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Who Are the Real Authoritarians?
If the Trump presidency meant anything, it meant less government. Specifically, lower taxes, less regulation, and fewer (potentially war-causing) foreign entanglements. Typical Trump supporters are also anti-government – even more than Trump is. More
A Republican Alternative to Medicare for All
It’s been 15 years since John McCain ran for president with a plan to completely revamp our healthcare system. In the interim, Republicans have attempted a nip here or a tuck there, but nothing really big. Fortunately, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and his colleagues have come to the rescue with a reform plan that is a pro-patient, pro-family, pro-free enterprise alternative. It is based on three fundamental values. More
Against Medicaid Expansion
Expanding Medicaid to the relatively healthy might make sense if it improved general health. But there is little evidence it does. In Oregon, for example, a first-of-its-kind controlled trial tracked individuals who applied for Medicaid through a lottery. After two years, there was no discernible difference in the physical health of the winners and losers. More
Liberating the Doctors
For the past half century, virtually every major attempt to reform the health care system has involved people who don’t practice medicine telling the doctors who do practice medicine how to manage their affairs. Yet none of these solutions appears to work. Costs keep rising. Quality of care is not measurably improving. And, access to care (as measured, say, by per-capita doctor visits or the length of time needed to see a doctor) seems to be getting worse. So why not try something different? Why not allow the folks who practice medicine and who are in the best position to eliminate waste, improve quality and expand access to care to solve the very problems no one else seems able to solve? More
It’s Time to Retire the Labor Law
The emergence of Uber and similar ride services and the pandemic-induced phenomenon of working from home are radically changing the nature of work. The idea of “an hour of work” for a single employer is increasingly a meaningless concept. But without that metric, you can’t make sense of “minimum hourly pay” or “overtime” and other features of 85-year-old labor law. Moreover, millions of people no longer want to be traditional “employees.” To facilitate that desire, we need to let independent contractors have all the tax advantages employees have with respect to health insurance, retirement pensions and other benefits. More.
Medicare’s Future
In just eight years, nearly 78 million Medicare beneficiaries will face an automatic 11 percent payment cut in their hospital insurance benefits, and these cuts could come even sooner and strike even deeper if America is hit by a recession. More
Charity Without the Welfare State
We can have a safety net that meets the needs of people who experience misfortune without creating a permanent class of nonworking dependents who behave in socially undesirable ways.
What to Know About Pete Sessions’ Health Reform Bill
With the help of scholars at the Goodman institute and Americans for Prosperity, Congressman Pete Sessions and his colleagues have introduced the Health Care Fairness for All Act. Among its other features, the bill would do the following: 1. For the first time in the...
Biden v. Medicare Advantage
When does the failure to answer a phone call in 8 seconds cost the company receiving the call $190 million? When the caller is a spy working for the agency that runs Medicare and the receiving entity is a private insurance company. More.
Two Cheers for the Bipartisan Tax Deal
A rare bipartisan agreement in Congress would create a larger child tax credit for parents and extend some key business tax breaks in the 2017 (Trump) tax reform bill that have expired. Democrats are said to favor the former and Republicans the latter.
Opinions on the accord are all over the map, with pros and cons – both on the right and the left. I give it two cheers. If it were funded by reducing means-tested welfare spending, I would give it a third cheer.
Obamacare Exchanges at Age Ten
March 23rd will mark the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, and it is now ten years since the creation of the Obamacare exchanges. There are three ways to look at Obamacare today: in terms of (1) what the Obama administration said it was about, (2) what policy wonks thought it was about, and (3) how it really works. More at my post at Forbes.
Is Social Security Sexist?
Theft is a strong word. So, take it from Social Security’s own Inspector General (IG), whose 2018 report estimates that Social Security wrongfully deprived over 13,000 widows and widowers of $132 million and counting! More
Protecting Seniors from Inflation
Congress should do three things: (1) index the Social Security benefits tax, (2) let inflation indexed government bonds also index against inflation-induced higher taxes, and (3) let people exchange their non-indexed pensions for an inflation-indexed alternatives. More.
Your Home is a Great Hedge Against Inflation
Buy now. Houses, like most physical assets, retain their real value during high inflation and have done far better than most such assets. Plus, if you buy a primary residence now and home prices fall, you won’t be affected unless you need to sell. As long as you have a stable job, can manage your mortgage, and don’t need to move anytime soon, a short-term drop in housing prices isn’t a concern.
