Medicaid Expansion in USA

Recently, the House Republicans pulled the American Health Care Act (AHCA) from consideration, signaling a failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly known as Obamacare. However, the AHCA would have left parts of the ACA intact; the only parts that are outright repealed are the individual, and employer mandates, and subsidies for out-of-pocket expenses. Everything else is either altered, or untouched. Many Republicans refused to vote for the AHCA because they thought it didn’t repeal enough of the ACA. However, when compared to similarly advanced economies, the United States health care system is rather unique in Continue reading Medicaid Expansion in USA

US Immigration: “The Best and Brightest to the Front, Please”

Immigration is one of the most talked about political topics in the US and seems to dominate every speech around election time. Political figures have tried to find the “perfect” immigration system (the newest one being a $15 billion wall). But what do economists think about this issue? NPR’s Planet Money asked three different economists for their ideal immigration system for America’s borders. One of these economists came up with a plan titled, “the best and brightest.” The first plan was given by Dean Baker, the co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. His “dream system” for American Continue reading US Immigration: “The Best and Brightest to the Front, Please”

Moral Hazard and Health care

Moral Hazard is a term that Economist are familiar with when discussing market failures, or the inefficient allocation of resources. The definition of moral hazard is when there is hidden action taken by one party that incurs costs of another party. But this is just the definition of the term, what does moral hazard truly mean in everyday life? One example that is brought up a lot is when an auto mobile owner becomes more of a reckless driver and justifies it by saying, “It’s fine, I have car insurance.” Obviously auto insurance doesn’t quite work this way, but moral Continue reading Moral Hazard and Health care