Food for thought

Economics is hard, don't let bloggers tell you otherwise - Katrik Athreya

The price is right?

"As I’ve written before, economists generally believe that the “external costs” of an economic activity (i.e. its impacts on others besides its producers and consumers) should be factored into its price. If producers and consumers don’t consider the harm (or benefit) that their actions cause others, they will create more (or less) of a good than is optimal from the point of view of society.
The steep external costs of alcohol consumption suggest that government should use price signals to moderate drinking. But do prices make a difference, or is drinking the sort of behavior people will do no matter how outlandish the cost (which you might have observed the last time you were at a sports stadium or concert venue)?

 ...What level would alcohol taxes have to reach to match the costs drinkers impose on society?"

         Read the whole story at the Freakonomics blog

Countries without doctors? How Obamacare could sprak the drain of physicians from the developing world

America is about to induce massive medical brain drain. The historic passage of health-care reform legislation in March will provide an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans with health insurance. But the United States will need to rapidly grow its supply of doctors and nurses to meet the demand that creates -- a fact that will surely attract qualified doctors and nurses to America's higher salaries, better working conditions, and promise of a booming industry. There's nowhere for those health professionals to come from but overseas; the domestic education system simply won't produce enough. Enter brain drain.

Full article on the Foreign Policy website