Because obesity related diseases increase entitlement spending, should government use penalties rather than incentives to slim the US population?…
Chart of the Week: The Rare Disease Spending Dilemma
Our Sunday Chart of the Week Since our chart looks at Medicaid spending on rare diseases, we better start with Medicaid. It is complicated. Yes, Medicaid targets the poor and has federal and state fun…
More Thanksgiving Economics
Our annual Thanksgiving post: In 1623, 2 years after the first Thanksgiving, Governor William Bradford was worried about Plymouth’s food supply. The problem, he concluded, was that people shared whate…
The Market System: Defaults and Decisions
Coffee: At Starbucks, I order a Grande West Java Black Eye Clover in a Vente cup. My drink requires 4 decisions. Software: Downloading software, don’t you just check the default package rather t…
Cost and Benefit: Calorie Counts
Soon everyone will know that a Starbucks venti Double Chocolaty Chip Frappucino Blended Creme has 670 calories (200 calories more than turkey on whole wheat with mustard). Announcing that all of its c…
Medicaid: What Will Happen in 2014?
I suspect that the more you study Medicaid the less you know. We better start with by saying Medicaid is not what most of us think it is. Yes, it involves medical care for the poor. But, federal law s…
How Has The Safety Net Affected the Unemployment Rate?
University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan believes that the US unemployment rate has remained high because of many separate public policy changes. Big and small, each one influenced workers, busi…
Fiscal Cliff Notes
There might be 2 ways to look at the fiscal cliff. Specifically, we can focus on tax increases and spending cuts: Tax Increases Bush era tax cuts: expire 2010-2011 2% payroll tax cut: expire Affordabl…
The Downside of Sitting
I’ve been thinking about the economic connection between sitting and butterflies. Our story starts with sitting studies. Pulling together the data from surveys covering 167,000 adults, researche…
Tomatoes, Health Care and Unintended Consequences
Trying to make pretty tomatoes, plant breeders inadvertently created a tasteless fruit. It all started 70 years ago with a gene mutation that evenly ripened tomatoes. Seeing the commercial potential o…