Author: Joel Gross

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/18/health/vaping-nicotine-teenagers.html#click=https://t.co/ZCt4xXXkzM

Price discovery is indeed difficult in the current market. However, the current healthcare market is no where close to a free market.

For example, suppose you wanted to start a hospital that offered price transparency, like the Surgery Center of Oklahoma does. (1)

In thirty-five states and the District of Columbia, you’d first have to acquire a certificate-of-need (CON) from the state healthcare regulators.… read more “Outlaw Certificates of Need Con”

https://www.vox.com/health-care/2018/12/18/18134825/emergency-room-bills-health-care-costs-america

I dreamed last night I had been turned into a lobster.

How would you communicate with people that you were a lobster? How would you communicate you needs to live such as salt water at the right temperature, the right food, etc? How would you even get any attention at all when you were in a barely survivable environment?… read more “Lobster Dream”

The Economist | A strangely durable gangster state https://www.economist.com/node/21755200?frsc=dg%7Ce

Venezuela’s economy has completely collapsed, yet it’s dictatorship remains in power. How? Modern weaponry make it very difficult for a revolution to happen anymore. A single machine gun can hold down hundreds of people in slavery. Planes and bombs and secret police and AI monitoring communication means that a very small group can control millions of people.… read more “Why Venezuela Won’t Collapse”

Key points I am trying (poorly) to make in this post:

• End of life care that is extremely expensive and miserable for the patient is  not a great use of resources.
• Older generations (including myself) need to do a better job at sharing wealth with younger generations.

My wife and I have been fortunate that we were able to get married when we chose to and buy a home when we chose to.… read more “Why Can’t Millenials Get Married Or Buy Homes?”

What is it that makes the American economy great? It’s free trade, and free movement between all the states in our country.

Why do people find it so hard to apply the same principle they so fundamentally believe in for American states to nation states?

People are much more gullible to conspiracy theories then you would hope.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/10/sports/stephen-curry-moon-landing.html

Phone Carriers know who the scammers are, but don’t care because they make money on them. We need to hold phone Carriers financially responsible for allowing scam calls to go through. If a number has been reported as a scam call, they are then liable.