by Dan Crawford There has been a little ruckus from the WSJ reporting on McDonald’s health insurance plans and applications for waivers from the 80% medical loss ratio requirement. Try to use that for a headline. The medical loss ratio at 80% was one measure for evaluating whether enough % dollars of premium was actually […]
NSCID pictures: These images, derived from passive microwave satellite data, depict the most recent daily sea ice conditions. Along with current and median total extent, the daily extent graph also includes the extent during 2007, the year of the record low minimum extent (dashed green line). Note that during the transition across the calendar year, […]
Guest post/note makes it to Foreign Policy magazine as a fully written article Don’t bring a praseodymium knife to a gunfight on rare earth metals by Tim Worstall. Now Tim and I don’t agree on some economics, but Foreign Policy notices Angry Bear at least once? He owes me two beers when I am in […]
I-15 CORE project as reported by ksl.com notes lots of jobs and local spending. By Becky Bruce UTAH COUNTY — The recession may not feel like it’s really over yet, but the Utah Department of Transportation’s I-15 CORE project is helping to the tune of more than a thousand jobs. The I-15 CORE project has […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care: Comparative Effectiveness Research, Gender and Emotion A key cost bending feature of PPACA (Obamacare) is comparative effectiveness research (see http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/index.html). This research is designed to apply statistical, economic and clinical analysis to care and treatment to encourage effective care and block ineffective treatments. It is highly likely, based […]
by Dan Crawford Key players in the development of this story are judges in each state as they interpret state law defining proper ownership. Inquiry to two people who know courts predicted most judges would probably simply ignore technical discrepancies, but as the story develops these issues are gaining traction. Bypassing property laws is a […]
by Stormy and Dan Drug wars in Juarez…and the cause—NAFTA, really. Mexico drug cartel in the Guardian: Mexico’s main crossing point to the US has always had a seedy border vibe, but two decades ago it was envisaged as a showcase for a new economy built on free trade, manufacturing and cheap labour. Factories drew […]
Financial Times/alphaville’s Cardiff Garcia uses Rebecca Wilder’s post Evaluating the “excess” in the US corporate financial balance. What to make of the excess savings (aka boatloads of cash) that remain on US corporate balance sheets? In trying to answer this question, economist Rebecca Wilder has used data from the Fed’s latest flow of funds report […]
by Dan Crawford Institutional Investor reminds us of a vital area not in the news, but drawing enough committed money to attract even hedge funds. Angry Bear has carried posts on the 1989 experiment with privatization of water utilities in Britain, the strange world of WTO rules regarding water supply, ownership, and provision of sewerage, […]
CASSE (Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy) carries this piece: Demand a Supply of Common Sense; Just Don’t Price Itby Brian Czech Ah, the confusion of economics students when they encounter the subject of supply and demand in introductory “micro.” They learn that prices are determined by supply and demand. Then they’re […]