Michigan Housing Woes

CNBC's Diana Olick reports on the Michigan housing market.

Cut Medical Spending In Half

In a thought-provoking essay, Robin Hanson proposes that America cut its medical spending in half:

[O]ur main problem in health policy is a huge overemphasis on medicine. The U.S. spends one sixth of national income on medicine, more than on all manufacturing. But health policy experts know that we see at best only weak aggregate relations between health and medicine, in contrast to apparently strong aggregate relations between health and many other factors, such as exercise, diet, sleep, smoking, pollution, climate, and social status. Cutting half of medical spending would seem to cost little in health, and yet would free up vast resources for other health and utility gains. To their shame, health experts have not said this loudly and clearly enough.

Hanson builds a good case against "wasteful" medical spending by citing a number of studies which suggest that there's a weak correlation between medical spending and longevity. I think his piece would be more complete, however, if elaborated on how we could more efficiently allocate our health care spending.

What Is This Blog?

This blog emerged from e-mail discussions by a group of Southern Adventist University alumni. It derives its name from "The Promenade," a prominent feature on the SAU campus.

Launched

Welcome, readers. This blog is now active.