Health Care 2008
A Political Primer
By James C. Capretta
Monday, July 14, 2008
It might turn out that Congress could pass a major health-care reform package in 2009 or 2010. But there are important reasons why such plans have not been enacted to date, and these include not solely the interference of so-called "special interests" in politics, as Senators Obama and Clinton have suggested.

Obama’s Tax on Work
McCain can win votes by exposing the folly of “pay or play.”
By James C. Capretta
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Instead of building on today's system of job-based health-insurance coverage, Barack Obama's "pay or play" mandate would drive companies to drop their plans and push their employees into government-sponsored insurance. It would also have devastating consequences for low-wage jobs, with the harm disproportionately concentrated among non-whites, high school drop-outs, and women.

The Train Wreck Ahead
Medicare is rolling toward disaster, and there is no easy way to fix it.
By James C. Capretta
Friday, June 13, 2008
Reducing the size of Medicare's financial imbalance cannot be done without controversy or financial sacrifice.  But a reform that promotes consumer choice and strong price competition, much like today's drug benefit, has the potential to improve the program's financial outlook and limit the scope of other changes that might be needed.

The Preacher as Economist vs. "The Economist as Preacher"
Economics, Secularism, and Faith
By John D. Mueller
Monday, June 2, 2008
The Economist as Preacher was the title of a book by George J. Stigler, who was most responsible for "Smythology": the myth that Adam Smith invented or is indispensable to understanding economics. "The Preacher as Economist" is Thomas Aquinas, who integrated the outline of economic theory taught for five centuries by Catholics and Protestants alike. More broadly, they propose two different ways of understanding what it means to be an economist -- and for that matter, what it means to be a preacher.