dinsdag 1 september 2009
How Does the Quality of U.S. Health Care Compare Internationally?
This paper shows that the U.S. health care system does relatively well in some areas, including cancer care, and less well in others, such as coordinated management of chronic conditions. Rather than compromise currently excellent care, health reform can only help, the authors conclude.
Read this paper here.
maandag 31 augustus 2009
La Belgique est le dernier bastion de l'indexation des salaires sur les prix
Lisez l'article complet dans Le Monde ici.
New Poll Finds Most Americans Continue To Support Moving Ahead With Health Care Reform Now
Read Kaiser's Health Tracking here.
Central banks can adapt to life below zero
The zero lower bound is one of the great myths of monetary economics. It is the statement that interest rates cannot fall below zero, for otherwise people would hoard cash. Generations of central bankers have treated it as the equivalent of zero degrees Kelvin, the lowest theoretically possible temperature. ....
Read the full article here.
Financiële sector: waar staan we een jaar later?
Wij zijn intussen al twee jaar na de start van de financiële crisis. Vandaag is er een enorme puinhoop van financiële verliezen, ontspoorde staatsfinanciën en ontwrichte balansen. Maar er is recent ook een sfeertje ontstaan. De markten beginnen hun gewoonten weer op te pikken. Banken draaien een bladzijde om. Men wil de oude gewoonten weer oppakken.
Lees het artikel hier.
vrijdag 28 augustus 2009
Pourquoi Obama reconduit Bernanke à la tête de la Fed
Ben Bernanke, nommé président de la Federal Reserve par George W. Bush, ne partait pas gagnant avec le nouveau président US. Barack Obama l'a pourtant reconduit pour un nouveau mandat de quatre ans. Portrait de cette figure-clé de l'économie américaine, en 3 forces et 3 faiblesses.
Lisez l'article complet ici.
Ecole de la réussite: compétence non acquise!
Lettre ouverte à nos représentants politiques, aux représentants des parents, aux organisations syndicales des enseignants, à la presse, à quiconque se soucie de l'avenir de l'école.
Lisez l'article complet ici.
donderdag 27 augustus 2009
How Obesity Policies are Failing in America
Adult obesity rates increased in 23 states and did not decrease in a single state in the past year, according to F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies Are Failing in America 2009, a report released today by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). In addition, the percentage of obese or overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states.
Read the complete article here.
Congress’s Health Care Numbers Don’t Add Up
New research finds congressional budget office has underestimated savings and overestimated costs from health policy changes.
Read this article from the NYT here.
The timing of fiscal interventions: Don’t do tomorrow what you can do today
The composition and timing of the fiscal stimulus is a major concern for policymakers. This column presents research showing that anticipated tax cuts result in reduced economy activity before they take effect. During the current downturn, that constitutes a strong argument against stimulus policies that phase in tax cuts over time.
Read the full article here.
'Artificial trees' to cut carbon
Engineers say a forest of 100,000 "artificial trees" could be deployed within 10 to 20 years to help soak up the world's carbon emissions.
Read the full article here.
Waiting for the low carbon revolution
The low-carbon revolution is not going to happen by itself, says Andrew Pendleton. In this week's Green Room, he calls on governments put the necessary frameworks in place that will allow the private sector to roll out the technologies needed to deliver the ambitious cuts in emissions.
Read A. Pendleton's opinion here.
Competition builds trust
Recent research argues that culture affects economic outcomes. Do markets instil cultural values that support good outcomes? This column provides evidence that more competitive markets raise employees’ trust levels. That suggests that competitive markets build the values that support them.
Read the complete article here.
Inégalités sociales de santé en Belgique: des chiffres indéniables. Observations à l'aide de données mutualistes.
Pour lire ce rapport, consultez la Revue belge de la Sécurité Sociale (1e trimestre 2009) - page 145- ici.
woensdag 26 augustus 2009
Gauging by numbers: a first attempt to measure the quality of public finances in the EU
Ensuring high quality of public finances (QPF) with a view to supporting long-term economic growth has gained new urgency as the room for fiscal manoeuvre has shrunk in light of the current crisis.To more systematically analyse QPF and compare developments across countries and over time, a greater focus on identifying and developing comparable QPF indicators is needed. This paper provides a first attempt in this respect. Based on the view that QPF is a multi-dimensional concept, it creates composite indicators for twelve areas of public finances that are linked to long-term economic growth. While the proposed alternative calculation methods yield relatively robust results and findings are in line with conventional wisdom, due to data problems the composite indicators should only be seen as a useful starting point for identifying a country's main strengths and weaknesses in QPF. This would need to be complemented by qualitative analysis that also accounts for country and other specificities.
Read this report from the EC here.
