"Enlightening Ideas for Public Policy..."
Vol. 8, Issue 21; May 22, 2006
-------------------------------------------------------------
IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE:
1. Price Gouging Is Bad Medicine
2. Government Secrets and Orwellian Farce
3. Latino Assimilation Should Calm Immigration Fears
4. Cashing-in on Stay-at-Home Mom's Paycheck
-------------------------------------------------------------
PRICE GOUGING IS BAD MEDICINE
The U.S. Senate's rejection of medical malpractice reform last week left
unanswered a question of utmost concern to everyone concerned with health
care: Is the increase in medical malpractice premiums paid by doctors caused
by escalating jury awards -- or by price-gouging insurance companies?
According to Independent Institute Research Director Alex Tabarrok, those
who are quick to believe that insurer "greed" is the culprit must answer
some troubling questions. If, for example, profits are easily earned by
jacking up premiums, then why did a major medical malpractice insurer leave
the market last year? And if doctors are being gouged by greedy insurers,
what does one make of the rise of premiums of policies written by
doctor-owned insurance companies? The reason behind these seeming anomalies
is that premiums do in fact reflect awards -- albeit imperfectly, because
insurers can't always tell quickly whether an increase in awards is a
temporary blip or a permanent trend.
The latest study by Tabarrok, co-author of JUDGE AND JURY: American Tort Law
on Trial, shows that "during the last 30 years every dollar increase in
awards has led to a dollar increase in premiums." However, in the 1990s
increases in malpractice insurance premiums apparently were not high enough
to cover the increase in tort awards -- a mistake that insurers have been
trying to rectify in recent years. Another complication: Awards have
increased much more in states where judges are elected -- and therefore have
incentives to cater to many voters' redistributionist leanings -- than in
states where judges are appointed.
See "Price Gouging Is Bad Medicine," by Alex Tabarrok (WALL STREET JOURNAL,
5/20/06)
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB114808258311358521-lMyQjAxMDE2NDI4MDAyODAyWj.html
(Link is perishable.)
Alex Tabarrok's discussion of JUDGE AND JURY: American Tort Law on Trial
(AEI, 5/12/06)
http://www.aei.org/events/eventID.1329,filter.all/event_detail.asp#
To purchase JUDGE AND JURY: American Tort Law on Trial, by Eric Helland and
Alexander Tabarrok (The Independent Institute, 2006), see
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=62
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOVERNMENT SECRETS AND ORWELLIAN FARCE
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's recent threat to prosecute journalists
writing about the National Security Agency's illegal monitoring of
U.S.-overseas phone calls "shows what an Orwellian farce the government's
classified information system has become," according to Ivan Eland, director
of the Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty.
Although federal officials (and governments in general) like to keep under
wraps information that might embarrass them, they find it useful to
strategically leak classified information when doing so can help them win
political points -- as the Valerie Plame case illustrates, Eland argues in
his latest op-ed. "Yes, there is some information that should be
classified -- for example, intelligence officers in the field (or their
foreign sources and contacts) could be killed if their identities were
revealed," writes Eland.
"Yet the same Bush administration that may well prosecute reporters for
writing about its illegal warrantless spying program conspired at the
highest levels to expose the identity of a CIA field officer for political
gain.... But the over-classification of much government information makes
officials cynical about keeping much smaller amounts of legitimately
sensitive data under wraps. Thus, a massive declassification of government
information would make the remaining secrets more secure and less open to
political manipulation."
See "Government Secrecy Is a Farce," by Ivan Eland (5/22/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1730
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"El Secreto gubernamental es una farsa"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1730
THE EMPIRE HAS NO CLOTHES: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed, by Ivan Eland
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=54
THE WAY OUT OF IRAQ: Decentralizing the Iraqi Government, by Ivan Eland
http://www.independent.org/store/policy_reports/detail.asp?id=16
Center on Peace & Liberty (Ivan Eland, director)
http://www.independent.org/research/copal/
-------------------------------------------------------------
LATINO ASSIMILATION SHOULD CALM IMMIGRATION FEARS
Foes of immigration to the United States typically assume that immigrants
comprise a threat to U.S.-born citizens both economically and culturally.
Over the years, THE LIGHTHOUSE has noted several works that have overturned
the first assumption. The cultural assumption is also false, according to
Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director of the Independent Institute's Center on
Global Prosperity.
