time for you to buy that sprawling New Jersey estate.  Our So-Called Health-Care SystemMax Nisen wrote earlier this week that the FDA shouldn't have approved Biogen's new Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm. There's just no proof the thing works the way it's supposed to. Biogen has been given infinity years to run more trials, but in the meantime it will sell the drug at $56,000 a year. Side effects of paying $56,000 a year for what could be a fancy Flintstone vitamin may include night terrors, day terrors, wealth hemorrhaging and Sudden Asset Disappearance Syndrome (SADS). This episode highlights two specific problems with America's problem-rich health-care system, writes Bloomberg's editorial board. First, the FDA is way too willing to let iffy drugs on the market. Second, once those iffy drugs are on the market, Medicare is prohibited by law from scoffing whenever it's presented with a bill for $56,000 or whatever for them. So to recap: - Drug maybe doesn't work.
- Drug costs $56,000.
- Taxpayers must eat the cost of drug.
Great system! Give Iran the VaccineInternational diplomacy is usually a terrible game of compromises and impossible choices. Rarely do cost-free wins come along. This is especially true when the diplomacy involves Iran, a country that, whew, where to begin? But President Joe Biden has an opportunity for a rare double-birdie in diplomacy putt-putt, and it involves Iran. Eli Lake writes Biden should offer to give a whole bunch of Covid-19 vaccines to Iran with no strings attached. This would: - Fight the pandemic.
- Let the Iranian people know America doesn't think they're the enemy.
- Save lives.
- Embarrass China and Russia, which have failed to deliver vaccines to Iran as promised.
- Stop Covid-19.
That's a whole lot of win in one easy-opening package. Telltale ChartsWe all cooed about retail investors' remarkable patience when markets blew up last year. But maybe they were patient mainly because they've been conditioned to expect quick recoveries, high returns and low volatility, writes Nir Kaissar. Those days are coming to an end.  With $21 trillion in debt, the U.S. government needs a credible Fed to help keep interest rates low, writes Brian Chappatta. That could include a demonstrable willingness to fight inflation.  Further ReadingMerrick Garland's Donald Trump defense is knee-jerk institutionalism, and not in a good way. — Noah Feldman GameStop's results and new hires suggest the shorts were wrong about it. — Tae Kim Decentralized finance is the best reason for crypto's existence. — Tyler Cowen We shouldn't punish victims of cybercrime by making paying ransoms illegal. — Stephen Carter What you need to know when you need to roll over your 401(k). Step one: It's hard. — Alexis Leondis ICYMISteve Cohen finally sold his Manhattan condo above asking. There's a bull market in earthquakes, thanks to fracking. Mar-a-Lago is the center of the GOP universe. Kominers's Conundrums HintTonight's your last chance to identify the song of the summer in our playlist puzzle! If you're having trouble figuring out how to start solving it, maybe look to see if any of the song titles listed sound familiar — and if they do, does anything look like it might be missing? KickersSheepdog ejected from car lands in dream job. Area woman gives birth to 10 babies. It's official: The Southern Ocean is the fifth ocean. Lego made a working typewriter.  Notes: Please send Lego typewriters and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Twitter and Facebook. | 
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