Is America in Decline?

In an article in the Atlantic, James Fallows ponders if America is in decline and if so, is there anything we can do about it. One of the more revealing commentaries on America’s prospects comes from an American businessman living in China: “We scream about our problems but as long as we have the immigrants,…

Economics Links

These set of links focus less on Healthcare and are instead more for my Economist readers. Kenyes vs. Hayek:  A hip-hop duel The disingenuous spending freeze. Chinese Corruption (e.g., falsifyng $3 billion in earnings) Economics Journals going open-access. John Gruber on the iPad. Will we go the way of Japan?  Becker and Posner ponder.

What are Accountable Care Organizations?

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are the latest rage in the health policy world.  The question is, what are ACOs.  The Urban Institute’s Kelly Devers and Robert Berenson try to answer the following question: “Can Accountable Care Organizations Improve the Value of Health Care by Solving the Cost and Quality Quandaries?” The goal of ACOs is…

Health Spending Climbs to 16.2% of GDP

From the CMS Office of the Actuary: U.S. health care spending growth decelerated in 2008, increasing 4.4 percent compared to 6.0 percent in 2007, as spending growth slowed for nearly all health care goods and services, particularly for hospitals. Health spending growth for state and local and private sources of funds also slowed while federal…

Efficiency vs. Equity

Most economists focus on the concept of “economic efficiency.” The basic concept of economic efficiency is to maximize the overall resources available to society.  However, often times economists ignore the importance of equity (i.e., the distribution of resources within a society). Tyler Cowen reminds us that seeking economic efficiency blindly is not ideal, especially in…