February 16, 2018 at 10:17 am
It is nice while on sabbatical to avoid the fray of politics, but our president’s recent attack on Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps) and Medicare makes me want to share the following three sets of links. The bottom line of the Medicaid video (4:52) summary of two studies is that “able bodied” eligibles represent only about […]
December 12, 2017 at 2:27 pm
While on sabbatical this year, I have been enjoying some extra reading. I have just added two new books and one old one to my favorites list on my web site. I recommend them all highly to you. The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds Michael Lewis Dec 6, 2016 This remarkable and […]
December 12, 2017 at 2:22 pm
Today, the first day of Hanukah and two weeks before Christmas and Kwanza, I am writing to wish my colleagues and my BUHealth blog readers a peaceful and happy holiday, whatever your faith background. I am loving my sabbatical at Boston College this fall and looking forward to our stay in Barcelona starting in mid-January. […]
June 26, 2017 at 11:15 am
I was at a conference last week and learned about a terrific timer for my iPhone called Performance Timer. It counts down your specified time, and then changes from green to red as you go over. What makes it superior to the default iPhone timer is its large font, there is no alarm when time […]
There is a wonderful article about Machine learning in the spring 2017 issue of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, and there is also a series of four fine articles in the AER May 2017. I decided to share as a BUHealth blog to all. Whether you are curious, newly interested or an expert working in […]
Please celebrate the students who earned 556 degrees in Economics at Commencement this May! This year the program honors: 14 Ph.D. recipients 215 Master’s degree recipients (MA, MAPE, MAEP, MAGDE MA/MBA, BA/MA) 327 BA recipients (including BA/MA) This total of 556 degrees is up from 498 (12%) since 2016. These numbers may undercount the total […]
March 18, 2017 at 5:13 pm
Two interesting links related to the recent Republican health care proposal called the AHCA. The first is a serious but also humorous Forbes article by my BU colleague Larry Kotlikoff in his series about Stupid Economics, this one targeting Tom Price and the AHCA bill. (A 3-minute read.) Tom Price’s Liver And ‘The Coverage They […]
January 29, 2017 at 4:42 pm
Bottom line: Trump’s racism predicted to cost US households $147 billion in extra payments to the rest of the world. Like many people, I am appalled by president Trump’s recent executive order banning refugees – and even US legal immigrants – from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the country. In the process, Trump has […]
January 26, 2017 at 1:40 pm
I invite you to read this Forbes posting on Stupid Economics by Laurence Kotlikoff. I don’t always agree with my dear colleague, Larry Kotlikoff, but this posting at Forbes is one that I can really get behind. Our president needs to start listening to serious economists instead of acting solo as an autocrat. […]
December 22, 2016 at 11:52 am
Health economists and every concerned citizen should disseminate the facts in this NEJM article about Donald Trump’s nominee of Tom Price to be the next secretary of HHS. Coauthor Richard Frank is also a BU Ph.D. alum! Randy Ellis Care for the Vulnerable vs. Cash for the Powerful — Trump’s Pick for HHS Sherry […]
August 22, 2016 at 5:31 pm
Boston University Working Paper Randall P. Ellis Boston University, Department of Economics August 22, 2016 Abstract This paper presents four arguments for why the US should ban or at least heavily tax the sale or transfer to civilians of weapons designed for mass shootings (WDMS), which would include most semi-automatic guns and weapons with large […]
July 12, 2016 at 10:40 am
There is a very important article in this week’s JAMA – Internal Medicine, written by Barach Obama. It highlights the effects of the ACA/Obamacare. It is free on-line. United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2533698 If you are short on time, then the following link to just the figures provides […]
Partly just to keep track of them for my BU annual report, this post links to my press interviews and quotes. Meeting basic needs under Trump Fed funds key for landlords, affordable tenants; Trump’s health secretary opposes Obamacare Bay State Banner Jule Pattison-Gordon | 12/7/2016, 1:13 p.m. Effects of Brexit on the world economy and […]
My previous post was discouraging in that it was all about the techniques Donald Trump is using to build support. This one is much more upbeat. I had heard about but not actually watched or listened to Hillary Clinton’s Memorial day speech, which has been getting a lot of favorable reviews. I just finished listening […]
This email will interest people who are closely following the US presidential election. I invite you to watch the following four minute video on Trump and Hillary when you have time. It changed my thinking. On the Friday June 2 Real Time with Bill Mayer, Scott Adams (who is the genius creator of the Dilbert […]
Please celebrate the students who earned 498 Boston University degrees in Economics at Commencement this May. This year the program mentions: 22 Ph.D. recipients 203 Master’s degree recipients (MA, MAPE, MAEP, MAGDE MA/MBA, BA/MA) 273 BA recipients (including BA/MA) This total of 498 degrees is up from 482 in 2015. These numbers undercount the total […]
I just got an email from Prateek Agarwal <prateek@intelligenteconomist.com> He has compiled a list of the Top 100 Economics Blogs of 2016. I am of course not on it since I blog infrequently and do not archive (and make public) on my web site all of my blogs, but I thought I would share the […]
April 5, 2016 at 11:12 am
Congratulations to the 24 current or recent Ph.D. students from BU Economics who have accepted jobs for this September. Recent placements from the department are linked here, as well as pasted below. http://www.bu.edu/econ/phd/outcomes/placements/ This year candidates selected 14 academic jobs, five government or central bank jobs, and five private sector jobs for their initial placement. […]
February 3, 2016 at 9:04 am
I am often asked by undergrads and MA students what BU students do when they graduate. For the first time that I know of, BU has published a relatively complete description and list of the places where they get jobs, or go to graduate school or volunteer. It is discussed in the new CAS Dean […]
November 12, 2015 at 11:44 am
With Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both mentioning Democratic Socialism in Denmark, it is interesting to read about what it actually is. Here is one link with one persons discussion. Living with Denmark’s democratic socialism Denmark sounds pretty wonderful to me Switzerland I just returned from Switzerland which is not democratic socialism, […]
