Insurance Companies Profit from the High Cost of U.S. Healthcare

Why are healthcare costs so high in the United States compared to the rest of the modern, technological countries of the world?

The bottom line, historically and currently, is the health insurance companies in the United States are more profitable as healthcare costs increase.  While politicians have personal goals and motives, I find it inexcusable that any economist would consider the ACA market approach more politically preferable to a more cost efficient single payer system.   The public-private market-based approach of the ACA is an ethical minefield.

The fear that making the ACA a single payer system would invite political repeal of the ACA is nothing but an excuse for the failure to communicate, listen, and demonstrate political leadership over several Congressional elections.  The focus on one election cycle only is self-defeating to a government dedicated to the general welfare of its people.

Here are three Blogs which can give you information and views on healthcare in the United States:
True Cost of Healthcare, The Incidental Economist, and Healthcare Economist.



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Worst Misconduct Brokers Are Retail Brokers

In a recent study by the University of Chicago - Booth School of Business, the researchers found not only a pervasiveness of misconduct but developed a rating system to rank the worst misconduct brokers, who are all retail brokers (brokers who sell to the public as investment advisers).  The 30 worst are listed here.

While the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a limited fiduciary rule, the financial services industry is is desperately trying to further limit the rule, kill the rule, or change it to continue the ability of salesmen to portray themselves as "advisors" implying fiduciary duty while providing "advice" which is conflict of interest based.

I have long maintained that fee only fiduciary advisors need to be regulated separately from the SEC and FINRA (I personally would prefer the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau regulate SEC and State licensed fee only investment advisors to separate them from the continual and purposely wolves in sheep's clothing of those who sell or act with conflicts of interest).

Even less appreciated is my belief that current educational requirements are totally inadequate and that no professional designation provides sufficient educational requirements.  Even the so-called Masters Programs in Financial Planning are merely CFP course material, which lack academic rigor, primarily designed to provide revenue to the universities which offer them.  I have indicated verbally and in letters that fee only fiduciary advisors should have a Masters in Finance.  It would have to be at least a two year program which covered macroeconomics, CFA material, CMT material, current research on investment allocation and portfolio construction, ethics and law, and retirement planning and distribution.  This does not make me professionally popular.

I intend to write more about Fiduciary Duty and the financial services industry's desire to continue some form of public deception (confusion), but I will want to create Goggle Doc containing the research. 

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Self-Delusion and Investing in Gold

Over the years as an advisor as well as during the years of the radio show, one consistent self destructive myth keeps surfacing, accepting no denial, and refusing to accept factual history: gold.  Gold has a repetitive history of going up and dropping sharply.  It is not a hedge against inflation, particularly in a period of low inflation.  In the unlikely scenario of economic and social collapse, bullets would be far more valuable than gold.  There are always marketing vultures preying on fear and economic/political prejudice.  It makes no difference how many times, or over how many years, they are wrong.

The fact is, with gold, if you did not buy between 1997 and 2002, you underperformed.

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Is Schauble Afraid of European Unity?

There has been a great deal of speculation that Germany's Finance Minister continues to desire the compulsory exit of Greece from the European Monetary Union (EMU).  Wolfgang Schauble has written how he believes Germany should be an essential player in the New World Order, because western democracy has failed to provide the leadership to go beyond political parties and boundaries towards the bigger picture of unity.

Unfortunately, his concept of unity finds western democracy, bank union, and fiscal union which would complete a democratic political union as far less desirable than an Order of Rules that dictate actions without regard to democratic elections and nationally elected governments.  Democratic political union would require shared responsibility and governance.

The Troika has shown an intense desire to make any agreement with Greece impossible or, at the very least, totally unsustainable by the Greek government.  The Blog, Mean Squared Errors, asks if Schauble is actually afraid that the EMU will have to assist Greece when the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) takes effect on January 1, 2016.  The SRM wold require liquidity support for Greek banks, while during the Troika negotiations with Greece and the Greek referendum, the ECB was used as a political war machine depriving Greek banks of liquidity.

Is Schauble desperate to enforce the Rules before Law takes effect on January 1, 2016, in order to avoid a de facto economic transfer union?


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When Will Illinois Learn How to Budget?

 Illinois has until June 30 to pass a new budget.  At present the General Assembly has proposed a budget with a $4 billion revenue shortfall, because they want to continue funding educational and social programs, as a reaction to public concerns over proposed deep cuts, the Governor wants to cut even more and they want the Governor to publicly advocate the revenue solutions.  It is what has become the usual game of tug and pull rather than debate and compromise.  Illinois has played financial games with its budget since the second administration of Governor Jim Edgar in the 90's.

The Volcker Alliance has published Truth and Integrity in State Budgeting, which details how a State budget should be constructed and the information in State budgeting and financial operations accessible by the public.  Its checklist is:
1) Complete budgetary information, including how balance was achieved and whether one-
time revenue sources were tapped, should be easier to find and interpret,
2) Short-term revenue forecasts should be transparent and supportable by historic growth
trends. Past projections should be assessed for accuracy to help improve forecasting methods,
3)  Recurring costs should be paid with recurring revenue,
4)  The proceeds of borrowings should not be used to cover operating expenses,
5) States should move away from strictly cash budgeting and toward the type of accounting, used in their audited comprehensive annual financial reports, that shows the true present value of future spending obligations, and
6) States must build rainy day funds to safeguard essential services during economic down-turns. The size of the funds should be adjusted for revenue volatility, and they should be replenished consistently after they are tapped.

Illinois has the worst funded State pension systems in the United States, because it does not understand these basic budgeting rules.  Illinois has a revenue problem. It has put off required pension funding to future periods.  It has been sweeping (raiding) special funds for money with no intention of paying them back.  The Executive and both parties of the General Assembly have not been able debate, communicate, and compromise in the best interests of the people of Illinois for the last five Governors.  No one wants to take the revenue problem and own it by solving it and accept the political consequences.

