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Is This Enough Competition for You?
Some people look at the figure below, and say that too few insurance companies have too much of the market for Medicare Advantage (a program that allows Medicare recipients to get private coverage). But I look at it and think it looks like a pretty robust market: What do you think?
Want to Prevent Heart Attacks? Perhaps Don't Try This Behavioral Economics Intervention
Shutterstock If you experience a heart attack, you are probably going to need to take pills to prevent another such attack. People who take beta blockers, aspirin, or cholesterol pills after heart attacks are less likely to experience a second such attack. (Note: Don’t take any of these pills until you have spoken to your…
Think Fast and You'll Lose Money Quickly (A Behavioral Economics Explanation of Irrational Gambling)
Shutterstock I have just given you $78. (I’m a generous guy.) Now I’m giving you a choice: you can enter a lottery where you have a 75% chance of losing that $78 and a 25% of keeping it, or you can hold on to $20 and avoid the lottery all together. Quick—tell me what you…
Rational Thinking in Wartime
During a particularly miserable World War II battle, a military analyst estimated that it cost $25,000 in artillery shells for each enemy soldier killed. That caused one soldier to ask: “Why wouldn’t it be better to just offer the Germans $25,000 to surrender?” If only the world were so rational! (Click here to view comments)
See Mom, I CAN Teach!
I got a really nice email the other day, from one of the provosts at my university. Here is the highlight: “During the 2015 fall semester, in the categories of Quality of Course and/or Intellectual Stimulation, your course evaluations were among the top 5% of all undergraduate instructors at Duke.” Which just leaves one question:…