As T. R. Reid points out in his marvelous new book, A Fine Mess, fundamental tax reform in 2018 is due if we are to follow the major reform every 32 years established in the 20th Century (with such reforms in 1986, 1954, and 1922.) The 1986 reform was exemplary in many ways; let me … More Tax Reform Based on Shared Principles “trumps” One Based on Competing Interests
Recently, I sent a letter to State Representative Amanda Stuck, a supporter of “BadgerCare for All”, indicating some ideas about how the state of Wisconsin, given its current political alignment, might reform its Medicaid program. “Badger Care for All” proposes that any individual (independent of his or her income) could purchase a BadgerCare insurance option (Wisconsin’s Medicaid program) , and that … More How Should Wisconsin Respond To The New Opportunities To Expand Medicaid With Federal Funding?
Advocates for a single payer health insurance plan, such as the Physicians for a National Health Program, have been making their case for decades. According to a just published survey by Merritt Hawkins , 56 percent of physicians now somewhat or strongly support a single payer system in the United States. Furthermore, in recent months, … More If the Question Relates to Efficient and Equitable Health Policy Reform, Single Payer is Not the Answer
With the passage of Medicare in 1965, President Lyndon Johnson opined “No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that [older Americans] have so carefully put away over a lifetime.” As the demographics of this country expand the pressures on our slowly growing economy, payment for an expensive illness response system may indeed crush … More Medical Care As We Know It In The US Is Unsustainable.
On April 6th, I spoke to the Marathon County community on the Affordable Care Act. This talk was sponsored by the Wisconsin Institute for Policy and Service at which I am a Senior Economics Fellow. You may view the entire presentation, including introductions and Q & A, through the following youtube video.
In previous blog postings (here and here), I have addressed some of the key myths regarding international trade as well as the difficulties in determining whether U.S. exchange rates are over, under, or fairly valued. This posting addresses how the forces that drive globalization have changed and so has the distribution of income (in both … More A Second Globalization Features The Great Convergence
In my previous posting on the ACA, I posited five questions that serious health policy reform should address. High risk pools form part of a response to the first question: Who should pay for the predictably expensive (such as those with chronic disease)? Based on Statistical Brief #497 (SB497) from the Agency for Healthcare Research … More Are High Risk Pools the Best Way to Keep Down Premiums in the Non-Group Insurance Market?
We know that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) cannot stand without change. What we don’t know is what will replace or repair it. Given the array of statements regarding values and principles, there is the potential for public policy that could largely deliver on a set of shared values (based on … More The Affordable Care Act: What’s Next?
Currency exchanges rates between any two countries are determined by a variety of factors including their balance of trade and payments, capital flows (both restricted and unrestricted), and monetary policies. In a recent posting on Conversable Economics, Timothy Taylor argued that “all exchange rates are bad” (meaning that they generate some negative consequences.) Although this … More Are U.S. Exchange Rates Too High, Too Low, or Just Right?
This commentary was originally posted on July 25th, 2016. Central bankers in all major developed economies have adopted NIRP, ZIRP, or near ZIRP policies. The Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank now “offer” negative interest rates (NIRP) on deposits and project to do so for the foreseeable future. The Bank of England and […]
… More Monetary Policy in an Age of Radical Uncertainty (reposting)
