vrijdag 24 juli 2009
Should the rich finance healthcare reform?
Comments from Greg Mankiw's blog on Obama's healthcare reforms here.
Can he make it better?
Barack Obama pushes plans for reforming health care in America.
To read the article from the Economist, click here.
To read the article from the Economist, click here.
Mieux partager les fruits de la croissance
LE MONDE_ Le débat sur un partage plus équilibré de la valeur ajoutée et des fruits de la croissance a été récemment ranimé par la remise des rapports de l'Insee, de Jean-Philippe Cotis au président de la République, et du Conseil d'analyse économique (CAE), de Gilbert Cette, Jacques Delpha et Arnaud Sylvain au premier ministre. Le diagnostic est désormais posé. Mais quelles propositions faire sur cette base ? Comment assurer une meilleure redistribution aux salariés des richesses produites par l'économie tout en assurant un financement adéquat des entreprises ?
Lisez l'article complet ici.
woensdag 22 juli 2009
De Gebreken van aziel en migratie
"Dit is de tweede 'eenmalige' regularisatie sinds 1999, dus waarom zou er geen derde komen? Bovendien zal dit verhaal zich herhalen, tenzij de regering ook bereid is tot andere ondersteunende maatregelen, om een duurzame lokale verankering in de illegaliteit te voorkomen. "
Lees het volledige opiniestuk van Dirk Vanheule hier.
Health Insurance No One Needs
EVERYONE who wants universal health coverage (me included) finds irresistible the rallying cry that all Americans should have the same health benefits that members of Congress have. But Congress’s health insurance — that is, the heavily subsidized preferred provider plan that most members have — is not an ideal model, because it is quite rich. As with other fee-for-service plans, it does little to encourage people to be smart health care shoppers. Read the complete article here.
Building a society for all ages
More of us are living longer than ever before. This is not a new phenomenon – life expectancy has been growing steadily for over a century, but the UK has just passed a demographic tipping point. In 2007 for the first time in the UK there were more people over State Pension age than children; an ageing society is no longer coming tomorrow – it is here with us today...
To read the report from the HM Government (UK), click here.
Should the rich finance healthcare reform?
Choosing to finance health care reform by taxing the rich is bad economic policy, bad health policy, bad budget policy and poor leadership...
Read the column here.
maandag 20 juli 2009
Rescue, recovery, reform
The current financial crisis has been the most challenging for policymakers around the world. This column introduces the 79th Annual Report of the Bank for International Settlements, discusses the risks posed by the massive policy initiatives undertaken in response to the crisis, and offers suggestions for systemic reforms.
Read the column here.
Absent an International Agreement, World Greenhouse Gas Emissions Likely to Grow 30 Percent by 2030
The U.S. Department of Energy's International Energy Outlook (which counts only carbon dioxide) finds low- and middle-income countries accounting for 9 billion of a likely 11 billion tons in annual CO2 emissions growth by 2030.
Read the article from the DLC here.
Why Toxic Assets Are So Hard to Clean Up
Securitization was maddeningly complex. Mandated transparency is the only solution.
Read this WSJ article here.
Read this WSJ article here.
Productive Parents
Reform (think-tank, UK) proposes necessary changes to the current parental leave provision to make it flatter, fairer and more flexible.
Read the complete Reform Bulletin here.
Read the report "Productive Parents" here.
Reform recommends a new approach that rebalances maternity pay towards low income families, makes it available to fathers and gives freedom over parental leave. It advocates a much more flexible approach to the workplace by taking employers out of the various state payment schemes and instead allowing employees to work flexibly during the first year – keeping in touch with the workplace as much as they like. And in a time when public finances are tight, these changes could be undertaken within current levels of expenditure, or even with reduced expenditure, and unnecessary bureaucracy abandoned.
Read the complete Reform Bulletin here.
Read the report "Productive Parents" here.
Largest poll of unemployed Muslim women reveals they want to work
A new Quilliam report contains the largest poll to date of unemployed South Asian Muslim women. The report, Immigrant, Muslim, Female: Triple Paralysis?, shows that contrary to popular stereotypes, most (57%) of the UK’s unemployed Muslim female immigrants want to work but are held back by a lack of support from their families and insufficient practical support from the Government. In so doing, given the high rates of migration through marriage, Britain is under-utilizing a vast resource for boosting integration and national cohesion, and preventing extremism in the next generation.
Read the complete Quilliam's press release here.
