OBE, for short–that’s a much used phrase from a once upon a time former supervisor. Applied to projects, assignments, etc., it meant the task at hand no longer needed doing. Some might suppose that recent election results might make that an epithet applicable to health care reform. But as President Obama said in his state of [...]
In most cases, insurance is something you buy to cover yourself in case the unexpected financial setback occurs–damage to your house or car for example. Or in the case of health, an acute illness or event such as a stroke or heart attack. On the other hand, you can and should expect to have some [...]
Because health care (chiefly what hospitals, doctors, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and drug stores provide us with) is so expensive, most people find it difficult if not impossible to pay for out of pocket. Well duh! Yes, I know, it is so obvious–but I mention this only as a preface to serve as a distinguishing feature [...]
I didn’t really want to do it, but I need a topic that lends itself both to some amount of continuity and also fits the notion that this blog is about expressing what really is happening–reaching beyond ignorance and illusion. So as arrogant of me as it may be, I will latch onto this topic [...]
One would expect an economics professor from Harvard, and a president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research at that, to know whereof they speak on matters of dollars and cents. Martin Feldstein argues that the Obama administration should withdraw its proposal to reduce the charitable tax deduction of higher income (over $250,00 for [...]
Continue reading about Sometimes Economists Don’t Make Cents
Are bailouts of industries a good thing? Probably not, generally speaking. On the other hand, when in a financial crisis like the one facing America, they may be necessary. I find it peculiar that the financial “industry” (they manufacture or produce no goods; only facilitate production by others) could relatively easily obtain a $700 billion [...]
I am getting impatient. I want the election to be over so I can stop watching Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Larry King, Nightline and local news. What else is there to blog about right now but the election? Plenty of stuff; the same stuff that I used to blog about. But I am consumed [...]
What news will come from the MastersButtheads of the Universe today, a continuing fall in the global economy perhaps? Maybe the MBAs should have “learned to play the guitar,” as Mark Knopfler suggests, instead of learning to play the market. At least then the suffering we are enduring would have been limited to our ears [...]
It could be the slogan that was, “let capitalists be capitalists.” It likely will be again, soon enough. But the “bailout” is coming soon with restrictions that Wall Street and others haven’t seen for awhile. Don’t hold your breath that the pending legislation will reverse much of the effects of deregulatory fervor that swept the Congress [...]
Obama will tell you it’s Bush and his buddy McCain that helped make the current money morass happen. He is not entirely wrong but he is not entirely right either. Congress facilitated the mess by repealing the Glass-Steagal Act that kept the insurance, investment and banking businesses firewalled from one another. Institutional investors, including the [...]