Journal: The Cato Journal / Topic: Health

Author:: Charles I. Plosser
Publication Date:: 10-2013
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Cato Journal
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: The last five years have been an extraordinary time for the global economy and monetary policymakers. The financial crisis and the severe global recession that followed have tested our resolve, our patience, and our economic theories. To restore the health of ailing financial markets and economies, central banks have driven shortterm interest rates to essentially zero, expanded their balance sheets to unprecedented levels, and engaged in market interventions that have blurred the lines between monetary policy and fiscal policy.
Topic:: Economics and Health

Author:: Craig J. Richardson
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Cato Journal
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: What lessons can be learned from the implementation of mandatory health insurance? As the Obama administration contemplates enacting far-reaching health care reforms that increase the role of government, the case of Massachusetts is worth serious study. Massachusetts' three-year experiment with mandatory health insurance (known as Chapter 58 legislation) has been judged by some health economists to be a qualified success, since it reached a primary goal of lowering the number of uninsured in the state (Gruber 2009, Long and Masi 2008). On the other hand, Tanner (2008: 5) argues that previously uninsured citizens signed up for health insurance because it was free or heavily subsidized, not because of the mandate itself. Official state statistics claim the number of uninsured in the state dropped from 11 percent in 2005 to less than 3 percent in 2009 (Massachusetts Health Connector 2009). Tanner (2009) disputes this number and suggests the number is closer to 5 percent, using Urban Institute and Census surveys as evidence. What supporters and foes of mandatory health insurance both seem to agree on is that the number of uninsured has fallen in the state since Chapter 58, and yet there remain between 150,000 and 200,000 uninsured citizens.
Topic:: Health
Political Geography:: United States

Author:: Ike Brannon
Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: The Cato Journal
Institution:: The Cato Institute
Abstract:: When it comes to social policy, inertia can be a bitch. While the sentiment may not seem all that profound, its gradual realization by economists and policymakers is beginning to have an impact on public policy. It has already wreaked havoc within the economics discipline.
Topic:: Economics and Health

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