Hyperion Power Generation
Hyperion Power Generation, een bedrijf uit de VS heeft de oplossing voor uw energieprobleem: een kerncentrale op dorpsniveau. Naar eigen zeggen kan het ding 25000 gezinnen van stroom voorzien voor een periode van minstens 5 jaar. Het ding is maar even groot als uw tuinhuis, hoeft geen menselijke operator, heeft geen beweeglijke delen en wordt beschouwd als zeer veilig. De module wordt verzegeld in de fabriek en zo afgeleverd in uw achterbuurt. Ze moet pas worden geopend na 5-7 jaar om opnieuw te “vullen” met een “uranium kern” omgeven met waterstof. De module wordt in uw tuin begraven in een laag beton zodat dieven, terroristen of uw buurman ze niet kan “stelen”. De module genereert ongeveer 27 MW aan energie. Kandidaten?
(Econoshock.be, 19/07/09)
(Econoshock.be, 19/07/09)
Financement des pensions : un choix politique !
Retrouvez ici la Carte Blanche (Le Soir, 20/07/09) de Bertrand Montulet Docteur en sociologie, chercheur qualifié aux Facultés Saint-Louis, chargé de cours invité à l’ULB.
La pollution réduit le QI des enfants
Cette étude suggère que la pollution ne concerne pas que les voisins des usines crachant des fumées. L'atmosphère urbaine recèle donc des dangers qu'on ignore.
Pour lire l'article complet, cliquez ici.
vrijdag 17 juli 2009
Where the New Deal went badly wrong
Harold Cole of Penn and Lee Ohanian of UCLA argue that FDR's meddling with markets did more harm than good, lengthening the Great Depression by some seven years. "Indeed, the New Deal is best seen as a cautionary tale for those prepared to rush to regulate the economy. Read the complete article from the Milken Institute here.
Efficiency and beyond
The efficient-markets hypothesis has underpinned many of the financial industry’s models for years. After the crash, what remains of it? Read the complete article here.
The other-worldly philosophers
Although the crisis has exposed bitter divisions among economists, it could still be good for economics. Our first article looks at the turmoil among macroeconomists. Read the complete article here.
National Long-Term Care Insurance: How Much Would It Cost?
About two-thirds of those over 65 will need some long-term care before they die. Howard Gleckman looks at a key question at the heart of the debate over long-term care insurance: how much will premiums cost?
Read the article here.
Give Up A Benefit, Gain Jobs
In this Washington Post commentary, Leonard Burman makes a modest proposal: workers should agree to a cap on tax-free health insurance provided by their employers. This would lead to higher wages and partially protect employees from layoffs.
Read the article here.
Crisisbuffer
Jan Denys over de nadelen... en voordelen van zwartwerk in tijden van crisis. Lees het volledige opiniestuk in De Tijd hier.
Lessons for the future: Ideas and rules for the world in the aftermath of the storm, Part II
What should we conclude about the implications of the global crisis for the future of the world economy? This column, the second of a two-part series, outlines the exit strategies required for fiscal and monetary policy. It says that the crisis ought to be seen as a temporary period of turmoil, rather than a paradigm-shifting event. Read the second part of the column here.
Lessons for the future: Ideas and rules for the world in the aftermath of the storm, Part I
It’s time to start drawing conclusions about the global crisis. This column, the first of a two-part series, assesses the causes and nature of the problems. Although the crisis originated in financial market failings, policymakers are much to blame. Regulatory failure amplified private sector errors, and poorly planned policy responses exacerbated the troubles. Read the first part of the column here.
Learning lessons from private schools
The right and wrong ways to get more poor youngsters into the world’s great universities. Read the complete article here.
donderdag 16 juli 2009
Top 25 Economics Blogs
The Wall Street Journal's economics bureau sifted through the sea of economics blogs and determined the top 25, with five honorable mentions. (Listed in alphabetical order.) Read the complete article here.
Why We Must Ration Health Care
You have advanced kidney cancer. It will kill you, probably in the next year or two. A drug called Sutent slows the spread of the cancer and may give you an extra six months, but at a cost of $54,000. Is a few more months worth that much? Read the complete article here.
NIMBY
Groot nieuws deze week. Een restauranthouder uit Antwerpen kan de Lange Wapper tegenhouden. Als de Raad van State het advies van de auditeur in de zaak volgt, dan zal het minstens drie jaar langer duren vooraleer de Sinjoren hun Lange Wapper in gebruik kunnen nemen. Lees de column van Van Parys hier.
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