The cost of medical innovation

Many healthcare policymakers and analysts are focused on controlling rising medical costs. Is attacking high-cost, low-benefit medical innovation a solution? This column estimates that medical innovation – the use of advanced diagnostic imaging, newer drugs, and higher-ranked physicians – significantly increases life expectancy without raising medical expenditures per capita.

The full article is available here.

Why we shouldn't subsidise clean-energy technologies?

Nearly all economists agree that the most efficient way to address environmental problems is to raise the cost of the pollution-generating activity, but US policies subsidise clean-energy alternatives instead. This column criticizes that approach – subsidies lower the cost of energy, play favourites with technologies, are often inframarginal, and frequently interact in unexpected ways with other policies.

The full article is available here.

How bad are bubbles for welfare?

The financial sector is prone to crises, which are typically associated with serious effects on output and employment. This column weighs the costs and benefits of financial deregulation that spurs temporarily high growth that then collapse and suggests that bubbles may be socially efficient.

The full article is available here.

Ageing populations: scrimp and save

Pensions will have to become far less generous

THE past few decades have been the cushiest time ever to be a pensioner in a developed country. Not only has the world been getting ever richer (at least until very recently), which rubbed off on pensioners too; but as a group they have also become much more comfortable relative to the rest of the population. In recent years mandatory pensions across the OECD, net of taxes and social-security contributions, averaged over 70% of previous net earnings for people on average pay and over 80% for the low-paid. For the better-off the replacement ratio was lower, but they can cope. ...

For the full article, click here.

This article belongs to a special report on ageing populations in which you can also find:

- Ageing in the rich world

- A shortage of babies

- Living longer

- Selling to older people

- Working till you drop

- China ageing predicament

- Copying with global greying

(The Economist, June 25th 2009)

La BRI prône une fin rapide des plans de relance économique

La Banque des règlements internationaux (BRI) a appelé lundi les gouvernements à mettre un terme aux programmes de relance économique dès que le secteur financier sera suffisamment assaini, craignant que ces plans n'induisent trop d'inflation et de protectionnisme.

http://www.lecho.be/actualite/economie-finances/La_BRI_prone_une_fin_rapide_des_plans_de_relance_economique.8202453-602.art

Magnette : capter la rente nucléaire

Une étude légitime la taxe de 250 millions, selon le ministre de l'Energie.

http://www.lalibre.be/economie/actualite/article/512578/magnette-capter-la-rente-nucleaire.html