20 Sunday Apr 2014
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Here is “a statement of no surrender on the use of the word ‘liberal'”: Liberalism Unrelinquished. If you agree and you meet the qualifications, sign the statement. It’s astonishing that modern progressives think that granting ever greater power to government is “liberal.” It demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the word, and of the dangers inherent in the democratic process, which were well recognized by the founders of our republic.
19 Saturday Apr 2014
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As if the new ACA enrollment numbers can be taken at face value, Obama tells Obamacare critics to Just shut up! James Taranto: “He says ‘we need to move on,’ and two sentences later calls for a forceful defense, before saying that ‘I don’t think we should be defensive about it,’ which reminds us of Martin Short as Nathan Thurm: ‘I’m not being defensive! You’re the one who’s being defensive! Why is it always the other person who’s being defensive? Have you ever asked yourself that? Why don’t you ask yourself that?'”
18 Friday Apr 2014
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The Unfolding Fiscal Disaster Behind ACA Enrollment Figures discusses the administration’s systematic dismantling of Obamacare’s sources of funding / savings. Not that it was well-conceived to begin with, but the objective during the law’s seat-of-the-pants implementation seems to have been to get people on the exchanges, and dependent, with a minimum of political damage. Success on either of those counts is debatable. In seeking to minimize political damage, the administration has chosen a path with dire fiscal consequences.
16 Wednesday Apr 2014
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Should we be surprised? Regulation of science and research by Institutional Review Boards and so-called Ethics Committees is repressive. In Suffocating Science Harms Everyone, the author describes the vast scope of the problem, which spans almost every field of inquiry. He cites several examples that can only be described as perverse. These well-meaning regulators are averse to controversial research outcomes and unwisely attempt to eliminate all risk. In the process, they subject all of us to costly unintended consequences. The regulators sap funds from donors in their effort to protect the world from research. “If you make a gift to breast cancer research, about 10% of that will go to a bureaucratic system that too often delays and damages the research you are supporting.”
The blog Suffocated Science and Scholarship is devoted to raising awareness and finding solutions to this problem.
15 Tuesday Apr 2014
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The Doctor Won’t See You Now. Not if you get stuck in a thin network via the ACA. Not if you try to visit a physician who won’t accept low Medicaid reimbursement rates. Not if you arrive at a “safety-net” hospital that relies on Disproportionate Share payments that get cut by Obamacare. Not if you get reduced to part-time status to help your employer avoid the mandate. Not if you lose coverage because your employer would prefer to pay the penalty. Not if you lost your coverage because your previous plan didn’t qualify under the ACA’s coverage mandates.
15 Tuesday Apr 2014
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In China, signs are spreading that a property collapse has begun. Years of over-building appear to have caught up with the market’s ability to absorb new supplies. Confidence in the market may be deteriorating, especially as the People’s Bank attempts to rein in excessive monetary expansion. Sounds eerily familiar… A collapse of the Chinese economy would have worldwide repercussions.
15 Tuesday Apr 2014
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Economists invoke “perfect information” as a condition underlying ideal market outcomes. That assumption is usually unrealistic, but imperfect information no more justifies government intervention than any other resource scarcity. The same can be said of most information asymmetries, though it may depend upon the reasons. The post at the link below is described as “wonky” by its author, Don Boudreaux. So here is: A Note on Economic Theorizing and “Imperfect” Information
13 Sunday Apr 2014
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That little dog is sure to increase the popularity of this post! Here’s the abstract and free download link to a Glenn Reynolds article in the Tennessee Law Review. He provides an interesting history of judicial interpretation of the second amendment and its now widespread interpretation as conferring an individual right of self-defense. One nice passage: “This indicates that individual citizens’ lives and autonomy are themselves, in some important aspects, beyond the power of the state to sacrifice. Does that have implications for other, unenumerated rights? It just might.” He also covers the racial underpinnings of some historical gun control initiatives.
12 Saturday Apr 2014
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Here’s a little news item about an Ayn Rand musical opening in May at the Lynn Redgrave Theater in New York. Singing and dancing their way out of dystopia. Hasn’t de Blasio banned this yet? I’m already planning my visit!
12 Saturday Apr 2014
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Really enjoyed this article about Tom Lehrer. Apparently he’s still alive. Funny, fascinating individual.
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