RWL #218
Free toilets, Free Vaccines, Bionic Limbs, and the COVID Bill that wasn't
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! I’m deep in the first round of exams and, I have to be honest, it’s kicking my butt. This is the second week I’m writing to you at almost midnight on Sunday night, getting this letter in before the end of the weekend. So much for seeing you on Friday. Sigh. Long weekend of grading, writing another exam, and just trying to catch up. The only good thing about online exams is you can write them to be self-grading.
I went a bit heavy on free markets this week (except the video). I hope you find the pieces interesting.
Have a great week! Stay safe! The vaccine is coming!
(my little sketch is called “hanging around”)
Read
What: The Grumpy Economist, Pay toilets and NYT: a free market microcosm
https://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2021/03/pay-toilets-and-nyt-free-market.html
Why: Great post from John Cochrane, AKA the Grumpy Economist, on incentives. He asks us to ask, “Ask the question why are there no public toilets in America?” The answer is incentives. Short and poignant.
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What: Forbes, Who Is Getting the Vaccine? Who Isn’t? And Why?
Why: I have been a fan of John Goodman’s writing on health policy for many years. In this article he asks why the COVID vaccine seems not to be getting to the poor and to minorities. His answer is the vaccine is being distributed at a zero price - meaning it is being rationed by the government. His bottom line:
Decades of experience with non-price rationing of health care in countries with cultures very similar to our own provides a ton of evidence that the poor, racial minorities and other marginalized groups rarely make it to the front of the waiting lines.
**
Watch
What: Designing robots to attach to humans (3 min)
Why: It’s been a while since I shared anything about bionics. I love listening to these videos of people who are making the impossible possible. I get an incredible charge of inspiration. This short video is a great pick me up. But also, he answers an interesting question at the end - would he want his biological legs back? The answer opens a fascinating question about the human-machine interface as we go forward.
**
Listen
What: Reason, Peter Suderman: The $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan Has Almost Nothing To Do With Covid
Why: I wonder if anyone is actually paying attention to the numbers attached to this bill. $1.9T? And...
"Only about 1 percent of the entire package goes toward COVID-19 vaccines, and 5 percent is truly focused on public health needs surrounding the pandemic."
It concerns me as a citizen, as a former military officer, and as a father that our federal leadership has become so brazen about spending, and spending that has no clear long-term benefit to future generations. If this money was being used to replace aging infrastructure, or update our Navy to better face the Chinese threat in the Pacific, I could at least understand a huge expenditure. Ideally, it wouldn’t be called a COVID relief bill, though.
I’m a fan of Reason’s podcasts, and I recommend them to you as well. I try to be well rounded in my political listening, even though I most identify with the libertarians. I also listen to National Review’s The Editor’s Podcast (conservative), and Deep State Radio (Progressive). I recommend all three. I added the NR Editor’s after I was stunned by Trump’s win, and I realized I was too in thrall to the Progressive dominated media and was not getting a sufficiently accurate view of the rest of the country.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line at mark.bonica@unh.edu , or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
If you’re looking for a searchable archive, you can see my draft folder here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jwGLdjsb1WKtgH_2C-_3VvrYCtqLplFO?usp=sharing
Finally, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://markbonica.substack.com/welcome
See you next Friday!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
'It is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.' - Gandalf (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)