Category: mafia

We Institutionalize Kleptocracy

That’s how Yves Smith describes the probable outcome of the latest bunch of mortgage finance scandals.  We already know that lenders lied, brokers lied, consumers were instructed to lie, and the whole house of cards was built on perpetually-rising land prices. In recent weeks, and especially the past couple of days, we are learning that the back office lied too, nobody bothered to process much of the paperwork, it was easier to just forge documents as needed, and for many parcels it will be difficult or impossible for tell who really owns the mortgage (which likely will never be repaid anyway as it far exceeds what the property could be sold for).

The solution? Smith (and others) expect the federal authorities to move in, Continue reading We Institutionalize Kleptocracy

If pain and suffering don’t matter…

…we could reduce medical costs by 2.4%. That’s the finding of a new Harvard study as reported in today’s Tribune.

The analysis included payments made to plaintiffs, administrative costs such as attorney fees and the costs of doctors’ lost work time. It also included the costs of “defensive medicine,” in which doctors perform or order extra tests and procedures to protect themselves legally.

I don’t know about you, but my medical insurance costs go up by more than 2.4% every year.  I am happy to pay an extra 2.4% to give medical staff some incentive not to screw up, and so that if they do screw up I have some possibility of receiving compensation.

Those who really want to cut the cost of medical care will look at monopoly interests such as licensing and patents, and the way that government subsidies increase costs.  They’ll find many multiples of a 2.4% savings.

Gov’t screwing up medical care

Mostly by subsidizing it heavily while failing to enforce anti-trust. This one isn’t about insurance,  patents, or even unions; it concerns hospitals, suppliers, sole-source contracts and kick-backs.  Like most medical stuff, there’s too much money and power involved to expect a good result.

via Naked Capitalism

America Speaks “National Town Meeting”

Anyone who’s been paying attention is aware that the Federal budget is out of control, unsustainable, and politicians dare not display any consensus on what to do about it.  So several wealthy foundations are funding the “America Speaks” project, which seems to have focused on a fleet of 19 “town meetings” (plus a few dozen less-connected gatherings) held today.  I attended Chicago’s, at Navy Pier.

The concept is at least a little bit promising.  I guess we had about 600 people, assigned to tables of a dozen or so each, and we talked about how the Federal financial situation might be improved.  But first we had a very loud presentation from Philadelphia. (Philadelphia is apparently standing in for Washington and New York, so we won’t suspect that political professionals and Wall Street are involved in the effort.) We were told that, yes, the deficit is a big deal(as described in this pdf). And before talking about the options for reform, we were directed to determine our values.  The “values” are listed below (and on worksheet #3 of this document), along with the reasons that they make no sense at all. Continue reading America Speaks “National Town Meeting”