Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
With the economy in a downturn, many firms have been hard hit. Industries that sell luxury goods have been especially hard hit. One example of a luxury good sector taking a beating is the elective surgery market. The New York Times reports that dermatologists, facial surgeons and plastic surgeons have all seen a significant drop in…
Many economists have noted that wage growth has not kept up with overall economic growth over the past few decades. We observe widening wage inequality since the 1970s. Are workers getting poorer relative to the owners of capital? Is a communist revolution needed to equalize the playing field? Economist Martin Feldstein thinks not. “Feldstein…
Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States. Whether you are for or against Obama, this is a historic day. It is the first time an African-American has been elected president. Coverage of the election is below: Reactions from Around the World – N.Y. Times What the World Expects – BBC News Headlines…
Well its election day here in the U.S. As an engaged citizen, I encourage you to vote. As an economist, I know that your vote will not matter. Anthony Downs looks at the irrationality of voting and claims that the probability that your vote will matter, that it will itself determine the outcome, is in…
Are you looking for health services research data? How can you leverage your knowledge for interdisciplinary research? AcademyHealth has a useful website called HSR Methods which will help you answer these questions. Most importantly, there is a list datasets researchers can use.
Readers Digest has a nice piece on how universal health insurance is working out for people in Massachusetts. “Massachusetts put into practice the health care solution everyone is arguing about. Here’s how it works and what it means for the rest of us.”
Everyone wants to be a knowledgeable voter. Yet your life is busy; you work, or are in school, or have kids. There is only one day left before the election. How do you choose your candidate? For health related issues, I of course recommend reading a post from this blog. But what about other issues? Fortunately,…
Many Americans are dissatisfied with how they look. They want to be thinner or have bigger muscles or have larger breasts or have fuller lips. The diet industry, the plastic surgery industry, the fitness industry all make money because people are dissatisfied with how they look. How can you be happy with your looks? As…
The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review is up at David Harlow’s HealthBlawg.
Patients generally believe that managed care systems are put in place to restrict their access to care. Many patients believe that physicians who receive capitation compensation will provide less care to their patients than physicians who are paid on a fee-for-service basis. A paper by Fang and Rizzo (2008) investigates whether or not this is really they…