Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
On Tuesday, President Obama unveiled a plan to use repaid TARP monies to fund a job creation program. The question is, can the government actually create jobs? Initially, one would say yes. If the government hires more workers, this is job creation. If the government hires more contractors, this is job creation. If the government…
The Social Security Administration’s Office of the Actuary projects Medicare costs up to 75 years in the future. How much of your taxable income will be going to pay for Medicare in the next 10, 25, or 75 years? Take a look at this chart. By 2085, 12.24% of your taxable income will need to…
Today we will discuss how the tax code affects health care. Tax exemption of employer-provided health insurance. “In 1943, the Internal Revenue Service (ruled) that employees could exclude the value of employer-paid health insurance premiums from their taxable income. In 1954, Congress excluded by statute the value of employer-purchase health insurance from gross income.” To…
The New York Times is reporting that “to pay for a sweeping overhaul of the health care system, House Democrats will propose a surtax on individuals earning $280,000 and up and couples earning more than $350,000.” Now, taxes in and of themselves need not be distortionary. Let us assume that your employer takes $10,000 from…
The book Cadillac Desert discusses the development of dams, aquaducts, and irrigation canals to slake the thirst of cities and farmers in the Western U.S.. While these projects did eventually deliver the water they promised, they did so at huge costs to taxpayers. In the words of former congressmen Robert W. Edgar: “The old-boy network…
Two weeks ago I did a piece looking at the cost of living in different states. One major dimension of the cost of living is state sales and incomes taxes. With the recent economic downturn, it looks like I’ll have to update my numbers. California currently has the highest sales tax of any state (7.25%). …
This June, I will finish my Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California, San Diego. I am currently interviewing for a post-graduate employment and will likely move to another city. Which city should I move to? Of course, much of this has to do with personal preference. Do you like warm weather or seasons?…
Many economists and public plicy researchers have found that cigarette taxes reduce smoking. This means that cigarette taxes must be good for your health…right? A study by Baum (2009) claims that cigarette taxes may improve health, but not by as much as previously thought. The paper finds that increasing the cigarette tax decreases smoking, but…
What is AIG doing with the bailout money it has received from the federal government? The Wall Street Journal reports that AIG is “…using taxpayer money in its effort to soften new federal controls over the mortgage industry.”
Pierre Dubois of VoxEU has a suggestion to reduce obesity rates: a junk food tax. Dubois claims that a junk food tax of 5% would reduce junk food consumption by 15% and thus reduce obesity. While junk food is not healthy, it offers the most calories per dollar. Thus, a junk food tax would fall…