Health Wonk Review

Recent Articles

• How to construct a Price Index

  February 8, 2010 in Econometrics, Economics - General

  Price indices are useful for calculating inflation over time.  The consumer price index (CPI) measures changes in prices for the overall economy.  Researchers can also use price indices to understand the evolution of the price …

• Weekend Links

  February 6, 2010 in Current Events

  Antidepressants no more effective than placebos. If you are readying this, you may be depressed. Health expenditures in 2018: 20.3% of GDP….

• Capitalism vs. Socialism

  February 5, 2010 in Economics - General

  John Kay offers a European perspective on the debate of between the superiority of a market economy against a centrally planned economy.  Is there empirical evidence that a market economy is superior?  John Kay …

• Money Driven Medicine: A Review

  February 4, 2010 in Reviews

  I recently watched the movie Money Driven Medicine.  The movie documents many of the current ills of the American healthcare system.  The movie’s focus details how financial incentives drive both the quantity and quality …

• Medicare Regional Variation in Service Use may be Exaggerated

  February 3, 2010 in Medicaid/Medicare, Supply of Medical Services

  Regional differences in the cost of health care are due to differences in both the price and volume of medical care.  Since, Medicare sets prices, there should be little variation in prices…right? Actually, Medicare payments have …