Quote of the Day: James Surowiecki

Anthony W. Orlando — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:59:14 +0000

[T]he economy doesn’t exist, in the end, to reward virtue and punish vice. It exists to maximize our well-being, and, currently, doing that may require helping the undeserving and irresponsible, if only because there are so many of them.

– James Surowiecki (The New Yorker)

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Why It Is a Rising and Not a Setting Sun

Anthony W. Orlando — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:45:36 +0000

“But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting sun.” — Benjamin Franklin

It is a good morning. We haven’t had enough of those in this country in the past decade.

hat tip: Kevin Drum

Last night, Congress approved the health care bill.

University of Rome Tor Vergata economist Robert Waldmann cried tears of joy. George Mason University economist Don Boudreaux wanted to vomit.

Okay, not everybody is happy this morning. For my less-enthused readers, I thought I’d post a special edition in our “What to Read” series. Herewith, I reproduce the best articles, columns, essays, and posts that I’ve read on the health care debate since I started this blog. But first, I want to second Steve Coll’s motion to celebrate one journalist in particular:

If you, like me, are uplifted by the historical potential of Sunday’s vote, then the best way to sit still inside what has happened is to scroll back through Ezra Klein’s blog. If you haven’t been reading Klein throughout the health care reform debate, you’ve missed one of the inspiring examples of how new forms of journalism in the hands of a new generation of journalists (who don’t always admire, but don’t always disrespect, the example of the generation before them) can produce vital new work. Klein is an example of a policy wonk in possession of both passionate opinion and scientific method who put himself into position to cover the dull-but-important story of a lifetime.

Coll has inspired me to create a new tradition for this blog: a “Journalist of the Year” award. With a little backdating, we are proud to honor Ezra Klein with the 2009 Trading 8s “Journalist of the Year” Award.

And now, everything you need to know about the health care bill, including many fine posts by our first annual Journalist of the Year:

What, exactly, is in this bill?

Health Reform Implementation: What Happens When — Austin Frakt
For Consumers, Clarity on Health Care Changes — Tara Siegel Bernard
What Health Care Reform Will Mean for You — Mary Carmichael
Improve the Bill, Yes. Kill the Bill, No. — Igor Volsky
Beware This Republican Narrative — Jonathan Cohn
Health Reform Myths — Paul Krugman
The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate — Sharon Begley

What did it take to get the bill passed?

Pelosi Steeled White House for Health Push — Carrie Budoff Brown & Glenn Thrush
GOP Attacks on Pelosi Ring Familiar — John Aloysius Farrell
What Failure Would Cost the Democrats — Norman Ornstein & Thomas Mann
The Limits of Rahmism — Peter Baker
Most Americans Want Health Care Reform — Joel Benenson
Which Party Uses Reconciliation More Often? Looks Like Harry Reid Was Correct — Joshua Tucker
Health Care No Stranger to Reconciliation Process — Julie Rovner
Is “the Process” Driving Opinion About Health Care? — John Sides
Policy Compromise Is Easy. Political Compromise Is Impossible. — Ezra Klein
PANIC!!! — Jonathan Chait
What Will Make People Trust Government Again? — John Sides
A Formula for Futility — Ronald Brownstein
Health Care Tests the Senate’s Credibility — Steven Hill
The 19.5 Years Test — Ezra Klein
The Best Deal the GOP Will Get — Matthew Yglesias
We on the Right Should Remember 2003 When We Lament 2010 — Andrew Samwick

Why should we extend insurance to everyone, and why does it require such a big bill?

Why Reform Health Care? — James D. Hamilton
What Jim Hamilton Gets Wrong on Health Care Reform… — J. Bradford DeLong
The 150,00-Life Health Care Plan — Ezra Klein
Letting Perfect Be the Enemy of the Good? — J. Michael McWilliams
All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Research on Health Insurance and Health–and More — Stan Dorn (via Ezra Klein)
California Death Spiral — Paul Krugman
No Such Thing as “Simple” Health Reform — Uwe E. Reinhardt
Why the Health Care Bill Is Worth Passing — James Surowiecki
Why I Prefer French Health Care — Matt Welch
Are We Going to Let John Die? — Nicholas D. Kristof
A Failure to Explain Financial Benefits of Health Care Reform — Thomas F. Schaller
Health Care Rationing, American-Style — Uwe E. Reinhardt
The Cost of Not Enacting Health Care Reform — Linda J. Bilmes & Rosemarie Day
Mass Appeal — Jonathan Cohn
How Health Care Reform Could Combat Crime — Mark A. R. Kleiman
Health Insurance Exchanges: An Overlooked Key to Reform’s Success — Ezra Klein
Adverse Selection — Mark Thoma
Health Insurance “Innovation” — James Kwak
DeMint Offers a Teachable Moment — Paul Krugman

What will this bill do about rising costs?

This Won’t Hurt a Bit — Sharon Begley
“Cadillac” Tax Isn’t a Tax: It’s a Plan to Finance Real Health Reform — Jonathan Gruber
Health Cuts with Little Effect on Care — David Leonhardt
Coverage and Costs — Paul Krugman
The Senate Bill Saves Families Money — Jonathan Cohn
Health Reform Legislation Would Accomplish More Than Critics Admit — Henry J. Aaron
How the Senate Bill Would Contain the Cost of Health Care — Atul Gawande
Show Workers the Money: Rising Health Costs Take a Bite Out of Raises — Ezra Klein
The Hospital That Could Cure Health Care — Jerry Adler & Jeneen Interlandi
The Uproar Over Mammography — Uwe E. Reinhardt
A Milestone in the Health Care Journey — Ronald Brownstein
If Health Care Is Going to Change, Dr. Brent James’s Ideas Will Change It — David Leonhardt
Is This Why Republicans Can’t Support Health Care Reform? — Ezra Klein
Health Care Reform and the Unpopular T-Word — David Leonhardt
Health Care Premiums Run Amok — David Cutler
The Good, and Bad, of Health Care — David Leonhardt

How will this bill affect the federal budget deficit?

Fiscal Realities — Peter R. Orszag
As RomneyCare Moves Toward Probable Final Passage, Douglas Holtz-Eakin Says 463+123+114 = 562 — J. Bradford DeLong
How Health Care Reform Reduces the Deficit in 5 Not-So-Easy Steps — Ezra Klein

These links (mostly) do not address the public option (because it didn’t end up in the final bill) or what steps we need to take next (because I discussed that here). It will not resolve our long-term problems, but it is a beginning…much like a rising sun.

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