Economics and Social Policy – XXXV

Welcome to the July 16, 2007 edition of economics and social policy.

William Dvorak presents Politics: the choice that determines humanity's fate.

Libertarianism has never really confronted the issue that most people are not as rational as the theory requires, nor as disciplined. We could certainly use a big dose of libertarianism in this country, but there are very finite limits.

DWSUWF presents The pussification of the presidency.

Well, Dick Cheney’s certainly avoided making friends. And the general theme that Cheney’s done more harm than good has been sounded by conservatives. In the meantime, I’m not 100% sold on the notion that the Bush Administration has unconstitutionally expanded presidential power. Certainly, a lot of the blowback comes from the lose the war at all costs crowd in the media and congress.

But these are groups bound and determined to neuter the Presidency under any circumstances, especially in the area of national security. That doesn’t mean that it’s a good idea to hand them ammunition.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Working Memory Training from a pediatrician perspective, focused on attention deficits .

Charles H. Green presents Trust, Politics and US Health Care Policy.

Not surprisingly, any system based on the idea that others should pay for your healthcare turns out to not work very well. Turns out that the incentive structures are all wrong. Something we’re likely to make worse before making it better.

David Gross presents Forever currency, "Two months ago, a non-inflationary, value-backed currency was issued nationwide. Why haven’t I heard cheers of victory from the gold-bug crowd?"

Probably because government issued postage stamps are still only backed by government fiat. Rendering them indistinguishable from paper money. And in the end, you can still only use them for mail, which kinda fails the “medium of exchange” test.

Matthew Paulson presents Getting a 15 or 30 Year Mortgage: Which One Makes Sense?.

Answer: it depends. An additional alternative would be to get the 30 year lone, and then pay ahead to payback the loan in 15 years. That provides some flexibility in case of sudden economic hardship, temporary setbacks, etc.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Does Achieving Wealth Make You “Upper Class”? Facts About Class.

Interesting piece. I’ve often heard of class discussed as a relative time preference – the ability to delay gratification, plan, and execute for a long term future. There’s also a big difference between “Wealth” and “high disposable income”.

Steven Silvers presents WakeUpWalMart defections might mean union-backed activist groups have done all they can do.

The biggest threat to WalMart isn’t the unions, or the grandstanding of John “Pretty Boy” Edwards. After all, their agenda is pretty clear – increase the prices for goods needed by lower and middle class America. No, the biggest short term threat is poor quality control on the part of their Chinese suppliers.

Wenchypoo presents Who Needs Universal Health Care?

As noted, expecting other people to pay for stuff you want generally doesn’t work out very well. And it’s not like the government can really provide free care for all.

Warren Wong presents How Much Money Is Integrity Worth?

Lots. “A Good name is rather to be chosen than great riches…” (Proverbs 22:1.)

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