How did we get this finance industry?

As a share of American GDP, the finance industry has doubled in size in the past 40 years, to over 30% of American Corporate profits. Many argue that this presents a real problem for the long-term stability of the U.S. economy. I argue that it presents real concerns for both social justice and the health … Continue reading How did we get this finance industry? →

A Rationality Pill?

Suppose that you are a person who suffers from what an economist would call a "high discount rate." You tend to attach very little importance to the long-term consequences of your actions. As a result, you smoke and drink a lot, eat a lot of bacon, are massively in debt, and so on. Then, someone … Continue reading A Rationality Pill? →

How medicare sets hospital prices

The great Uwe Reinhardt presents a useful primer to the discussion of health care reform that should interest OPers (mindful as they are of the importance of primary social goods). I supervised a remarkably thoughtful (and empirically informed) thesis on Health Care Justice last semester, which brought into sharp relief the ridiculousness of the public … Continue reading How medicare sets hospital prices →

More on Living within our Means

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The Media, Pennant-Racing, and Living Within Our Means

A popular narrative of the recent election is that Americans are fed up with the federal government’s inability to “live within its means.” Real American people have to; state governments have to (more or less); the federal government should as well. I could write for days about the ways in which the analogy from personal … Continue reading The Media, Pennant-Racing, and Living Within Our Means →

Wealthy Society out of Balance?

I thought I ought to follow the example of my fellow original positioners and post from my summer reading list. Today's reading was John K. Galbraith's The Affluent Society (1958). Galbraith begins his famous chapter on the "Theory of Social Balance" with the following claim: "The final problem of the productive society is what it … Continue reading Wealthy Society out of Balance? →

Debt, Stimulus, and Health Care Reform

Bloggingheads considers the long-term fiscal ramifications of legislation passed under the Obama administration.

Rationality and Fantasy Baseball

Lately I’ve been thinking about rationality. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the ways that economic models presuppose that individuals consistently act in their rational self-interest (and what economists count as a rational self-interest). Lately, I’ve also been thinking about my fantasy baseball team. I know that many OPers play or have played in fantasy baseball … Continue reading Rationality and Fantasy Baseball →