A number of mergers have made the news: Anthem acquiring Cigna, AT&T acquiring Direct TV, Charter acquiring Time Warner Cable, in each case claiming that those mergers are ultimately good for consumers. In one of his recent pieces Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazarus points out he interviewed several economists who all agree that ultimately mergers aren’t good for consumers. They reduce competition and increase prices while Continue reading “Mergers and Consumers’ Interest”
Category: Governance
Democracy and Wisdom
California governor Jerry Brown signed a vaccine law barring belief exemptions saying that not only is science on the side of vaccines, that on the whole the benefits of vaccines out- weights the risks; vaccines also protect the community, he said. The law was prompted by the aftermath of a measles outbreak last December that began at Disneyland and quickly spread to several states infecting 150 people. While all 50 states Continue reading “Democracy and Wisdom”
Rehab vs Punishment
Since both Republicans and Democrats are now making efforts to reform the criminal justice system, it isn’t surprising that several American correctional officers spent five days visiting prisons in Germany and were more than amazed with the differences. One of them, Maurice Chammah wrote daily articles for the Marshall project (www.themarshallproject.org) a non-partisan Continue reading “Rehab vs Punishment”
The Global Peace Index
Since 2008 there has been a Global Peace Index (GPI) which each year measures the degree of violence in the world and the degree of military spending. Last year the world spent $14.3tn as a result of conflicts, that represents 13.4% of the world’s GNP (Gross National Product) or the equivalent of the economic output of Brazil,Canada, France,Canada, France,Germany, Spain and the U.K. Military spending alone amounted to more than $3tn. Syria, as one would expect, led the list of least peaceful countries, followed by Libya, Ukraine, Niger, Djibouti and South Sudan. To keep all these statistics in perspective, Continue reading “The Global Peace Index”