-
"Before you start spooning up your next bowl of Frosted Flakes, ponder this: driven partly by the demand for ethanol, the price of the corn in your flakes is about 40 percent higher than it was a few years ago; the sugar easily cost you more than double the world price; and your milk is at least 15 percent more expensive than it would be in many other countries."
-
What people need is a medical system that allows them to make the basic rationing decisions: what kind of insurance to buy, what kind of coverage to choose, what kind of trade-offs to make between spending on medicine and spending on other goods and services.
Such decisions are complex and people with little means will need assistance. But the specific “rationing” decisions–i.e., the inevitable trade-offs–vary dramatically by individual and family preference and circumstance. Even today’s system allows many people some choice between plans and providers. The rise in consumer-directed care is a positive development which is expanding the choices available to Americans.
The worst strategy would be to increase the government’s authority. Washington already has to “ration” care through its own programs. Politicizing everyone’s care by increasing federal control would override the differences in preferences and circumstances which are so important for all of us.
-
To wit, every product whose ingredients benefit from a subsidy should include the following language on the label:
“This product has been subsidized by the U.S. government at taxpayer expense. For more information, please visit usda.gov.”
And every product that benefits from tariff protection should have the following language on the label:
“This product is protected from foreign competition by U.S. import tariffs. Its price is higher as a result. For more information, please visit usitc.gov.”
-
Much like Arnold Kling, I can't recommend Sowell's "A Conflict of Visions" enough. Excellent.
-
"One is that wages can't fall low enough to clear markets ….
Another is that the prevailing wage rate is below the prevailing reservation wage for most workers. Unemployment benefits aren't particularly generous, but available work may be very unpleasant, and declines in housing and energy costs have increased the purchasing power of whatever savings or income the unemployed do have.
Another possibility is that there are available wage rates that would suit both employer and employee, but other factors are preventing a match. Geographic mismatch could be an issue, for instance—the jobs could be in one place and the people in another, with no means available to move.
And another option might be the effect of structural change in the economy. If workers are highly uncertain about where new jobs will appear, they may delay training or relocation until they have a better idea where job opportunities will be."
July 7, 2009
