Category Archives: Health Care Reform

Art, Music, and Culture, Economics, Finance, Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, Politics, Public Policy, Science

Assorted Links (7/13/2010)

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Eugene White: Dodd-Frank, Meet William Jennings Bryan – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Eugene White explains why a ‘Financial Crisis Fund,’ similar to current proposals, was rejected over a century ago during the financial crisis of 1893.”

Amity Shlaes: FDR, Obama and ‘Confidence’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Amity Shlaes writes in The Wall Street Journal that demonizing business deepened the Great Depression. The Obama White House can learn from Roosevelt’s mistakes.”

William McGurn: Obama’s Immigration Fakery – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Main Street columnist William McGurn says that in 2007, Barack Obama helped derail immigration reform as a junior senator from Illinois. As president, he is not serious about a bipartisan bill today.”

Brian Riedl: The Bush Tax Cuts and the Deficit Myth – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal Heritage Foundation fellow Brian Riedl explains that runaway government spending, not declining tax revenues, is the reason the U.S. faces dramatic budget shortfalls for years to come.”

Two Thumbs Down on the Financial-Reform Bill – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

Economics Nobel laureate Gary Becker’s take on the financial-reform bill; he particularly dislikes the facts that this bill 1) adds regulations and rules about many activities that had little or nothing to do with the (financial) crisis, and 2) essentially says nothing about Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

Bret Stephens: Dr. Berwick and That Fabulous Cuban Health Care – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens writes about the death march of progressive medicine.”

Op-Ed Columnist – An Economy of Grinds – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“The slow economic recovery is shutting out the small businesses that are vital to its success.”

Fund Track: Collar Fund Offers Low Risk, Low Reward – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“A cautiously bullish strategy is the mainstay of the $31 million Collar Fund, whose portfolio has low enough risk to inspire comparisons to a bond fund, but whose hedged exposure to stocks aim for stronger returns than bonds.” The Collar Fund represents an interesting application of some very simple financial engineering; this is the sort of stuff we study in my “Options, Futures and Other Derivatives” course at Baylor University…”

Correlation Soars on S&P 500 Shares – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Stocks are trading in lock-step more than at any time since the 1987 crash, and the trend has some analysts concerned.”

2010 World Cup comes to a close – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

Who Pays for ObamaCare? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal on what Donald Berwick and Joe the Plumber both understand.”

Lessons From the Swedish Welfare State – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Swedish economists Andreas Bergh and Magnus Henrekson cite research that shows bigger government is associated with slower economic growth. Sweden is a prime example. It’s recent performance is due to market-oriented policies and a declining government share of GDP.

Pat Michaels: The Climategate Whitewash Continues: Don’t Believe the ‘Independent Reviews’

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, climate scientist Patrick J. Michaels criticizes the recent exoneration of charges that the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. He says that the members of the committee had a conflict of interest and that the review work was shoddy.”

Fred Barnes: Obama’s Entitlement Opportunity – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fred Barnes notes that the president’s deficit commission isn’t likely to agree on tax increases. But it might recommend Social Security reform.”

Book review: Getting It Wrong – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Edward Kosner reviews W. Joseph Campbell’s Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism.”

Economics, Game Theory, Health Care Reform, Politics, Public Policy

Assorted Links (5/27/2010)

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Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

 
Judy Shelton: The Recovery Starts With Sound Money – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
“Judy Shelton writes in The Wall Street Journal that the willingness to work for the sake of future prosperity is a universal human quality, but people must believe there is a link between effort and reward. With public confidence in fiat currencies at an all-time low, now is the time to link the dol…”
 
Dan Danner: ObamaCare vs. Small Business – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
“Dan Danner, president of the National Federation of Independent Business, writes in The Wall Street Journal on why his organization supports the constitutional challenge to the health-insurance mandate in the new health-care reform law.”
 
Daniel Henninger: A New Age of Reform – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Henninger says the mood in the country suggests that the U.S. may be at the start of an era of political and economic reform.”
 
The Next Financial Crisis
Source: www.thecrimson.com
“Washington, D.C., May 27, 2025. Just four months into his first term, President Scott P. Brown faces what is rapidly becoming a severe financial crisis, with the collapse yesterday of yet another Stable Wind Farm Trust.”
 
Christie for President – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that Governor Christie is prospering politically despite $5 million in attack ads being hurled against him by public employee unions.”
 
Applying game theory to relationships, MBA, parenting – 4 videos by Barry Nalebuff – Mind Your Decisions
Source: mindyourdecisions.com
“Barry Nalebuff is co-author of three of favorite game theory books Thinking Strategically, The Art of Strategy and Co-opetition.”
 