The EU's response to support the real economy during the economic crisis: an overview of Member States' recovery measures
This paper provides a preliminary assessment of the adequacy of Member States' recovery plans supporting the real economy - labour markets and vulnerable groups; investment; and businesses (but not financial sector support measures). It looks in particular at the time-consistency of the short-term measures designed to avert major dislocations of economic activity and assesses the compatibility of the short-term crisis response with the European Union's long-term policy objectives under the Lisbon strategy. The main finding is that the European Union's response to the crisis is strong and, at the current juncture, appears adequate and that measures being pursued under Member States' recovery plans are for the most part in line with the principles and guidelines enunciated in the European Economic Recovery Plan.
Read this report from the EC, Economic and Financial Affairs, here.
dinsdag 25 augustus 2009
U, V or W for recovery
The world economy has stopped shrinking. That’s the end of the good news. Read the complete article in The Economist here.
Tevredenheid over gezondheidsvoorzieningen
Hoe percipiëren de Nederlandstaligen in België de kwaliteit, de beschikbaarheid en toegankelijkheid van de gezondheidsvoorzieningen in ons land? Traditioneel worden aan de (Belgische) gezondheidszorg een aantal sterke troeven toegeschreven zoals de hoge dekkingsgraad van de bevolking door de verplichte ziekteverzekering, de vrije keuze van de patiënt en de vlotte toegang tot het gezondheidssysteem. Uit de analyse zal moeten blijken of de respondenten dit gezondheidssysteem positief evalueren. Hoe positioneert de Vlaamse Gemeenschap zich ten aanzien van andere EU-lidstaten?
Lees het volledige rapport hier.
Why this new crisis needs a new paradigm of economic thought
Do the US and Europe risk repeating Japan’s lost decade? This column warns that if the US or European financial clean-ups falter, they will be vulnerable to recurring financial crises. It argues that macroeconomic models should not treat finance as an innocuous veil and calls for a new approach that places financial intermediaries at the centre of its models.
Read the full article here.
maandag 24 augustus 2009
De sterkste schouders kreunen
Uiteraard moeten de sterkste schouders de grootste lasten dragen. Maar sommige uitspraken gaan voorbij aan de huidige realiteit. In 2005 schreef ik in een column in Trends (zie onderaan) al een bijdrage over deze situatie. Daarin toonde ik ook de vergelijking tussen België en Nederland. Beide landen hebben het zogenaamde Rijnlandmodel nagestreefd, en zijn qua grootte en economische welstand vrij goed te vergelijken....
Lees de opinie van G. Noels op Econoshock hier.
Lees de opinie van G. Noels op Econoshock hier.
ACV = Algehele Collectivisering van Vlaanderen?
“Het is van groot belang dat we de progressiviteit in de belastingen opnieuw gaan herstellen. Dat principe is in de voorbije jaren stelselmatig afgebouwd. Terwijl het toch vanzelfsprekend is dat de sterkste schouders de grootste lasten moeten dragen,’ zegt ACV-voorzitter Luc Cortebeeck in een interview met De Standaard.
Lees de opinie van G. Noels op Econoshock hier.
Thomas Philippon : "Taxons les activités bancaires les plus risquées pour le secteur financier"
A la suite des derniers rebondissements sur les scandales des bonus dans les banques, tout juste sauvées de la crise, Christine Lagarde, la ministre de l'économie, a décidé de convoquer, lundi 24 août, les dirigeants de banques françaises et des autorités de tutelle (Commission bancaire, Banque de France) pour mettre au point des règles destinées à faire cesser "la course à l'échalote aux bonus". Ces propositions seront à l'ordre du jour d'une deuxième réunion qui se tiendra le lendemain à l'Elysée.
Lisez l'article complet ici.
vrijdag 21 augustus 2009
En Emilie-Romagne, les banques entreposent dans un "Fort Knox" les meules de parmesan en dépôt de garantie
Dans la région d'Emilie-Romagne, patrie du parmesan, les deux entrepôts des Magazzini Generali della Tagliata (MGT), propriété de la banque Credem (Credito Emiliano), qui viennent d'être modernisés avec l'installation d'un système photovoltaïque, sont connus sous le nom de "Fort Knox". Mais à la place de l'or, des liasses de billets ou des oeuvres d'art que l'on trouve habituellement dans les coffres-forts, ils recèlent du parmesan.
Lisez la suite de l'article dans Le Monde ici.
Does Economic Success Require Democracy?
Sadly, no. In fact, the politically unfree countries are enjoying more economic growth than the politically free ones. Kevin Hassett tells you why here (piece published in The American).
donderdag 20 augustus 2009
Notable & Quotable
Rose Friedman writing with her husband Milton on economic and political freedom. Read the column here.
woensdag 19 augustus 2009
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