Hispanics in the United States are assimilating rapidly into American
culture, Vargas Llosa argues. They are learning English faster than did
Italian and Polish immigrants a century ago, according to Harvard's Marcelo
Suarez-Orozco, an expert on immigration. In addition, about 30 percent of
first-generation Hispanics are marrying non-Latinos.
"If [immigrants] are creating wealth, learning English, engaging in
interethnic marriage, and practicing family values, how are they
threateningly different from other humans?" asks Vargas Llosa. "The
hostility toward immigration is fueled by post-9/11 national security
considerations and economic insecurity arising from globalization. But that
is all psychological. There is nothing to fear."
See "Immigration -- The Wages of Fear," by Alvaro Vargas Llosa (5/19/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1726
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"Inmigración: El salario del miedo"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1726
Spanish-language Blog:
El Independent: El Blog del Centro Para la Prosperidad Global de The
Independent Institute
http://independent.typepad.com
THE CHE GUEVARA MYTH AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERTY, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=61
LIBERTY FOR LATIN AMERICA: How to Undo Five-Hundred Years of State
Oppression, by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=55
Center on Global Prosperity (Alvaro Vargas Llosa, director)
http://www.independent.org/research/cogp/
-------------------------------------------------------------
CASHING-IN ON STAY-AT-HOME MOMS' PAYCHECK
A recent claim -- made by a salary consulting firm and released just before
Mother's Day -- that today's stay-at-home mother would earn $134,121 a year
if her homemaking services were fully paid at market rates is both insulting
to mothers and ignorant of sound economics and sound social-science
methodology, according Wendy McElroy, a research fellow with the Independent
Institute.
"Although the figure is being touted as appreciation of stay-at-home
mothers, it is actually both an insult and an absurdity," writes McElroy in
a recent op-ed. "Stay at home mothers deserve better."
Although that claim may be good public relations for the consulting firm, it
falls far short of objective, unbiased social science. Although the firm's
claim was reported by more than 400 newspapers, TV, and radio stations from
the U.S. to Australia, it was based on an informal Internet survey. About
400 survey respondents reported the length of time they allocated to various
household tasks, numbers which were then assigned a monetary wage allegedly
comparable to those paid for similar work in the marketplace, and added
together to find the average stay-at-home mother's implied economic value to
their household.
Concludes McElroy: "Stay at home mothers and working moms should print out
the faux-paycheck that Salary.com offers at its website Mom's Salary Wizard
just for the pleasure of tearing it up."
"Mother's 'Work' Doesn't Warrant Paycheck," by Wendy McElroy (5/9/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1728
SPANISH TRANSLATION:
"El 'trabajo' como madre no garantiza una remuneración"
http://www.elindependent.org/articulos/article.asp?id=1728
LIBERTY FOR WOMEN: Freedom and Feminism in the Twenty-first Century
http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=43
For more by Wendy McElroy, see
http://www.independent.org/aboutus/person_detail.asp?id=488
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIGHTHOUSE, edited by Carl P. Close, is made possible by the generous
contributions of supporters of the Independent Institute. If you enjoy THE
LIGHTHOUSE, please consider making a donation to the Independent Institute.
For details on the Independent Associate Membership program, see
http://www.independent.org/membership/ or contact us by phone at
510-632-1366, e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or snail mail to: The
Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428. All
contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you!
-------------------------------------------------------------
For previous issues of THE LIGHTHOUSE, see
http://www.independent.org/publications/the_lighthouse/.
-------------------------------------------------------------
For information on books and other publications from The Independent
Institute, see
http://www.independent.org/publications/.
-------------------------------------------------------------
For membership information, see
http://www.independent.org/membership/
-------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to The Lighthouse page:
http://www.independent.org/publications/the_lighthouse/. Enter your email
address, select "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe", and click "Submit".
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE LIGHTHOUSE
ISSN 1526-173X
Copyright © 2006 The Independent Institute
100 Swan Way Oakland, CA 94621-1428
(510) 632-1366 phone
(510) 568-6040 fax
ForumWebSiteAt http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Libertarian
SPONSORED LINKS
| Libertarian | English language | Political parties |
| Online dictionary | American politics |
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "Libertarian" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