Why “Testing to Treat” for Covid Isn’t Working
We now have wonderful new drugs to treat COVID. Paxlovid, produced by Pfizer, is an example. But half of these medications aren’t being prescribed. Indeed, many go to waste, sitting on the shelves of pharmacies until their expiration dates. More…
Solution for Student Debt
Let students and parents borrow as well as refinance their loans at the prevailing Treasury’s 30-year bond rate. This policy coupled with the ability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy will end the student loan crisis. More
Money Magic – An Economist’s Look Into Personal Finance
“Your World, Your Money sits down with bestselling author & Economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff to discuss his new release, “Money Magic,” an economist’s primer on personal finance for navigating career, retirement, loans, and more; challenging longstanding notions of economics and introducing base principles for pursuing financial security.”
Why Winning is Losing for Putin
Invading Ukraine has made him, his associates, and, indeed, his nation radioactive. Aeroflot can no longer land in any Western city. Western airlines are canceling flights to Russia. BP and Shell Oil are pulling out of Russia. AerCap, the world’s largest aircraft leasing firm is doing likewise. So are huge banks, including HSBC. Société Géneral, and Shinhan Bank. Even Disney has had enough. It’s pulling Batman from Russian theaters.
More Bad Advice or Social Security
Social Security is once again sending out clearly false benefit statements. If the code generating the statements is generating actual benefit payments, millions of Americans may be receiving too little or too much in Social Security benefit payments. If you are receiving too much, you can expect to be billed for all past overpayments years later even though the mistaken overpayment was entirely Social Security’s fault.
Should You Now Wait Till 75 To Take Your IRA?
The Secure 2.0 Act, which Wall Street loves, gives retirees the ability to defer taxable withdrawals from their IRA accounts from the current age 72 to 73 in 2023, if you reach 72 in that year or later, and to 75 starting in 2033. That may not be a good financial decision, however. More
Are US retirees foregoing large sums of Social Security benefits?
90% of Americans are likely to benefit if they wait until age 70 to claim their Social Security benefits. Yet only 6% do so. If you add up the loss of benefits from these decisions over the remainder of a retiree’s lifetime, the typical retiree is leaving $182,370 (in present-value terms) on the table by claiming benefits too soon. More
Social Security’s Massive Malfeasance
Social Security has committed and continues to commit huge fraud against 13,000 plus widow(er)s who collectively have been swindled out of $130 million. Those are the figures of Social Security’s own Inspector General. More
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Don’t Worry about Greenland’s Melting Ice
Greenland ‘s ice mass is melting—but more slowly than it did a decade ago, and its level right now is about the same as in the 1930s. But little of this information reaches the media or even the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)…
Laws, Sausages, and Land-Grants
The agricultural and technical university, which often has “state” in its name, is typically a land-grant university formed under the auspices of the Morrill Act of 1862. It was meant to be a practical, down-to-earth “people’s university,” and even today it is less prestigious than the state’s traditional university, usually founded much earlier. But the emphasis on technology has made some of the land-grant universities research powerhouses and often bigger than their in-state rivals.
Can There Be Too Many Trees?
Drought-resistant trees are replacing grasslands around the world, and, specifically in the western United States. This is a problem? More.
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Saving on CNBC: FED is holding 20% of federal debt
The Federal Reserve System is holding 20% of the federal government’s publicly held debt. It also is holding a lot of bank reserves. For every dollar of required reserves, banks have deposited $12 at the FED.
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How Obamacare Made Things Worse for Patients With Preexisting Conditions
One of the strange features of the national health care conversation is how it has evolved. What is often referred to as Obamacare began as an attempt to insure the uninsured. In fact, the initial Congressional Budget Office estimates predicted the Affordable Care Act would be largely successful in doing just that. Yet it was the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, who identified the political problem with that goal early on. About 95% of those who vote already have insurance, Schumer noted. So Obamacare was promising to spend a great deal of money on people who don’t vote.
Response to Coronavirus Reflects Trump’s Plan to Radically Reform Health Care
Critics of President Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis characterize it as knee-jerk, spur-of-the-moment, and grasping at any straw within reach. In fact, many of the executive actions we have seen in the past few days reflect a new approach to health policy that has been underway almost since the day Donald Trump was sworn into office.
