Publications -- Brief Analysis

Mar 24, 2009

BA #649 – 10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care

Medical care in the United States is derided as miserable compared to health care systems in the rest of the developed world. Economists, government officials, insurers and academics alike are beating the drum for a far larger government rôle in health care. Much of the public assumes their arguments are sound because the calls for change are so ubiquitous and the topic so complex. However, before turning to government as the solution, some unheralded facts about America's health care system should be considered.

Mar 24, 2009

BA #648 – Mark-to-Market Accounting: Shooting Ourselves in the Foot

One of the main causes of the 2008 financial crisis and current recession was subprime mortgages, which are home loans to borrowers with low credit scores, little or no down payment and high levels of debt. These borrowers have a higher risk of defaulting on their loans and are usually charged higher interest rates.

Feb 26, 2009

BA #647 – Reforming Medicare

How can we control the rising cost of Medicare? Fortunately, there are an enormous number of people who have answers. These include most of the 44 million enrollees, 650,000 doctors and 30,000 facilities participating in Medicare. In fact, almost everyone who has contact with the system can produce examples of waste and inefficiency that could be eliminated

Feb 24, 2009

BA #646 – Carbon Offsets: No Sure Bet to Prevent Climate Change

Congress should consider carefully the high costs of carbon offset schemes, and the problems of measuring and verifying reductions of greenhouse gas emissions under such systems, before including similar programs in domestic greenhouse-gas legislation.

Feb 19, 2009

BA #645 – Rationing Care: Oregon Changes Its Priorities

To our knowledge, the Oregon Health Plan is the first government health care program anywhere in the world that has drawn up a formal procedure for rationing.

Feb 18, 2009

BA #644 – Climate Change Policy: Should We Tax the Poor to Help the Rich?*

If the government limits carbon emissions now through taxes or direct caps, it is taxing the poor today to benefit wealthier future generations. 

Feb 11, 2009

BA #642 – Small Business Health Insurance

Small business employees are much less likely to have access to employer-sponsored health coverage than the employees of larger firms.

Feb 10, 2009

BA #643 – Will the $800 Billion-Plus Stimulus Plan Bring Economic Recovery?

Banker greed and Wall Street are blamed, but government policies over the last 25 years are the root cause of the current financial crisis.

Feb 10, 2009

BA #641 – How Tax Relief Can Stimulate Economic Growth

Congress is debating an economic stimulus package that would substantially increase federal spending, but may not speed recovery from the current recession.  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that less than 40 percent of the proposed infrastructure spending in the stimulus bill will be spent within two years. 

Jan 20, 2009

BA #640 – Reforming the U.S. Poverty Standard

Policy experts expect the next administration to make major changes in the way the federal government measures poverty. The current poverty standard is an outmoded, 40-year-old measure that is adjusted each year for inflation. It does not account for all of a family's income or living expenses. Many poverty experts support changing the poverty standard. But how should that be done?

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