Fat New World

AEI's Tomas J. Philipson and federal circuit judge Richard A. Posner write that technological developments have driven the obesity plague, but technological change may also be more successful at reducing obesity than attempts to change people's eating and exercising habits have been. Read the complete article on the American Entreprise Institute website here.

The Economist’s Strange Attack on Industrial Policy

Last week’s The Economist leader and cover story, “Picking winners, saving losers”, painted an insidious picture of governments’ increasing intervention in market economies, arguing that the hideous Leviathan of the state was gobbling up one sector after another and warning that “picking industrial winners nearly always fails.” Now, put aside the fact that the government was forced into some sectors—such as automobiles and financial services—only after mammoth market failures and pleas for rescues from capitalism’s chieftains. The more important fact is that the article feeds a Socialism-is-coming hysteria and ignores how picking winners—within limits—has worked in the past for the United States (and Japan, South Korea, etc.) and is needed more than ever to bolster our long-term competitiveness. Read the complete blog on Progressive Fix here.

De gezondheidszorguitgaven: determinanten en projecties

Health care expenditures have risen considerably relative to gdp over the past decades in most industrialized countries, and Belgium is no exception to that rule. In this article we present a short overview of the models that are proposed in the scientific literature to explain this trend. The main conclusion from this literature study is that income and technology are the main drivers of increased health care spending, and to a lesser extent demographic ageing. We also present the models currently used at the Belgian Federal Planning Bureau to project future acute and long-term care expenditures. These models indicate a further increase of health care spending as a percentage of gdp over the coming decades, together with a rising share of long-term care spending in the total health care bill. This growing importance of long-term care can be attributed to the ageing of the population, which is expected to lead to growing numbers of (very) old people with functional limitations. The combination of the epidemiological/demographic and technological factors which could drive this evolution is explored in the final section of the paper. Read the complete article in the Documentation Journal of the Federal Public Service Finance here.

Yuck

Making healthy food is easy. Making people eat it is not. Read the complete article in The Economist here.

The Eurozone’s Autumn Hangover

After a summer of Europeans forgetting their woes and tanning themselves at the beach, the time for a reality check has come. For the fundamental problems of the eurozone remain unresolved - and are re-asserting themselves with a vengeance. Read the complete opinion piece by Nouriel Roubini ion Project Syndicate here.

De kokosnoot in de Belgische begroting

Dat we nog geen nieuwe regering hebben, wil niet zeggen dat de overheidsfinanciën een slapend bestaan leiden. Zelfs een positief geluid over het begrotingstekort mag volgens JOHAN VAN OVERTVELDT en GEERT JANSSENS niet al te optimistisch worden geïnterpreteerd. Lees het volledige opiniestuk in De Standaard hier.

Monthly Labour Market Monitor September 2010

The EU labour market is continuing to stabilise following several months of only relatively moderate deterioration and is now showing the first signs of recovery – according to the latest Monthly Labour Market Monitor by the European Commission.

Read this EC report here.

Former les instituteurs en 5 ans comme en France

Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS) ouvre le chantier de l’allongement des études pédagogiques de 3 à 5 ans. Il plaide aussi pour un test à l’entrée dans le supérieur.

Lisez l'article dans LLB ici.