Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Breaking Into Agriculture: Episode 1, Market Gardens

With the Breaking Into series we will explore US agriculture, the least complex, the most complex, the failures, frustrations, sustainability, costs, and future of each topic that makes up modern agricutlure. On this episode we are going to explore one of the more simple ways to get into professional agriculture, Market Gardens. Market Gardens by another name […]

Combating Nativism and Making America Stronger

Combat Nativism and Make America the Most Welcoming Country in the World Some findings from the Roosevelt Institute: “New report: Combat Nativism and Make America the Most Welcoming Country in the World” – Roosevelt Institute In 2020, natural disasters forced more than 30 million people to migrate across the globe. by 2050, climate change impacts […]

ARP Medicaid Postpartum Coverage Expansion

I believe it was 2019 when I was asked to write on women’s healthcare issues. I was not asked because I was an expert. They were asking me because they wanted a male’s perspective on women’s healthcare issues. In particular, the topic was maternal healthcare and mortality. “A Woman’s Right to Safe Healthcare Outcomes” – […]

Sex and Gender: Diversity in Chimps, Bonobos, and Us

A bit of an introduction; Welcome to: “Annie Asks You:”  Seeking Dialogue to Inform, Enlighten, and/or Amuse You and Me. My interests are diverse: just about every aspect of what is sometimes called “current events,” with a frequent political emphasis (interrupted by breaks when I find matters have become unbearable); health and wellness; the environment; […]

Value-Based Payment Is the New For-Profit Health Care Industry

Before I get started on the main text of Kip’s expert article, I wish to point out something which is happening nationally. There is a plan afoot of forcing people into Value-Based Payment plans from traditional Medicare. The players include Iora Health (subsidiary of One Medical), Privia, General Catalyst, agilon health, Caravan Health, Signify (CVS […]

Coronavirus dashboard for September 7: the slow ebbing on the way to endemicity continues

“Coronavirus dashboard for September 7: the slow ebbing on the way to endemicity continues” I promised a COVID update, so I suppose I ought to follow through. Let’s start today with a graph of South Africa’s cases and deaths for the past year: South Africa is where BA.1 and BA.4&5 originated. You can see the […]

One person’s detailed history of Paying off a Student Loan

Mary Jacob explaining the student loan she paid off. This is a loan which had high balances due to miscalculations, etc. If I felt up to it, I could probably figure out how she ended up paying $16,000 in the end. It appears she was paying interest only in the beginning, drove the loan down […]

How Much Does The ARP/IRA Lower Health Insurance Premiums Now?

In 2020, after Democrats had retaken control of the House of Representatives, the third version of the larger bill managed to actually pass the House under the more reasonable title of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Enhancement Act. Of course, it didn’t even get a vote in the Senate. In early 2021, a temporary version of this bill by […]

Where Will M.S. Gorbachev Be Buried?

Where Will M.S. Gorbachev Be Buried?  Mikhail Sergeivich Gorbachev died on the same day as our daughter Sasha’s 33rd birthday. Sasha herself noted that if it were not for him she probably would not exist. It was ultimately Gorbachev who decided that the USSR would obey the Helsinki Accords rules on letting people get married […]

How should economists criticize Biden’s actions on student loans?

There has been a lot of criticism of Biden’s student loan forgiveness among economists and policy journalists.  And the criticism is not limited to libertarian types, but extends to many economists who clearly care about debt relief, progressivity, and improving the quality and accessibility of higher education but who are nonetheless very critical of the […]