Megan McArdle explains:
A mandate to buy insurance comes with a bunch of other things that have to be put into place to make it work. Guaranteed issue, community rating, subsidies, and regulations as to what constitutes basic coverage. These make the individual mandate very, very expensive for both individuals and The American Taxpayer. Before Massachusetts, […]
Archive for September, 2009
Sep30th2009
Sep28th2009
Obama’s Healthcare Plan Takes From The Poor And Gives To The Rich
Published by in Economics, HealthCare and ModernPolitics. 16 CommentsIt’s explained here:
Let’s start with basics: Insurance protects against the risk of something bad happening. When your house is on fire you no longer need protection against risk. You need a fireman and cash to rebuild your home. But suppose the government requires insurers to sell you fire “insurance” while your house is on fire […]
Sep25th2009
“According to provisions in both House and Senate bills, mandated plans must have low copayments and provide coverage of health-care services that is at least equal in scope to a typical, current employer-sponsored plan. But these are the very flaws that are responsible for high and rising health-care costs, flaws that stem directly from the […]
Sep24th2009
Tax Cuts Vs Fiscal Stimulus
Published by in Economics, Fiscal Stimulus, ModernPolitics and Taxes. 6 CommentsEven more proof that tax cuts are better at stimulating the economy than fiscal stimulus. Bruce Bartlett describes the recent research by Harvard economist Robert Barro:
Harvard economist Robert Barro is out with a new paper that undoubtedly will get a lot of attention from conservatives. First, he finds that the multiplier effect from government purchases is well […]
Sep23rd2009
“The problem is, the public option was never the crucial issue; instead, it was the mandate to purchase insurance. Once government mandates insurance coverage, it gets to define what constitutes insurance, which means it can ban pre-existing condition clauses and the like. The mandate also”justfies” large subsidies for insurance, to avoid non-compliance with the mandate. […]
Sep22nd2009
For those of you that have not been following the public option part of the healthcare debate, Will Wilkinson does a wonderful job giving you the overall narrative:
Keep an eye out for the following dynamic in the debate. (1) Republicans push hard on the idea that a public option is a “trojan horse” or “back […]
Sep21st2009
According to recent economic data, zero:
Once you allow for a significant role of forward-looking behaviour by households and firms, there is no multiplier. The expectation of future tax increases, or rising government debt and future interest rate increases leads to a reduction in private consumption and investment spending. This holds in particular for the three […]
Sep18th2009
“You have got to see this video to believe it! It’s an undercover gonzo journalism exercise in which two reporters pretending to be a pimp and a prostitute go into the Baltimore office of ACORN asking for its help in importing underage Latin American girls for a sex ring, and committing tax fraud to do […]
Sep17th2009
“Maybe I have a biased selection, but it seems like every sensible economist, political scientist, development worker, and journalist that I know thinks our current course in Afghanistan can have only one outcome — disaster. Disaster for Americans, for our NATO allies, AND for Afghans.” — William Easterly
Sep16th2009
A Healthcare Plan I Could Support
Published by in Economics, HealthCare and ModernPolitics. 6 CommentsThis plan laid out by Brad DeLong and endorsed by Mathew Yglesias is a healthcare plan I could support:
— 1. Taxes on public health hazards (booze, sweeteners, etc.)
— 2. An army of publicly employed doctors and nurses working in clinics and vans and such roaming the country dispensing preventive care and lifestyle advice to all […]
Sep16th2009
“The truth is that bills now before Congress don’t require federal money to be used for supporting abortion coverage. So the president is right to that limited extent. But it’s equally true that House and Senate legislation would allow a new “public” insurance plan to cover abortions, despite language added to the House bill that […]
Sep15th2009
Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions
Published by in Foreign Policy and ModernPolitics. 0 CommentsYahoo News reports:
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration supports extending three key provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year, the Justice Department told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday.
Lawmakers and civil rights groups had been pressing the Democratic administration to say whether it wants to preserve […]
Sep15th2009
“there is our inefficient and inequitable system of tax-advantaged, employer-based health insurance. While the federal tax code promotes overspending by making the majority unaware of the true cost of their insurance and care, the code is grossly unfair to the self-employed, small businesses, workers who stick with a bad job because they need the coverage, […]
Sep14th2009
A Bad Track Record
Published by in Economics, HealthCare, ModernPolitics and SocialSecurity. 6 CommentsSep11th2009
More here. Remember the administrations (horrible) prediction record when they tell you healthcare costs should be contained.
Sep10th2009
Does European Healthcare Systems Have Better Infant Mortality Rates?
Published by in Economics and HealthCare. 0 CommentsOn paper they do. But Dr Bala Ambati explains just how they achieve it:
Further, on infant mortality, Western European societies have a lot more abortion and make much less effort to save preterm infants born under 28 or 30 weeks of gestation (such births there are often recorded as stillbirths), whereas in the US, NICUs […]
