This is a problem for at least two reasons (one of them is that it is illegal, yet they continue to do it). But as the commenters indicate, it’s also a result of a lack of competition in the medical profession in general, because the industry has captured the regulators.
[Update a while later]
Link was missing, fixed now. Sorry.
Obamacare, and the hundreds of waivers the administration continues to issue, represents a new form of corruption, as well as cronyism, that I believe was invented by the Obama administration. The idea is to pass a terrible piece of legislation, and then exempt your friends from it, so that only those without political influence have to suffer from the lousy statute you imposed on them.
So that is a very quick overview of the kinds of corporate cronyism that have emerged during the Obama administration. This private sector cronyism is, I think, much more damaging than the public sector cronyism of the 19th century. Why? Because it doesn’t just waste money, it distorts the entire private economy. It is notable that the era when traditional cronyism flourished was also the time when the United States experienced its most explosive economic growth.
This ought to be the theme of the campaign, but it probably won’t be, at least with any of the current candidates.
Lileks loved the movie.
Was the show classically liberal? The first of a series.
In the sixties perhaps it was, but it veered sort of left in TNG in the eighties, with Roddenberry’s socialist utopian fantasies.
Is either a fool or a liar, when it comes to libertarians. But then, straw men are always the first refuge of the political hack, as the president demonstrates on a daily basis.
[Update a while later]
Jeez, Santorum is almost as clueless of economics as Romney is:
“I’m not against the minimum wage,” Santorum remarked. “When the minimum wage drops below a certain level, it’s usually a floor of about 7 percent of wages at minimum wage, I’ve supported increasing it back it up to make sure it stays above that level so there is in fact a minimum wage.”
He should talk to Tom Sowell, since he doesn’t seem to understand what a devastating policy this is for young people, and black youth in particular.
That was a phrase that Jack Lew used this morning on This Week. Ignoring the ongoing lack of distinction between “tax cuts” and “tax-rate cuts,” any use of the word “need” in federal policy betrays an intrinsically Marxist mindset. It indicates that benefits of the collective should be distributed based on need, rather than merit, economics, or constitutionality. Tax rates should be chosen to maximize revenue, not redistribute wealth, or on the basis of some government official’s opinion of what someone else “needs.” This should be pointed out each and every time it occurs, but of course George Stephanopolous isn’t going to do it.
Are we entering an epigenetic spiral of it?
The relatively new fields of epigenetics and nutrigenomics are showing that changes in gene expression can be produced by environmental mechanisms. Could rising levels of obesity alter our genes, and, in turn, could these obesity-favoring alterations be passed on to future generations?
OK, I’m a little confused. Isn’t there a difference between the gene expression and the gene itself? Are they really saying that the environment can change the genes in a way that makes the trait acquired as a result of the environment heritable? That is, are they saying that Lamarck may have been onto something?
[Update a few minutes later]
Just a coincidence, I’m sure, but amusing that this story came out two days before Darwin Day.
And of course, Darwin was born on exactly the same day as Abraham Lincoln, in 1809. In fact, in protest of “President’s” Day, which trivializes the memory of both Washington and Lincoln, I think I’ll go put out the flag.
…has put out a fatwa on Valentine’s Day. Res ipsa loquitur.
As effective as she is, she’d be even more so, and pick up a lot of new support if she’d get a voice coach. Of course, I’ve been saying that for almost four years now.
And no, the problem isn’t her accent, it’s her register.
Why the Left doesn’t have much of a problem with Islamism. Both are opposed to the Enlightenment values of the West.