To almost every claim that the American healthcare system is overpriced, defenders of the United States can point to the comparison problem—it is not fair to compare American surgeons, or hospitals, to our peers in Europe when American surgeons and hospitals are not the same as in those other countries. Our surgeons are better trained,…
In an eye opening article on Aborigines, Michael Finkel paints a colorful picture of the local landscape: The pilot flew low over the bush, the trees thin and straight and widely spaced, like a bad hair transplant. Maybe the Aussie government needs to invest in Tree Club for Men. (Click here to view comments)
In a recent article in the Atlantic magazine, Amanda Ripley argues that we should dramatically diminish, or even get rid of, high school sports in the United States, because they are throwing off our priorities and sucking up our funding. I began the article with even more than my typical skeptical eye, having written not long ago…
Here is an excellent picture from the New England Journal of Medicine, illustrating which states have chosen to run their own exchanges, which are relying on the federal government, and which are following some kind of hybrid approach. Unsurprisingly, the distribution of states pretty closely mirrors the outcome of the most recent presidential election. (Click…
In the New Yorker this July, Jon Lee Anderson wrote a fascinating article about Timbuktu, where Al Qaeda is working to become a legitimate political power. A scary story. But a beautifully written one. Take this paragraph when he introduces readers to the city in question: Timbuktu is a small, unlovely city in shades of…
Most new insurance plans sold on Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges will have deductibles greater than $1000. That’s the kind of number that’s going to make people think twice about going to the emergency room when they experience shortness of breath or chest pain. Unfortunately, a new study shows it’s also the kind of “skin in the game” that…
McDonald’s has announced that it would no longer market junk food to kids and it’s going to include more fruits and vegetables in on its adult menu. The move came after another fast food joint, Burger King, rolled out the lower-calorie French fries it has dubbed “Satisfries.” Apparently, they are 20% healthier but “taste the…
World-famous physicist, Stephen Hawking, is now advocating in favor of physician-assisted death, in the video shown here. I am both very glad that he is still alive, so many years after developing his illness, and that he is advocating for those people who circumstances and suffering leads them to request assistance in ending their lives….
In collaboration with several co-authors, including Peggy Liu – a marketing PhD student here at Fuqua – I just published a paper on how behavioral economics can help us think about better ways to combat obesity. Feel free to check it out. And feel free to send along your thoughts, too. Using Behavioral Economics to…
Fascinating new research sheds light on why so many people stick with dull jobs over trying something more exciting: They don’t expect to get paid enough to justify going after the more interesting options. Research into “effort aversion“ by Duke University Fuqua School of Business marketing professor Peter Ubel and David Comerford, an assistant professor at Stirling University found that in…