Assorted Links (8/22/2009)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading today (organized by topic):

Economics and Public Policy

  • Big Government, Big Recession, by Alan Reynolds, Wall Street Journal
    WSJ: “There’s no evidence for the theory that state spending has shortened this or any other slowdown.”
  • The Bottom Line on Top-Speed Trains, by Eric A. Morris, Freakonomics
    According to Eric Morris, the bottom line of a hypothetical Dallas-Houston high speed rail (HSR) line is that “… the line would be a net cost to society of at least $375 million per year. This includes HSR’s potential environmental benefits as well as the direct gains to riders.”

Health Care Reform

  • Health Plan’s Other Name? Bait And Switch, by Thomas Sowell, Investors Business Daily
    IBD: “Amid all the controversies over medical care, no one seems to be asking a very basic question: Why does it take more than 1,000 pages of legislation to insure people who lack medical insurance?”
  • Behind Agenda Lies Mind-Set That Is Chilling, by Thomas Sowell, Investors Business Daily
    IBD: “The serious, and sometimes chilling, provisions of the medical care legislation that President Obama has been trying to rush through Congress are important enough for all of us to stop and think, even though his political strategy from the outset has been to prevent us from having time to stop and think about it.”
  • The Truth About Death Counseling, by Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post
    WP: “Let’s see if we can have a reasoned discussion about end-of-life counseling.”
  • Health ‘Co-ops’ Are Government Care, by Micheal Levitt, Wall Street Journal WSJ:
    “The Democrats’ latest proposal bears no resemblance to the voluntary organizations that are known as cooperatives.”
  • Pull the Plug on ObamaCare, by Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal
    WSJ
    : “It’s the best cure for what ails the Obama presidency.”
  • I am finally scared of a White House administration, by Nat Hentoff, Jewish World Review
    Journalist Nat Hentoff on health-care rationing.
  • Where Elderly Back Obama, Health Bill Anxiety, by Kevin Sack, New York Times
    NYT
    : “Some in Florida fear that health care reform would reduce the Medicare benefits they depend on.”
  • A Basis Is Seen for Some Health Plan Fears Among the Elderly, by Robert Pear, New York Times NYT: “The concerns of many older Americans as they look at the health overhaul bills in Congress focus on the savings intended to come from Medicare.”

Miscellaneous

  • Not So Fast, by John Freeman, Wall Street Journal
    WSJ
    : “Sending and receiving at breakneck speed can make life queasy; a manifesto for slow communication.”

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