The 60 Percent Solution to Reforming Healthcare
Can we transform the entire health care system by empowering the roughly 60 percent of patients who are in private health plans? That’s the premise of a new book I just read by Todd Furniss (@TFurniss on Twitter). The author ofThe 60% Solution: Rethinking Healthcare, believes there are five major reforms necessary to empower patients and help them get better care at better prices. These include: (1) change governance, (2) modify health savings accounts (HSAs), (3) clear prices, (4) standardize accounting and information technology in the medical industry and (5) emphasize primary care.
Does Lack Of Health Insurance Kill?
The Republican health plan will kill people,” says Bernie Sanders. “The Republican Party is the party of death,” says the headline at Political dig.
Gorman at Forbes: Risk Pools Work Better Than Obamacare
Risk pools were not perfect. But they worked much better than the individual market today. Prior to Obamacare, for example, premiums tended to be less than half of current ones, networks were large, and carriers offered such a variety of policies that there was something available to fit most family budgets.
Why the Republican Version of ObamaCare is a Sham
The people who crafted the Republican ObamaCare reform bill seem to want to help. They promise other reforms will be coming. Trust us, they say, we’re from the (new) government, and we’re here to help.
Why the Republican version of ObamaCare is a sham
The people who crafted the Republican ObamaCare reform bill seem to want to help. They promise other reforms will be coming. Trust us, they say, we’re from the (new) government, and we’re here to help.
Will Colorado Vote to Socialize Its Health Care System?
When the rest of the nation goes to the polls in November, residents of Colorado will vote on Amendment 69. If it passes, they will give a government body called ColoradoCare virtually complete control over all health care in the state.
Gorman in The Hill: Doctor Incentives Rx is Failing
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has voted to recommend scrapping the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System because it “cannot succeed.”
Gorman in Forbes: Will Tax Reform Kill People?
You know you are in the silly season when the charges against sensible tax reform become more and more outrageous. The silliest and most outrageous is based on this causal reasoning: The Republican tax measure repeals the Obamacare mandate, requiring people to purchase health insurance; without the mandate, fewer people will insure; and without insurance, more people will die.
Gorman: US Hospitals are Safer
A frequent criticism of US hospitals is the charge of excessive adverse medical events, sometimes leading to avoidable deaths. How do our hospitals compare to hospitals in national health care systems? Quite well. The percent of patients who experience an adverse event is twice as high in Canada, three times as high in Britain and four times as high in New Zealand.
Four More Years?
If you think the first Obama term has been bad, just wait. Commentary by Pete du Pont May 28, 2012 Source: The Wall Street Journal Before being elected in 2008, Barack Obama said: "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America."...
A Choice, Not an Echo
There are big differences between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Commentary by Pete du Pont April 29, 2012 Source: The Wall Street Journal As the presidential election is just over six months away and both parties have chosen their candidates, the campaign is now fully...
The Anti-Energy President
He really meant it when he said prices would "skyrocket." Commentary by Pete du Pont March 29, 2012 Source: The Wall Street Journal Our America today is very different from the America of some years ago. Government spending is greatly increased, as is the regulation...
The Pros and Cons of Hillary
Why she might want to run for vice president—and why she might not. Commentary by Pete du Pont January 31, 2012 Source: The Wall Street Journal "Look, it's the one thing, I think, that the Democrats could do to nearly guarantee Obama re-election," Bill Keller of the...
President Obama’s Slip
Pete du Pont explains what President Obama’s slip in the polls means to the GOP hopefuls. Commentary by Pete du Pont December 27, 2011 Source: Wall Street Journal The Iowa Republican presidential candidate debate was very well done. Fox News people had good questions,...
Bye Bye Biden?
Why Obama may be eyeing Mrs. Clinton for the 2012 ticket. Commentary by Pete du Pont November 25, 2011 Source: Wall Street Journal The coming political year, with presidential, House and Senate elections, will be one of the most interesting (and important) ones we...
No More Years
No More Years Commentary by Pete du Pont October 21, 2011 Source: Wall Street Journal Just two years ago it seemed highly unlikely that Barack Obama would turn out to be a one-term president. But looking at voters' frustrations with our continuing economic problems...
More of the Same Old Change
Obama's latest economic proposals are just like the earlier ones, only worse. Commentary by Pete du Pont September 30, 2011 Source: The Wall Street Journal In the last few years, as promised, the Obama administration has fundamentally transformed America. Our country...
