insurance – Sound Economics

Medicaid Expansion in USA

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Alex Shaw — No Comments ↓

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 However, the AHCA would have left parts of the ACA intact; the only parts that are outright repealed are the individual, and employer mandates, and subsidies for out-of-pocket expenses.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→

Moral Hazard and Health care

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Cole Driscoll — No Comments ↓

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→

Bet Against Someone’s Life and Death with Extreme Mortality Bonds

Posted on March 25, 2016 by Lorraine Black — 2 Comments ↓

After the events in Belgium, this post seems in poor taste – but I promise it was written before the tragic events at the beginning of the week, and still offers something interesting. Did you know you could effectively bet that someone won’t lose their life in a catastrophe? And if they don’t – you could make a substantial amount of money? Insurance companies know this – and they’re prepared to offer you a once in a lifetime (literally) opportunity to buy an EMB, an Extreme Mortality Bond. Extreme mortality events are events that result in a substantial loss of life (a Continue reading Bet Against Someone’s Life and Death with Extreme Mortality Bonds→

The Fantasy Industry

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Matthew Moreno — No Comments ↓

Fantasy sports has gained significant mainstream popularity over the last few years. In 2012, fantasy leagues reaped over $1.5 billion in entry fees. They’re so popular, in fact, that they’ve inspired offbeat spin-offs like a fantasy economics league (which I wrote about last week). Just like any other big ticket industry, a number of firms have popped up to cater to its needs. One example: Say the star quarterback of your fantasy team suffered a season-ending knee injury. Or, if you’re more disposed to participate in a fantasy economics league, your star department member unexpectedly developed an allergy to coffee. Either Continue reading The Fantasy Industry→