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  • Branden Garbin 1:46 am on April 14, 2016 Permalink |  

    I have in recent years taken a look at the Chinese economy and have always had the same idea in mind. Which is that there is no way that there GDP is growing at such a fast rate without some sort of cooking of the books and that there set for an economic crises. The article i have posted below goes into depth about the latter. I have read countless articles about the impending chines debt crises and consider it a strong possibility in the near future. This article was extremely fascinating because it specifically talks about debt and credit. With china being the worlds second largest economy a debt crises can have horrific global repercussions.

    China’s leaders are blowing their last chance to avert an economic crisis
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/13/chinas-leaders-are-blowing-their-last-chance-to-avert-an-economi/

     

  • Branden Garbin 1:07 am on April 14, 2016 Permalink |  

    Today brazil faces a terrible crises that can effect the global economy. Below i posted two articles about Brazils debt and corresponding political problems. Brazil being one of the worlds largest emerging markets could have big implications on the global economy if they were to fall into a prolonged recession. With the upcoming olympics and large deposits of natural resources as well as being a big player in the agricultural market what will come of the emerging titan? I think that brazil has the potential to change its course, not without a possible change in regime and economic policies. Brazil has massive oil reserves that are state run, with Petrobras being present Brazil has the resources to combat its debt crises. The two articles below go into depth about the upcoming economic crises bringing up historical and comparative references to give a really nice understanding of what is going on. I strongly recommend that everyone should at least glance over these articles.

    Brazils crises Irredeemable?
    http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21684778-former-star-emerging-world-faces-lost-decade-irredeemable

    Brazil’s Highs and Lows
    http://www.bloombergview.com/quicktake/brazils-highs-lows

     

  • Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016 Permalink |  

    I do not entirely agree with the train of thought behind the “Doctors Vote With Their Feet and Move to Canada” article. It states that the “tall tale” of the Canadian health care system, being so bad that they can’t find enough doctors and medicine in Canada so the doctors move to the U.S is a lie. Saying that its actually doctors moving to Canada because its far better there than in the U.S. Now I agree that the Canadian system is so bad they can’t find enough doctors and medicine to provide there citizens. This comes to no surprise as they have been having these issues for some time now. And most other socialized medical systems are pledged by the same issues. But i think it is more of a supply and demand issue than the job being better in Canada. My thoughts are socialism and socialized programs can never work to the degree a privet organization can. Private organizations can aways provide better care with a higher degree of satisfaction simply because if they don’t they will be replaced by another organization. Beyond that if Canadians don’t have enough doctors ( i.e high demand and low supply) wouldn’t the natural process of economics be doctors moving to Canada ( getting benefits to do so) to fix supply? I don’t have the most sound understanding of the subject but i believe my logic is true. The natural laws of supply and demand back my reasoning. Id love to hear others thoughts about this.

     

    • Michael Ruben 4:15 pm on April 26, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Back when I was 22 I was denied health insurance. At the time I could claim my parent’s health insurance until age 24, but for two years I went back and forth with the insurance companies without any success. And then when I hit 24 the insurance company refused to talk any more about it, do anything retroactive, and just sent me COBRA. Needless to say, I was bitter. I was given unspecified reasons for denial during those two years, just a lot of filling out of this form and that form, sending them in, waiting, waiting, rejection, picking up the phone, waiting even longer, and so on.

      I do feel supply & demand has some play into the decision for doctors to move to Canada, and I am often questioning why my doctor is always inching for the doorknob as soon as he gets in. Am I just another number? Well fine then. Just send back in one your PA’s and we’ll just agree that you exist but in name only. I felt that the article did shed some light on perhaps why Obamacare was ultimately put into effect… the system needed an overhaul.

  • Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016 Permalink |  

    I am a bit of a conservative and had pre existing woes regarding the patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, empirical data does not lie. From the “Some Facts About the PPACA” essay i learned allot. I had not previously realized allot of the positive benefits Obamacare has yielded. such as the reduction in the re-admission rate, and that per person hospital spending has reduced. I still have copious issues regarding the PPACA and i will have to admit my knowledge on the act has been a bit partisan. Although, learning the results of Obamacare from a new perspective has shed light on the subject and has gotten me intreated into learning everything i can about the patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Regardless if it is good or bad.

     

  • Branden Garbin 1:24 am on April 12, 2016 Permalink |  

    The “Healthcare and Intergenerational Issues” essay was particularly interesting in the explanation of Asymmetrical and/or incomplete information goods such as healthcare, and the reliance we all have on doctors to diagnose help treat and prescribe medicine for us. Before reading this essay i never really considered a doctor to be defined in such a way. It seems almost ominous to have that much reliance and assumed trust for a service. In terms of the explanation of goods and the process of creating and selling goods this essay has excellent contextual examples.

