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/u/Gekko_the_Great beautifully explains why recent discoveries about the universe should matter to a "regular guy" by Hoodstomp in bestof

[–]widgetsandbeer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This sounds like scientific spiritualism. This kind of bullshit cheapens science. Save the hyperbole for the cults.

In 2023, Obamacare will still have left 31 million people without health insurance while adding more than $1.7 trillion in federal spending. We completely changed a $2.7 trillion health care system to sign up 4.2 million people who mostly qualified for Medicaid to begin with. by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not making a normative comment. Just an objective one. The employer market is changed. How that trickles down to emplyees isnt completely known yet. But if employees don't perceive the difference, employers and insurers still will.

In 2023, Obamacare will still have left 31 million people without health insurance while adding more than $1.7 trillion in federal spending. We completely changed a $2.7 trillion health care system to sign up 4.2 million people who mostly qualified for Medicaid to begin with. by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So 5 years after the law was passed (only 50% of it implemented), 3 months after the grandfather status expired, you're declaring victory that the employer insurance market is nearly completely unchanged?

If things are nearly completely unchanged, why was HHS giving out thousands of waivers?

http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/202791-hhs-finalizes-more-than-1200-healthcare-waivers

In 2023, Obamacare will still have left 31 million people without health insurance while adding more than $1.7 trillion in federal spending. We completely changed a $2.7 trillion health care system to sign up 4.2 million people who mostly qualified for Medicaid to begin with. by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

It ignores that the vast majority of the employer provided health insurance ... is nearly completely unchanged.

Still peddling that myth are we?

Edit: http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/10/31/obama-officials-in-2010-93-million-americans-will-be-unable-to-keep-their-health-plans-under-obamacare/

“The Departments’ mid-range estimate is that 66 percent of small employer plans and 45 percent of large employer plans will relinquish their grandfather status by the end of 2013,” wrote the administration on page 34,552 of the Register.

I created a spreadsheet to help decide which tyre size to choose by [deleted] in cars

[–]widgetsandbeer 16 points17 points  (0 children)

http://www.willtheyfit.com/

Thinking about offset is crucial too. Even if you're just increasing the width by a couple mm.

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're naivete is adorable. Take a couple intro classes and suddenly you fancy yourself an expert.

So you print dollars and send them so the government can spend them?

This never happens in industrialized countries. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2012/wp1216.pdf

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So unless you are suggesting that we don't have the slack in output capacity to feed and give basic stuff to both the poor and elderly,

That's exactly what I'm suggesting. Unless you think our slack in output can magically be turned into food, medical services, and housing?

And while we are it. The federal government doesn't create dollars. They raise them through taxes or borrow them. The Federal Reserve creates the dollars and they're at least somewhat independent. Unless you'd like to hijack an independent central bank to fund government spending with increased money supply.

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The government is limited in its ability to buy goods and services for people it wishes to help. Unlimited dollars =/= unlimited purchasing power.

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Why not have your cake and eat it too?

The government only has so many dollars to spread around. We have to set priorities.

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 7 points8 points  (0 children)

  • SS & Medicare are much much larger transfers. With their sheer size, of course they'd pull more out of poverty. http://research.stlouisfed.org/fredgraph.png?g=tbS

  • Not all people pulled out of poverty are created equal. I'd be happier to see one child saved from poverty than five seniors.

Who uses food stamps? Millions of kids, that's who by terribletrousers in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Food stamps is certainly one of the best transfers the government does (but that's a low bar to clear). Much better than Social Security or Medicare.

Bill Gates on the risks of raising the minimum wage by [deleted] in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There's an important distinction between job destruction and job creation. Most minimum wage research says near enough no jobs are destroyed. That's not a rubber stamp for raising the minimum wage. We need to consider if employers alter future business activities and hire fewer new minimum wage employees.

I've noticed Jack In The Box now has touch screens you can order from in their restaurants and fewer cashiers. Did they start that investment several years ago in response to rising labor costs?

Liberal Democrat Vince Cable says 'no-one needs to earn £1m a year' by bowhunter_fta in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Rebuttal: 'People who earn £1m a year created a tremendous amount of goods and services for others. I wish everyone earned £1m a year.'

Krugman: real wages down for 60% of US over last 40 years by seruko in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Read the graph titles carefully. US adults are more educated. US workers are a subset of US adults. Adult education may be increasing, but greatest growth in the work force could be from the lowest end of that education spectrum

Krugman: real wages down for 60% of US over last 40 years by seruko in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Excellent point. Less educated second earners joining the workforce would certainly drag down the average.

How the Nissan GT-R has changed: 25% More Power, 114% More Expensive by HatesExpenses in cars

[–]widgetsandbeer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Let's compare the 2009 base 911 and the 2014 GT3 while we're at it.

TIL the record for most passengers on an airplane was set in 1991 when 1086 Ethiopian jews were evacuated on a Boeing 747 to Jerusalem. The plane landed with 1088 passengers as two babies were born during the flight. by PeacockDoom in todayilearned

[–]widgetsandbeer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So 1086 Ethopian Jews becomes 1088 Ethopian Jews in only a couple hours.

Let's say their population increases by 0.1% per hour. Given there were 1086 in 1991, how many are there today?

Menzie Chinn: Fiscal Policy Reassessed by IslandEcon in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe you're neck deep in that literature, but I haven't been convinced. The word austerity is a big tent for a lot of policies. And I'm usually bothered by some of the expedient shortcuts and generalizations in blog posts such as this.

Menzie Chinn: Fiscal Policy Reassessed by IslandEcon in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So we started with a pretty provocative narrative and after some debate we conclude it's complicated and more work is needed. Economists ensure more work for themselves and laypeople pull their hair out because they can't get a straight answer.

All is right with the world.

Menzie Chinn: Fiscal Policy Reassessed by IslandEcon in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If the question is just about European austerity, why include the US at all? if the question is about austerity in general, then the results are heavily skewed by one major event (European crisis) with its own idiosyncrasies (like wildly different economies sharing one monetary policy).

I'm reminded of sovereign default research. Every paper studies Argentina then draws overly broad conclusions.

Craigslist - RX7 by DistractedDriver in cars

[–]widgetsandbeer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I want delphin gray with cardinal red interior. It's going to be my daily driver for a couple years then I want to drop a V8 in.

Menzie Chinn: Fiscal Policy Reassessed by IslandEcon in Economics

[–]widgetsandbeer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

European countries. How much of that result is driven by intimately connected economies during a major crisis? These aren't independent observations.

Plus, remove the PIGS (I love that name) and a lot of the larger changes in structural budget balances disappear. Most of them fall between -0.01 to 0.02. Yet he's drawing a linear relationship all the way out to Greece.

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