The Economists’ Voice 2.0 : The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More

__The Economists' Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More__ gathers together the strongest essays published in the Economist's Voice, a nonpartisan online journal, so informed readers and general audiences can gain a deeper understanding of the financial developments shaping their world. These essays are written by leading academics, economists, presidential advisors, legal specialists, researchers, consultants, and policy makers. One set of essays tackles the plain economics and architecture of health care reform, its implications for society and the future of the health insurance industry, and the value of the health insurance subsidies and exchanges built into the law. Another set considers the effects of financial regulatory reform, the possibilities for ratings reform, and the issue of limiting bankers' pay. An objective examination of the financial crisis and bank bailouts results in two indispensable essays on investment banking regulation after Bear Stearns and the positives and negatives of the Paulson/Bernanke bailout. A final section examines a unique array of topics: the stability of pension security bonds; the value of a carbon tax, especially in fostering economic and environmental sustainability; the counterintuitive perils of net neutrality; the unforeseen consequences of government debt; the meaning behind the Google book search settlement; and the unexploited possibilities for profit in NFL overtime games. __The Economists' Voice: Top Economists Take On Today's Problems__ featured a core collection of accessible, timely essays on the challenges facing today's global markets and financial institutions. __The Economists' Voice 2.0: The Financial Crisis, Health Care Reform, and More__ is the next installment in this popular series, gathering together the strongest essays published in __The Economist's Voice__, a nonpartisan online journal, so that students and general readers can gain a deeper understanding of the financial developments shaping their world. This collection contains thirty-two essays written by academics, economists, presidential advisors, legal specialists, researchers, consultants, and policy makers. They tackle the plain economics and architecture of health care reform, its implications for society and the future of the health insurance industry, and the value of the health insurance subsidies and exchanges built into the law. They consider the effects of financial regulatory reform, the possibilities for ratings reform, and the issue of limiting bankers' pay. An objective examination of the financial crisis and bank bailouts results in two indispensable essays on investment banking regulation after Bear Stearns and the positives and negatives of the Paulson/Bernanke bailout. Contributors weigh the merits of future rescues and suggest alternative strategies for addressing the next financial crisis. A final section examines a unique array of topics: the stability of pension security bonds; the value of a carbon tax, especially in fostering economic and environmental sustainability; the counterintuitive perils of net neutrality; the unforeseen consequences of government debt; the meaning of the Google book search settlement; and the unexploited possibilities for profit in NFL overtime games. Frontmatter 1 Contents 4 1. The Health Care Reform Legislation: An Overview 9 2. The Simple Economics of Health Reform 19 3. The Economics, Opportunities, and Challenges of Health Insurance Exchanges 27 4. Can the ACA Improve Population Health? 36 5. Systemic Reform of Health Care Delivery and Payment 45 6. How Stable Are Insurance Subsidies in Health Reform? 52 7. Financial Regulatory Reform: The Politics of Denial 60 8. Government Guarantees: Why the Genie Needs to Be Put Back in the Bottle 68 9. How Little We Know: The Challenges of Financial Reform 76 10. Finding the Sweet Spot for Effective Regulation 84 11. A Recipe for Ratings Reform 92 12. Should Banker Pay Be Regulated? 98 13. Fixing Bankers’ Pay 106 14. It Works for Mergers, Why Not for Finance? 118 15. Hedge Fund Wizards 126 16. Investment Banking Regulation After Bear Stearns 131 17. Why Paulson Is Wrong 139 18. Dr. StrangeLoan: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Financial Collapse 143 19. Questioning the Treasury’s $700 Billion Blank Check: An Open Letter to Secretary Paulson 148 20. Auction Design Critical for Rescue Plan 155 21. A Better Plan for Addressing the Financial Crisis 160 22. Please Think This Over 173 23. Is Macroeconomics Off Track? 182 24. If It Were a Fight, They Would Have Stopped It in December of 2008 189 25. Comment on Barbera: Your Gift Will Make You Rich 196 26. Pension Security Bonds: A New Plan to Address the State Pension Crisis 200 27. Carbon Taxes to Move Toward Fiscal Sustainability 207 28. Net Neutrality Is Bad Broadband Regulation 214 29. Trills Instead of T-Bills: It’s Time to Replace Part of Government Debt with Shares in GDP 223 30. The Google Book Settlement: Real Magic or a Trick? 231 31. The Stakes in the Google Book Search Settlement 240 32. The NFL Should Auction Possession in Overtime Games 250 Index 257 As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this central environmental topic have taken center stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. For example, ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods. In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing the long-run damages from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive analyses of the economic and environmental dynamics of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming. The author emphasizes the need to establish effective mechanisms, such as carbon taxes, to harness markets and harmonize the efforts of different countries. This book not only will shape discussion of one the world's most pressing problems but will provide the rationales and methods for achieving widespread agreement on our next best move in alleviating global warming. "This book contains thirty-two essays written by academics, economists, presidential advisors, legal specialists, researchers, consultants, and policy makers. They tackle the plain economics and architecture of health care reform, its implications for society and the future of the health insurance industry, and the value of the health insurance subsidies and exchanges built into the law. They consider the effects of financial regulatory reform, the possibilities for ratings reform, and the issue of limiting bankers' pay. An objective examination of the financial crisis and bank bailouts results in two indispensable essays on investment banking regulation after Bear Stearns and the positives and negatives of the Paulson/Bernanke bailout. Contributors weigh the merits of future rescues and suggest alternative strategies for addressing the next financial crisis. A final section examines a unique array of topics: the stability of pension security bonds; the value of a carbon tax, especially in fostering economic and environmental sustainability; the counterintuitive perils of net neutrality; the unforeseen consequences of government debt; the meaning of the Google book search settlement; and the unexploited possibilities for profit in NFL overtime games"--Résumé de l'éditeur "This book contains thirty-two essays written by academics, economists, presidential advisors, legal specialists, researchers, consultants, and policy makers. They tackle the plain economics and architecture of health care reform, its implications for society and the future of the health insurance industry, and the value of the health insurance subsidies and exchanges built into the law. They consider the effects of financial regulatory reform, the possibilities for ratings reform, and the issue of limiting bankers' pay. An objective examination of the financial crisis and bank bailouts results in two indispensable essays on investment banking regulation after Bear Stearns and the positives and negatives of the Paulson/Bernanke bailout. Contributors weigh the merits of future rescues and suggest alternative strategies for addressing the next financial crisis. A final section examines a unique array of topics: the stability of pension security bonds; the value of a carbon tax, especially in fostering economic and environmental sustainability; the counterintuitive perils of net neutrality; the unforeseen consequences of government debt; the meaning of the Google book search settlement; and the unexploited possibilities for profit in NFL overtime games"--Provided by publisher As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this central environmental topic have taken centre stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. Ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods. In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing the long-run damages from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive analyses of the economic and environmental dynamics of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming. The author emphasizes the need to establish effective mechanisms, such as carbon taxes, to harness markets and harmonize the efforts of different countries "As scientific and observational evidence on global warming piles up every day, questions of economic policy in this critical environmental topic have taken center stage. But as author and prominent Yale economist William Nordhaus observes, the issues involved in understanding global warming and slowing its harmful effects are complex and cross disciplinary boundaries. For example, ecologists see global warming as a threat to ecosystems, utilities as a debit to their balance sheets, and farmers as a hazard to their livelihoods." "In this important work, William Nordhaus integrates the entire spectrum of economic and scientific research to weigh the costs of reducing emissions against the benefits of reducing the long-run damages from global warming. The book offers one of the most extensive dynamic analyses of greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change and provides the tools to evaluate alternative approaches to slowing global warming."--Jacket