A columnist from Maryland arguing that Medicare-for-All is both politically realistic and affordable at the state level cites a report by the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst that a similar program, if adopted in California, would lead to an 8-percent drop in health care costs. The writer says in a system where the government pays for health care, the main incentive would be to save money, not to make money for insurance companies, hospitals and drug companies. (Delmarvanow.com, 8/11/18)
Month: September 2018
Research done by Arindrajit Dube on the effect raising the minimum wage has on employment, is cited in a story about the debate in India about boosting the minimum wage in that country. (Live Mint, 8/7/18)
Arindrajit Dube is co-author of a research paper that finds online labor markets aren’t as competitive as they might appear. Looking at one such market, they found that workers lose out because the people and organizations doing the hiring enjoy much more market power. (Washington Post, 8/2/18)
Robert Pollin says the way to promote clean energy is to put money directly into its production and development and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. He says the long-term goal is to eliminate fossil fuel companies by making their markets contract. Other environmentalists are pushing for disinvestment in fossil fuels as a way to restrain the industry. (Financial Times, 7/30/18)
Gerald Friedman comments in a new story about the debate in Rhode Island whether the Affordable Care Act is working in that state and the overall debate about health care costs prompted by a recent report that a top Blue Cross & Blue Shield executive just received a $1.5 million payout a year after he stepped down. Friedman says a single-payer system in Rhode Island would cost less and cover many more people, but he also recognizes it would face a tough sell politically. (RIfuture.org, 8/3/18)
David Kotz comments in a commentary about how the U.S. could end up on the wrong end of the trade war with China that President Donald J. Trump has initiated. He says the trade tensions could help set off a major recession. “U.S. businesses are having a hard time figuring out the effect of the trade wars on them,” Kotz says. “Uncertainty can lead to postponing investments, which could plunge the economy into recession.” He also says the U.S. government can’t exert its will over China and allow American business to do whatever it wants. (Commondreams.org, 7/28/18)
A columnist writing about how progressive economic policies such as raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers in Minnesota doesn’t cause job losses cites research done on the subject by Arindrajit Dube. The writer says critics of the policy says workers in Minnesota are losing jobs compared to similar employment in nearby Wisconsin that doesn’t have a higher minimum wage. Dube’s research looked at the impact on jobs of counties that share borders but have differing wage rates and found there was no adverse effect on jobs. (StarTribune [Minneapolis], 7/25/18)
Lee Badgett says discrimination against LGBTQ in India costs between 0.1 and 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, based on a review of health care and workplace data. She says, “When a country loses that much GDP, normally we say that it’s had a recession.” Her comments are in a news story about how students and alumni from some of the top universities in India are seeking to overturn colonial era laws that are used as pretexts for mistreatment and exclusion of LGBTQ people. India’s Supreme Court is expected to issue rulings in coming weeks on the laws. (Washington Post, 7/25/18)
James Boyce, along with Raymond Bradley (Geosciences), has written an opinion piece about the need to put a price on carbon, arguing that pollution pricing will reduce emissions, boost economy. (Commonwealth, 5/18/18)
Gerald Friedman is mentioned in a news story about why wages aren’t increasing even though the economy is strong and unemployment is low. He questioned an explanation from the International Monetary Fund that says slow wage growth is caused by a slower labor productivity and a decline in the share of income that goes to workers. Friedman says this explanation is “a little circular.” (Forbes, 7/21/18)