MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'crisis'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:55:15 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5182381&cid=t_113118_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FzSGAwa6Gwsw%2F It’s all over the news. You can’t avoid it. No matter how much we try to deny it… The world is coming to an end. (Play eerie music here) Just this year alone we have had a prediction about the end of the world or rapture. The U.S. Government has been downgraded by S&P. Greece and Spain are in utter disarray. People are being laid off, losing their homes and are quickly watching the balances of their retirement savings diminish. I mean with times like this what is the purpose of going on? We might as well give up now. It looks like all is lost, right? Wrong! The troubles and the issues we face rather personally or as a nation are here for a purpose. Challenges do not arise to kill us, they come into existence so that they can be overcome. I am not afraid of a debt ceil... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5182381 Wed, 31 Aug 2011 05:20:08 +0100 5182381 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5118803&cid=t_113118_122_f&fid=34736&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FChannelN-PodcastsPoweredByOdiogo%2F%7E3%2FdQcll-geJVI%2F Introduction to Peer-Run Crisis Respites Two peer advocates describe the process they underwent to get peer-run crisis respite centers supported by funders in Massachusetts. A detailed and practical discussion about building community among stakeholders, elements of presentations, incorporating evidence and values, communicating a message, creating buzz, and how to present proposals to politicians. Peer-run respites (small comfortable settings for short-term psychiatric crisis peer support care, as an alternative to acute care hospitals) are growing in popularity but many people are still not sure what they are or why they have value. This very helpful video is accompanied by lots of information, research, and presentations to aid people in learning about and starting up respite centers wh... Channel N blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5118803 Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:59:10 +0100 5118803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5107490&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsIIy7QIG65A%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPresident Obama just spoke about the downgrade and his remarks were very disappointing. He uttered some empty platitudes, offered no plan, (amazingly) called for more government spending, and continued his advocacy of class-warfare taxation. So what does this mean? Other than expecting volatility, I have no idea what will happen in financial markets over the next few days. But I can opine about the downgrade, Obama’s unserious response, and what it means in terms of public policy over the next few years and into the future. Notwithstanding the President’s cavalier attitude, America is in trouble. But while the crisis is severe, we have some breathing room. Our fiscal crisis is akin to a very dangerous, but slow-developing cancer. It is not a car wreck with ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5107490 Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:59:48 +0100 5107490 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5097005&cid=t_113118_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Fdownloads%2Fhurting-yourself Self-injury is a common behavior in our society. Only a few forms are seen as problematic. Shame often thwarts an open exchange about experiences. "Hurting yourself" is a workbook that aims at encouraging reflection and generating awareness of various different aspects of self-injury from a non-coercive, self-compassionate, and harm reduction perspective.    read more (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5097005 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:25:37 +0100 5097005 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086484&cid=t_113118_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Flife-is-in-little-things.html I receive an e-mail from a friend that brings me to tears. I took care of her little girl, sweet Maddie, when she was undergoing both of her 2 bone marrow transplants in an effort to control her life-threatening disease. When her single mother adopted her from China at 14 months, she was a healthy toddler. In a few months, things started to go awry. I met them several years later, and Pat, Maddie's mother, became one of my own everyday heroes.I went outside an hour or two later after wrestling with data organization, feeling frustrated and depressed. "Depressed", for me, means a sudden wave of incredible sadness and hopelessness about my life and the impact I am having on others. Just like I didn't want my oldest to intimately know the word "cancer" at age 4, I don't want any of them to kn... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086484 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:52:00 +0100 5086484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5085584&cid=t_113118_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2Fsa2sstw4H7s%2F Eugenie Samuel Reich speculates about the effect on US science should the debt ceiling not be raised by 2 August 2011: Republicans have made it clear that they will not cut defence spending, and Democrats are keen to protect social security and health-care programmes such as Medicare and Medicaid. Thus, the cuts are likely to fall on the roughly $600-billion discretionary, domestic budget, which includes funding for scientific agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. A reduction of $100 billion, applied across the board, would result in a 17% cut to such agencies. Excellent discussion of best- and worst-case scenarios and their effect on science, ‘an investment in future p... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5085584 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:35:04 +0100 5085584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086258&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F31%2Flifesaving-list%2F Help save lives by sharing this list. Online Suicide Prevention Resources is a small wiki focussed on crisis resources available online without a telephone. There are listings for social media, secure IM chat, and public forums. It was inspired by the International Suicide Prevention Wiki, created by Post Secret, which features a table of links and directories for telephone crisis hotlines and resources all over the world. The list I created today is solely for non-phone contacts. Included are details of the hours for each service. Why make such a list? In today’s cell phone family plan homes, calls show up on bills read by parents, and youth might want privacy for a long list of reasons including the parents being the problem. By using the Internet, people can connect one on one to ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086258 Sun, 31 Jul 2011 19:00:50 +0100 5086258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062221&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKxQymlbHfrs%2F Last week I offered my suggestion on the one book you should read, if you really want to understand the financial crisis. In this Part II, I offer a list of popular books, mostly written by journalists, along with very brief thoughts.  Part III, to come, will focus on more “scholarly” books. As general rule, these popular books lack a theoretical framework of the crisis. They often have the feel of a “bad people did bad things” narrative. These are only books I’ve actually read (and remember), so its a selective list. Some are insider stories of only a single firm, and hence, somewhat limited in their usefulness. I will also give little evidence behind my judgments, so if you don’t value my opinion, stop reading now.  1. All the Devils Are Here... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062221 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:34:33 +0100 5062221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062226&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFGsoGrS2IEA%2F I’ve argued that the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill does not end “too-big-to-fail”, that is the belief that certain companies are implicitly backed by the government because policy-makers are unlikely to let said institutions actually fail. By naming some companies as ”systemically important” — as required by Dodd-Frank — the government is actually sending a signal as to who is likely to be bailed out. As evidenced by regulators’ behavior during the financial crisis, the prime beneficiaries would be the creditors of these companies, as even when shareholders and management suffered, creditors generally did not. This should allow such firms to borrow at a cost lower than firms not deemed systemically important. Given this funding... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062226 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 12:53:37 +0100 5062226 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5057715&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlXYcBJQ_gTI%2F One commonly heard refrain is that the deregulation of banking caused the financial crisis.  To those of us that have actually spent years working on banking policy, such a claim is met with surprise.  What banking deregulation?  The usual response, with generally an absolute lack of detail or argument, is the repeal of Glass-Steagall by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB).  When the proponents of this claim bother to offer any explanation (in some circles simply invoking the name “Phil Gramm” substitutes for any analysis), it usually goes like this: With Glass-Steagall dead and gone, financial institutions were now free to grow large. That’s taken from the recent book Reckless Endangerment.  What it misses that is that Glass-Steagall placed zero constraints on th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5057715 Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:45:56 +0100 5057715 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050529&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F01Hsa0pm0OM%2F The “Gang of Six” senators has released an outline of budget reforms that would supposedly reduce deficits by $3.7 trillion over 10 years. Revenues would rise by at least $1 trillion, while spending would be theoretically trimmed by various procedural mechanisms. The plan promises to “strengthen the safety net,” “maintain investments,” and “maintain the basic structure” of Medicare and Medicaid, which doesn’t sound very reform-minded to me. The Gang of Six plan is a grander version of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s recent debt-limit proposal, which was aimed at putting off any spending cuts. The Gang outline has a few specific cuts, but the document mainly consists of promises to restrain spending and raise taxes in the future. I’m surprised that Sen. Tom Coburn supports the ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050529 Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:24:21 +0100 5050529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5036528&cid=t_113118_140_f&fid=34844&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheicarusproject.net%2Falternative-treatments%2Fharm-reduction-guide-to-coming-off-meds-greek-translation The Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs, published by The Icarus Project and Freedom Center, is now available in Greek - thanks to the dedicated volunteer translation work of Marianna Kefallinou.You can download the Greek version here.Οδηγός Μείωσης της Βλάβης για τη Διακοπή των Ψυχιατρικών Φαρμάκων (Source: The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness) The Icarus Project - Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5036528 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 21:25:03 +0100 5036528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028138&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyZZPNvIJeBs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIt’s probably never wise to inject oneself into the middle of a food fight, but since I think both sides actually have something right and something wrong, its been a worthwhile debate to follow.  That is the ongoing debate between Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute and David Min at the Center for American Progress (at least we can all agree we love America) on the role of Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mae) in the financial crisis.  If you can’t guess, Peter says Fannie/Freddie caused the crisis, David says they didn’t. David makes an interesting point, one I’ve actually argued, in his latest retort.  That is, this wasn’t exclusively a housing crisis/bubble.  Other sectors, like commercial real estate, boomed and then went bus... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028138 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:40:43 +0100 5028138 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4976152&cid=t_113118_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fspiritual-cpr.html Theoretically speaking, if you take proper maintenance of a car, it could last forever. My husband is pushing this theoretical truth every day in a 1984 Honda Accord. This runner has had many visits to the mechanic, and just as many repairs in our own garage. You could skip the maintenance and just go repair-to-repair. However, most people are aware of the enormous amount of trouble they get into if they skip maintenance.What is maintenance for life? I have loved Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs since I first read it. Maintenance probably covers the whole pyramid up until you hit self-actualization.Yet suddenly a crisis is upon you. A crisis of faith, a crack in your marriage, a season of grief or depression, the death of someone so important to you there are threads of that person all through ... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4976152 Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:51:00 +0100 4976152 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4945129&cid=t_113118_147_f&fid=39266&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCreationInteractive%2F%7E3%2FtfIIu6iuEZE%2F No one wants to be wrong; ever. As much as there are trendy business mantras such as ‘Fail Fast’ which apparently encourage failure (as long as you learn quickly), it somehow just doesn’t translate to the world of a pharmaceutical company. In fact, ‘fail-fast’ is really an engineering concept that is most often considered in a research and development phase, long before a product reaches the general public where it might affect reputation. To be fair, any kind of ‘failure’ in the world of pharmaceutical companies can potentially result in a significant loss in some form or another which could include shareholder value, customer confidence, or general credibility, not to mention individual careers. Consequently, we are risk-averse. Rightly so. As much as no individual wants to... Creation Interactive blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4945129 Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:00:35 +0100 4945129 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872059&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWnb5aAt27lM%2F By Jim HarperThe Patriot Act extension passed by Congress this week did not become the law of the land. It is void and without effect. So may argue some future defendant whose conviction rests on evidence gotten under Patriot Act powers during the extended period Congress sought to establish in the bill it passed this week. President Obama is at a meeting in Europe, so he had the bill signed by auto-pen. Representative Tom Graves (R-GA) has written a letter inquiring of the president whether he was presented the bill and truly intended to sign it. Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution says: Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872059 Fri, 27 May 2011 19:50:12 +0100 4872059 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4872105&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2011%2F05%2Ffree-market-medicine-and-lab-tests%2F As my surgical experiences come to a close, I have now begun to receive all the bills for services that were provided to me. One bill shows what one national health care provider considers “fair payment” for laboratory testing performed prior to my surgery. I matched that bill up with my insurance explanation of benefits to determine which prices go to what tests. Click on the picture below to enlarge. Fees for the lab testing were discounted anywhere from 70% to 90% off the provider’s published rates. A CBC cost $8.12 PT/PTT (coagulation studies) cost a total of $10.15 A basic metabolic panel cost $8.12 Nearly $200 in “handling fees” was waived. They accepted five bucks instead of the $16.70 they charged for drawing my blood. In summary, it would have cost me... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4872105 Thu, 26 May 2011 21:52:51 +0100 4872105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862509&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3XLKKkQF-xs%2F By George Scoville DON’T FORGET: Today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern at Cato, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty will detail specific spending cuts Congress can make as it tries to rein in the size and scope of the federal government in “Limiting Government: What Washington Can Learn from Minnesota.” Tune in at our live events hub, or watch on Facebook. It’s not low taxes that caused the Greek crisis, but high spending. A new Internal Revenue Service account reporting rule would drive out foreign capital. A defense budget that does not force trade-offs assumes the United States can take on any mission, and that all are necessary. If the Affordable Care Act is so great, why are so many people seeking waivers? Wednesday Links is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862509 Wed, 25 May 2011 16:00:32 +0100 4862509 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862510&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYucnq5cUyoY%2F By Jim HarperIf you haven’t seen it already, be sure to give a read to Friedman Prize winner Hernando de Soto‘s recent piece in Business Week, “The Destruction of Economic Facts.” It’s a fascinating perspective on the economic and financial turmoil that is wracking the United States and the world. As de Soto perceives more easily from working in developing economies, an important input into functioning markets is good information—about property, ownership, debts, and so on. The “destruction of economic facts” is one of the roots of instability and uncertainty in Europe and the United States: “In a few short decades the West undercut 150 years of legal reforms that made the global economy possible.” The law and markets are informat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862510 Wed, 25 May 2011 15:42:19 +0100 4862510 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862514&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBrZgMjl4-q0%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThere’s a great piece in the spring issue of The Independent Review on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke by San Jose State Professor Jeffrey Rogers Hummel.  Although a bit long, its well worth the read for anyone wanting to understand both Bernanke’s thinking and his actions during and since the financial crisis. First, Prof. Hummel discusses the differences between Bernanke’s and Milton Friedman’s explanations for the Great Depression.  Those that debate whether Bernanke’s actions, especially the quantitative easings, would be approved of by Friedman will get a lot out of this discussion.  From this comparison, you get the point that Friedman was concerned about overall credit conditions and liquidity, whereas Bernanke is less focuse... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862514 Tue, 24 May 2011 19:15:18 +0100 4862514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4780292&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-bKAEJ36A_Q%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThe Wall Street Journal has pointed out that in his recent press conference Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke used the words “inflation expectations” (or some variation) 21 times. His argument is that we need not worry about inflation because we will see it coming, and then the Fed will do something about it. Such an argument relies heavily on the ability of inflation expectations to predict inflation. Which of course raises the question, just how predictive are inflation expectations? The graph below compares inflation, as measured by CPI, and inflation expectations, as measured by the University of Michigan consumer survey, the longest times series we have on inflation expectations. Clearly the two move together. For instance, the correlation between c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4780292 Tue, 03 May 2011 17:17:37 +0100 4780292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4753662&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FinGdljgrPLk%2F By David BoazTalking about royal weddings on NPR, Tina Brown says that there’s high unemployment in Britain, as there was in 1981, because of Conservative governments’ budget cuts (transcript edited to match broadcast): Of course, the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana occurred three decades ago, but Brown points out that there are plenty of similarities between the two eras. “2.5 million are out of work right now with the budget slashes and all the economic austerity that’s happening in England,” Brown says. “There were actually the same amount of people exactly out of work at the time of Charles and Diana, when Mrs. Thatcher came in and began her draconian moves.” I know that Tina Brown is a journalist, not an economist, but surely she’s h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4753662 Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:29:32 +0100 4753662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4704713&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F12%2F6-tips-for-living-with-an-autism-spectrum-disorder-in-college%2F As Autism Awareness month continues, April is a time of transition for many high school seniors, as they learn what colleges and universities they got into. So it seems like an ideal time to talk about autism and college, and some tips to help with the transition. The excerpt below is from the book, Living Well on the Spectrum by author Valerie L. Gaus, Ph.D. The book is a self-help book that helps a person with an autism spectrum disorder identify life goals and the steps needed to achieve them. Read on for the excerpt… April is the month when most high school seniors receive their college acceptance letters and begin to plan the next phase of their lives. The transition from high school to college can be very difficult for people on the spectrum. All too often I am referred a youn... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4704713 Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:05:05 +0100 4704713 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684667&cid=t_113118_135_f&fid=35247&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmyjourneywithaids.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F06%2Fan-early-political-rally%2F It seemed, in hindsight, to be less of a political rally, such as go on during an election campaign, and more of a small-town welcome to a Prime Minister.  It might well have been both. On the lawn in front of a specially-built stage across from the band-shell, between beautiful Stewart Park and the stately [...] (Source: My journey with AIDS) My journey with AIDS blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684667 Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:28:17 +0100 4684667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4684278&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FM-AHhGfm6-Y%2F By George Scoville Republicans have a big opportunity to undo Obamacare and reform Medicaid and Medicare all at once. It's a good thing, too, because we're facing a big debt crisis and if we don't change course, federal spending will crest 42% of GDP by 2050. There's also a big elephant in the room in an excessively complicated tax code. One has to wonder if the Republicans intend to put the big sacred cow of defense spending on the table. Unrelated to the budget, education choice proponents scored a big victory in the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday in ACSTO v. Winn, a decision that upheld education tax credits: Tuesday Links is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4684278 Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:13:52 +0100 4684278 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4658606&cid=t_113118_147_f&fid=39266&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCreationInteractive%2F%7E3%2FW-uuC_KjMJM%2F Less than three weeks after a Facebook page was set up by one patient angry with KV Pharmaceuticals’ pricing of its newly approved drug Makena, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has today announced that KV should not have exclusive rights to produce similar products. This apparent about-turn resulted in the pharmaceutical company’s share price plummeting, placing it at the top of the NYSE Biggest Percentage Decliners list with a more than 20% drop in share value. Prior to today’s FDA announcement, KV Pharmaceuticals had been granted seven years of exclusivity under the Orphan Drug Act and received what the FDA describes as ‘considerable assistance from the federal government in connection with the development of Makena’. After the product was approved on March 10, KV Phar... Creation Interactive blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4658606 Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:30:45 +0100 4658606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4642575&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0-9tGgFrTbk%2F By Daniel J. MitchellA previous post of mine at International Liberty addressed the debate over whether Republicans should trim the IRS's budget. The following case study should convince everyone that the answer is a resounding yes. First, some background from a Joe Nocera column in the New York Times. The federal government made a rather troubling decision a few years ago to investigate, prosecute, and ultimately imprison a random home-loan borrower named Charlie Engle for the crime of mortgage fraud. Mr. Engle is far from blameless in this saga, but I noted in another post that it was rather odd that the government would target a nobody while letting all the big fish swim away. This episode certainly paints a picture of a government that has one set of rules for ordinary people, but a... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4642575 Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:08:00 +0100 4642575 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610794&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-CmQhTHrVgc%2F By Mark A. CalabriaDebates over the causes of the financial crisis sometimes center on whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "late to the party" in terms of subprime lending.  As it relates to the recent crisis, I address this question elsewhere.  The GSEs and their apologists do claim to have been big contributors to one party: the expansion of homeownership in the United States.  Yet the facts suggest otherwise. The chart below compares the GSE's market-share, in terms of home mortgage lending (as reported in the Fed's Flow of Funds data), with the national homeownership rate (as reported in the Decennial Census).  The chart makes readily apparent that the largest increases in homeownership occurred before the GSEs played much of a role, if any, in the mortgage market.  For ins... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610794 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:04:15 +0100 4610794 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4606039&cid=t_113118_147_f&fid=39266&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCreationInteractive%2F%7E3%2Fb3UyJxkYNVs%2F The launch of a Facebook page by pregnant mothers in the USA angry about KV Pharmaceuticals’ pricing of its newly FDA-approved synthetic progesterone product, Makena, raises once again the urgent need for pharmaceutical companies to plan ahead for social media engagement. Let’s take a brief look at the facts around this emerging PR crisis for KV. Approved by the FDA on February 4, 2011, Makena is the first FDA-approved drug to prevent premature births. Makena has also been granted orphan drug status by the FDA, meaning that only KV Pharmaceuticals will be able to make and sell it for the next seven years. As KV Pharmaceuticals say in their statement, “Prior to FDA approval of Makena, mothers who could benefit from therapy faced significant barriers to access due to the absence of a ... Creation Interactive blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4606039 Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:36:45 +0100 4606039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4600516&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnBZjUjXk7YU%2F By Mark A. CalabriaThanks to Denver lawyer Kevin Evans, who filed the Freedom of Information Act Request, we now know that several employees of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) might have missed the financial crisis because their eyes were glued to their computer screens watching porn. The chart below shows the number of incidents, as reported by the SEC's Inspector General.  What caught my eye was that the number of porn-viewing incidents shows a massive spike in 2008, when the financial crisis was at its worst. It should, of course, be noted that the overall level of incidents was small in number, so we shouldn't draw too many conclusions about the SEC overall.  We should, however, be concerned at at least one of these employees was being paid $222,418 a year.  I might be... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4600516 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:51:11 +0100 4600516 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4459941&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQR3poXuB5DM%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoThe new Brazilian government of President Dilma Rousseff has announced spending cuts of 50 billion reais (approximately $30 billion) this year. This amounts to approximately 1.3% of the country’s estimated GDP for 2011. Despite good intentions, that is still a very timid effort in curbing the size of government in Brazil: Total government spending (including state and local levels) runs at almost 40% of GDP. Perhaps the timidity of the proposal is explained by the fact that curbing the size of government is not the motivation for the spending cuts. Nor is it to avoid a looming fiscal crisis. Brazil’s estimated budget deficit for 2010 was 2.3% of GDP; not good, but still a far cry from the fiscal woes of Europe or the U.S. Dilma’s reason for cutting spending lies... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4459941 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:57:02 +0100 4459941 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4433101&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fconfronting-the-empty-cradles-of-infant-mortality%2F2011.02.03 I have gushed praise for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for a long time. (Disclosure: I cut my teeth in journalism as a Journal Company employee way back in 1973. No ties since 1976.) As a mid-market newspaper facing all of the same hurdles as other newspapers, it consistently demonstrates tenacity and creativity in tackling vital healthcare issues in this country. The latest: A project called “Empty Cradles: Confronting Our Infant Mortality Crisis.” While there is a great health/medicine/science team in place at the Journal Sentinel, I believe that much of the credit goes to the top — to editor Marty Kaiser, who clearly understands that healthcare issues are among the most important his paper can report on in serving public needs. Kaiser writes: “The Journal Sen... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4433101 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:00:29 +0100 4433101 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4419067&cid=t_113118_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F01%2F30%2Fsunday-news-round-up-still-here-edition%2F Some things that caught my eye this week; for new folks, the Sunday news round-up tends to focus more on social issues than research or resources, including whatever I’ve noted for later reading from my RSS feeds or Twitter. First, the English-language site for Al Jazeera has the most complete coverage I’ve seen of what’s going on in Egypt for those who need it in the English language. I’m woefully behind on the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” proposed by House Republicans, so this first chunk is catching up. It seems to me to be completely unnecessary political posturing on the backs of women (and especially rape victims, as we’ll see), given that there are existing restrictions preventing federal funding for abortion. I know it includes... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4419067 Sun, 30 Jan 2011 17:31:37 +0100 4419067 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4405784&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2011%2F01%2Fgaming-obamacare%2F Remember my post a few months back about how some large companies were getting waivers so they didn’t have to pay into the new health care system? Things are getting worse.  According to this article on The Hill, the feds just granted new insurance waivers to more than 500 groups, bringing the total number of individuals covered by waivers to 2.1 million. The system just isn’t going to work. Let me get my soapbox out here. [Tap tap tap] Is this thing on? Good. First, there’s still this misconception that the “mandate” to purchase insurance will somehow translate into accessibility of medical care. It doesn’t work that way. I’ve said it before. Purchasing health insurance doesn’t mean that you have access to health care any more than purchasi... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4405784 Thu, 27 Jan 2011 17:24:46 +0100 4405784 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4309591&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fi3nv6xvoctA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaSince the financial crisis, “deregulation” has become a catch-all phrase for everything that went wrong in our financial markets.  Unfortunately said deregulation is rarely ever explained, but is rather asserted.  To truly inform policy debates, discussions must center on specific instances of deregulation.  One such example of banking deregulation that did actually occur was the The Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 (imagine that, a Democrat Congress and a Democrat President deregulating the banking industry).  The heart of Riegle-Neal was to remove barriers to interstate branching.  A recent article in the Journal of Finance looks at the impact of bank branching deregulation on the distribution of income across U.S. St... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4309591 Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:04:36 +0100 4309591 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4300537&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2bPnfCZSqhY%2F By David BoazCato senior fellow Johan Norberg, author of In Defense of Global Capitalism and Financial Fiasco, has the cover story in this week’s issue of The Spectator, the eminent 182-year-old British weekly. Titled “The great debt bubble of 2011,” it warns that governments are repeating their mistakes of the past decade: There is a broad consensus that the financial crisis of 2007 was at least in part a result of record-low interest rates, huge deficits and large-scale credit-financed consumption. Today, governments across the world are trying to solve the crisis — by means of record-low interest rates, huge deficits and large-scale credit-financed consumption. This time, they are also using more novel means of creating easy money: bank bailouts, stimulus packages an... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4300537 Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:43:47 +0100 4300537 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4285185&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F31i8jvdjJy8%2F By Mark A. CalabriaJust in time for the holidays, the Congressional Budget Office has released its analysis of the costs and benefits of various alternatives to our current system of mortgage finance, particularly the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The report examines three possibilities: A hybrid public/private model in which the government provides explicit guarantees on privately issued mortgages or MBSs; A fully public model in which a wholly federal entity would guarantee qualifying mortgages or MBSs; or A fully private model in which there would be no special federal backing for the secondary mortgage market. The report doesn’t really push one option over another, but simply lays out the advantages and disadvantages of each.  Some highlights worth keeping in mind as th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4285185 Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:52:03 +0100 4285185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4265685&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FLgWHTqcgriY%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA recurring concern we have heard since the financial crisis erupted is that banks are simply not lending, and that this is holding back economic activity.  If only banks would lend, the economy would grow.  As usual, the truth is a little more complex.  Unlike in the Great Depression, and despite about 300 bank failures, the balance sheets and deposits of insured commercial banks and thrifts has been steady, if slowly, expanding throughout the financial crisis and recess.  Banks have continued lending during this time; however, they have changed who they are lending to.  Over the last two years we have witnessed a massive shift from lending to the private sector to lending to the public. The chart below shows banking business lending and bank holdings of U.S. gover... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4265685 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 20:14:31 +0100 4265685 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241727&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2F712wumls17c%2F A 6 year-old boy presents with 5 days of vomiting. He is drowsy, lethargic and is now too weak to walk. What's going on? (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241727 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:17 +0100 4241727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233169&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fjj2GEDCeKvc%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA constant narrative of the financial crisis is that banks out-smarted the government by taking excessive risks, and that if only we had empowered regulators, the whole crisis would have been avoided.  The truth, however, is that government was often the driver of excessive risk-taking, and nowhere is that more true than in the mortgage market. One of the worst offenders has been the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).  Even today, one can get an FHA backed loan with only a 3.5% downpayment.  After the financing of seller concessions, the borrower can leave the closing table with zero, or even negative, equity.  FHA will even offer these low equity loans to subprime borrowers, those with the worst credit history.  If there’s anything to be learned from the f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233169 Mon, 06 Dec 2010 12:12:57 +0100 4233169 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230164&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F12%2Fdeath-panels-and-access-to-care%2F I read an article in the New York Times that underscores my argument that health care insurance does not and never will equal health care access. Our federal and state governments are being crushed by debt. There are many reasons for that debt, and addressing the reasons for the debt are a necessary aspect of decreasing the debt. For example, if a family household had overdrawn its checking account by several thousand dollars and their credit cards were maxed out, most people would consider it foolish for the family to purchase expensive cars, to donate large sums of money to charity, to go out to eat at expensive restaurants, or to continue purchasing large amounts of weapons to stockpile in its basement. When in debt, there are two options – earn more money or reduce spending. Usin... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230164 Sun, 05 Dec 2010 04:49:17 +0100 4230164 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219724&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fb62q3LyCjcs%2F By Johan NorbergThe financial crisis and global warming have reinforced an age-old criticism of our traditional ways of measuring wealth, and a number of alternative indexes have been proposed that would instead measure people’s well-being and environmental sustainability. There are problems with using GDP. It involves an incredible amount of guesswork; and even if it were perfect, it would be bizarre to use production of goods and services as the only yardstick to evaluate our societies. But finding problems is one thing; it is something completely different to find an alternative that is better. Any sort of well-being index would require agreement on what well-being is, and there is a risk that governments would be tempted to find a one-size-fits-all standard and try to make us all wea... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219724 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:58:36 +0100 4219724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190151&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwheres-my-government-provided-healthcare%2F2010.11.22 Freshman Republican Congressman Andy Harris, who was elected on a promise to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), is outraged that he’s going to go a whole month before his government-provided health insurance kicks in. From Politico: A conservative Maryland physician elected to Congress on an anti-Obamacare platform surprised fellow freshmen at a Monday orientation session by demanding to know why his government-subsidized health care plan takes a month to kick in. Republican Andy Harris, an anesthesiologist who defeated freshman Democrat Frank Kratovil on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, reacted incredulously when informed that federal law mandated that his government-subsidized health care policy would take effect on Feb. 1st –- 28 days after his Jan. 3rd sw... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190151 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:00:00 +0100 4190151 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4186905&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcovertrationingblog.com%2Fpodpress_trac%2Ffeed%2F1076%2F0%2Fobesity-mortgage-crisis.mp3 Q. What’s the difference between a public health expert and an incompetent doctor? A. An incompetent doctor tends to kill only one person at a time. The deep recession and jobless “recovery” which we have enjoyed in the U.S. for going on three years now was triggered by the bursting of the housing bubble. The housing bubble was created by lending practices that awarded “subprime” mortgages to people with bad credit ratings, and offered to people with good credit ratings adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) that enticed them to purchase more expensive homes than they could afford. Traditionally, banks were always reluctant to award mortgages, of any flavor, to people who obviously could not afford them, since doing so would wreck their businesses. The reason the banks began making bad... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4186905 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 18:00:06 +0100 4186905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4179304&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgzQCugAF_pg%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIreland is in deep fiscal trouble and the Germans and the French apparently want the politicians in Dublin to increase the nation’s 12.5 percent corporate tax rate as the price for being bailed out. This is almost certainly the cause of considerable smugness and joy in Europe’s high-tax nations, many of which have been very resentful of Ireland for enjoying so much prosperity in recent decades in part because of a low corporate tax burden. But is there any reason to think Ireland’s competitive corporate tax regime is responsible for the nation’s economic crisis? The answer, not surprisingly, is no. Here’s a chart from one of Ireland’s top economists, looking at taxes and spending for past 27 years. You can see that revenues grew rapi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4179304 Thu, 18 Nov 2010 20:42:11 +0100 4179304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4167960&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmedical-malpractice-reform-would-doctors-accept-the-deal%2F2010.11.15 The bipartisan debt commission appointed by President Obama recently released its recommendations on how to pare the country’s debt. Of interest to doctors is the suggestion to change the way doctors are paid. Physician lobbies have been advocating for removal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula — the flawed method by which Medicare, and subsequently private insurers, pays doctors. According to this method, physicians are due for a pay cut of more than 20 percent next month. According to the commission: The plan proposes eliminating the SGR in 2015 and replacing it with a “modest reduction” for physicians and other providers. The plan doesn’t elaborate on what constitutes a “modest reduction” in Medicare reimbursement. Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicai... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4167960 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 15:00:26 +0100 4167960 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164558&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F14%2Fthe-situation-of-the-2008-economic-crisis%2F Charles Furgeson has produced a powerful documentary, “Inside Job,” about the deep capture of financial (de)regulation.  Here’s the trailer. * * * * * * For a sample of related Situationist posts, see “The Deeply Captured Situation of the Economic Crisis,” “Our Stake in Corporate Behavior,” “Larry Lessig’s Situationism,” “The Situation of Policy Research and Policy Outcomes,” “Industry-Funded Research,” “De-Capturing the FDA,” “The Situation of Talk Radio,” “Deep Capture – Part X,” and “The company ‘had no control or influence over the research’.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164558 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 04:01:20 +0100 4164558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4125063&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F01%2Fthomas-bornemann-ed-d-on-the-georgia-mental-health-settlement%2F Two weeks ago, Georgia reached a historic settlement with the Federal Government regarding treatment in mental health care for Georgia’s most vulnerable residents — those who live in state hospitals or under the state’s auspices. Recently, I had the pleasure to sit down with Thomas H. Bornemann, Ed.D., the Director of the Carter Center Mental Health Program to talk to him about the settlement. John M. Grohol, Psy.D.: What are some of the highlights of that settlement? Thomas H. Bornemann, Ed.D. Well, we think this is a groundbreaker, and a lot of our colleagues from around the country that we talked to are also seeing it similarly. What we were able to do is to take a lawsuit that is essentially about inadequate care in institutional settings — in our state hospital... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4125063 Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:30:18 +0100 4125063 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4097940&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwaiting-for-the-doctor-can-be-a-blessing%2F2010.10.22 I have an easy solution to a vexing problem in today’s healthcare crisis. A problem so widespread that it’s worth hundreds of words in the Wall Street Journal: Long wait times at the doctor’s office. But first, before I give my simple, pragmatic, master-of-the-obvious solution, let me say something truthful: I try. I try really hard — to run on time, that is. I’ve been there myself — a patient in a gown, in a cold room with only big pharma-sponsored propaganda on the walls to stare at. At the risk of a sounding like a…blogger, let it be said that practicing quality medicine in the current luxury of technology is much more complicated than it used to be. Such complexity devours our most precious treasure: Time with the patient. (more…) *Th... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4097940 Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:00:00 +0100 4097940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4086462&cid=t_113118_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F10%2F20%2Fbanks-to-underwater-homeowners-dont-get-comfy%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Banks to Underwater Homeowners: Don’t Get Comfy. Missed out on Katrina? Now Katrina is coming to you!     Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: banks, foreclosure, housing crisis, humor, mortgage, political cartoon, robert donna trussell, underwater (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4086462 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 16:52:51 +0100 4086462 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4077230&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4hxWmZF24Rk%2F By Ian VasquezPresident Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic has just given an important speech in Prague on Central and Eastern Europe and on the IMF. Among other lessons of the global financial crisis he points to the growing menace of the IMF: I consider the IMF a barbaric relic from the Keynesian and fixed-exchange rate era. I know it is a harsh verdict but Keynes himself repeatedly used similar strong statements about his colleagues which justifies my using such a terminology.   I am convinced the IMF should be dismantled or radically restructured as soon as possible. To do the opposite, to increase its role as it happened as a result of the last year’s G20 decision in the middle of the panic connected with the then looming crisis or to speculate about creating similar institutions ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4077230 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:19:05 +0100 4077230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4077233&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FjRvcfj9F_nE%2F By Jim HarperLate last month, the National Research Council released a book entitled Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities that exposes the many difficulties with biometric identification systems. Popular culture has portrayed biometrics as nearly infallible, but it’s just not so, the report emphasizes. Especially at scale, biometrics will encounter a lot of challenges, from engineering problems to social and legal considerations. “[N]o biometric characteristic, including DNA, is known to be capable of reliably correct individualization over the size of the world’s population,” the report says (page 30). As with analog, in-person identification, biometrics produces a probabilistic identification (or exclusion), but not a certain one. Many biometrics ch... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4077233 Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:07:03 +0100 4077233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031221&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBfkXu8UcSjI%2F By Gabriela Calderon de BurgosLast Thursday I left home at 7:50am to do a radio interview. Little did I know that I would not be able to get back to work that day until 3:00pm because the national police would block the main avenues and bridges in my city, Guayaquil, Ecuador. The police went on a national strike burning tires and openly disobeying the government. Grocery stores, drugstores, banks and other shops were sacked for most of the day as a result.  Some disgruntled members of the air force, who sympathized with the police and are in charge of running airports, shut down a few airports including the one in Quito, the capital. President Rafael Correa was quick to call this a coup d’état attempt. But it was not. All of the military high command expressly supported the President f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031221 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:10:23 +0100 4031221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018160&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyR11yQMw_ls%2F By Mark A. CalabriaAn argument often heard for keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or some sort of subsidy for mortgages, is the desire to keep the 30 year fixed rate mortgage “affordable.” The 30 year fixed certainly has some merits – which borrowers should be willing to pay for – but it also has the downside of reducing the impact of monetary policy in stabilizing the economy. Generally interest rates go down in a recession and up in an expansion.  Part of this is the reaction of the Federal Reserve, which tends to cut rates in a recession, but part is also the fact that the demand for credit also declines in a recession and increases in an expansion. If borrowers moved to adjustable rate mortgages, then in recessions they would likely see a reduction in their mo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018160 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:43:19 +0100 4018160 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3993913&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fmental-health-too-many-pills-too-little-truth%2F2010.09.21 This is my column in [the September 17th] Greenville News. It’s a follow-up to a recent column I wrote on the mental health “crisis” in America, as seen in our emergency rooms. My last column addressed the unfortunate truth of the overwhelmed mental health system in South Carolina, and indeed in much of the U.S. While I lament the fiscal condition of our mental health system, and while I feel for those who truly need the help we are often powerless to supply, I would be a poor observer if I didn’t report the truth. And the second truth we must face is that much of what we call mental illness is neither truly “mental,” nor even “illness.” Let me first state the obvious: The brain is an organ. It is incalculably complex and truly a wonder of design... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3993913 Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:00:41 +0100 3993913 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3972903&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5tvdJ_PA2S4%2F By Mark A. CalabriaDespite every major US bank being declared by regulators as “well capitalized” prior to the financial crisis, we still found ourselves watching the government plow hundreds of billions of capital into said banks.  How can this be?  The answer is quite simple:  we were lied to.  Maybe that’s a little harsh, after all these banks did meet the regulatory definition of “well capitalized”.  But when push came to shove, market participants rightly ignored regulatory capital.  After all you cannot use things like “deferred tax losses” to pay your bills with. It is hard to improve upon Martin Wolf’s observation in today’s Financial Times:  “This amount of equity is far below levels markets would impose if invest... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3972903 Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:03:49 +0100 3972903 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899461&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F08%2F25%2Flaurie-santos-on-the-evolutionary-situation-of-cognitive-biases%2F From BigThink: Dr. Laurie Santos is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Yale University. Her research provides an interface between evolutionary biology, developmental psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, exploring the evolutionary origins of the human mind by comparing the cognitive abilities of human and non-human primates. Her experiments focus on non-human primates (in captivity and in the field), incorporating methodologies from cognitive development, animal learning psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. * * * * * * From TedTalks: Laurie Santos looks for the roots of human irrationality by watching the way our primate relatives make decisions. A clever series of experiments in “monkeynomics” shows that some of the silly choices we make, monkeys make too. * * * ... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899461 Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:01:03 +0100 3899461 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3880828&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgrG-A9SYFKA%2F Yesterday the Treasury and HUD hosted a “Conference on the Future of Mortgage Finance.”  It was an invite-only of Washington insiders.  Somehow I found myself on the invite list, which was almost enough to make me believe that the Administration was finally serious about reforming Fannie and Freddie. After getting over the nausea of being in a room full of people who I personally knew bore some responsibility for the mess we are in, I was then shocked that, compared to the rest of the room, Treasury Secretary Geithner came across as the radical.  On one hand Geithner was very clear that the Administration was going to push for some sort of government guarantee, but also that the current structure, particularly Fannie and Freddie, were broken.  He also went as far as admitti... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3880828 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:50:52 +0100 3880828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3876933&cid=t_113118_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FD1SFeDoeEdU%2F This guest post was contributed by Jane Sanders, who writes about debt management and other personal finance topics at DebtManagement.net. “A man in debt is so far a slave” – Ralph Waldo Emerson One of the greatest hardships a person can face is being burdened by debt. In addition to paying off the original loan, interest (often at extremely high rates) continues to add to the total, making the ultimate pay off far higher than what was borrowed in the first place. Having debt robs a person of freedom. They can’t leave a job they don’t like to pursue a new career, bad credit often prevents them from buying essentials like a home or a car, and it hangs over them for years, chipping away at the amount they can spend and save. It also creates stress, because some... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3876933 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:51:42 +0100 3876933 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3876596&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2Fwhen-the-going-gets-tough-do-your-friends-bail%2F Lucky Samantha: Not all friends are as supportive as Charlotte, Miranda, and Carrie in the face of a major crisis. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. But that’s not always the case when it comes to your friends: In the midst of a health crisis, there’s often a friend (or two) who seems to disappear. Harriet Brown experienced this firsthand after her two daughters both experienced serious health problems, and her mother-in-law died of lung cancer. She described how some of her friends reacted to her crisis in the New York Times: At first, I barely noticed; I was overwhelmed with getting through each day. As the year wore on, though, and life settled in to a new if unpleasant version of normal, I began to wonder what had happened. G... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3876596 Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:15:01 +0100 3876596 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3866939&cid=t_113118_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fearly-cholera-cases-ominous-sign-pakistani-flooding%2F In a likely to be burgeoning medical crisis, foreign medical aid workers have confirmed the first cases of cholera in victims of the flooding in Pakistan. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3866939 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:04:28 +0100 3866939 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3865242&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Feating-praying-loving-in-pop-culture-a-female-mid-life-crisis-retrospective%2F Elizabeth Gilbert isn’t the first woman to experience a mid-life crisis, and today’s highly anticipated Eat, Pray, Love (based on her book by the same name) isn’t the first movie to idealize the messy process with a beautiful actress and benevolent outcome. Here’s our retrospective of pop culture empires built on the needs of thousands of women to live vicariously through another, better life crisis (themes include sex, drugs, crimes, Italy, and divorce): Post from: BlissTree Eating, Praying, Loving In Pop Culture: A Female Mid-Life Crisis Retrospective (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3865242 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:02:51 +0100 3865242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3807429&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F31%2Fhelp-prevent-suicide%2F “If I was going to kill myself, I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else.” As a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in crisis intervention and Emergency Room Psychiatry, I hear that a lot. Over 30,000 Americans will take their own lives this year. More people die by suicide each year than homicide, yet suicides rarely make the nightly news. Sometimes it’s hard to know when someone you love and care about may be hurting inside and may need help. If your friends or family are thinking about killing themselves, and they don’t tell you, how can you help them? You can help because there are signs and clues before someone attempts to hurt or kill themselves, a prelude that you may be able to recognize after reading this information. Anyone can commit suicide. Suicides... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3807429 Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:32:40 +0100 3807429 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795051&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fusing-social-media-in-crisis-distribute.html The "Social Media During a Crisis" roundtable discussion lead by Deborah Sittig (@GreenRoomMedia), Partner at Green Room Public Relations, was one of the most interesting events for me at ExL Pharma's 6th Annual Public Relations & Communications Summit. The question posed for discussion was "How can digital communications be utilized to best support patient safety during a crisis situation."Also of importance was how to best protect the company's image during a crisis.Needless to say, Sanofi-Aventis and Johnson & Johnson were the two most discussed case studies during the roundtable (see "Disgruntled Patient Shuts Down sanofi-aventis Facebook Page" and "Despite Its Social Media Expertise, J&J Fails to Use It Effectively to Communicate to Consumers").Here's Sittig's summary of t... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795051 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:48:00 +0100 3795051 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3790688&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Frq4_rNvTVQE%2F By Andrew J. CoulsonWashington state legislators will reportedly have to cut billions from the budget when they reconvene next session, and governor Christine Gregoire has commissioned a privatization study to see if taking the big step makes economic sense. Washington’s public schools spend about $13 billion annually (around $13,000/pupil — see Table 8 here), so increasing the system’s efficiency has the potential to solve the state’s budget crisis…. …which is why many Washington taxpayers will be disappointed to learn that the governor’s privatization study is only for the ferry system, not the schools. Since ferry-travelers pick up about two thirds of the system’s operating costs, its total burden on taxpayers is 26 times smaller than th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3790688 Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:31:07 +0100 3790688 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3776438&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F07%2F21%2Fwanted-crisis-hotline-stories%2F Crisis and suicide hotlines are the backbone of most civilized nation’s response to suicidal individuals and are often the “first line” of intervention and response. Surprisingly, very little large-scale research has been conducted on the effectiveness of suicide hotlines, whether they actually save people’s lives, and what kind of followup they provide for individuals in crisis. In one recent research study, Mishara et al. (2007) found that suicide hotline call center quality and the nature of their interventions varied considerably. The researchers also found that call centers tended to do little systematic quality assurance to ensure that volunteers who man the suicide hotlines are conducting interventions according to their initial training. They also found tha... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3776438 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:42:18 +0100 3776438 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3757853&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FzlUfcsucppc%2F By Tad DeHavenRepublicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee have announced support for caps on the discretionary spending portion of the federal budget. According to press reports, discretionary spending under the cap for fiscal year 2011 would be approximately $20 billion less than what the president has proposed. Appropriators — often referred to as the “third party” in Washington — exist to do one thing: spend other people’s money. Getting appropriators to agree to place any sort of limit themselves is a plus. However, it’s hard to get excited about spending $20 billion less than the president. As the following chart shows, discretionary outlays have soared in the past decade: With three months still to go in the current budget year, the federal deficit has alr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3757853 Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:52:58 +0100 3757853 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753800&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfhxDQx5BPbg%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWith Majority Leader Harry Reid’s announcement that Democrats have the 60 votes needed for final passage of the Dodd-Frank financial bill, we can take a moment and remember this as the moment Congress planted the seeds of the next financial crisis. In choosing to ignore the actual causes of the financial crisis — loose monetary policy, Fannie/Freddie, and never-ending efforts to expand homeownership — and instead further expanding government guarantees behind financial risk-taking, Congress is eliminating whatever market discipline might have been left in the banking industry.  But we shouldn’t be surprised, since this administration and Congress have consistently chosen to ignore the real problems facing our country — unemployment, perverse gover... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753800 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:35:26 +0100 3753800 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3753827&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-canary-and-the-primary-care-physician%2F2010.07.14 The vexing problem with “truth” when it comes to healthcare is to understand its limits. Let’s start with two  popular notions. The first: canaries are harbingers for detecting chemical leaks. The second: primary care specialists claim higher salaries for their work will prevent their extinction. Both claims sound plausible, but then come the conditions, the nuances, the variables and empirical testing and observation — the so called threads of truth. Notion 1, The Canaries: In 1972 my brother passed through the military’s basic training and was Vietnam bound until a perfect score on a standardized test, his Phi Beta Kappa and a chemistry degree from college rerouted his destiny to a remote patch of the Utah desert. Instead of being a foot soldier, he gave back to his count... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3753827 Wed, 14 Jul 2010 12:00:59 +0100 3753827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3746748&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F07%2Fi-suppose-its-better-than-death-panels%2F Revealing article in Bloomberg online today about the latest way in which elderly patients are getting screwed by the system. Medicare reviews all admissions and if the patients don’t meet indications for admission, the hospital doesn’t get paid by Medicare. Medicare has also recently implemented a mercenary system called Recovery Audit Contractors (or RAC for short) in which third parties audit hospital charts to see whether Medicare “overpaid” for a patient’s visit. If the auditor finds an “overpayment”, the auditor gets to keep a percentage of that overpayment.  Just as an aside, most states have laws against percentage “fee splitting” such as this since paying someone on a percentage basis creates a conflict of interest that encour... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3746748 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:11:09 +0100 3746748 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3746723&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fsys1uTe-o4M%2F By Jim HarperThe ACLU is representing several plaintiffs in a recently filed lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s ”No Fly” list. The video in this “Blog of Rights” post tells the story of two of the plaintiffs. “I wanna go home!” laughs U.S. Marine veteran Ayman Latif. “I wanna see my mom. I want her to see my babies.” No-fly listing is a constitutional aberration in which the executive branch unilaterally imposes a disability on persons it selects using unpublished criteria. It often denies these individuals any recourse by obscuring the reasons why they aren’t permitted to fly. Bills in the House and Senate would extend the use of the “no-fly” list to use in gun control. There is no way to clear up the “n... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3746723 Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:37:51 +0100 3746723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718366&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Famericas-energy-sacrifices-a-cartoon-that-makes-us-sad%2F There’s really not much else we can add – this cartoon says it all. If only we could just laugh off this comic strip. via Reddit Post from: BlissTree America's Energy Sacrifices: A Cartoon That Makes Us Sad (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718366 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:00:12 +0100 3718366 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3714158&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FokgkHJ5mJkA%2F By Juan Carlos HidalgoLa Nación of Argentina reports today [in Spanish] that—shocker!—the Argentine government used funds from the nationalized pension funds to finance its current spending. Let’s remember that over a year and a half ago, the administration of Cristina Fernández announced the nationalization of the private pension funds—$30 billion worth of assets—under the claim that the international financial crisis threatened to wash away the retirement savings of Argentine workers. However, it was clear from the beginning what the government’s real intentions were, especially since a surtax imposed on farmers had just been repealed by the courts and defeated in Congress. Even Argentina’s populist hero, Juan Domingo Perón, warned 35 years earlier about a similar move f... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3714158 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:44:58 +0100 3714158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3699466&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fsex-ed-middle-aged-swingers-at-risk-for-stds%2F photo: Thinkstock Sex-Ed class was a magical time in our lives: Awkward stories about periods, terrifying videos of babies being born, and, of course, disgusting pictures of sexually transmitted diseases. We’d say that most teenagers are thoroughly freaked after taking that course, and probably try their best to avoid getting any of the dreaded STDs. But what about the 45 and over crowd? Not necessarily the group you’d think were at risk for STDs, but “swingers” in this age bracket actually are at a high risk for chlamydia and gonorrhea. Yep – middle-aged swingers. According to CNN, Researchers are saying that couples over 45 practicing group sex and partner-swapping weren’t as well-educated about STDs back in the 1960s or earlier, when they should have been... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3699466 Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:46:16 +0100 3699466 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3695703&cid=t_113118_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fwhat-does-fatigue-feel-like%2F We all know what it is to be tired, exhausted or sleepy. As part of the human cycle of life we eat, we work, we sleep, and we awake, refreshed. Don’t we? Some of us do but many of us do not. The 24-hour day changes for many of us as night becomes day, sleep brings no relief, and mornings are not refreshing. How could we possibly awake with the same feeling of heaviness we had when we went to bed? For many of us who live with chronic pain, chronic illness or are experiencing some acute health crisis, fatigue can reach a whole new level. For those going through numerous medical treatments such as treatment for cancer, recovery from surgeries of many kinds; they are surprised and discouraged as they discover their “POP” has disappeared. You know, as in “I’m too pooped to POP?” For... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3695703 Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:38:04 +0100 3695703 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3695570&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fscience-and-the-pain-scale%2F2010.06.24 Every day in the emergency department I am confronted by pain. In fact, the treatment of pain is one of the most important skills emergency physicians, indeed all physicians, possess. For instance, I recently cared for a child with sickle cell disease who was having a pain crisis which involved severe leg pain. His life is one of frequent, intense pain. I gently, and repeatedly, treated his pain with morphine until he had relief. I see hip fractures; all broken bones hurt. I am thrilled to alleviate that discomfort.  Pain is one of the things I can fix, if only temporarily. It makes me happy to see the relaxed face of a man or woman with a kidney stone or migraine, who suddenly smiles and says “thanks!” But pain is also the source of so much subterfuge. Emergency depart... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3695570 Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:00:26 +0100 3695570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3687081&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fho5hebhIzCs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA new AP-Gfk poll reveals that about two-thirds of the American public lack confidence that the financial regulation bill, currently being crafted by House and Senate conferees, will actually help avert future financial crises.  The public is right to be skeptical, as there is nothing in either the House or Senate bill that ends bailouts or ends “too-big-to-fail.”  In fact parts of the bill, such as the expansion of deposit insurance, will actually increase the likelihood of future crises.  (The IMF has an insightful working paper on the negative impacts of deposit insurance).  Perhaps the failure of Congressional efforts to end financial crises is the result of Washington’s unwillingness to recognize that government itself was the major driver of t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3687081 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:58:18 +0100 3687081 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3687365&cid=t_113118_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Ffamily-stages-of-alcoholism%2F A family with an alcoholic in its midst will go through several stages in dealing with the chaos and disruption caused by the alcoholic. These stages are described below in order of appearance. Denial: Early in the development of alcoholism, occasional episodes of excessive drinking are explained away by both marriage partners. Drinking because of tiredness, worry, or a bad day is not unbelievable. The assumption is that the episode is isolated and is, therefore, not a problem. Attempts to Eliminate the Problem:The non-alcoholic spouse realizes that the drinking is not normal and tries to pressure the alcoholic to quit, be more careful, or cut down. At the same time, the spouse tries to hide the problems from the outside and keep up a good.front. Children may start to have problems in resp... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3687365 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:42:00 +0100 3687365 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671667&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FprkUzeHU1-8%2F By Gerald P. O'DriscollTwo articles in today’s Wall Street Journal deal with the housing sector.  They complement each other. Journal reporters note that “Industry Speeds Recovery, And Housing Slows It Down.”  The story notes that that “ground-breaking for new homes and applications for building permits both plunged last month.”  Meanwhile, U.S. industrial output showed strong growth in May. Bravo for both numbers, which are inter-related.  The headline (over which reporters have no control) reflects conceptual confusion.  U.S. industrial production is strong at least in part because construction of new homes is weak.   The bloated home sector is no longer absorbing a disproportionate share of economic resources.  The new homeowners tax credit has m... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671667 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:08:14 +0100 3671667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3665957&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fzn19fS0fa1o%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWhile I never had much hope that this Congress would actually fix the real causes of the financial crisis – loose monetary policy, Fannie/Freddie – I had hoped that they wouldn’t do a lot to make an already bad situation worse.  Boy, was that hope naive. Take the area of federally provided deposit insurance.  There is a massive amount of scholarly work, much of it empirical, that demonstrates that expanding the level and scope of deposit insurance results in more frequent and severe financial crises.  So what is Congress considering?  Yes, you guessed it:  expanded deposit insurance. Recall during the financial crisis Congress raised the coverage limit to $250,000 – forget that there were never any premiums charged ahead of time for this cov... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3665957 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:32:59 +0100 3665957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3648472&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FYrCpVrDzsKE%2F By Mark A. CalabriaToday begins the televised political theatre that Barney Frank has been waiting months for:  the first public meeting of the House and Senate conferees on the two financial regulation bills.  While there are a handful of important differences between the House and Senate bills, these differences are overshadowed by what the bills have in common.  The most important, and tragic, commonality is that both bills ignore the real causes of the financial crisis and focus on convenient political targets. As our financial system was brought to its knees by an exploding housing bubble, fueled by government mandates and distortions, one would think, just maybe, that Congress would roll back these distortions.  Despite their role in contributing to the crisis and the size of ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3648472 Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:35:23 +0100 3648472 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3633418&cid=t_113118_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fgauchers-disease%2F Pathophysiology 1) metabolic disease due to defect in beta-glucocerebrosidase (beta-glucosidase) Type 1 – 2) adult onset, chronic, highly variable course 3) no defects in eye movement 4) lacks neurological deficits Type 2 – 5) infantile onset, acute course 6) defects in eye movement 7) neurological defects are present Type 3 – 8) childhood to adult onset, highly variable course 9) defects in eye movement 10) late neurological defects Signs and Symptoms 1) massive hepatomegaly (especially in type 3) 2) splenomegaly 3) bone destruction with aseptic necrosis of femoral head and femoral neck fractures 4) skin pigment changes 5) episodic “bone crisis” with fever, erythema over affected bones, and leukocytosis 6) severe neurologic involvement (types II and III) with... Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3633418 Sun, 06 Jun 2010 02:59:51 +0100 3633418 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629618&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5Ij5q5GF5Jg%2F By Mark A. CalabriaOn the surface the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would appear to have little connection to the fiscal crisis in Greece, outside of both occurring in or around the time of a global financial crisis.  Of course in the case of Fannie and Freddie, primary blame lies with their management and with Congress.  Primary blame for Greece’s problems clearly lies with the Greek government.  Neither Greece or Fannie would have been able to get into as much trouble, however, if financial institutions around the world had not loaded up on their debt.  One reason, if not the primary reason, for bailing out both Greece and the US’s government sponsored enterprises is the adverse impact their failures would have on the banking system. Yet bankers around the world ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629618 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:16:19 +0100 3629618 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629620&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhUEjTZCgBhw%2F By Walter OlsonRecall the unionists’ siege of the Maryland banker’s home the other day? Perhaps it was inspired in part by this screed on the world financial crisis that appeared a little while back on the blog New Deal 2.0, published by the left-leaning Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Other advice in the same piece on how to handle execs from Goldman Sachs and similar investment banks: “Build some Guantanamo-like facility to hold these enemy financial combatants until they can be tried, convicted, and properly punished.” And: “Post the names of all managers and traders on Interpol. Arrest anyone who tries to board a plane, train, or boat; confiscate their passports; revoke their visas and work permits; and put a hold on their bank accounts until cul... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629620 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:09:53 +0100 3629620 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629622&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlozD2SQ86hs%2F By Christopher PrebleOver at National Journal’s National Security Experts blog, this week’s question revolves around the health of the U.S. economy, and its relationship to U.S. power.  The editors ask:  How serious a threat is the mounting debt to the nation’s standing as the world’s only superpower? Can the U.S. continue to spend more than all other countries combined on its military forces given burdensome debt levels? In what other ways does the mounting debt undermine the country’s strategic position? [...] My response: Our long-term fiscal imbalance, which increasingly amounts to a massive intergenerational wealth transfer, is clearly a sign of our decline. But it is a decline that has been a long time coming. (I first wrote about the insolvency of t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629622 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:51:45 +0100 3629622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3617819&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTirq1DJEWr4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe political process often resembles an unseemly racket as politicians take money from people who earn it and give it to another group in exchange for campaign cash and political support. The modern bureaucracy is a good example. Government workers have now become a cosseted elite, with generous pay, extravagant benefits, lavish pensions, and ironclad job security. In exchange for this privileged status, they reward the politicians with millions of dollars of support and a host of in-kind contributions.  I have documented many of these outrages in my “Taxpayers vs. Bureaucrats” series at the International Liberty blog. Well, now we have a video detailing how the government workforce has morphed into a fiscal nightmare for taxpayers. There are th... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3617819 Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:59:09 +0100 3617819 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3612059&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FS5t3q0lIN2A%2F More fallout from the European debt crisis. Novo Nordisk has yanked its diabetes product from Greece after the government instituted substantial price cuts of up to 25 percent on hundreds of medicines (see background), which the Danish drugmaker claims would force it to lose money on top of the $36 million it is already owned by the Greek government. More than 50,000 Greek diabetics use Novo Nordisk’s insulin product, which is injected with a fountain pen-like device and, not surprisingly, a patient association called the move a “brutal capitalist blackmail” and a “violation of corporate responsbility,” according to the BBC. UPDATE: The Leo Pharma is also suspending sales of a blood thinner and a psoriasis med, and says the price cuts will cause job losses ac... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3612059 Sun, 30 May 2010 13:38:29 +0100 3612059 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3610332&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F05%2Ffree-market-transparency-on-the-horizon%2F Now THIS is what I’m talking about! From an article in ModernPhysician.com (registration required)… Pricing transparency gaining renewed interest Led by a physician lawmaker, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have shown renewed interest in mandating a boost in healthcare pricing transparency, including charges for physician services. More on pricing transparency from an article in The Hill. Rep. Steve Kagen, M.D., (D-Wis.) sponsored one bill (H.R. 4700) that would require all medical providers to openly disclose prices or face a financial penalty.”The “Transparency in All Health Care Pricing Act of 2010” would finally allow patients to see the price of a pill before they swallow it.” Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) sponsored H.R. 4803 which is a little ... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3610332 Sat, 29 May 2010 10:48:28 +0100 3610332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3585617&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F05%2Fdr-whitecoat-goes-to-washington%2F Sorry about the sparse posting lately – have been away in Washington at an ACEP conference Just so Matt and others don’t think that all I’m all talk and no action, I’ll let you in on some things that I did at the conference. I attended some excellent lectures about leadership. Colonel Thomas Kolditz gave a great talk about leadership in extreme circumstances. He described his interviews with many soldiers, Iraqi prisoners, sports team captains and their teammates, and various other people in leadership positions to determine what makes a good leader. Why do people follow some leaders and not others? Commitment is important. If a leader doesn’t believe in a mission, neither will the rest of the team. Effective leaders work with the team – they get down i... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3585617 Thu, 20 May 2010 18:20:45 +0100 3585617 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3564200&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FbYkQzsG0o9s%2F Seeking to avoid a financial crisis (see this), Spain is cutting the prices of numerous drugs, including many that have already been patented for up to 10 years, in hopes of reducing what the public health system spends on prescription drugs by as much as 23 percent, Europa Press reports. The savings should amount to roughly 1.3 billion Euros, or about $1.6 billion, although . The effort, which does not extend to drug in the reference pricing system, takes effect on Aug. 1. Not surprisingly, FarmaIndustria, the industry trade group, criticized the move and warned it will cause thousands of job losses and less spending on research and development (see this and this). Meanwhile, the price paid by the government for generics has also been reduced by 25 percent. These “are difficult and ... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3564200 Fri, 14 May 2010 12:31:15 +0100 3564200 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3542561&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fbp-gulf-oil-spill-you-know-youre-unwell-if-youre-a-sea-turtle%2F photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Thanks to the idiots at BP, things aren’t looking so good these days for marine life in the Gulf of Mexico. Does this photo make you really, really mad? Check out one way to help by donating your hair (or your pet’s hair) to Matter of Trust, which will aid the oil spill cleanup efforts. photo via The New York Times Post from: BlissTree BP Gulf Oil Spill: You Know You're Unwell If...You're a Sea Turtle (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3542561 Thu, 06 May 2010 20:52:44 +0100 3542561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3542584&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6tx3IV4Fd9c%2F By David BoazThe economist Herb Stein famously said, “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” That’s a good riposte when people wring their hands over something unsustainable. Of course, that fact doesn’t tell you how unsustainable situations will stop, and some ways are less pleasant than others. I thought of “Stein’s Law” when I read former California Assembly speaker Willie Brown’s response to a question about whether California’s lavish public-employee pensions would bankrupt the state: No, it’s not going to bankrupt the state. My guess is that the State of California, like most places involved with pensions, is going to cease to pay them. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3542584 Thu, 06 May 2010 18:06:24 +0100 3542584 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3538055&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fuse-your-unwanted-hair-to-clean-up-the-oil-spill-with-matter-of-trust%2F (matteroftrust.org) They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and the same is true for your old split ends: Human hair and pet hair are being used to clean up and contain the BP oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico, and you can send in your unwanted hair to help out. A Matter of Trust, a San Francisco-based organization, is collecting human and pet hair clippings from individuals, salons, and professionals to use in their hair-filled buoys (pictured above), which apparently will soak up the toxic oil. We’re slightly skeeved by the hair sausage imagery, but cleaning up the Gulf is probably worth dealing with our gag reflex for a few moments. Donating is easy: Just go to their website, tell them you’d like to donate, and they’ll email you the address of th... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3538055 Thu, 06 May 2010 14:14:45 +0100 3538055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3534100&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FhD1IAuXq7Nc%2F The Greek government is cutting the prices on 1,551 medicines by up to 27 percent and the move may cause prices elsewhere in Europe to fall as parallel trading picks up. Meanwhile, the Hellenic Association of Pharmaceutical Companies, which reps local and international drugmakers, says the cuts may cause shortages and is considering legal action. The cuts will “cause a dangerous domino effect on prices of medicines in several European countries, where Greece is a country of reference for the pricing of medicines,” the trade group says in a statement. Many European countries set maximum drug prices in relation to prices in other EU states, including Greece. After growing 64 percent in recent years, growth in the Greek pharma market is expected to drop to 1.5 percent this year an... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3534100 Wed, 05 May 2010 12:43:53 +0100 3534100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3526729&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGl-Vi6sm0QU%2F This study also emphasizes that where people perceive the tax rate as too high, an increase in the (marginal) tax rate will lead to a decrease in tax revenue. It is worth noting the Schneider’s research also shows why Obama’s tax policy is very misguided. The President wants to boost the top tax rate by nearly five percentage points, and that’s on top of the big increase in the tax rate on saving and investment included in Obamacare. Based on Schneider’s research, we can expect America’s underground economy to expand. Shifting back to Greece, Schneider does not claim that tax rates are the only factor determining compliance. But his research indicates that more onerous enforcement regimes are unlikely to put much of a dent in tax evasion unless accompanied by ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3526729 Mon, 03 May 2010 12:41:10 +0100 3526729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3508174&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGd0Qo8ejPZU%2F By David BoazIt was a good idea to get science and democracy from the ancient Greeks. It’s not such a good idea to get fiscal policy from the modern Greeks. But that’s the way we’re headed. Greece has a budget deficit of 13.6 percent. We’re not in that league — ours is only 10.6 percent, the highest level since 1945. Greece has a public debt of 113 percent of GDP. We’re not there yet. But the 2009 Social Security and Medicare Trustees Reports show the combined unfunded liability of these two programs has reached nearly $107 trillion. Under President Obama’s budget, debt held by the public would grow from $7.5 trillion (53 percent of GDP) at the end of 2009 to $20.3 trillion (90 percent of GDP) at the end of 2020. It could rise to 215 percent of GDP in 30 year... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3508174 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:13:47 +0100 3508174 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3504898&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FoGlAdo6D2n8%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPrice fixing is illegal in the private sector, but unfortunately there are no rules against schemes by politicians to create oligopolies in order to prop up bad government policy. The latest example comes from the bureaucrats at the International Monetary Fund, who are conspiring with national governments to impose higher taxes and regulations on the banking sector. The pampered bureaucrats at the IMF (who get tax-free salaries while advocating higher taxes on the rest of us) say these policies are needed because of bailouts, yet such an approach would institutionalize moral hazard by exacerbating the government-created problem of “too big to fail.” But what is particularly disturbing about the latest IMF scheme is that the international bureaucracy wants ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3504898 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:31:50 +0100 3504898 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3494297&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FspXUjt4XBzk%2F By Alan ReynoldsThe Obama administration thinks it has discovered the perfect formula to cram legislation through in a hurry:  Demonize some prominent firm within an industry you plan to redesign, and then pass a law that has nothing to do with the accusation against the demonized firm.  They did this with health insurance and now they’re trying it with finance. With health insurance, the demon was Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of California, which Obama accused of raising premiums by “anywhere from 35 to 39 percent.” Why didn’t some curious reporter interview a single person who actually paid 39% more, or quote from a letter announcing such an increase?  Because it didn’t happen.  Insurance premiums are regulated by the states, and California wouldn’t approve such a boost.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3494297 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:46:01 +0100 3494297 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490792&cid=t_113118_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2F_djb9Hdoj9Q%2F The global environment crisis is, as we say in Tennessee, real as rain, and I cannot stand the thought of leaving my children with a degraded earth and a diminished future. – Al Gore Post from: BlissTree Earth Week Quote of the Day: Al Gore on the Environment (Source: Genetics and Health) Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490792 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 11:00:03 +0100 3490792 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487280&cid=t_113118_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2Fgi5_rWlysf0%2F Al Gore’s Recommended Earth Day Reading: If you’re looking for the latest green read, Al Gore recommends John Romm’s Climate Crisis. (via Huffington Post) Post from: BlissTree (Source: Genetics and Health) Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487280 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:34:06 +0100 3487280 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3482935&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F04%2F19%2Fpolice-training-helps-treatment-of-mentally-ill%2F This article talks about a situation that happened in Utah where a man who apparently had bipolar disorder was Tasered twice, and died: The findings could add clout to a claim made in a federal lawsuit filed this month by the family of Brian Cardall, who died in June after a Hurricane police officer twice deployed a Taser on Cardall as he suffered a bipolar episode on a southern Utah highway. Filed by Cardall’s widow, children and parents, the lawsuit alleges Hurricane police declined to send officers to the training for at least eight years, which they claim played a role in Cardall’s death. The lawsuit says Hurricane Police Chief Lynn Excell failed to adequately train his officers by not sending them to attend the mental health training, in which dozens of police agencies ac... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3482935 Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:14:14 +0100 3482935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3476076&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=34768&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmagossip.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F04%2Fastrazeneca-seroquel-waynes-world.html Wayne L Pines book - in full!Insider is engrossed! (Source: PharmaGossip) PharmaGossip blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3476076 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:13:00 +0100 3476076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3475813&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbYTh49sJfuA%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIf there is one, almost universal, point of agreement on drivers of the financial crisis, it is that our financial system simply had way too much leverage.  Much of that discussion has focused on financial institutions, leading many to suggest increased capital standards, so that banks have more equity and less debt.  Often lost in the mix is the excessive leverage on the part of home owners. We know, for instance, that the number one predictor of mortgage default is whether the borrower has equity or not.  And while that should lead us to debate appropriate downpayment requirements, at least when the government backs the mortgage, we should not forget that our tax code encourages excessive leverage on the part of home buyers.  And there’s no bigger incentive t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3475813 Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:19:22 +0100 3475813 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467736&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-qJgsKzYZik%2F By Mark A. CalabriaPresident Obama seems to be slowly waking up to the fact that the American public has grown tired of the endless bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  The public has also rejected the talking point that Fannie and Freddie were simply victims of a 100 year storm in the housing market.  So what’s Obama’s response?  To ask for public comment and have public forums. This strategy is clearly one of delaying and avoiding any reform of Fannie and Freddie while pretending to care about the issue.  Where was the public comment and forums on the Volcker rule?  Seemingly the standard is that fixing the real causes of the financial crisis should be delayed and debated while efforts like the Dodd bill, which do nothing to avoid future financial crises, should be r... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467736 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 15:13:37 +0100 3467736 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467754&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F04%2Ffree-market-medicine%2F If you read this blog regularly, you know that I am an advocate of free market medicine. Force medical providers to advertise their prices like all the other businesses, let insurance cover catastrophic costs instead of everyday costs, and let market forces go to work. In order for the free market concept to work, though, we have to get rid of the third party obfuscation, though. Right now, not many people care about the cost of a product because they aren’t paying for it. Third party “middlemen” are paying for the product. I read a post on Kevin MD’s blog that puts free market principles into play. Take all of those who are suffering from low back pain. You want to know if something might be wrong. Do you need an MRI? That depends. Is the pain acute or chronic? Are... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467754 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:02:27 +0100 3467754 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3463579&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FP-fm9O175ng%2F By Marian L. TupyThis month, two vice-presidents of the Czech National Bank (CNB) have made very serious allegations against the International Monetary Fund. Below is the summary of their claims so far: Speaking to the Austrian daily newspaper Der Standard on April 2, Mojmir Hampl, the vice-president of the CNB, said that the IMF under Dominique Strauss-Kahn “wanted to expand its role in Eastern Europe and obtain new financial resources.” Hampl claimed that the IMF exaggerated problems with the financial systems in Eastern Europe. “We have always emphasized that the instability of the financial system [in 2008] was a Western European problem. That proved correct… According to a recent EU report, only nine out of 27 EU member states did not have to introduce any financial stabiliza... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3463579 Mon, 12 Apr 2010 18:50:55 +0100 3463579 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3456672&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fh7Fbh07HuKg%2F By Gerald P. O'DriscollOver at Think Markets, NYU’s Mario Rizzo asks how Obamacare might be repealed. He focuses on the fiscal brawl that will occur when the Medicare cuts must be implemented. Let’s take a look at another fiscal scenario. The Greek debt crisis is just the leading edge of a global debt crisis in developed countries. It is not Greece that matters to the rest of the European Union, but the precarious position of other highly indebted EU members: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain. Fiscally sound Germany could bail out Greece, but not all the others. A Greek default (likely if not inevitable) will fracture the EU and the contagion surely would spread to the United States. The result will be what I call a Leninist moment. Lenin famously observed that a situation mu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3456672 Fri, 09 Apr 2010 17:03:52 +0100 3456672 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3443670&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FhuopqDrlx5c%2F The board of St. Vincent’s Hospital in lower Manhattan threw in the financial towel last night, voting to close in-patient services that had been a medical mainstay in Greenwich Village for 160 years. The decision wasn’t a surprise, having dragged on for six months as the 727-bed hospital tried to come up with a rescue plan to handle $700 million in debt. Still, the closure will deal a blow to medical services in the area as well as marking the end of an institution filled with history. St. Vincent’s was founded by four Sisters of Charity in 1849 to treat victims of a cholera epidemic and is the last Catholic general hospital in New York City. It treated victims from the sinking of the Titanic to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and was one of the early institutions to respond to ... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3443670 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:47:24 +0100 3443670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3440746&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fpoll-of-the-day-laura-munsons-marital-crisis%2F Laura Munson, pictured with her husband. (Photo: Good Morning America) “Honey, I don’t love you anymore, and I don’t know if I ever did” are words that must sting coming from a spouse after 20-odd years of betrothal. But when Laura Munson’s husband told her exactly that, she forged ahead, unconvinced. The Montana-based writer’s new book, This Is Not The Story You Think It Is chronicles the tale she first told in The New York Times (to overwhelming reader response – the comments came in at a rate that crashed the comments section). Her husband told her he wanted to leave, she didn’t believe him, and through the power of belief, she seems to have saved her marriage. On today’s Good Morning America, George Stephanopoulos interviewed Munson, an... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3440746 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:02:21 +0100 3440746 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3429194&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F04%2Fhealthcare-update-04-01-2010%2F Tort reform lessens the risk of medical malpractice, “but it doesn’t change the capriciousness of the legal system … and it hasn’t changed the nature of the risk.” “If there is ANY DELAY AT ALL in the diagnosis of a condition, then they label it as ‘malpractice.’” This Newsweek article explains very succinctly why defensive medicine is real – despite what the American Association for Justice’s mouthpieces would tell you. Ooops. One lawyer in the comment section says defensive medicine is a myth. Oh well. There goes my theory. It’s not really patient “dumping” — I helped her get out of the car. Florida surgeon cuts wrong duct during gallbladder surgery, then brings patient to another hospital in his ow... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3429194 Thu, 01 Apr 2010 10:54:33 +0100 3429194 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3408601&cid=t_113118_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F03%2F26%2Fthe-banks-are-back-break-out-the-chianti%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily. The Banks Are Back! Break Out the Chianti. Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: bank regulation, banking reform, chaos theory, financial crisis, meltdown, political cartoon, wall street (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3408601 Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:33:50 +0100 3408601 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3383078&cid=t_113118_150_f&fid=34889&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpharmamkting.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fwheres-your-social-media-crisis.html According to Chris Kenton of SmartMarketers.com's Inspire Blog, "Surprisingly few companies... have protocols in place to manage social media disasters as they unfold -- even those that have sophisticated crisis management protocols in place for non-social media issues."Many pharmaceutical companies may be guilty of that lapse in their crisis management strategy. This topic came up today in the #hcsmeu Twitter discussion around Sanofi-Aventis and its VOICES Facebook fiasco (for the story background, see "Patient "Unadvocate" Lays Siege to sanofi-aventis VOICES Facebook Page. Where's S-A's Social Media VOICE?"). The specific questions under discussion were:How should Sanofi aventis have dealt with their Facebook problem? (submitted by Sam Walmsley; @sammielw)How should a pharmaco "engage" a... Pharma Marketing Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3383078 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:18:00 +0100 3383078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366175&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2Fp0ROs7dajjU%2F The number of Americans without health insurance could rise to almost 60 million by 2015 from 49 million today if nothing is done to overhaul the health-care system, a new forecast says. The uninsured could reach more than 67 million in 10 years, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which paid for the study conducted by the Urban Institute. Read the study and related data here. The numbers above are what’s seen under the worse-case scenario (continuing high jobless rates, slow income growth, high health-cost growth). But you’d have to be pretty optimistic about the world to expect the best-case scenario (full employment, etc.). No matter which forecast they looked at, the researchers said the middle class would suffer most without reform. Those employers continuing to offer h... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366175 Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:00:39 +0100 3366175 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366460&cid=t_113118_180_f&fid=38619&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FALifeCoachsBlog%2F%7E3%2FaqYyXOncEbo%2F I was watching 24 the other night and thinking to myself Jack Bauer is a bit mental. I know as a Life Coach it’s not really the done thing to make such derogatory statements about people I don’t know (or even those I do know for that matter), but I’ll make an exception for the gravelly voiced one, because he really does have a few kangaroos loose in his upper paddock. If he finally breaks free of CTU he’s going to need a small army of psychotherapists, life coaches and probably even magicians to help him get his life back on track. And that’s presuming he doesn’t kill them all first for glancing at him in the wrong way, denying they’re in possession of weapons grade nuclear material or overacting more than he is. Then I thought to myself; “No, he doesn’t need a team of pe... Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366460 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 20:56:24 +0100 3366460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3354299&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6TxM0YyU3qg%2F By Jim HarperCompromise is catnip in Washington, D.C. That’s my best guess at why Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) would endorse New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D) widely reviled plan to create a mandatory biometric national ID system. Schumer’s national ID plans have no more definition today than when he wrote about them in his 2007 campaign manifesto Postitively American. Among the thin gruel of that book is a two-page lump displaying more ignorance than understanding of how identity systems work and fail. Schumer doesn’t know the difference between an identifier—a characteristic used to distinguish or group people—and an identification card or system, which does the entire task of proving a person’s previously fixed identity. (My thin gruel ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3354299 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:03:00 +0100 3354299 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3335284&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36224&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.wsjonline.com%2F%7Er%2Fwsj%2Fhealth%2Ffeed%2F%7E3%2FbBnmFOhKP30%2F The government said this morning that the unemployment rate held at 9.7% in February for the second month in a row. The health-care sector added 12,000 jobs. That continues the series of monthly job gains that has made health care an economic bright spot since the start of the recession. Read the latest Bureau of Labor Statististics summary. For February, the subsector for ambulatory health-care services posted the largest runup, adding 6,700 jobs. Nursing and residential-care facilities hired another 4,000, according to the BLS breakdown. Bonus: The economy and still-high unemployment rate may help explain why seasonal flu has seemed so mild this winter, according to research cited by our colleagues at the Real Time Economics blog. You can read why here. Image: iStockphoto (Source: WSJ.c... WSJ.com: Health Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3335284 Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:02:08 +0100 3335284 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3322362&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F03%2Ffocus-on-the-cost%2F Yeah, I agree with Howard Fineman. You got a problem with that? Read his Newsweek article about his experiences being admitted to an Argentinian hospital and how he believes we should be focused on the costs of health care in this country. His bill for a hospital stay with dehydration in Argentina: About $1500. Similar hospitalization in the US: $10,000 to $15,000 – if he was lucky. Money quote: “Most Americans have no idea how much their health care really costs, nor do they know how well it really works ….” We desperately need price transparency in our health care system. Look at the four systems in Pennsylvania that I reviewed in a previous post. If one hospital cost 4 times as much as another hospital for treating the same medical problem, would that affect anyo... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3322362 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:05:43 +0100 3322362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3314623&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2010%2F02%2Fbrinksmanship%2F I may end up eating my words about this. We’ll see. James Rohack, the current AMA President, made a post at Kevin MD about why patients should care about fixing the pending Medicare payment cuts. Basically his take on the matter was that if the cuts go through, many physicians will stop seeing Medicare patients and that some seniors on Medicare will have difficulty finding medical care. I tend to agree with him. I commented that we should let Congress cut Medicare payments. Stop fighting it. I won’t rehash everything, but suffice it to say that I think we need a crisis in medicine to get things straightened out right now. A Medicare pay cut of 21.2% has been looming over physicians’ heads for several months now. The same pay cut has come up in the past, but, through some ... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3314623 Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:06:23 +0100 3314623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3302295&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FkCsNBMSpO9A%2F By Daniel J. MitchellLike the sequel to a horror film, the politicians in Washington are talking about just passed another stimulus proposal. Only this time, they’re calling it a “jobs bill” in hopes that a different name will yield a better result. But if past performance is any indicator of future results, this is bad news for taxpayers. By every possible measure, the first stimulus was a flop. But don’t take my word for it. Instead, look at what the White House said would happen. The Administration early last year said that doing nothing would mean an unemployment rate of nine percent. Spending $787 billion, they said, was necessary to keep the unemployment rate at eight percent instead. So what happened? As millions of Americans can painfully attest, the jobless rate actually c... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3302295 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:03:38 +0100 3302295 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3294572&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQ8KukpfAq1E%2F By Tad DeHavenThat is the title of a 2003 New York Times column by economist Paul Krugman. The gist of his column was that the Bush tax cuts and future entitlement program liabilities would usher in calamitous deficits. Setting aside the tax cut and entitlements issue, Krugman’s comments on the dangers of deficits are interesting considering seven years later Krugman is one of the most prominent supporters of massive deficit spending to stimulate the economy. Here are some selected Krugman quotes from the column: With war looming, it’s time to be prepared. So last week I switched to a fixed-rate mortgage. It means higher monthly payments, but I’m terrified about what will happen to interest rates once financial markets wake up to the implications of skyrocketing budget defici... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3294572 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:57:29 +0100 3294572 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3287790&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F19%2Fseven-ways-to-access-your-inner-cheerleader%2F One way to stave off the urge to procrastinate is to call motivating thoughts to mind early, before you have to panic. Think of some inspiring phrases or statements, write them on sticky notes, and put them in places where you are likely to go to procrastinate, such as on your TV or video game unit. The idea is to activate your inner butt-kicker before your situation reaches a crisis level.   Has there ever been a time when others had doubt but you had faith? What words of encouragement would you have offered at that time? (“You can do it!” “Don’t give up.”) Try to remember a painful time that you thought would never end. Find a word or two that describes how it felt when it was over. (“Victorious.” “I’m a survivor.”) Call to mind one hardship that you have be... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3287790 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:34:51 +0100 3287790 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279959&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaO94pvlz-nw%2F By Tad DeHavenMy house has been on the market for a month and it has drawn a lot more looks than I expected. I’ve been quizzing realtors as they come through, and each one tells me the same story: the government is single-handedly propping up the demand for housing. In addition to the homebuyer tax credit and government-induced low mortgage interest rates, most sales are being done with Federal Housing Administration backing. As a seller, I’m looking to get out before the tax credit expires and interest rates starting ticking upward. But when I do sell, I certainly won’t be looking to buy a house, particularly since I’ll be selling at a loss. If my situation is representative of other current sellers, the housing market could be in for another tumble if the government crutches are ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279959 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:41:32 +0100 3279959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3243778&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7-cltnhzY64%2F By David BoazDoes the government know what it’s doing, can it know what it’s doing, in financial regulation? In the latest issue of Cato Policy Report, Jeffrey Friedman doubts it: You are familiar by now with the role of the Federal Reserve in stimulating the housing boom; the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in encouraging low equity mortgages; and the role of the Community Reinvestment Act in mandating loans to “subprime” borrowers, meaning those who were poor credit risks. So you may think that the government caused the financial crisis. But you don’t know the half of it. And neither does the government…. Omniscience cannot be expected of human beings. One really would have had to be a god to master the millions of pages in the Federal Register — ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3243778 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:36:49 +0100 3243778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239556&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FE6jX2NqYGS8%2F By Chris Moody David Boaz debates at The Economist: Is Obama failing? “In many ways, Obama has just doubled down on George W. Bush’s policies of bailouts, takeovers, expanded Fed powers and nationalizations. In a recession he is adding debt, taxes and regulation to the burdens already felt by business.” Readers can vote and join the debate. Ever wonder why weather forecasters can get things so wrong? Looking for a primer on the causes of the financial crisis? The new Cato Policy Report has answers. How to tell when the government health care overhaul is dead. Podcast: “Citizens United and SpeechNow.org” featuring Steve Simpson of the Institute of Justice. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239556 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:40:46 +0100 3239556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3231452&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fd4QcrS6rXO8%2F By Chris EdwardsThe chart below shows federal spending in three component parts over the last five decades. It includes Obama’s proposed spending in 2011. Here are a few thoughts on the recent spending trends: Defense: In the post-9/11 years, defense spending bumped up to a higher plateau of around 4 percent of GDP. But now we have jumped to an even higher level of around 4.9 percent of GDP. Interest: The Federal Reserve’s easy money policies reduced federal interest payments in recent years. That is coming to an end. Obama’s budget shows that interest payments will start rising rapidly next year and hit 3 percent of GDP by 2015. And that’s an optimistic projection. Nondefense: This category includes all other federal spending. After a steady decline during... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3231452 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:05:55 +0100 3231452 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3231457&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fa9-ylj0M3Ag%2F By David BoazJohan Norberg’s Financial Fiasco: How America’s Infatuation with Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis has been named one of the best books of 2009 by the Spectator, Britain’s most important political affairs magazine. Excerpt: Ever since the crash, I have been waiting for Johan Norberg to write about it — and finally, this year, he has obliged. I have three copies of his first book, In Defence of Globalisation, with varying degrees of annotation. I have already started to deface Financial Fiasco, his book showing how governments created this mess. The American government pumped up the housing bubble — and then there was a collective delusion that the market was rational. As Norberg says, the market is no more than a collection... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3231457 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:38:47 +0100 3231457 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3189287&cid=t_113118_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fthe-power-of-forgiveness-in-a-life-with-chronic-pain%2F Self-pity and resentment are parasites that live on a life that is suffering with chronic pain. Any of us who have daily pain know this and know they both have a strong voice that often whispers into our ears. They both whisper loudly with a hissing breath and say provocative things like, “Why you?” and “Who do they think they are?” as well as “Why don’t you give them a piece of your mind.” At other times those same resentful feelings are suppressed by us but they chatter on, deep within ourselves. Driven down, they can fester and become resentment, anger and quite frankly, become quite ugly. Like any parasite, they draw their sustenance from the host and live on, sucking the life out of us. I know it’s difficult for others who live healthy, “normal” lives to understand... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3189287 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:48:12 +0100 3189287 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185313&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEz0MCtN_mIk%2F By Jim HarperLast week, President Obama unveiled a plan for something he called a ”Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee,” to be fleshed out in his forthcoming budget proposal. He will seek to have some set of financial services providers pay money to the government as comeuppance for the recent financial crisis and government involvement in trying to remedy it. The naming of the “Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee” is a fairly conspicuous attempt to avoid calling it a tax. (My colleague David Boaz points out the sheer number of taxes the Obama administration and its allies are considering.) But it’s fairly clear that this thing is, indeed, a tax. The galaxy of government revenues has a number of different planets—taxes, fees, penalties, and a few... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185313 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:06:54 +0100 3185313 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171883&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNo3emu0e7Sk%2F By David BoazIn Soviet times people used to say that if the Communists took over the Sahara desert, there’d soon be a shortage of sand. Which I guess explains why there’s an energy crisis in energy-rich Venezuela. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171883 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:11:49 +0100 3171883 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3171884&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1ypg4QUiWbQ%2F By Chris Moody A real stimulus: To create jobs, repeal the corporate-income tax. As if times weren’t hard enough: The individual mandate on health insurance would impose high implicit taxes on low-wage workers. For more on this, read the new Cato study on burdens the health care legislation will place on the poor. Hot off the press: New issue of Regulation magazine looks at lessons from the financial crisis and property rights. Even though the government is running massive deficits, interest rates and inflation are low. So, what’s the problem? Podcast: “Bernanke’s Conceit” featuring Mark A. Calabria. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3171884 Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:23:48 +0100 3171884 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3163756&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FfwSfET6L-J4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellKudos to Nicki Kurokawa, a former Cato employee, for this short but substantive video explaining “moral hazard.” She notes that government-subsidized risk played a pernicious role in the housing bubble and financial crisis, and warns that “too big to fail” may create similar problems in the future. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3163756 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:37:01 +0100 3163756 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3115062&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2gqAm8mv3Lc%2F By Daniel J. MitchellSince Senators engaged in open extortion and bribery to enact Reid’s government-run health care plan, it is hardly newsworthy that Washington is riddled with corruption. But the magnitude of sleaze is probably far greater than most people realize. There is a new study from a couple of academics at the University of Michigan, who found significant relationships between lobbying and bailout money, as well as a greater chance of getting bailouts depending on a bank’s ties with either the Federal Reserve or key members of Congress. Hopefully, people across America will draw the obvious conclusion and realize that big government is inherently corrupting, as discussed in this video. Reuters has the details on this latest example of big government and malfeasance:... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3115062 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:53:25 +0100 3115062 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3111401&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbztnQvU0Wqc%2F By David BoazThe Wall Street Journal reports that some mortgage insurers and lenders are beginning to relax their down-payment requirements, so that buyers in some parts of the country can now borrow 95% instead of 90% of a property’s value. Buyers who can’t come up with even a 5% down payment can turn to the Federal Housing Administration, which will make loans with as little as a 3.5% down payment. Unsurprisingly, the FHA is increasing its market share. Meanwhile, the Treasury department is pressuring mortgage companies to reduce payments for many more troubled homeowners, averting foreclosures. So, good news: people who lack income and assets will be able to take out loans to buy houses, and if they can’t make the payments they signed up for, the government will pressu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3111401 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:36:55 +0100 3111401 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3100784&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FqhgHpc_9V04%2F By Daniel J. MitchellIt’s been a rough couple of weeks for Greece, which has been battered by rumors of government default. Interest rates have been climbing, as investors are nervous about state finances, and the country’s debt rating has been downgraded. Not surprisingly, Greek politicians are dealing with the crisis in large part by further increasing the tax burden. One particularly horrible idea is a 90 percent tax on bank bonus payments. I don’t know if lawmakers in Athens have heard of the Laffer Curve, but they’re about to get a real-world lesson that will teach them how punitive tax rates lead to less revenue. For those who wonder how Greece got into this mess, here’s a quick chart I put together, based on OECD fiscal data. Don’t be  surprised ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3100784 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:43:31 +0100 3100784 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082393&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FO-y6arazt18%2F By Mark A. CalabriaUndoubtedly President Obama inherited an economic mess.  Also undoubtedly, he’s made it worse.  Barring substantial revisions to recent job loss estimates, we have now crossed the line where as many jobs have been lost during this recession under President Obama as under President Bush.  From the start of the recession, in December 2007, until President Obama took the oath of office at the end of January 2009, there have been 3.36 million nonfarm payroll jobs lost.  From February 2009 until now there have been about 3.36 million nonfarm payroll jobs lost (estimates from ADP employment report). Even during the best of times, the economy experiences substantial job loss.  However, we consider those times good because the labor market is also creating lots of job... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082393 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:47:33 +0100 3082393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075479&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FmhO10FsBKMQ%2F By Mark A. CalabriaA recent policy forum here at Cato discussed the role of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) in the financial crisis.  While the forum focused on the federal push for ever expanding homeownership to marginal borrowers, the analysis did not touch directly upon the question of whether CRA lending undermines bank safety. Fortunately this is a question that one economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas bothered to ask.  While his research findings were available before the crisis, they were clearly ignored. In a peer-reviewed published article, appearing in the journal Economic Inquiry, economist Jeff Gunther concludes that there is “evidence to suggest that a greater focus on lending in low-income neighborhoods helps CRA ratings but comes at the expense of s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075479 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:53:35 +0100 3075479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3056621&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnW5hraShaXg%2F A few questions for Ben Bernanke: “Perhaps the most important question Bernanke should answer is: how will he re-build and maintain an independent Fed?” Before considering Bernanke’s role in containing the financial crisis, Congress should investigate the role of Fed policy in allowing the housing bubble to grow. Prepare to pay more: Today, an average insurance policy can cost about $2,985 for an individual or $6,328 for a family.  Under the Senate bill, those premiums will increase to $5,800 for an individual worker and $15,200 for a family plan by 2016. Why the White House “jobs summit” is unnecessary. Made on Earth: How global economic integration renders trade policy obsolete. Podcast: “ObamaCare the Budget Buster.” More, here. (Sour... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3056621 Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:37:34 +0100 3056621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048110&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2009%2F12%2Fthe-demise-of-american-health-care%2F A couple of news headlines paint a bleak picture about the future of healthcare in this country. First are some comments made by US Republican Senator George LeMieux. During a news briefing (video here), LeMieux expressed a concern that Obama’s healthcare plan would amount to “Medicaid for the masses” and would put all Americans on a government run or government controlled health care. The Palm Beach Post News also ran a story regarding a speech given by Senator LeMieux where he stated that the cost of the bill over the next 10 years was grossly understated due to “funny math”. He estimated the true cost of the bill to be more than $2.5 billion over 10 years rather than the projected $849 million. LeMieux stated that in order to decrease costs, the bill intend... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048110 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:13:55 +0100 3048110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044805&cid=t_113118_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F12%2F01%2Fthe-10-types-of-female-friends%2F Awhile back I wrote about the four kinds of friends you need in your life to become more resilient. Now let’s talk about the kind of friends you actually have! Or at least the 10 types of female friends described by author Susan Shapiro Barash in her new book, Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships. (I promise to follow up with one for the guys, okay?). For her book, Shapiro interviewed 200 women of assorted backgrounds and ages, and asked them all kinds of nosy questions about their friends. The result is a labyrinth of 10 types of female friendships. I have excerpted the following descriptions from her book: 1. The Leader The leader is the friend we feel we must have, the one who can make or break our social lives. Being the leader renders one a &#82... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044805 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:29:49 +0100 3044805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3018979&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRiXVruPRDAs%2F The Wall Street Journal reported that Congress likes Fed Chairman Bernanke, but not the institution that he heads. There is growing consensus that the Fed needs to be reformed and restructured.  Most notably, there are calls to strip the Fed of its supervisory authority.  In practice, the new sentiment reflects the failure of the Fed to rein in risk taking by the largest banks. The Fed is pushing back.  One reserve bank president said that removing the Fed’s supervisory authority “would affect our ability to conduct monetary authority effectively.” He went on to say that without the supervisory authority, the Fed wouldn’t know enough about risks brewing in the economy.  This argument is shop worn. The Fed had the authority. It fueled the housing boom with its m... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3018979 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:01:02 +0100 3018979 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3015270&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F6xiawI6-at4%2F In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Professor Joseph Gyourko, chair of the Wharton School’s Real Estate Department, lists what he sees as the five biggest myths about homeownership. Given the central role of federal housing policy, particularly Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in our recent financial crisis, it is worth following Professor Gyourko’s suggestion and question whether a national policy of ownership, all the time for everyone, really makes sense. Professor Gyourko’s five myths: 1.  Housing is a great long-term investment. 2.  The homebuyer tax credit makes buying a house more affordable. 3.  Homeowners are better citizens. 4.  It’s safe to buy a house with a very low downpayment. 5.  Owning is always cheaper than renting. You’ll have to read the op-... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3015270 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:02:41 +0100 3015270 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2984785&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-NsLkj5HOjg%2F My “Freedom in Crisis” speech, which has gotten some compliments as I’ve delivered it in various venues, is now available on the web, complete with accompanying Powerpoint illustrations. Find it also on the Cato site here. And a partial transcript (pdf) was printed in Cato’s Letter. (Get a free subscription to Cato’s Letter here.) And to hear speeches like this live, watch for details on the next Cato University, July 25-30, 2010, in San Diego. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2984785 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:58:30 +0100 2984785 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2977267&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlMR23LEaXPc%2F The distinguished Harvard economist Richard N. Cooper, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, praises Johan Norberg’s Financial Fiasco: How America’s Infatuation With Homeownership and Easy Money Created the Economic Crisis in Foreign Affairs: The economic crisis of 2008-9 will no doubt spawn dozens of books. Here are two good early ones…. Norberg, a knowledgeable Swede, provides a much more detailed account of the broader events of 2007-9, from the useful perspective of a non-American. He finds plenty of blame with all the major players in the U.S. financial system: politicians, who thoughtlessly pushed homeownership on thousands who could not afford it; mortgage loan originators, who relaxed credit standards; securitizers, who packaged poor-quality mort... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2977267 Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:03:08 +0100 2977267 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2930959&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FwnBLwpHHETs%2F How and when should the Fed unwind the enormous monetary expansion it undertook in response to the financial crisis and recession? The WSJ reports [$]: As the Federal Reserve’s next meeting approaches in early November, an internal debate is brewing about how and when to signal the possibility of interest-rate increases. The Fed has said since March that it will keep rates very low for an “extended period.” Long before it raises rates, however, it will need to change that public signal to financial markets. Because the recovery is so young and is expected to be so weak, many central bank officials are comfortable, for now, keeping rates very low. But they are beginning to strategize about how to walk away from the “extended period” language. My suggestion is t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2930959 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:48:27 +0100 2930959 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2927286&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fif4t3FNSEEc%2F A handful of guilt-ridden wealthy Germans are asking to pay more tax according to a BBC report. They could just give their money to the state, of course, but they want to impose their self-loathing policies on all successful Germans. The amusing part of the story is that these dilettantes were puzzled that so few people showed up to their protest. Maybe next time they could do some real redistribution and announce that they will be tossing real banknotes in the air: A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes. The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes… Simply donating money to deal with the problems is not enough, they want a change in the wh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2927286 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:08:00 +0100 2927286 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912163&cid=t_113118_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyF0NSkZgGWE%2F Last night National Government Radio promoted a documentary on National Government TV about the financial crisis of 2008, which concludes that the problem was . . . not enough government. If the “Frontline” episode mentioned any of the ways that government created the crisis — cheap money from the central bank, tax laws that encourage debt over equity, government regulation that pressured lenders to issue mortgages to borrowers who wouldn’t be able to pay them back — NPR didn’t mention it. For information on those causes, take a look at this paper by Lawrence H. White or get the new book Financial Fiasco by Johan Norberg, which Amity Shlaes called “a masterwork in miniature.” Available in hardcover or immediately as an e-book. Or on Kindle! A... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912163 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:25:19 +0100 2912163 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2881155&cid=t_113118_86_f&fid=34445&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomenshealthnews.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F10%2F11%2Fweekly-news-round-up-1011%2F The National Advocates for Pregnant Women reports that the United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit issued a decision in a case of an incarcerate woman who was shackled to the bed during labor, finding the practice “cruel and unusual” and thus unconstitutional. “Our Bodies, Ourselves” has been translated and adapted into a number of languages and cultures over the years; Christine writes about progress on Hebrew and Arabic versions. Nikki has H1N1 resources for children. RH Reality Check reports on the Limited-Service Pregnancy Centers Disclaimer Bill proposed in Baltimore to ensure that women visiting a Baltimore “crisis pregnancy center” are informed that they will not receive comprehensive birth control or abortion services or referrals... Women's Health News blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2881155 Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:08:49 +0100 2881155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2879400&cid=t_113118_88_f&fid=38959&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.epmonthly.com%2Fwhitecoat%2F2009%2F10%2Fhere-is-the-problem%2F ERP here again while WC recovers from the revelling in Boston Personally, I agree with medicare and insurance regulations that require that someone receive some REAL benefit in order to be covered for an admission to the hospital. Even the “social dispo” admits usually serve a purpose – preventing elderly or the otherwise helpless or nearly helpless from injuring themselves or insuring they get proper medical treatment like antibiotics or seizure medications. However, if you can be safely discharged from a medical AND social point of view (ie no admit-able diagnosis exists AND you can either care for yourself or someone is there to care of you (like in a nursing home), you should have to pay out of pocket if you (or your relative) demand you be admitted. You can’t j... WhiteCoat's Call Room blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2879400 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:33:03 +0100 2879400