Government Spending May Hurt the Private Sector – Business – The Atlantic
Source: www.theatlantic.com
“This morning, Tyler Cowen links to an interview with Joshua Coval of Harvard Business School on the…”
 
David Malpass: The Panic, Round Two: What Would Reagan Do? – WSJ.com
Source: online.wsj.com
“In The Wall Street Journal, David Malpass writes that giant pools of capital are sitting idle in unproductive deposits or inflation hedges. They could easily fund job growth if real, after-tax prospects improved.”
 
Should the Government Bail Out Union Pension Funds? – Business – The Atlantic
Source: www.theatlantic.com
“Fox Business has made something of a splash claiming that Senator Casey has introduced a bill to…
“Fox Business has made something of a splash claiming that Senator Casey has introduced a bill to bail out union pensions that will cost $165 billion. Media Matters lashes back, arguing that the bill will only cost $8-10 billion and isn’t a bailout. Who’s right?””
Economics, Financial Crisis, Game Theory, Health Care Reform, Politics, Public Policy

Assorted Links (5/25/2010)

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Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Hard Sell – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com

“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that ObamaCare appears more unpopular than ever.”

Chronicle of a Currency Crisis Foretold – Project Syndicate

Source: www.project-syndicate.org

“The crisis in Greece and the problems in Spain and Portugal have exposed the euro’s inherent flaws, and no amount of financial guarantees – much less rhetorical reassurance – from the EU can paper them over. While the euro is likely to survive the current crisis, not all of the eurozone’s current members may be there a year from now.”

Progressives, Jim Crow, and Selective Amnesia

Source: www.american.com

“The Rand Paul episode reveals a drastic misreading of history and of the government’s role in ending racial discrimination in this nation.”

America’s New Jobs Bill – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal dissects this week’s stimulus bill.”

Money Market Funds Missing from the Senate Bill – Regulating Wall Street

Source: w4.stern.nyu.edu

“Money market funds are the stepchild of finance. Even though they manage more than $4 trillion in assets, you won’t find them in the Senate’s financial reform bill from last Thursday. Is this justified?”    

Not just their Big Fat Greek Funeral – Mark Steyn – Macleans.ca

Source: www2.macleans.ca

“As lazy, feckless, corrupt and violent as Greece undoubtedly is, it’s not that untypical…”

That’s Rich at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas.

Source: www.thebigquestions.com

“It’s now crystal clear what the Tea Party stands for, says Frank Rich midway through a column that makes it crystal clear what Frank Rich stands for, and it isn’t pretty.”    

Stimulus Surprise: Companies Retrench When Government Spends – HBS Working Knowledge

Source: hbswk.hbs.edu “New research from Harvard Business School suggests that federal spending in states appears to cause local businesses to cut back rather than grow. A conversation with Joshua Coval.”

Game Theory TV – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

Source: freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com “Game theory lessons on YouTube.”

Review & Outlook: The New Lords of Finance – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com “The Wall Street Journal editorial page says that Congress’s financial reform is a marriage of Big Finance and Big Government.”

Roberts on the Crisis | EconTalk | Library of Economics and Liberty

Source: www.econtalk.org

“Russ Roberts, host of EconTalk, discusses his paper, “Gambling with Other People’s Money: How Perverted Incentives Created the Financial Crisis.” Roberts reflects on the past eighteen months of podcasts on the crisis, and then turns to his own take, a narrative that emphasizes the role of government rescues of creditors and the incentives this created for imprudent lending. He also discusses U.S. housing policy, particularly the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and how the government’s implicit guarantee of lenders to the GSE’s interacted with housing policy to increase housing prices. This in turn, Roberts argues, helped create the subprime market, created mainly by private investors. The episode closes with some of Roberts’s doubts about his narrative.”    

Consumer Financial Protection–the Good, the Bad and the Ugly – Regulating Wall Street

Source: w4.stern.nyu.edu

“On Thursday the Senate passed its version of the financial reform bill, and the reconciliation process with the previously passed House bill will now begin. What are the implications for consumer protection? The similarities between the two bills in the area of consumer protection and more notable than their differences, but there are some distinctions to keep in mind and some troubling issues common to both bills. Consumer protection is a worthy goal, especially given some of the documented abuses leading up to and during the financial crisis, but bad regulation may be worse than under-regulation.”    

Economic View – Greece May Not Be as Rich as It Looks – NYTimes.com

Source: www.nytimes.com

“Europe no longer pretends Greece is wealthy. Now the Continent acts as though Greece will quickly become wealthy enough to pay back ever-growing sums of debt.”

Economics, Finance, Health Care Reform, Humor, Politics, Public Policy, Terrorism

Assorted Links (5/10/2010

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Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

David McCourt: FCC Regulation of the Internet May Chill Investment in Broadband – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, David McCourt says the FCC’s determination to impose net neutrality regulations on ISP companies will make investments in broadband more uncertain.”

Fouad Ajami: Islam’s Nowhere Men – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami notes that millions of young Muslim men like Faisal Shahzad are unsettled by a modern world they can neither master nor reject.”

