Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Income inequality has generally increased since the 1970s. Even for researchers who find that income inequality has Does this mean that happiness inequality has also increased? An NBER working paper by Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers claims that this is not the case. Below is the a portion of the abstract. While there has been…
The International Herald Tribune reports that the U.S. Postal Service has posted a $1.1 billion dollar loss in the past quarter. What are the reasons for this huge loss? First, total mail volume is down 5.5% from last year, likely due to the economic slowdown and the gradual increase in internet communication over time. Also,…
Economists often state that uninsured individuals do not “want” health insurance. Joe Paduda claims that this is not the case; most uninsured do want health insurance. Mr. Paduda cites a Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University survey which shows that “when asked why they don’t participate in their employer’s program, 1% of survey…
Barack Obama and John McCain both believe that they know how to improve the American health care system. A policy brief by Michael Tanner has nice summary of the two candidates policies. I will review some of this paper today. Obama’s general health care policy Obama goal is to expand government provided health care and…
Merrill Goozner of GoozNews has an interesting interview with Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University. The two discuss the Bruce Ivins, anthrax, and bioterrorism. A few poignant excerpts. Ebright: “We’ve spent $57 billion in biodefense since 2001. The annual budget for NIH is only $30 billion. The spending has been disproportionate to the…
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…