With respect to information, you would have to read and analyze the General Assembly's budgeting bill (Good Luck) or you could get the Governor's position here.  You can go to COGFA and get forecasts and projections.  You can go to the Illinois Auditor General to find agency and department budget results (I particularly like reading the audit report for the Teacher's Retirement System as I find it far more informational than the TRS website).  Try finding the current balance of the Budget Stabilization Fund (rainy day fund); at least you can get FY2015 and FY2016 projections as of March 2015 here.  As of FY2013, the Budget Stabilization Fund had $276 million, which was less than 1% of General Fund revenues.

 Illinois needs to get its act together.  Unfortunately, this requires politicians to work together and compromise rather than continuously posture in the public circus.

Update: 
The credit downgrades have begun.

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U. S. Economy in a Snapshot

 The Federal reserve Bank of New York has just started a monthly report on the U.S. economy.

Here is the first 18 page report for the month of June.

Update:
Here is the July report.



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Chicago Public Schools Bond Fire

We have recently brought the problems of the City of Chicago and the Chicago Board of Education budgeting, financing, and outstanding bonds to readers attention through three articles by Kristi Culpepper.

Since then the Illinois General Assembly fortunately failed to pass a property tax freeze, passed a delay program for Chicago pension funding payments (which has not yet been signed into law), and the City of Chicago has authorized the issuance of $1.1 billion in GO fixed rate bonds to be used to restructure short term outstanding debt  and pay other current obligations, including $75 million in back police pay.  The City of Chicago had earlier issued an over subscribed fixed rate bond issuance that allowed it to convert $918 million in variable rate bonds to fixed rate bonds.

The Chicago Board of Education is, with the help of a former banker as Board President, in far worse financial condition with variable rate debt which lacks the backing a credit facility, a need to terminate its swap payments by probably depleting its $174 million debt service stabilization fund, the CBOE is looking at a $350 million budgeting shortfall and the school system could be out of cash as early as this summer, and  the CBOE looking for a $200 million line of credit and $935 million to address its next year deficit.

Kristi Culpepper covers the CBOE bond risks is far more detail in this new article which you should read.  She does an outstanding analysis.

Update:
The legislation to delay pension funding is being held hostage to the Illinois budget impasse between the governor and the General Assembly with the State without a budget for over a month while the Governor insists on diminishing collective bargaining rights.  Meanwhile, the Chicago Public School System has pulled its one year contract offer demanding a multi-year contract and that teachers pay full pension costs with no School system contribution, which may precipitate another teacher's strike.

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Biofuels Subsidies Raise Global Food Prices

On my radio show, I repeatedly discussed the subject of biofuels subsidies which divert corn grain products from the food supply to motor vehicle fuels.  Tim Taylor has a new article which nails the resulting global food price increases and how biofuels are economically inefficient and counter productive as a policy.

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Getting Bank Lending, Capital Flight, and Target2 Payments Right Part 2

 Frances Coppola has published an excellent article on Hans Werner Sinn's economic mistakes which compliments my recent article on the same subject, although my article referenced a recent Bank of England working paper on how bank lending works, which is not getting sufficient attention.

Sinn has been consistently confused and wrong.

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Dysfunctional Politics & the Beginning Depression

Here is a draft post from 2009/early 2010 on dysfuntional politics and economic policy and potential social upheaval and protests in countries.  How prescient was it?

We have noted in past radio shows and prior posts how the FED appears to be using unemployment to hold down inflation.  We have noted that the "Recovery" appears to be focused solely on the return of the status quo prior to the Financial Crisis of the financial system and the resumption of risky but profitable business trading.  Volcker has commented on the fact that no economy, which has 30% of its GDP from synthetic financial services, can continue without risking another financial crisis.  In fact, we have noted the "Recovery" appears to be setting the stage for the very same financial crisis.

In a long post Edward Harrison  has written on his belief that the Recession is over but the Depression has just begun.  His argument is essentially that the political process, of which Congressional actions are only one example, has created a dysfunctional economic debate, economic recovery policies, and a divisive political debate which serves the special interests but not the Nation.  He goes into some detail on what it means globally as well as nationally and what needs to be addressed.  While I do not entirely agree with him, his arguments are very worthy of consideration for anyone who is desirous of dealing with the economic conditions as they exist.

It is well known that I believe Geithner and Summers need to go, because they serve Wall Street more than the Nation.  Washington'sblog has been very good at delineating Summer's insistence on his way or no way to the point where Volcker is now in Europe speaking for financial reform because Summers has muzzled and isolated him in the United States.  Still, there is opposition loyal to President Obama which are attempting to debate and contradict him, however, dangerous that may be.  Despite what Summer's says, unemployment will continue to rise and it cannot be ignored.  Read the post "Larry Summer's is like the guy who yells the Sun really does revolve around the Earth ..." and sharpen your critical skills.

In past radio shows we have talked about food shortages and riots, economic protests, and even a Joint Special Operations University faculty member's speech at a former intelligence officers conference about the possibilities that prolonged economic crisis could cause social upheaval in countries.  My first career was intended to be military and I still do extensive readings on military subjects including papers and publications at the War College and the JSOU.  It again appears that there will be food and commodity shortages with increasing prices in 2010.  There are two scenarios which could evolve with one being demonstrations, riots, and perhaps revolution in some parts of the world and the other being that the population will become so demoralized by their treatment from the elite who run their governments that they will be passive and do what they are told.  Here is one recent article that lists a variety of sources from the establishment and from the fringe for your critical review.  For the argument that people have been broken and demoralized, although there are more scholarly books which have been published over that last 60 years.

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