In Poll, Wide Support for Government Run Health

Today’s New York Times reports on a poll it conducted with CBS News. The poll found that most Americans would be willing to pay higher taxes so everyone could have health insurance and that they said the government could do a better job of holding down...

Obama’s Difficult Choices on Medicare

Sounding a lot like John Kizthaber, George Mason University economics professor Tyler Cowen wrote the following for the New York Times (June 13th, 2009): Something’s Got to Give in Medicare Spending MEDICARE expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget, yet the...

Following the Money in Health Care Debate

This article, from today’s New York Times, needs no introduction. Here’s an excerpt: Roughly $2.5 trillion is at stake, the amount the nation spends each year on health care, nearly a fifth of the American economy. How that money is divided up — or...

The Truth Behind Social Security and Medicare Alarm Bells

In his blog yesterday, former labor secretary Robert Reich demystified the recent headlines about Social Security and Medicare: What are we to make of yesterday’s report from the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds that Social Security will...

What Are Friends For? A Longer Life

Powerful story in today’s New York Times about the role of community and friendship in long term health. Here’s an excerpt: In the quest for better health, many people turn to doctors, self-help books or herbal supplements. But they overlook a powerful...