Category Archives: economics
Rights, Entitlements, and the Cost of Medical Care
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 25th April 2019The post previous to this one presented two links. The first was to an article that detailed the upcoming financial failure of Medicare. The second was to an article that outlined Senator Bernie Sanders plan to provide Medicare for all. The unstated implication was that if we couldn’t pay for the Medicare we have putting…
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Dumber Than a Broom Handle
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 24th February 2019A state similar to the instrument in the title is often the condition of prominent people who offer pronouncements about issues not related to their expertise. Typically, these proclamations concern politics, economics, and/or science and technology. Athletes and actors are obviously entitled to their opinions. Because they are prominent, their opinions get disseminated and commented…
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Not in Our Stars
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th August 2018…history;which is indeed little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. Edward Gibbon In a vein similar to Gibbon, Mark Twain allowed that the worst that could be said about anyone was that he was human. Prior to Twain, but after Gibbon, James Madison declared that no laws would be…
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Medical Rationing in the UK
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th October 2017A sizable, but likely still a minority, of the population seems to think that the federal government should have sole responsibility for the funding and delivery of medical care in the US – ie, a single payer system. Many, if not, most people make up their minds about the provision of both medical care and…
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US Economic Data – You Figure It Out
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th July 2016I’m going to present some data about the US economy. I’m going to let them speak for themselves, as much as possible. This is because almost everybody believes what they believe because they believe it, rather than as the result of sober analysis. So I’ll present the data along with a few questions about them….
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More on Gender Inequality
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th March 2016The New York Times published an article, As Women Take Over a Male-Dominated Field, the Pay Drops. The title conveys its message. That women are paid less than men for the same work is true. But is it as the article strains to imply that it is due to a gender bias? Buried deep in…
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More Good Medicine From the Government
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 6th December 2015A couple of items. For about 25 years I’ve been saying and writing that routine PSA screening was a bad idea. For much of this time I was the sacrificial nay sayer at meetings devoted to the subject. You can read the several posts on this issue that I have written over the past 8 years. Finally,…
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Quotation of the Week – Predictions
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 19th November 2015The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006) Also true of forecasting in general.
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Substandard Medical Care, Etc
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th October 2015An article in The Guardian says that two-thirds of hospitals in the UK give substandard medical care. Furthermore 75% of hospitals have levels of safety that “are not good enough.” These hospitals are said to be understaffed and underfunded. These problems are expected to worsen as the government phases in cuts to the National Health Service….
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The Doctors’ Loophole – Another Reason why this is Such a Wonderful Country
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 12th September 2015Forty million Americans have a combined $1.2 trillion in student debt. Since the last recession this is only type of consumer debt that hasn’t decreased. As these loans are mostly guaranteed by the government they keep accumulating. Whether going into debt to get a college education is a good idea is not my subject. Neither…
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