ObamaCare’s Phony Medicaid ‘Deal’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, constitutional law professor Richard Epstein says that the new health law unconstitutionally coerces the states.”

Is It Too Big to Save? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“If you’re only going to read one book on the financial crisis, this should be the one. ”

Shahzad’s Lesson: Foreclosed Is Forearmed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, satirist Joe Queenan writes that history is littered with tales of men who turned to violence because of bad real-estate investments.”

Julius Caesar of the Internet – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the Obama Administration’s attempt to regulate the Internet is unlawful and unnecessary.”

Global markets: So, about that crash | The Economist

www.economist.com

“ON THURSDAY afternoon, between 2:30 and 3:00, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered one of the largest and most dramatic swings in its long history. In the space of just a few minutes, the Dow went from being down around 300 points to being down nearly 1,000 points.”

Jeffrey Miron » Blog Archive » Regulating the Internet

jeffreymiron.com

“In a move that will stoke a battle over the future of the Internet, the federal government plans to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks.”

Kim Strassel: Financial Reform Goldman Can Love – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel notes that the Democrats’ anti-Wall Street rhetoric conceals a major fund-raising campaign. The actual financial reforms will not seriously damage the major players.”

What the Hell Just Happened in the Market? – Business – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“For those who don’t have Bloomberg News on 24/7, the Dow just dropped almost 1,000 points…”

Michael Boskin: Time to Junk the Corporate Tax – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, MIchael Boskin writes that the U.S.has the second-highest corporate income tax rate of any advanced economy, and that reforming it would boost the economy and future business investment.”

Dan Henninger: Blame Obama. Why Not? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Dan Henninger writes that as the oil-spill cleanup shows, some things are beyond even Barack Obama’s belief in the powers of government.”

Another Fine Mess – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration was caught unprepared for the oil spill.”

Why Our Current Budget Situation Is a Crisis — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“There is no precedent for reducing the ratio of debt to GDP by simply growing our way out of it.”

Robert G. Wilmers: What About Reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Robert G. Wilmers, the chairman and CEO of M&T Bank Corporation, says that Fannie and Freddie need to be reformed, lest we have another financial crisis down the road.”

Drilling in Deep Water – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that a ban on offshore production won’t mean fewer oil spills.”

Fred Barnes: Democrats at Ramming Speed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fred Barnes writes that the White House wants to pass as much legislation as possible before losing its big majorities, no matter how unpopular its proposals are.”

Brian M. Carney: A Tale of Three Cities – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Editorial Page Editor Brian M. Carney writes in The Wall Street Journal that Athens, London and Washington each respond to looming insolvency in telling ways.”

Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid’s impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it’s possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt — by testing solutions with randomized trials.”

Art, Music, and Culture, Economics, Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, Public Policy

Assorted Links (4/8/2010)

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

Economics and Public Policy

  • Leslie Hook and Joseph Sternberg: Confessions of Two Unpaid Interns – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Leslie Hook and Joseph Sternberg say that the Obama administration’s latest crusade, to prevent the use of unpaid interns, is a mistake that will harm opportunities for young men and women looking for a leg up in the work force.”

  • Daniel Henninger: Joblessness: The Kids Are Not Alright – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com


“In The Wall Street Journal, Dan Henninger asks if Obama’s economic policies have sent the U.S. toward European levels of youth unemployment.”

Source: caseymulligan.blogspot.com


“Labor unions are among President Obama’s political allies, and were actors in the story of the demise of General Motors. But I do not yet see much evidence that their influence on private-sector outcomes has become more significant.”

Economics and Culture

  • ‘Extreme Makeover’ Show Downsizes Its McMansions – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com

“While it’s unclear just how many Extreme Makeover families have run into financial difficulty, the show’s producers say they are aware of the problem and are making a change appropriate to current economic reality: downsizing.”

  • Extreme Home Foreclosure Trouble – WSJ.com

Source: online.wsj.com


“Some recipients of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition homes end up in trouble once the cameras leave town. Here are five family’s tales.”

Source: www.reuters.com


FORT WASHINGTON, Md (Reuters) – By the time thousands of parishioners stream into the 3,000-seat Ebenezer AME Church on Easter Sunday, church leaders hope to have something else to celebrate: financial revival.

Financial Crisis

Source: jeffreymiron.com

“Lewis’s main message is that Wall Street engaged in reckless and dishonest behavior by leveraging and mispresenting unimaginable amounts of risky, subprime debt.”

Source: www.theatlantic.com

“The Government Accountability Office has a report out today on the unfunded liabilities of the GM and Chrysler pensions.”
 

Health Care Reform

  • Will the Individual Mandate Hold up in Court? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

Source: www.american.com


“The healthcare insurance mandate is unconstitutional. But don’t expect the Supreme Court to rule it so.”