Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The BBC recently reported that a Durham University professor David Hunter is claiming that obesity is such a problem that its “…threat to our future health is just as significant as the current security threat.” What is Dr. Hunter’s solution? He said that bigger warning labels, changes in the taxation of “unhealthy” foods, and even…
I recently received an email about Mendeley, software program for managing and sharing research papers. I have not used this, but am certainly interested in programs that help organize your research. Has anyone used this program? Any thoughts?
My favorite team, the Milwaukee Brewers, is in town and I have gone to the first two games of the series (both wins). Unlike the recent dreadful history, this year the Brewers have the 2nd best record in the National League and are in the lead for the NL Wild Card. In honor of the…
The latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk is up at Joe Paduda’s always excellent Managed Care Matters.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of health care and economic statistics from China and India. Category China India Population 1.33 billion 1.15 billion Life Expectancy (2008) 73.18 69.25 Infant Mortality Rate (per 1000 live births) 21.16 32.31 GDP (PPP) – 2007 $6.99 billion $2.99 trillion GDP/capita (PPP) – 2007 $5,300 $2,700 GDP growth – 2007…
The New York Times Magazine has an interesting article about reclaimed water (“A Tall, Cool Drink of…Sewage“). Reclaimed water is basically toilet water which has been recycled to the point where it is safe to drink. In many dry areas–such as my home of Southern California–the water supply is dwindling. To counter this, San Diego…
Health Affairs’ July/August 2008 edition discusses the health care system of 2 emerging powers: China and India. Today, I will analyze the two countries health care systems over time and what they they can expect in the future. Like most developed countries, healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP has risen over time for these…
A recent study found that the average professor is subsidized $10,554 at University of New Mexico’s Gallup campus. The “subsidy” is the average professor salary less the amount of revenue he/she generates from grants and teaching classes. The full article is available here. HT: Marginal Revolution
Jin Ma, Mingshan Lu and Hude Quan have a wonderful article in Health Affairs which summarizes how China’s healthcare system has evolved over the years. Today, I will review this article. Pre-Reform Era: 1949-1978 The health care system during this time–like the rest of the Chinese economy–was centrally plan. There were no private clinics or…
EconBrowser discusses a paper by Claessens, Kose and Terrones, entitled “What Happens During Recessions, Crunches and Busts?” The authors look at what happens historically to important macroeconomic variables when there is either a recessions, a credit contraction, an episode of house price declines, and/or an episode of equity price declines. The authors find the following:…