Convenient, One-Page Summary of Medicare, and Other Links
Keith Hennessey: Everything you ever wanted to know about Medicare summarized on one page.
Trickle down stimulus: “We estimate the Act created/saved 450 thousand government-sector jobs and destroyed/forestalled one million private sector jobs.” (H/T: Arnold Kling via Tyler Cowen)
Alternative medical treatments rarely work, but the placebo effect they induce sometimes does. (H/T to Michael Ramlet)
Americans probably work another hour or so trying to avoid paying taxes.
All stimulus is really trickle down stimulus. What other kind is there?
The article about alternative medicine treatments and the placebo effect is interesting. Research has shown expensive placebos work even better than cheap ones. The moral of the story is: go into business selling alternative medicine (supplements) that do no harm but cost a lot. That helps ensure they will work.
Speaking of the placebo effect… Last week I read an FDA notice about a supplement to treat erectile dysfunction that is being recalled. Apparently, the placebo effect wasn’t enough for the manufacturers. They adulterated the herbal product with the active ingredient in Viagra to ensure it worked like it’s supposed to. What are the odds that the addition of sildenafil was an accident?
Devon, that is an interesting observation. My neighbor buys copper bracelets for their healing properties. The more expensive the bracelet, the better it works. With them, he has earned a black belt in Taekwondo. Without them, he can hardly get out of bed.