Virtually everyone agrees that our health care system needs reform. But what kind of reform? Some want a return to the system that prevailed in the 1950s. Others would like to see the adaptation of the government-run systems prevalent in other countries. The latter, national health insurance or single-payer health insurance, appears to be gaining ground in the United States. Before Americans find themselves participating in a health care system that has failed in every country it was adopted, we should be asking ourselves whether such a system is effective and efficient. In Lives at Risk, the authors examine the critical failures of national health insurance systems without focusing on minor blemishes or easily correctable problems. In doing so, the purpose is to identify the problems common to all countries with national health insurance and to explain why these problems emerge. Most national health care systems are in a state of sustained internal crisis as costs rise and the stated goals of universal access and quality care are not met. In almost all cases, the reason is the same: the politics of medicine. The problems of government-run health care systems flow inexorably from the fact that they are government-run rather than market driven.
We live in a dangerous world. Numerous hazards can strike us down from infectious diseases and genetic disorders to food poisoning and car crashes. Furthermore, the advances in information technology enable consumers to be more aware of these problems as the latest data on new hazards is spun around the world in a matter of seconds. As part of the opinion forming sector (as a think tank researcher and opinion editorial writer) Roger Bate has contributed to this information exchange. His writing over the past five years, as reflected in this book, has focussed on 5 key themes: 1. Hazards are as likely to come from natural as from man-made substances. 2. The linear no-threshold hypothesis is rubbish (i.e. the dose makes the poison). 3. An entire industry has developed to scare us into stopping certain activities, or making us feel guilty for continuing them, or lobbying to have them banned by government. 4. The public are quite capable of making decisions that involve complex trade-offs if only we would let them; indeed not letting them causes enormous problems as government bodies do not have the dispersed knowledge to do this, and are subject to interest group pressure. 5. There are innumerable benefits, as well as costs, from risk taking. Most articles concerning risk avoid mentioning any of the above five themes. The articles for this book were originally published in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economic Affairs, and The Sunday Times. An introduction will draw all the articles together.
Cost-Benefit Analysis provides accessible, comprehensive, authoritative, and practical treatments of the protocols for assessing the relative efficiency of public policies. Its review of essential concepts from microeconomics, and its sophisticated treatment of important topics with minimal use of mathematics helps students from a variety of backgrounds build solid conceptual foundations. It provides thorough treatments of time discounting, dealing with contingent uncertainty using expected surpluses and option prices, taking account of parameter uncertainties using Monte Carlo simulation and other types of sensitivity analyses, revealed preference approaches, stated preference methods including contingent valuation, and other related methods. Updated to cover contemporary research, this edition is considerably reorganized to aid in student and practitioner understanding, and includes eight new cases to demonstrate the actual practice of cost-benefit analysis. Widely cited, it is recognized as an authoritative source on cost-benefit analysis. Illustrations, exhibits, chapter exercises, and case studies help students master concepts and develop craft skills.
Whether the public or the environment is at risk is a commonly discussed question in numerous areas of public life, most recently and publicly with regard to issues like BSE, passive smoking and the dangers from pesticides in food production. It is therefore of great importance for everyone concerned with these issues - both policy makers and the public who may be subject to their decisions - to understand the basis on which 'risk' policy is made. The principle objective of this book is to highlight the uncertainties inherent in 'scientific' estimates of risk to the public and the environment resulting from exposure to certain hazards. Numerous examples of potential and real hazards are given. They all show that injury to personal health or the environment is a function not only of the toxicity (i.e. the lethality of a particular hazard) but of the level of exposure to the hazard concerned - in the words of the old maxim, the dose makes the poison. Existing regulation is criticized for being based on a flawed application of a poor epidemiological methodology, where toxicity is the basis of regulation and dose tends to be ignored. Furthermore, some authors conclude that risk is a subjective phenomenon that cannot be eliminated through regulation. - Leading international expert authors and contributors - Mass-media launch on publication - Important new commercial and H&S area of interest
The ninth edition of this classic casebook Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy: Problems, Text, and Cases is streamlined and updated while retaining the previous editions’ rigor, comprehensiveness, and contextual approach. Outstanding authorship, rich and varied materials, and comprehensive coverage remain the hallmarks of the ninth edition of the acclaimed Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy: Problems, Text, and Cases. Administrative procedure is examined in the context of substantive policy debates regarding regulation in a wide range of areas. Extensive notes, questions, and problems support thoughtful reading and analysis. The presentation acknowledges complexity and contradictions in the material while still providing explanations and guideposts along the way. Problems interspersed throughout provide an opportunity to explore the doctrine in more depth and test one’s understanding of it. New to the Ninth Edition: A thorough updating of cases, notes, and questions A more streamlined and user-friendly presentation. Despite significant additions, the 9th edition is shorter than the 8th. Inclusion of important recent judicial decisions, including Gundy v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 2116 (2019) (nondelegation) Lucia v. SEC, 138 S. Ct. 2044 (2018) (officers of the U.S.) Seila Law LLC v. CFPB, 140 S. Ct. 2183 (2020) (president’s removal authority) Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, 138 S. Ct. 1365 (2018) (agency adjudication) Kisor v. Wilkie, 139 S. Ct. 2400 (2019) (deference to an agency’s interpretation of its own regulation) DHS v. Regents of the University of California, 140 S. Ct. 1891 (2020) (DACA rescission) Department of Commerce v. State of New York, 139 S. Ct. 2551 (2019) (pretextual justifications and arbitrary and capricious review) Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania, 140 S. Ct. 2367 (2020) (interim final rulemaking) Professors and students will benefit from: Thorough coverage of the processes of agency rulemaking and adjudication Illuminating discussion of doctrines that may be on the cusp of major change, including Chevron deference, Auer deference, and the nondelegation doctrine Attention to the underlying justifications for, and possible criticisms of, the regulatory initiatives that are the subject of the cases studied. Extensive notes and questions that both explain and challenge A completely new website that provides Additional materials for possible assignment (including an introductory case study and materials on enforcement) Illustrative agency documents (rulemaking preambles, an administrative complaint, FOIA requests and denials, etc.) Extensive links to material on the web, including on agency websites, that provide examples of or help students situate the topics in the casebook Photographs of people, places, and things that are the subject of the cases in the book Updates on new decisions, statutes, and regulatory initiatives
Has the nation's infatuation with the free market warped the true meaning of American freedom by its emphasis on the self-serving individual in a "looking out for Number One" world? Freedom is America's most treasured value. In Freedom Reclaimed, John E. Schwarz examines the profound implications of the difference between the vision of American freedom that the Founders enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the free-market idea of freedom that is ascendant today. Schwarz shows how the three-decade shift toward free-market freedom has brought economic hardship to the majority of Americans and suffering to the political life of the nation. As the nation moves further away from its impelling original commitment, most Americans now have only limited access to the freedom the Founders envisioned. Schwarz sets forth a program that can help America return to its ennobling vision and resume its historic journey. In policy discussions on employment, education, social issues, and health care, Schwarz recasts our understanding of what freedom means and involves. In so doing, he transforms the way we see our world and revitalizes our ability to change it for the better.