Data on forecasting existential risks. A Tetlock project
Bhutanese leaving for Australia
The Pequod rates books, core book reviewing web site here
“On the Importance of African Traditional Religion for Economic Behavior.”
GPT-4 research, some of it is gated
Who Employs Your Doctor? Increasingly, a Private Equity Firm. The New York Times
The New York Times: “A new study finds that private equity firms own more than half of all specialists in certain U.S. markets. In recent years, private equity firms have been gobbling up physician practices to form powerful medical groups across the country, according to a new report released Monday. In more than a quarter of local markets — in places like Tucson, Ariz.; Columbus, Ohio; and Providence, R.I. — a single private equity firm owned more than 30 percent of practices in a given specialty in 2021. In 13 percent of the markets, the firms owned groups employing more than half the local specialists.
The medical groups were associated with higher prices in their respective markets, particularly when they controlled a dominant share, according to a paper by researchers at the Petris Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a progressive think tank in Washington, D.C. When a firm controlled more than 30 percent of the market, the cost of care in three specialties — gastroenterology, dermatology, and obstetrics and gynecology — increased by double digits…”
- See also Private Equity and Your Doctor: Profits Before Patients. Richard M. Scheffler, Ola Abdelhadi | Published April 21, 2023 in Oxford Academic.“Older Americans have unique health needs that require specialized care and support. As people age, they are more likely to develop multiple chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis, which can greatly affect their quality of life (Boyd et al., 2019). Additionally, older adults may also experience physical and cognitive declines, which can make it difficult for them to manage their own healthcare. Access to healthcare and supportive services is crucial for older Americans to maintain their health and independence. Services such as home healthcare, nursing homes, and hospice care play a vital role in helping older adults lead fulfilling lives and maintain their quality of life for as long as possible. The majority of hospice patients are diagnosed with one or more chronic conditions, with cancer being the most common (29.6%), followed by circulatory or heart disease (17.4%) and dementia (15.6%) (Hospice Facts & Figures, 2020). Meanwhile, as the American population of persons aged 65 years and over will soon outnumber those under 18 year of age, there are concerns about the quality of care for older Americans as the healthcare industry shifts towards private equity (PE) ownership (Braun, Stevenson, et al., 2021).”
- See also “the report, Doctored by Wall Street, includes a detailed analysis (Part 2) of how Wall Street’s leveraged buyout business has taken health care by storm over the last decade, resulting in degraded patient care, immense pressure on physicians and nurses, and financially distressed companies, due to private equity’s extractive, debt-driven model. Most importantly, the report also details novel federal policy solutions (Part 1) that can curb the abuses of private equity in health care, including administrative measures that do not require legislation from Congress and rely on traditional regulatory powers:.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform
“Today, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, co-led a hearing of the full Judiciary Committee entitled, “Supreme Court Ethics Reform.” The hearing explored the recent torrent of media reports detailing unethical conduct by Justices of the Supreme Court and legislative solutions to improve ethics, accountability, and transparency at the nation’s highest Court. “We are here today because the Supreme Court is playing out of bounds of the ethics rules for federal judges. Justices read the ethics rules in unique and eccentric ways, and when they’re caught out of bounds they refuse to allow any investigation of the facts,” said Whitehouse. Whitehouse concluded, “Until there is an honest ethics process at the Supreme Court, these messes will continue. The Court has conclusively proven that it cannot police itself.” Senator Whitehouse’s legislation would remedy the Supreme Court’s ethical shortfalls that were the focus of the hearing. In February, Whitehouse and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) reintroduced the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, comprehensive legislation to create a much-needed process for investigating misconduct at the Supreme Court, strengthen recusal standards for judges and disclosure rules for special interests trying to influence the courts, improve disclosure of gifts and travel for judges, and mandate the creation of a binding code of ethics. The SCERT Act would require the Supreme Court to adopt disclosure rules for gifts, travel, and income that are at least as rigorous as ethics rules for members of Congress. The New York Times editorial board endorsed the legislation last month. The hearing followed a bombshell ProPublica report exposing that Justice Thomas and his wife accepted extravagant vacations worth as much as $500,000 on the dime of Republican megadonor Harlan Crow and did not disclose the travel. That reporting was later followed by an additional ProPublica storydetailing Crow’s purchase of a string of properties from Justice Thomas and his family members, which was not properly disclosed”
- Video of the full hearing can be found here. Text of Whitehouse’s as-delivered opening remarks is below, and video of the remarks can be found here. Link to S.359 – Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act of 2023
