Lifted from Health Beat blog by Maggie Mahar The Doctor-Patient Relationship What would happen if my doctor wore the johnny and I had on a fancy robe? See the cartoon from Member Stories on Healthcare Savvy

Sandwichman at Econospeak writes: Scoundrel Time Twenty years ago, the Journal of Economic Issues published a note by Warren Samuels on “‘Shirking’ and ‘Business Sabotage’.” Citing Thorstein Veblen’s analysis of business sabotage, Samuels was scathing in his criticism of the ideological double standard of the mainstream efficiency wage literature: Pejorative emphasis on shirking merely, but […]

David Zetland at Aguanomics writes a note on California’s drought and policies on water use and distribution…price is key. Dealing with drought — three ways to fail BB sent this summary of UC Davis’s “Living with Drought” conference (I got my PhD there), and this bit got my attention: Everyone seemed to agree that solutions […]

Angry Bear has carried posts on this issue over the years. 1. 2008 and draining the 401k pool of money, 2. Draining 401ks, 3. 401k and Social Security, 4.. Kenneth Thomas and retirements money (Links), 5. A 1000/mo pension equals 300,000 in savings among others. Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism  makes an impassioned statement. (Re-posted with permission) Americans Raid 401(k)s, Replacing […]

Diane Ravitch in the NYT comments on the politician use of statistics to promote an educational policy and  program.  Of course there are several private figures promoting charter schools and pilot programs as well, and a well funded lobby for such.  I usually start with assuming it is a pitch…but not all records are public […]

Who wins, who loses? And which who are you? The complexities of the 1%, multinational companies and agendas, government goals and responses and treaties, the trade deficit (US) and surplus (China), and what is globalization mostly about? Looking for posts…write to my gmail account. source New York Times

Heather Parton, aka the blogger many of us know and love as Digby, will on Tuesday be granted a prestigious honor. She’ll be receiving the 2014 Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism. The award is named after the great labor leader Sidney Hillman. (Via Washington Monthly….hat tip Run 75441)

by Joseph Joyce Can the U.S. Rebalance without Raising Inequality? Last week’s estimate of an anemic U.S. GDP first-quarter growth rate of 0.1% will be revised. Moreover, the good news regarding job growth in April suggests that the U.S. economy is expanding at a quicker pace in the second quarter. But a closer look at […]