Assorted Links (9/24/2009)

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

Financial Crisis

  • Bank Pay and the Financial Crisis, by Jeffrey Friedman

Wall Street Journal: “G-20 accounting rules, not bank bonuses, put the system at risk.”

Health Care Reform

  • J&J CFO: Biggest Nightmare Is Public Health Option, by David M. Katz

CFO Magazine: “The most damaging thing the reform effort could do would be to create a public option in which “pricing is so restricted and choice is so limited that there’s no incentive to innovate,” he added. “If the movement is toward not providing adequate reimbursement for research that’s done to create a new product, my fear is that not enough research will be done.”

  • From Bismarck to Obama, by Daniel Henninger

Wall Street Journal: “If you are going to pass a Big Idea such as universal health insurance, you need to give the public a Big Reason.”

  • The FDA Rejects Another Good Cancer Drug, by Matt Alsante

Wall Street Journal: “No wonder people are worried about bureaucrats controlling health care.”

New York Times: “Researchers estimate that doctors’ fear of lawsuits leads to up to $60 billion a year worth of wasteful treatment.”

Miscellaneous

Executive Summary: “We want others to find us good, fair, responsible and logical; and we place even more importance on thinking of ourselves this way. Therefore, when people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced, or perverted, they tend to engage a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he’s more qualified.” “I promoted Ashley because she does a better job than Aisha.” Or, “I read Playboy for the articles.””

Boston Globe: “A huge outback dust storm – 500 km (310 mi) wide by 1,000 km (620 mi) long – swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, September 23rd, disrupting flights and ground transportation and forcing people indoors for shelter from the hazardous air, gale-force winds, and in some places hailstorms. Those few who ventured outside, especially at dawn, were greeted by a Martian sky, familiar landmarks blotted out by the heavy red dust blowing by. Collected here are a few photos of the worst dust storm Sydney has seen in 70 years, three of which you can click to see a before/after fade effect. (26 photos total).”