Today, I will be delivering the Eighth Annual Marshall J. Seidman Lecture on Health Policy at Harvard Medical School. (Here are the slides from my talk.) The title of the lecture is "New Ideas About Human Behavior in Economics and Medicine," and it builds upon a theme I have been speaking about over the past few months: that just as the field of economics suffered for ignoring psychology for too long, so too has much of medical science and health policy largely ignored the crucial role of expectations, beliefs, and norms.
CBO Blog
The 2008 deficit totaled $455 billion, roughly $17 billion more than the $438 billion estimated by CBO on October 7th.That difference does not reflect any economic or programmatic developments; rather, it reflects an accounting adjustment by the Department of the Treasury, which increased the outlay and deficit figures for June 2008 by $17 billion.
In many settings, prizes can be an efficient way of encouraging new breakthroughs.
The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences announced its new members this morning. I'm quite honored to be included in this group -- along with Jose Escarce, who is on CBO's Panel of Health Advisers. I view my inclusion as testimony to what the outstanding CBO health staff has taught me about health care and health policy, and look forward to continuing to learn from them and other innovators in the field.
Yesterday's testimony on the effects of recent financial market turmoil on pension assets has generated a significant amount of interest, so I wanted to follow up on one topic: overinvestment in an employer's stock.
CBO released its Monthly Budget Review today. Based on data from the Daily Treasury Statements, CBO estimates that the federal budget deficit was about $438 billion in fiscal year 2008, $276 billion more than the shortfall recorded in 2007. (The Treasury Department will report the actual deficit for fiscal year 2008 later this month.)
I am testifying before the House Committee on Education on Labor this afternoon on the effects of recent financial market developments on pensions; click here for the testimony.
The key points of the testimony include:
CBO released a brief today on climate-change policy and CO2 emissions from passenger vehicles (for the PDF, click here).
Discussions about addressing climate change (e.g., through a cap-and-trade program or a carbon tax) often focus on the transportation sector. The brief argues, however, that most of the reduction in CO2 emissions would occur in other sectors (e.g., the electricity sector) and that the effects on vehicle emissions would be modest, especially in the shorter run.
CBO has just issued its analysis of the financial rescue legislation released by the Senate today. This legislation includes the rescue package considered by the house earlier this week, a temporary increase in deposit insurance, and certain tax provisions including an extension of Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) relief. The pdf of our analysis is posted here. The text of our analysis is pasted below.
October 1, 2008
CBO has just issued its analysis of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as released tonight by the House Committee on Financial Services. Among other provisions, the legislation would create a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The pdf of our analysis is posted here. The text is pasted below.
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September 28, 2008
Honorable Barney Frank
Chairman
Committee on Financial Services
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515Dear Mr. Chairman: