High Healthcare Costs in the US - Background Readings

Every American family basically pays an $8,000 ‘poll tax’ under the U.S. health system, top economists say

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/07/every-american-family-basically-pays-an-poll-tax-under-us-health-system-top-economists-say/

Why Humira’s price keeps rising despite FDA approval of generic competition

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/why-humiras-price-keeps-rising-despite-fda-approval-of-generic-competition/2020/01/07/549ed0ce-2e3a-11ea-bcb3-ac6482c4a92f_story.html

Related:

Washington got stuck on lowering drug prices. Now they’re rising again.

In the U.S., an Angioplasty Costs $32,000. Elsewhere? Maybe $6,400.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/upshot/expensive-health-care-world-comparison.html

Use Simple Economics to Contain Health Care Costs

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-03/health-care-costs-can-be-contained-with-simple-economics 

Yes, Americans are feeling the squeeze. It’s coming from health care.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/yes-americans-are-feeling-the-squeeze-its-coming-from-health-care/2019/12/01/b66b42f0-12c5-11ea-9cd7-a1becbc82f5e_story.html

As price of insulin soars, Americans drive to Canada for lifesaving medicine

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/as-price-of-insulin-soars-americans-caravan-to-canada-for-lifesaving-medicine/2019/06/14/0a272fb6-8217-11e9-9a67-a687ca99fb3d_story.html

The Worst Patients in the World

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/american-health-care-spending/590623/

Republicans are struggling to fix America’s dysfunctional health-care system

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/05/22/republicans-are-struggling-to-fix-americas-dysfunctional-health-care-system

The global battle over high drug prices

https://www.economist.com/business/2019/05/21/the-global-battle-over-high-drug-prices

History and Foreign Affairs

Freedom without constraints: how the US squandered its cold war victory

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/jan/07/freedom-without-constraints-how-the-us-squandered-its-cold-war-victory

America’s Dangerous Iran Obsession

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/america-dangerous-obsession-with-iran-by-jeffrey-d-sachs-2020-01

The American-Iranian Psychosis, Next Chapter

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/08/opinion/trump-iran.html

The Nationalism That Trump Can’t See

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/iraq-and-iran-have-nationalists-too/604573/

Why Morals Matter in Foreign Policy

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-morals-matter-in-foreign-policy-by-joseph-s-nye-2020-01

Trump’s Blind March to War

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trump-suleimani-war-with-iran-by-djavad-salehi-isfahani-2020-01

Related:

https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/suleiman-killing-american-strategic-incoherence-by-richard-n-haass-2020-01 

The Inequality Debate

The Equality Conundrum

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/01/13/the-equality-conundrum 

Inequality Is Up a Lot. The Question Is: How Much?

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-27/inequality-is-up-a-lot-the-question-is-how-much

The Debate Surrounding Inequality Measurement

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/11/30/economists-are-rethinking-the-numbers-on-inequality

Related:

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/4/20938229/zucman-saez-tax-rates-top-400

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/10/29/774091313/is-the-american-tax-system-regressive

https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/2019-11/pa-881-updated.pdf

Inequality in Sweden

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2019/11/30/in-sweden-billionaires-are-surprisingly-popular 

Ricky Gervais Skewers Hollywood

Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globes speech

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2020/01/full-text-ricky-gervais-golden-globes-speech/ 

Empirical Analysis of the Opioid Crisis

The True Cause of the Opioid Epidemic

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/01/what-caused-opioid-epidemic/604330/ 

Monetary Policy and the Economy

The Fed Should Keep Looking Forward, Not Retreat to the Past

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-06/fed-should-keep-looking-forward-not-retreat-to-the-past

Why the most important hedge is against unexpected inflation

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/01/02/why-the-most-important-hedge-is-against-unexpected-inflation

The business cycle ain’t dead yet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-business-cycle-aint-dead-yet/2020/01/05/d964a7fc-2e44-11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html 

Politics and Education

Meritocracy in Education

https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/01/05/a-battle-over-gifted-education-is-brewing-in-america

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/opinion/meritocracy-tests-education.html

https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/an-american-dilemma-stuyvesant-high-school/

GMU economist Tyler Cowen notes:

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09-23/harvard-s-legacies-are-nothing-to-be-proud-of

“Non-meritocratic admissions not only corrode the ideals of those who want to become part of supposedly great American institutions. They also give the rest of us less faith in the institutions that supposedly make America great.”

Related:

https://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2019/06/meritocracy-in-academics.html