Happy 8th Birthday

This Blog is eight years old today. Over 200,000 visitors from 152 countries. To remind some readers, in 2008 when we started the focus was the economic collapse. The issue was that the world of economists were clueless. We managed to bumble along to where we are now redefining such metrics as unemployment to yield "good" results while at the same time leaving tens of millions out of the labor pool.

We then moved to Health Care and the then emerging ACA. We demonstrated again and again that what was being proposed had fatal flaws. We argued that Health Care should be universal, mandatory, like auto insurance in that it covers a catastrophic event only. If you want full comprehensive with no deductibles then you pay. We also argued no per-existing conditions, no age restraints, and a Government subsidy based on income. Most importantly we argued for individual payment, no Company Plans, and enrollment directly with an Insurer NOT through a Broker. In today's world you can do this on line, why nor to some generally ignorant broker.

We then moved to some key observations. People are fat, smoke, do drugs, and for those choices they should and must pay. If you want top be morbidly obese that is your choice but the cost to be incurred should be from your pocket. Same for smoking. Why should those trying to be health pay. On the other hand if God forbid you get cancer, then you should not be burdened with the added costs.

Then I moved on to Cancer and the progress of understanding and treating it. We will continue this focus.

Finally, this past election cycle has raised a great number of thoughts. As one who spent almost ten years in and out of Russia I perhaps have a different view. But clearly we need better relations, but better from a position of competence, not one driven by neophytes. The next eight years will present challenges never seen before. How they will be dealt with is anyone's guess. Let's just see.

Oh, and one last thing. Let's try to get out of this fear thing that people are all gaffing about. I have been seeing some of the best Universities turning into homes for over sensitive infants. Thus again, grow up.