by Bruce Webb For the last two months much of the talk around Health Care Reform has been about the Gang of Six of the Senate Finance Commitee to the point that some people think the Gang and the Committee are one and the same. But this is not true at all, this week Chairman […]

By Spencer Industrial output rose 0.8 percent in August, following an upwardly revised increase of 1.0 percent in July. Production in manufacturing expanded 0.6 percent in August, and the index excluding motor vehicles and parts increased 0.4 percent. The gain in July for manufacturing was revised up 0.4 percentage point, to1.4 percent; in addition, factory […]

Robert Waldmann I am not questioning Senator Olympia Snowe’s integrity. The Snowe job in question was my attempt to convince myself that Senator Snowe agrees with me. When reflecting on the question I discover that she strongly disagrees with Senator Snowe. I can see that the problem of health care reform has caused her to […]

by reader Run “Great Benefit is like a Giant Slot Machine that never pays off”. The RainMaker, John Grisham Private Healthcare Insurance companies paid off for those from whom they can profit. The rest of us who are costly because of age, disorders, or illness are bound to find ourselves without private insurance and too […]

By Spencer Michael Mandel at Businessweek had a post on the subject of where are health care costs rising the fastest. http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/09/where_are_healt.htm In the post he posted this table and used it as the basis for making comparisons of the growth of health care spending in various countries. But the analysis is flawed. Note it […]

rdanText of President Obama’s speech to Wall Street in the New York Times is in the link. No pun intended…much. Mark Thoma carries the video. Few bloggers write extensive comments (Stiglitz an exception) except appear to be saying good bye to meaningful regulation. Barney Frank says regulation can happen by the end of November. Let […]

Robert Waldmann I am trying to read John Cochrane’s comments on Paul Krugman’s article on why economists got it so wrong. I tend to get upset while reading. I have managed to get through the first paragraph in which Cochrane compares Krugman to someone who denies that HIV causes AIDS and compares developments in economics […]

Via a former editor’s Twitter feed, the Simon Fraser Institute decides to segment the costs of Canadian health care. For the good of the people, of course: It is critically important, however, that Canadians understand the true cost of Medicare. Armed with a more meaningful estimate, Canadians will be able to better assess whether or […]

Via Dr. Black, CR describes Washington, D.C. real estate as “the commercial version of the subprime situation.” Two points: CR knows better, most of the time, than to believe that there was a “subprime situation” in any sense other than “We Are All Subprime Now.” [edited for tone] Possibly more importantly, Washington, D.C., is one […]

Ken Houghton is talkin’ about his generation. Pete Davis, Mark Thoma (who at least has the decency to phrase it in the form of a question), N. Gregory Mankiw, and Brad DeLong explain why there should not be any penalties against providers of West Virginia water (h/t Bitch). Because fungible is fungible, even if it […]