     

  • Branden Garbin 7:25 pm on March 17, 2016 Permalink |  

    After reading the “Gapminder and Myths” essay and keynote i was really intrigued about global statistics. I was very surprised about some of the results so i went online to find out more. After searching for a while i came across a website which a link is listed below. This website is very very informative and has a copious amount of different statistics ranging from the economy to health, population and even tourism. Roughly every statistic has an explanation and an interactive map of the world. I strongly recommend paying this site a visit and looking through a few of the topics. It seems all the data is very well sourced

    http://world-statistics.org/index.php

     

    • tatef 4:12 am on March 27, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Thanks, I really liked the site. I looked up how many people had internet http://world-statistics.org/index-res.php?code=IT.NET.USER.P2?name=Internet users (per 100 people)#top-result Since we had been talking about BRIC countries I thought Id see if internet use reflected development levels. I was surprised to see India so low. I guess its back to the “billion entrepreneurs” video about India not being great at infrastructure.

  • Branden Garbin 7:25 pm on March 17, 2016 Permalink |  

    The “Can the Poor be Trusted” essay was a little eye-opening. I personally did not realize there was a no strings attached monetary stimulus package. More or less that it has been implemented in 45 countries and has helped 110 million families. Personally the question of can the poor be trusted in a no strings attached cash grant my answer would have been no. I knew the plan would be effective but not to such a high degree. Coming from a family that lives paycheck to paycheck a stimulus package like this would have been a blessing. But i could also see without oversight a large portion of the money would end up in a blackmarket. Reading through this article i could begin to realize how a monetary policy like this one would impact a countries economy. Im not a fan of handouts but after realizing this i am sold on the concept. Now i am curious as to how a policy like this would effect America. Would it mean more cashflow and a healthier economy? Or would it end up as government debt?

     

    • tatef 8:05 pm on March 20, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      Im with you on changing my mind about this topic. I wish my parents had swallowed their pride a bit and taken some assistance when we were barely scraping by (the value of hard work and money management is good but food in the pantry and clothes that fit would have been nice as a kid). The blackmarket is always a problem but when you look at states like florida requiring drug testing for welfare it seems to hold up here in the US. It was such a small percentage that screening for it cost more than it saved in denial of benefits.

  • Branden Garbin 2:30 am on March 16, 2016 Permalink |  

    I am choosing the book “ A Brief History of Neoliberalism.” i choose this book because i am a firm supporter that the private sector does a better job than the public sector. Ive always found that a neoliberalistic approach to economics is an interesting topic. I also really do enjoy Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher whom both are shown on the cover.

     

    • tatef 8:17 pm on March 20, 2016 Permalink | Log in to Reply

      I agree in part about privatization being more efficient. There are definitely goods and services the private sector is better at handling but it isnt always true. Or at least you have to look at what it is efficient at doing. When Michigan prisons privatized food service to ARAmark (a huge company that also supplies the majority of lansing area schools with food service) the food was beyond unacceptable. Numerous cases of maggots in the food type bad. Then there were the low paid employees who were violating safety and sometimes bringing drugs into the prisons. But it did cost less before lawsuits.
      On a personal note there is substitute teaching. Before privatization subs made 89$ per day. After privatization it was 75$ to the sub and 14$ to the company. Part of that cost went to paying for administration costs otherwise born by the schools (efficient) while the rest was company profit. This is just wealth redistribution. Taking it from the lowest and giving it to the highest. If I had a 14$ a day raise I guarantee it would have gone straight back into goods and services which is good for the whole economy. A few years later the schools had to pay 98$ a day, a 10% increase, those of us doing the actual subbing didn’t see any raise whatsoever. Schools still struggle to find enough substitutes so it isn’t even better at getting the service needs filled.
      Then again I would never want to go to a state run grocery or gas station. Ive gone in circles with the state/local govt too many times for that. It strikes me a healthy balance is usually best

  • Branden Garbin 2:29 am on March 16, 2016 Permalink |  

    The Traps Facing the Bottom Billion was a very intriguing essay. Being a continuation or a more in-depth look at the Bottom Billions essay I found that the traps that these undeveloped countries get into is terrible. landlocked countries getting the shortest end of the sick. I looked into this phenomena a little more and found that these countries truly have no better alternative than what is happening now with there current structure and resources. Situations like this beg the questions of what to next? how to change the flow of money? how to offer better services for its people? I agree with colliers idea that these countries should not have been countries in the first place. but the bed has already been made and now these countries have to find a way out.

     

  • Branden Garbin 2:29 am on March 16, 2016 Permalink |  

    The “Bottom Billion” was a particularly interesting essay. I always new there was a distinction between poverty in an industrialized nation and poverty in the rest of the world. However the characterization used in this essay was what was truly fascinating. The difference between relative and absolute poverty was really interesting. I am tempted to buy and read the book after reading this. I found the section about the different traps that a country can fall into to receive reciprocal debt and instability to be very eyeopening.

     

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