Obama’s Anti-Energy Agenda
He threatens to cut off the fuel the economy needs. Commentary by Pete du Pont July 01, 2013 Source: The Wall Street Journal Not surprisingly, President Obama and Speaker John Boehner have different views on energy policy, differences brought into stark contrast by...
Obama’s Scandalous Legacy
He has given Americans new reason to distrust the government. Commentary by Pete du Pont May 28, 2013 Source: The Wall Street Journal It's too early to tell if May will be remembered as marking the beginning of a failed second term for President Obama, but it is clear...
The Great Destroyer
ObamaCare wreaks havoc on health care, the economy, American freedom and Obama's presidency. Commentary by Pete du Pont November 25, 2013 Source:The Wall Street Journal Polls show an increasing majority of Americans dislike President Obama's healthcare law and...
What Companies Using AI Need To Know About The Sam Altman Reshuffle
Turmoil is rocking the artificial intelligence industry. Business leaders developing an AI strategy should—in most but not all cases—continue as before the recent big news.
The board of OpenAI fired Sam Altman as CEO on November 17, and the company’s president, Greg Brockman, resigned soon after. Three days later, Microsoft announced, “Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, together with colleagues, will be joining Microsoft MSFT -1.2% to lead a new advanced AI research team.”
Tyler Cowen Searches For Economics GOAT In New Book
GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of all Time and Why Does it Matter? is an intriguing book by the well-known economist Tyler Cowen in which he tries to determine who is the greatest economist of all time. This book will be enjoyed not only by economists but also those interested in understanding the world of people and their interactions. Importantly, the book emphasizes the non-financial implications of economic analysis in areas such as friendship, community and aesthetics.
Real Estate Agents After Fixed Commissions
Image Caption: Real estate agents arrive at a brokers tour. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) GETTY IMAGES Read the original article on Forbes.com Real estate agents have been slapped with a court ruling that their commission practices violate antitrust...
New Census Projections Show Tight U.S. Labor Market For Years
The U.S. Census Bureau issued new long-term population projections which are gloomy for employers. The growth of the working age population in the current decade, from 2020 to 2030, will be the lowest since the Civil War. These projections indicate even less labor force growth than the previous figures, which were released in 2018. Lower immigration than previously expected dominates the labor force issue. The Census Bureau believes immigration in future years will be about 17% lower than they previously projected—which itself was lower than 2014 projections.
ObamaCare Turns Out to Be Affordable Only for the Healthy
It was supposed to help those with pre-existing conditions, but they pay dearly for bad options.
Obamacare’s Dirty Little Secret
When Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act of 2010, President Obama and lawmakers made the same claim over and over: The act would make good, affordable health insurance available to people with pre-existing conditions. The actual result has been the opposite. Obamacare makes health insurance as good as possible for the healthy and as bad as possible for the sick.
From John Goodman’s editorial in the Wall Street Journal (Paid gateway)
Can the Left and Right Agree on Health Reform?
A new book calls for universal health insurance coverage, but with no increase in government spending. It’s getting a lot of attention in progressive circles. Yet a bill that would go a long way toward implementing Finkelstein’s proposal has been introduced in Congress by a conservative Republican. More
The “Madness of Crowds”?
Can history help us understand today’s panic over global warming? While the Earth is warming and human activity is probably contributing to it, the overheated efforts to make people fear the long-term future suggest that this is more of a crusade than a rationally considered enterprise. Extreme fear of global warming is negatively affecting politics, the economy, the media, international relations, and education.
What To Do About Our Biggest Health Care Problems
Short-term health insurance and indemnity insurance are meeting needs not met by Obamacare. You would appreciate why that is a good thing if you understand:
Goodman’s Rule for Rational Public Policy: Let the markets handle all the problems markets can solve; and turn to government only to meet needs that competitive markets cannot or do not meet.
Biden v. Medicare Advantage
When does the failure to answer a phone call in 8 seconds cost the company receiving the call $190 million? When the caller is a spy working for the agency that runs Medicare and the receiving entity is a private insurance company. More.
Obamacare Exchanges at Age Ten
March 23rd will mark the 14th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, and it is now ten years since the creation of the Obamacare exchanges. There are three ways to look at Obamacare today: in terms of (1) what the Obama administration said it was about, (2) what policy wonks thought it was about, and (3) how it really works. More at my post at Forbes.