I think your anger at the end of this episode is perfectly justified. I found the NPR/Medicare Researcher story especially odious. You definitely hit many of the points that, as was listening, I thought, “…but what about…” in particular, the flawed reasoning the economist used. A lottery method didn’t allow the researchers to determine the age, race, education, resident neighborhood, and many other demographic factors that might provide them a clear picture of the experimental vs. control group. And as you pointed out, the fact that people finally have insurance makes sense that they would use it. Those without insurance may be avoiding the emergency rooms because of the cost, that doesn’t mean the insured were now “abusing” access to emergency rooms. And, it seems that it was a pretty short-term study, I think the long-term effects would paint a clearer picture as to whether or not giving access to healthcare to people is a worthwhile endeavor. Sloppy science is what I heard in that NPR interview. One of the Koch brothers is on the board at NPR, no surprise their stories are going to have a more Libertarian spin.

Jay,
Not sure where else to post this, but it’s regarding your announcement and something from the rerun episode.
1) I’m glad you’re taking time for yourself. Personally, I had no idea the amount of time you have to commit in order to put together a show. I appreciate your efforts and enjoy the shows.
2) One of the clips from David Pakman was about Costco and Trader Joe’s. The argument he was making was about Costco’s membership and how people are using that as a way to explain their financial success. One thing that I don’t think was taken into consideration is that you actually get money back (well, a check to use at Costco) that is a percentage of the money you spend there. So, my membership costs $120/year. But. last year I got an $80 check to use to purchase things that I would be purchasing there anyway. And, while I know that doesn’t actually cost them $80, it does subtract from their profits. Also, people that use their memberships more than I do would get more back, up to $2k. Again, I understand the benefits to Costco, but it does need to be factored in to their bottom line. Just a small argument against the WalMart idea that they can’t pay their workers a livable wage.