Monthly Archives: June 2009

What Health-Care “Market” ?

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

A public option, Shelby added, would “destroy the marketplace for health care.” But the notion that most American consumers enjoy anything like a competitive marketplace for health care is flatly false. And a study issued last month by a pro-reform … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health Care | Leave a comment

Aid Realism for the Idealist

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

There is a powerful role both for the market and for philanthropy…Philanthropy alone lacks the feedback mechanism of markets, which are the best listening devices we have; and yet markets alone too easily leave the most vulnerable behind. via Marginal … Continue reading →

Posted in Charity, Economics | Leave a comment

Rationing Health Care Is Our Choice

Posted on Tue, 30 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

Here is a handy-dandy way to determine whether the failure to order some exam or treatment constitutes rationing: If the patient were the president, would he get it? If he'd get it and you wouldn't, it's rationing. It may seem … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government, Health Care | Leave a comment

The Obama Pattern

Posted on Sat, 27 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

In championing health care reform, the President stresses the unsustainability of our current system, while insisting that nothing will change (you can keep your insurance, keep your doctor, etc.). The pattern that I see is one of following the path … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Health Care, Politics | Leave a comment

Fixing the Health Care System

Posted on Fri, 26 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

I love it when people who have never managed anything more than a government grant are convinced they can manage one sixth of the economy. via Fixing the Health Care System, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Government, Health Care, Management | Leave a comment

Health-care reform’s dirty little secret

Posted on Thu, 25 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

The unspoken truth about Mr Obama's … effort to reach universal coverage is that you may not be able to keep your existing health plan—at least, not at the same price. That is because paying for expanding coverage must involve … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Health Care, Taxes | Leave a comment

The jobless recovery

Posted on Thu, 25 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

The weekly [initial unemployment] claims number can't seem to fall below 600,000. … This is bad news for many reasons, not least of which is what is suggests about the structural problems in the economy that are likely to persist … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

Buzz Aldrin’s Plan for NASA

Posted on Thu, 25 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

I’m in no mood to keep my mouth shut any longer when I see NASA heading down the wrong path. And that’s exactly what I see today. The ­agency’s current Vision for Space Exploration will waste decades and hundreds of … Continue reading →

Posted in Space | 2 Comments

Scalable Internet Architecture

Posted on Thu, 25 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

This is not strictly PHP, but it is about scalability, and every PHP programmer *ought* to be thinking about this stuff. Theo Schlossnagle of OmniTI (where I work as a web architect) has this slide deck posted about Scalable Internet … Continue reading →

Posted in PHP, Programming | 5 Comments

No More TV For A While

Posted on Thu, 25 Jun, 2009 by pmjones

After months of having 100+ channels with nothing to watch most of the time*, I realized my main use of TV was to have something in the background as I settled down for bed. At the same time, it was … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 4 Comments